JetBlue CE Robin Hayes is urging airlines to sign up to IATA’s 25by2025 gender balance initiative, arguing that the industry cannot afford to miss out on talent. The voluntary initiative, launched in 2019, commits signatories to increase the number of women in senior positions and under-represented areas by 25%, or up to a minimum of 25% by 2025. IATA has almost 200 member signatories, including over 160 airlines. That accounts for just over half its airline members. Hayes’ own carrier JetBlue was the only airline in FlightGlobal’s most recent analysis of female representation in the C-suite among the 100 biggest airlines to have women employed in more than half of the six senior roles. Speaking on a diversity panel at the IATA AGM in Istanbul today, Hayes urged those members that have not signed up already to do so. ”As an industry we have a huge labour talent shortage over the next 20-30 years,” he said. “We are privileged to be in a growth industry where we need people, so we have got to make this profession more attractive. That means we need ….people from all walks of life. We need to get people from other industries to come and work with this industry. So they’ve got to feel its really welcoming and diverse. ”Look at what we do; we fly around the world, diversity; our customers are incredibly diverse. Everything we do is diverse,” he says, but notes the industry still needs to do more to ensure it has enough diversity in its own leadership. The South African CAA’s director of civil aviation, Poppy Khoza – who was recognised in the Inspirational Role Model category in IATA’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards – underlines the importance of leaders setting the right tone. ”For as long as long as we have leaders who don’t have the foresight about the benefits of having both women and men working together, understanding one doesn’t haven’t to compete with each other, and that men and women have a lot of offer, then I think we we are doomed,” she says.<br/>
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Flair Airlines has the highest number of complaints per 100 flights of all the major airlines in Canada, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency, as airlines have had a rocky recovery year with delayed and cancelled flights. Between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, Flair saw an average of 15.3 complaints per 100 flights according to the report published in late April. Sunwing Airlines came second at 13.8 complaints per 100 flights, and Swoop Inc. was third at 13.2. Meanwhile, WestJet had 6.6 complaints per 100 flights, Air Canada had 4.3 and Air Transat averaged 3.3 complaints. Flair saw four of its leased planes seized in March because of overdue payments, causing hundreds of cancelled flights. John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University's aviation management program, theorized that the debacle for Flair was a symptom of cash flow issues at the airline. He said Flair had overcommitted itself and passengers were complaining about issues related to compensation. This dealt a blow to the airline's reputation, he said. However, as demand has crept up, Gradek said Flair is charging higher fares and therefore is likely generating more revenue. "Their cash position has improved significantly," he said. "They're now able to address any compensation claims that are being made by passengers, whether it's for bags or whether it's for delayed flights or cancelled flights." As demand for air travel has soared in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines have at times struggled to keep up and the past year has seen headlines about cancellations, delays and chaotic airports.<br/>
Turkey's Pegasus Airlines expects to order more planes after it completes taking delivery of an existing order by 2025, CE Guliz Ozturk told Reuters on Monday. The new order will "likely" be Airbus' (AIR.PA) A321neo narrowbody planes, Ozturk said, but did not specify a number or an exact date. "The growth is fuelled by the aircraft, isn't it?" she said. Pegasus is expecting the delivery of an additional 42 A321neo planes by the end of 2025, she added, on top of the planes that have been delivered so far. Pegasus expects to increase its capacity in line with the expansion of Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport, she said, and the additional planes would help it meet those capacity requirements.<br/>
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is embarking on a recycling initiative to re-use plastic catering equipment through a local facility. Emirates says the initiative will cover old or damaged plastic trays, meal dishes, bowls and other utensils. They will be brought into a ‘closed-loop’ system through which they are recycled into similar ready-to-use equipment for on-board catering. Emirates says it will introduce the utensils to its passenger service from this month. “The new initiative is a transition to the principles of a circular economy, whereby items are reduced, reused, and recycled,” the Dubai-based carrier states. It says “millions” of meal-service items will be collected, washed, and then transported to a facility to be ground down and reprocessed into new trays and dishes. The items would otherwise have been written off, adds Emirates. The new equipment will contain up to 25% of recycled material. Emirates is co-operating with sustainability specialist DeSter, which has a facility in the United Arab Emirates capable of handling the airline’s requirements, avoiding the cost of overseas transport.<br/>
Saudi Arabia's new airline Riyadh Air is in the midst of a three-part inaugural fleet acquisition including ongoing talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy a significant number of narrow-body jets, CE Tony Douglas said. The creation of a second Saudi national airline, with industry veteran Douglas as its CEO, was announced alongside an order for up to 72 Boeing 787s in March, as the kingdom moves to diversify its economy and serve over 100 destinations by 2030. Interviewed on the sidelines of a global airlines meeting in Istanbul, Douglas declined to give the size of the planned follow-up order for narrowbody jets, but told Reuters: "It's not going to be insignificant by any stretch of the imagination." He added: "That might not be our last order either".<br/>
Leading Sharjah-based budget carrier Air Arabia plans to double its current fleet capacity within the next 12 months, in a step that aims to support Abu Dhabi’s leisure and business tourism market and its growing aviation needs, reported WAM citing a top company official. "Tourism is one of the key pillars of the UAE economy. Abu Dhabi is an emirate with solid destination appeal and our enhanced fleet size will continue to support the current robust inbound tourism, in line with the Emirate’s long-term vision of growing regional and global visitor numbers," stated Group CEO Adel Al Ali. "In 2022, a record 15.9m guests travelled through Abu Dhabi, nearly threefold the number of visitors in 2021 at 5.26m. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, which complements Etihad Airways’ services from the UAE capital, is contributing to this remarkable growth by catering to the growing low-cost travel market segment in the region," he stated, highlighting Air Arabia Abu Dhabi's contribution to the capital’s tourism growth.<br/>
Surf Air Mobility is moving ahead with its plan for a direct listing, the first significant company since 2021 to venture the alternative route to becoming publicly traded. The filing Monday by the regional air travel company confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg News that it was working with Morgan Stanley on the listing. Located at the Hawthorne Municipal Airport in the Los Angeles area, Surf Air is planning for its shares to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SRFM. After the listing and a combination with Southern Airways Corp., co-founder Liam Fayed will remain the largest shareholder with an 8.7% stake, followed by co-founder Sudhin Shahani with 7.3%, according to the filing. Surf Air had a net loss of $20.6m on revenue of $5.5m for the first three months of 2023, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That compared with a net loss of $10.6m on revenue of $4.8m in the same period the previous year. With Southern Airways included, the combined business had a loss of $15.2m on revenue of almost $28m on a pro forma basis during the first quarter of this year, according to the filing.<br/>
Rex Airlines, Bonza and Australia’s airports body are calling on the federal government to immediately make it easier for airlines to introduce flights at Sydney airport and challenge Qantas and Virgin, warning that higher air fares and poorer service will persist if nothing changes. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week savaged policy shortcomings that are shutting out meaningful competition and have allowed for a duopoly to develop in Australia’s aviation market. The warning was issued in the ACCC’s domestic aviation monitoring report on Monday, amid concerns of stubbornly high air fares that have not fallen with the recent decline in the cost of jet fuel. The ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, noted the allocation of slots specifically at Sydney airport as a barrier to competition, with the number of take-offs and landings capped by federal legislation. Cass-Gottlieb said “access to peak time slots at Sydney airport is critical for new and expanding airlines seeking to build an intercity network”. Critics claim the current system benefits existing operators, as they can schedule more flights than they intend to run and selectively cancel them to still meet the “use it or lose it” rule of running at least 80% of a service to retain its slot and prevent competitors from introducing a rival service – dubbed “slot hoarding”. The CE of new budget carrier Bonza, Tim Jordan, said his airline was desperate to introduce flights in Sydney, but it has not been able to get any peak time slots that would make expansion viable. “It just seems wrong that we are unable to bring low-cost services to the Sydney basin, where almost a quarter of Australians choose to call home,” he said.<br/>
New Guinea carrier Air Niugini has ordered a pair of Boeing 787-8s, which will be used to expand its international network. Announcing the order, Boeing did not give a value or a timeline for deliveries. “Signing this contract with Boeing for the purchase of two modern, widebody 787 Dreamliners will enable Air Niugini to grow its network across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand and fulfill its mission as the premier airline in Papua New Guinea, providing the best air service in the region,” says Gary Seddon, acting CE of Air Niugini. The aircraft will see new routes added, and boost capacity for inbound tourism to New Guinea. Cirium fleets data indicates that Air Niugini had ordered a single 787-8 ordered in 2007, but that this was cancelled in May 2019. As for its existing fleet, Air Niugini has 10 aircraft in service and eight in storage. In-service aircraft comprise two 767-300ERs, one 737-800, four Fokker 70s, two Fokker 100s, and a single Dassault Falcon 900. Stored assets comprise five Fokker 100s, two Fokker 70s, and a single De Havilland Canada Dash-8 Q400. The airline also has orders for four 737 Max 8s, in a deal originally announced at the 2016 Singapore Airshow. Cirium indicates that these four aircraft will, following deferrals, not be delivered until 2028.<br/>