United Airlines appeared to restore more normal operations on Friday after a weeklong struggle to recover from flight delays and cancellations ahead of the busy Fourth of July holiday. The airline’s disruptions began last weekend in the New York area. At the time, United blamed thunderstorms and federal air traffic control staffing shortages and inexperience. Other airlines suffered flight delays and cancellations at the time, too, but by Wednesday United’s problems stood out as they spread to its operations across the country. Adding to the bad publicity for the airline, the company’s chief executive, Scott Kirby, on Wednesday took a private jet to Denver, where the airline has a hub, from Teterboro Airport, which is close to Newark Liberty International Airport, one of United’s biggest hubs. The airline said it did not pay for the trip and, in a statement on Friday, Kirby said he regretted taking that flight. “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” he said. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around the clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.” United's troubles began to improve in recent days. After canceling over a quarter of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, United scrubbed about 19% of its schedule on Thursday and about 8% by late afternoon on Friday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking firm. Still, the number of flights the airline canceled on those two days eclipsed cancellations by other carriers. United expressed optimism about its recovery on Friday. In a statement, the airline said that storms could present a challenge along the East Coast and in Denver and Chicago, but that United was “ready” for the busy weekend. “Our reliability continues to improve, with far fewer cancellations today compared to previous days,” United said. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, singled out the airline on Twitter on Thursday, sharing a chart that showed that other carriers had recovered from bad weather earlier in the week while United had not.<br/>
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United Airlines’ CEO Scott Kirby said that without more gates the airline will have to reduce or change schedules to handle frequent gridlock at its Newark, New Jersey, hub, a message that came after mass flight delays marred July Fourth holiday weekend travel. The carrier gave 30,000 frequent flyer miles to customers who were most affected by the chaos. “This has been one of the most operationally challenging weeks I’ve experienced in my entire career,” Kirby said in a note to staff on Saturday. He said that the airline needs more gates at Newark Liberty International Airport because of frequent aircraft backups there. “We are going to have to further change/reduce our schedule to give ourselves even more spare gates and buffer — especially during thunderstorm season,” he added. United didn’t provide more detail on the schedule reductions. A day earlier, Kirby apologized for taking a private jet out of New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport while thousands of passengers were stranded, CNBC first reported Friday. Problems began with a series of thunderstorms in some of the country’s most congested airspace along the East Coast last weekend, cutting off routes for aircraft. While most airlines recovered, United’s problems continued during the week, angering both customers and crews. United and JetBlue Airways executives said air traffic control problems worsened the disruptions. Kirby laid out the weeklong troubles and said long-term changes were needed. He said that extensively delayed departures, which piled up at its hub at Newark since last weekend, hurt its operation. Takeoffs were delayed by as much as 75% for longer than 8 hours in some cases from Sunday through Tuesday. “Airlines, including United, simply aren’t designed to have their largest hub have its capacity severely limited for four straight days and still operate successfully,” he wrote. Aircraft and crews were then left out of position, something that happens often during severe weather and can spark a cascade of disruptions for customers.<br/>
Thai Airways International, which sought bankruptcy protection in 2020 due to inefficient management and a sharp deterioration in its business because of COVID-19, is about to spread its wings wide again. "We have to grow," said CEO Chai Eamsiri, who has nearly 40 years of experience in the airline industry, in an interview with Nikkei Asia. "Otherwise, we will not be able to compete with other international airlines." He added that the airline will double the size of its fleet, which had shrunk under its restructuring plan, as it enters a new phase of expansion. Chai's focus is on India. "I think we do well on continental flights, like Europe and Australia, but we have to improve Western [routes] -- I mean India, Bangladesh and Pakistan," he said. India, with the world's largest population, has always had strong cultural and economic ties with Thailand. The number of tourists from China, a major target for Thailand, fell sharply because of Beijing's zero-COVID policy. The public and private sectors in Thailand are now working together to attract visitors from India. According to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, about 990,000 Indians visited Thailand in 2022, second only to Thailand's neighbor Malaysia. Preliminary figures for January to May this year also place the country among the top sources of visitors, with 600,000 Indians coming to Thailand so far. Chai revealed plans to expand Thai Airways' fleet, which had been cut to 65 planes as a restructuring measure, to 113 by 2027. The increase will be mainly in small, "narrow-body" aircraft, which are expected to be introduced in new markets, particularly India. Smaller aircraft carry fewer passengers but offer better efficiency, especially for short-haul flights. "For example, the secondary market in India is not like Delhi or Mumbai, and we can use narrow-body [aircraft]," said Chai. Chai's decision to shift from rationalization to expansion is based on the recovery of Thai Airways' business performance. Thai Airways sought bankruptcy protection in May 2020, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ineffective corporate management was an issue before the pandemic, however, and the company posted losses for three fiscal years through 2019.<br/>
Thai Airways International is to add four Airbus A320s – formerly operating with regional unit Thai Smile Airways – to its fleet, which it will operate on international routes. The four aircraft will feature an all-economy layout and will be initially be deployed on flights from Bangkok to Delhi and Mumbai, the carrier adds. The announcement comes as Thai Smile’s consolidation gathers pace. The airline in May announced plans to fold the regional unit into mainline operations, to boost operating efficiencies. Airline chief Chai Eamsiri said in June the airline intends to take all of Thai Smile’s 20 Airbus A320s, which will be deployed on domestic and short-haul regional routes. While Thai did not state which of the four A320s it will take, Cirium fleets data shows that at least one A320 (HS-TXQ, MSN6297) has been transferred to Thai’s fleet in June. The nine-year-old aircraft is powered by two IAE V2527 engines and seats 168 passengers. Thai also owns another four A320s (MSNs 6374, 6417, 6775, 6795) that still operate with Thai Smile. “The addition of A320s will enhance the airline fleet efficiency and improve aircraft utilisation as well as strengthen Thai’s route network to support the rising travel demands,” the Star Alliance carrier states. <br/>