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American Airlines and JetBlue Airways said Friday they will begin to wind down their Northeast Alliance on July 21 after a US judge's order in May that they end the agreement. JetBlue said last week it would terminate the three-year-old alliance, which allowed the two carriers to coordinate flights and pool revenue. Both airlines said starting July 21, American and JetBlue customers will no longer be able to book new codeshare bookings on the other airlines. JetBlue has said it will not appeal the ruling, but American Airlines says it still plans to challenge US District Judge Leo Sorokin's decision that found the partnership "substantially" diminished competition in the domestic airline market. American is the largest US airline by fleet size while JetBlue is the sixth largest. The alliance's dissolution is a setback to American's strategy to grow revenue by relying more heavily on alliance partners to ferry passengers in uncompetitive markets. The Northeast Alliance helped American compete in the New York market, where it had been losing money. It allowed American to move away from unprofitable routes while maintaining a presence in New York and letting it feed traffic to its global partners. JetBlue argues terminating its alliance with American renders "entirely moot" the US Justice Department's objections that led it to file suit to block its merger deal with Spirit Airlines, which would be the biggest in the U.S. airline industry since American and US Airways merged in 2013.<br/>

Cathay Pacific Airways said it will provide bonuses of up to six weeks pay to employees after announcing that its net income for the first half of 2023 could reach as high as HK$4.5b ($576m) as it bounces back from Covid-19. Cathay’s shares jumped as much as 6.3% after the midday trading break in Hong Kong, hitting the highest this year. Hong Kong’s main airline is finally joining an industry-wide revival in fortunes as travel demand soars despite more expensive airfares. If the first-half profit comes in as forecast, it would be Cathay’s biggest since 2010, even though it is still only operating at about half of its pre-Covid-19 passenger capacity. Cathay posted a loss HK$5b in the first six months of 2022, when Hong Kong was still saddled with travel restrictions. The airline’s expectations for the first half already top the average full-year forecast of analysts for annual profit of HK$4.2b. “The Covid-19 pandemic was the most challenging period in our history,” CEO Ronald Lam said Friday, noting that the carrier recorded almost HK$34b in losses over three years. “We are moving further and further away from those difficult days with each week that passes.” In what the company calls a “special appreciation reward”, Cathay will pay staff who stayed through the pandemic up to six weeks’ salary in September, Mr Lam said. A profit-sharing programme will also be introduced for 2023 to 2025, he said, adding that details on that will be shared in August.<br/>

The pursuit of justice for the victims killed in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 continues, says the Transport Ministry on the tragedy's ninth anniversary. It said that the fight is not over despite a Dutch court sentencing two Russians and a separatist Ukrainian to life in prison for causing the flight to crash. "The verdict of the criminal case of the downing of MH17 delivered by the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands on Nov 17, 2022 marks a significant milestone in uncovering the truth and establishing justice for all 298 victims and their next-of-kin,” said the ministry. Out of the 298, there were 43 Malaysians on the flight. "Nevertheless, the pursuit of justice does not conclude with this development,” added the ministry. It then said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council decided at its 228th session meeting on March 17 that it will proceed with the hearing on the Settlement of Differences between the conflicting parties. "Malaysia is resolute that the process must pursue truth, justice and accountability," said the ministry in the statement on Monday (July 17). <br/>

Qantas and Virgin now account for 95% of Australia’s domestic aviation market, a dominance that dwarfs industries such as banking and supermarkets and has allowed the airlines to jack up profit margins, the national airport body has warned. The continued duopoly of Qantas Group – which includes budget carrier Jetstar – and Virgin Australia in the domestic aviation sector has also allowed air fares to rise above pre-pandemic levels even when adjusting for inflation, the Australian Airports Association (AAA) said in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry. Domestic air fares in Australia have increased by 22.6% between 2019 and 2022, the AAA said, with an increase of 19.3% between the first quarters of 2020 and 2023. Airlines have been increasing air fares despite the price of jet fuel falling. Prices dropped to US$137 a barrel in May, down from the high of $US259 in June 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine when airlines cited the high cost of fuel to justify record ticket prices. The AAA said despite cheaper jet fuel, and airport charges increasing by just 3% between 2019 and 2022, Australian domestic air fares were still high. Meanwhile, without meaningful competition, the two airline giants have had little incentive to improve on time performances, with the AAA noting cancellation and delay rates have regressed. The AAA said domestic on-time performance for April 2023 was 71.8%, “well below the long-term industry average” of 81.5%.It raised concern at Qantas and Virgin’s market share, but was most concerned with Qantas’ dominance – now 66% of domestic aviation – especially after the pandemic when Virgin went into receivership and emerged with new owners.<br/>