unaligned

JetBlue Airways estimates that it could raise fares on some routes by up to 40% if it succeeds in buying Spirit Airlines and eliminating the low-fare carrier as a competitor on those routes. The internal calculations appeared in court filings made earlier this week, and which JetBlue says were not properly redacted. JetBlue said Thursday that information from the filings is being taken out of context to distort the facts. Consumer advocates jumped on the news, saying that the accidental disclosure supports the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit aiming to block JetBlue’s $3.8b purchase of Spirit, the nation’s largest discount airline. Even before the government lawsuit, lawyers for about two dozen consumers sued JetBlue and Spirit last November in U.S. district court in Boston, claiming that the merger would reduce competition and lead to higher prices. Documents filed Tuesday in that case were redacted, but in a way that made it possible to see the hidden information by copying and pasting the text into a new document. The revelation was first reported by Law360, which covers legal news. Law360 told USA Today that the documents are no longer posted publicly. The documents would seem to undercut JetBlue’s argument that consumers would benefit from the merger because the combined airline would be better able to compete against giants like American, Delta and United.<br/>

Spirit Airlines has agreed to pay up to $8.25m to settle a class action lawsuit by passengers who said the low-cost carrier blindsided them with surprise carry-on bag fees on tickets bought through third-party travel services. Lawyers for the passengers disclosed the deal in a motion late Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn and asked a judge to approve it, saying it "represents a fair compromise." The class includes first-time Spirit fliers who booked their flights through Expedia, Travelocity, Kiwi, CheapOair, CheapTickets or BookIt between August 2011 and May 2017, when the lawsuit was filed. Eligible travelers who seek refunds under the deal will get up to 75% of their fees back, though it could be lower depending on the total amount of refunds sought by all class members. The $8.25m maximum payout will include attorneys' fees, according to the motion. Spirit and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Like other low-cost airlines, Miramar, Florida-based Spirit relies on added fees to help make up for lower base fares. Plaintiffs in the 2017 lawsuit accused the carrier of advertising misleading low prices on travel websites that concealed the "gotcha" bag fees travelers would have to pay at the airport. They said these fees were sometimes as much as the tickets themselves. The plaintiffs originally sought $100m in punitive damages, though that was dropped from a later version of the lawsuit.<br/>

Spirit Airlines passengers were allegedly forced to wait more than seven hours in the plane before takeoff, the latest incident from the controversial airline. On 15 August, passenger Lindsey Mascera shared a video to TikTok which showed a plane full of passengers who reportedly waited seven hours inside the aircraft. The video has since been viewed more than 11m times. Most airlines usually allow passengers to off-board the plane or find another flight in the case of delays, but according to Mascera’s TikTok, passengers were left fidgeting and standing as they waited for news from the airline staff. “We have 200 passengers on this flight right now,” Mascera said in the video. “How long have you been waiting?” "Seven hours,” a fellow passenger replied, to which the TikToker claimed: “They told us it was going to be 30 minutes and we’re all still on this flight. It’s almost 11 pm and we’ve been here since 4pm.” She then panned her camera towards the empty cockpit: “We got delayed, and now there’s no pilots to be found and there’s no answer.” Although well-known for its low ticket prices, Spirit Airlines is perhaps best known as the second most complained about airline in the US, according to data on passenger complaints from the US Department of Transportation. Many grievances ranged from flight delays, to cancellations, to missed flight connections.<br/>

Devils Lake Regional Airport is partway through a $14.8m terminal renovation that will double its size and add a boarding bridge to protect travelers from the harsh North Dakota winter. A decision by federal regulators could pose a significant threat to jet service and how many passengers ever set foot in the revised airport. SkyWest Airlines is the only carrier that currently flies to Devils Lake, and its ambitious plan to keep and expand service in small US cities has been awaiting US Transportation Department approval for more than a year. But the FAA signaled Thursday that it plans to make sweeping changes to regulations governing charter operations, potentially threatening the airline’s SkyWest Charter subsidiary as well as competitors like JetSuite Inc.’s JSX. The plans concern federal rules that allow for charter flights to operate under less stringent standards than larger flights. SkyWest Charter would use regional jets reconfigured with 30 seats instead of 50 and operate flights on a public timetable open for anyone to book. They’re also an indirect way for SkyWest, the nation’s largest regional airline, to deal with a crippling pandemic-induced labor shortage: When flights are classified as charters, carriers can use older or less experienced pilots who would not be eligible for hiring on large jets. SkyWest’s move has become a major flash point in the industry, attracting fierce opposition from the Air Line Pilots Association, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and other aviation labor groups that claim the plan takes advantage of a loophole in federal regulations and the flights will be unsafe and pose a security risk. <br/>

Devils Lake Regional Airport is partway through a $14.8m terminal renovation that will double its size and add a boarding bridge to protect travelers from the harsh North Dakota winter. A forthcoming decision by federal regulators may determine just how many passengers ever set foot in it. SkyWest Airlines is the only carrier that currently flies to Devils Lake, and its ambitious plan to keep and expand service in small US cities requires US Transportation Department approval. The carrier plans to create a subsidiary — SkyWest Charter — to operate flights under less stringent charter regulatory standards than its parent company. It will use regional jets reconfigured with 30 seats instead of 50 and will operate flights on a public timetable open for anyone to book. The strategy is an indirect way for the nation’s largest regional airline to deal with a crippling pandemic-induced labor shortage: When flights are classified as charters, federal rules allow carriers to use older or less experienced pilots who would not be eligible for hiring on large jets. SkyWest’s move has also become a major flash point in the industry, attracting fierce opposition from the Air Line Pilots Association, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and other aviation labor groups that claim the plan takes advantage of a loophole in federal regulations and the flights will be unsafe and pose a security risk. The Transportation Department declined to comment on its lack of action to date on SkyWest’s request, but it recently signaled in an online posting that it is considering “revisions” to the federal regulations governing certain types of charter operations. Its decision could have far-reaching impact on other carriers, including the rapidly growing JetSuite Inc., a Dallas-based charter carrier that operates as JSX. And it will shape the futures of small airports that aim to welcome these flights, not to mention the businesses and regional economic authorities that consider transit accessibility in their plans for investment and development. <br/>

Mexican airline Viva Aerobus on Thursday announced its first routes to a new international airport in the popular Mexican beach city of Tulum in Quintana Roo state. The flights will begin in December, and connect to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana, Viva Aerobus said.<br/>

Canadian carrier Porter Airlines is planning to enter the next phase of its North American expansion with its first flights to the USA using its new Embraer 195-E2s. The airline said on 24 August that it plans to operate seven new routes to five Florida cities starting in November and December. The routes include Toronto Pearson International airport to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, and Ottawa International airport to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. All of the new round-trip flights will be operated once daily. Most of the routes will begin in November, with the exception of Toronto-Miami, which will launch 12 December. ”Canadians represent the largest group of international travellers to Florida, and now they can choose to fly with the only airline that emphasizes style, care and charm in every aspect of the flight experience,” Porter says. Porter’s E195-E2s have 132 seats arranged in a two-by-two configuration. The company touts itself as “the only airline with no middle seats on every flight”. “Canadians are used to flying to Florida, but not like this,” adds chief commercial officer Kevin Jackson. ”Porter’s all-economy onboard service is unmatched by any other carrier in North America.” <br/>

Norwegian Air may consider adding Boeing's MAX 10 model to its fleet, CEO Geir Karlsen said on Thursday, after finding the plane's flight range was better-suited to the airline than initially thought. "We were kind of negative towards the MAX 10 back six months ago, partly because of the range these aircraft can fly in the network we are flying," Karlsen said. "Based on new information we have received, that has changed to some extent so we are actually evaluating right now whether we should bring MAX 10 into our fleet." The Boeing Max 10 was launched at the Paris Air Show in 2017, but has not yet entered into commercial operation. Boeing has said it expects the FAA to begin flight testing certification for the MAX 10 this year, and the first delivery is currently expected in 2024. The MAX 10 is the largest of Boeing's best-selling single aisle airplane family. Norwegian entered a deal to buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in May last year, and also secured options for a further 30 of the planes at an undisclosed price. In a Norwegian Air configuration, the Boeing MAX 10 would have 225 seats compared to the 189 seats for a Norwegian-configured MAX 8. "The seat cost would obviously go down, also of course depending on the price of the aircraft," Karlsen said. The carrier's 81-strong fleet currently consists of 16 Boeing MAX aircraft, and if Boeing's delivery schedule holds it will have 34 of by the end of next year - a third of the total fleet.<br/>

Norwegian is seeing no slowdown in the strong bookings trends it has experienced so far this summer, with its profitable second-quarter performance expected to extend into the current three-month period. Outlining its results for the April-June period on 24 August, the Scandinavian low-cost carrier reported an operating profit of NKr651m ($61m) on operating revenue up 41% year on year at NKr6.9b. Its net profit came in at NKr538m. While Norwegian’s profitability has fallen significantly on a year on year basis, that is only because the carrier booked the reversal of an impairment in Q2 2022, which hugely inflated its profitability in that period. “The summer season of 2023 will be one the best in our history and I am happy that forward bookings remain strong with business travel returning and others planning their autumn holidays,” says Norwegian chief executive Geir Karlsen. “All in all, it looks promising,” he continues. “That’s why we can say that the third quarter is going to be an historically strong quarter, no doubt about that.” Karlsen notes that the booking strength in November and December is too early to call at this stage, “as the booking curve is still relatively short”. <br/>

Moldova’s civil aviation regulator has suspended the air operator’s certificate of Air Moldova, apparently at the airline’s request, over a lack of airworthy aircraft. The airline, which embarked on a restructuring programme earlier this year, has effectively been inoperative for several months. According to the civil aviation authority, only one aircraft is under the airline’s control, but it has been undergoing maintenance which has not been completed. It states that the airworthiness certificate of the aircraft expired on 21 August. “In the absence of a valid airworthiness certificate denoting the operability of the aircraft, the airline cannot hold an air operator’s certificate,” the authority says. But it adds that the suspension was imposed “at the request of the operator”. The suspension will remain in effect at least until 31 October. The regulator has directed passengers to contact the carrier to claim any reimbursement. Air Moldova has been issuing regular updates over disruption to its flights for several months, the latest of which says its flights are suspended until 14 September.<br/>

Israir Group is citing higher demand, expansion of its network and implementation of technological changes for an improvement in its first-half results. The Israeli company generated a pre-tax profit of $7.2m for the six months to 30 June. Israir Group has disclosed revenues of $198m, up from the previous interim figure of $140m, while it limited expenditure for the period to $174m. Along with general higher levels of activity, it says, changes on the domestic route to Eilat have resulted in the loss-making service transforming into a profitable one. Israir Group’s financial statement also shows that the company benefited from additional income relating to updated provisions from its former ATR aircraft spares inventory, as well as a Greek hotel property deal. Q2 net profit of $4.85m enabled the company to turn in a first-half net profit of $7.7m. The company is to expand its fleet next year with the addition of another pair of Airbus A320s, each dry-leased for seven-and-a-half years. When the twinjets arrive in Q2 2024, they will take the fleet to eight owned or dry-leased A320s, complemented by three wet-leased aircraft. The aircraft are being sourced through a “foreign company”, with which Israir signed a memorandum of understanding on 11 August.<br/>

Nigeria's president, Bola Tinubu, has ordered an immediate resolution to disagreements with Emirates Airline and visa issuance by the United Arab Emirates, the president's spokesman said on Thursday. The UAE stopped issuing visas to Nigerians last year after Dubai's Emirates suspended flights due to an inability to repatriate funds from Africa's biggest economy. Tinubu's office said in a statement on Thursday that he met with the UAE's ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, and that Tinubu is prepared to "personally" intervene in the dispute. "We must work together. We need to agree on core aviation and immigration issues," Tinubu said. Al-Shamsi was quoted in the same statement as saying; "We are getting somewhere. These are small issues, all within a family, and they will be resolved." Emirates Airline said in March it has "substantial" revenue trapped in Nigeria and has made slow progress in repatriating the blocked funds. Nigeria has withheld at least $743m in revenue earned by international carriers operating in the country, global airline industry association IATA said in March. Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, faces shortages of foreign currency despite some reforms. The dollar shortages have made it difficult for some foreign airlines that sold tickets in the Nigerian naira currency to get their money out of the country.<br/>

Indian budget airline SpiceJet told a court on Thursday it was "struggling to stay afloat", as it was ordered to make a payment to its former owner over money owed. In 2018 SpiceJet lost an arbitration case arising out of share transfers from former owner Kalanithi Maran to the company's new management in 2015, making the airline liable to pay $70m plus interest. Maran later took SpiceJet to court saying he was still owed $48m. In a Delhi High Court hearing on Thursday on Maran's case demanding the dues, SpiceJet said it was struggling financially. "We are struggling to stay afloat," the airline's lawyer Amit Sibal told the judge. SpiceJet offered to deposit 750m rupees ($9.08m) within 10 days, but the judge ordered the airline to pay 1b rupees ($12m) by Sept. 10 and warned it could consider seizing the company's assets to recover the dues, if it fails to comply. SpiceJet said in a statement it would honour the court order and "make the specified payment within the prescribed timeframe." The order comes days after India's Supreme Court, in a separate case, asked SpiceJet's Managing Director Ajay Singh to appear in court and defend allegations by Credit Suisse claiming certain unpaid dues. Both the Delhi High Court case and the Supreme Court case will next be heard on Sept. 11.<br/>