It isn’t just titans of Wall Street pushing for a return to pre-pandemic work expectations. Barry Biffle, CEO of Frontier Group Holdings Inc., said the airline plans to “double-down” on cutting costs and boosting productivity in response to a sudden slowdown in demand for the kind of domestic leisure trips that are his airline’s specialty. He didn’t specify what actions the company might take, but said the need to get leaner reflects a “society-wide” phenomenon all companies are confronting. “We got lazy in Covid. I mean seriously, people are still allowing people to work from home. All this silliness, right?,” Biffle said Wednesday at an investor conference hosted by Morgan Stanley. “All that’s out the window.” Biffle’s comments underscore how business leaders across the globe are pushing to restore more traditional workplace rhythms after millions of workers were sent home during the pandemic, many of whom are reluctant to return. Nearly one in three full-time US employees spend at least some part of their week working remotely, according to data from a team of economists including Stanford University’s Nicholas Bloom, who has tracked the behavior of thousands of Americans since the pandemic began. And the share of US companies that require full-time office attendance has declined this year, according to a survey from Scoop Technologies, which helps companies manage hybrid workplaces. “When we look at overhead versus 2019 adjusted for capacity, it’s up dramatically,” Biffle said. “Why do I have more people per plane in overhead than I had in 2019? It’s because they’re not as productive.” <br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines’ CE has taken issue with how RTX and subsidiary Pratt & Whitney (P&W) apparently plan to handle its recall of PW1100G geared turbofans (GTFs), which power Hawaiian’s Airbus A321neos. CEO Peter Ingram is particularly peeved at the lack of spare PW1100Gs, noting airlines will be forced to ground jets as a result – even though P&W plans in the coming years to continue delivering new engines for installation on new Airbus jets. “It is infuriating to think that this is going to be borne by the airlines that are operating the airplanes, and… the guests of those airlines who want to be travelling on those aircraft,” Ingram tells FlightGlobal on 12 September. “I think there needs to be a level of respect paid to people who bought the aircraft already.” Airline heads globally are scrambling to trim their networks and rework fleet plans after RTX executives on 11 September revealed more fully the impact of defective high-pressure turbine and compressor disks in PW1100Gs – one of two engine options offered by Airbus for A320neo-family jets. <br/>
After working for nearly two years as CFO of US regional carrier Mesa Airlines, Daniel Torque Zubeck is resigning from the company effective 15 September. Parent company Mesa Air Group disclosed Zubeck’s departure in a 13 September filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, adding that Michael Lotz – currently the company’s president – will fill the CFO position on an interim basis. ”His resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s financial statements, internal controls, operations, policies or practices,” Mesa says of Zubeck’s departure. Prior to taking on the role of Mesa’s CFO, Zubeck had worked with the company since February 2021 as senior vice-president of finance. Prior to that, he had had an 18-year career with Alaska Airlines, including time as director of financial planning and analysis and working for nearly 18 months as managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. Lotz has been president of Mesa since 2000 and worked as CFO from June 2008 through September 2021, the airline says. Phoenix-based Mesa has been navigating a turbulent transition away from flying on behalf of former mainline partner American Airlines. Mesa cut ties with American in December 2022 and entered a five-year capacity purchase agreement with United Airlines shortly afterwards. The regional carrier has since worked to transition its Bombardier CRJ-900s to United and has ceased operating under the American Eagle brand. During its most recent earnings call on 9 August, Mesa Air Group reported losing $47.6m during its fiscal Q3, with the airline’s block hours plummeting during its transition period. That compares with a $10m loss during the same period the year before.<br/>
Ryanair will expand operations out of its Zagreb base next year with plans to serve over thirty destinations during the 2024 summer season, up from 27 this year. Speaking at a press conference in the Croatian capital, Ryanair’s CCO, Jason McGuinness, said, “Last year we carried just over 900.000 passengers on our Zagreb flights, this year it will be closer to 1.2m and the plan is to continue growing in Zagreb. We are boosting connectivity and the economy and driving tourism. It’s all about direct connections. We had close to thirty destinations from Zagreb this summer, 27 to be more precise, and we will try to get that to over thirty for summer 2024. We are working with Huseyin [Bahadir Bedir, Zagreb Airport General Manager] and his team and that is because Ryanair is the only airline growing in Europe with the lowest fares and the lowest base costs”. As previously reported by EX-YU Aviation News, Ryanair will maintain flights to nineteen destinations this winter season, which begins on October 29, with an increase in frequencies on seven routes. The airline will introduce an additional two weekly flights for a total of four to both Malaga and Malta, as well as an extra service to Dublin, for a total of four. Basel, Beauvais, Gothenburg and Memmingen will all be operated three instead of two weekly. These do not include an increase in flights on most routes during the two-week Christmas holiday period. The carrier will also inaugurate operations to Lanzarote. “Our busiest routes out of Zagreb are London Stansted, Bergamo and Dublin. This record winter schedule will be operated on Ryanair’s three Zagreb-based aircraft, representing a $300m US dollar investment," McGuinness noted.<br/>
IndiGo operator Interglobe Aviation has been allowed to wet-lease 11 A320 aircraft, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday, citing sources at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This comes amid IndiGo grounding nearly 40 planes due to a Pratt & Whitney engine issue, the report said. Pratt's owner RTX (RTX.N) had on Monday said it would have to pull a total of 600 to 700 engines off their Airbus A320neo jets for lengthy quality inspections between 2023 and 2026. IndiGo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. RTX had in July said a rare powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine components and called for accelerated inspections affecting 200 engines by mid-September. Last month, IndiGo said it was assessing the impact on its fleet due to troubled Pratt & Whitney engines and it expects a fall in yield due to seasonal weakness in Q2.<br/>
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is on the verge of collapse as a top official of the national flag carrier has warned that flight operations are feared to be suspended by September 15 if emergency funds are not provided, Geo News has learnt. Speaking to Geo News on Wednesday, a senior director of the national flag carrier said the number of operational planes had been reduced to 16 from 23 which led to the cancellation of several flights. The official said aircraft manufacturers — Boeing and Airbus — have also suspended spare parts supplies to the PIA over non-payment and the national airline was incurring losses worth millions of rupees daily due to limited flight operations. The official also revealed that a PIA plane was stopped at Dammam airport while another four at Dubai airport over failure to pay for fuel. The planes were allowed to leave on written assurance of the PIA, the official said, adding that the IATA restored PIA services after an emergency payment of $3.5m was made. The official warned that flight operations may be suspended by September 15 if Rs23b were not provided in emergency funds. Meanwhile, a PIA spokesperson said in a statement that all-out efforts were being made to save the flight operations from suspension.<br/>
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has opened investigations into an in-flight upset involving a Boeing 737-800 operated by Virgin Australia. The aircraft was operating a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne on 6 September when the incident happened. Shortly before it reached cruise altitude, the 737’s rudder trim was accidentally activated, which caused the aircraft to yaw and roll to the left. According to the ATSB, the in-flight upset occurred as the aircraft flew west of the town of Ballina in New South Wales state. “The pilot flying was controlling the aircraft through the autopilot and attempted to correct the roll through heading inputs. Shortly after, the autopilot was disconnected, and the aircraft returned to normal flight,” the agency states. It adds that the ground proximity warning system was triggered during the incident. The ATSB has classified the incident as serious, and expects to issue a final report in Q1 2024. According to Cirium fleets data, the aircraft was delivered to Virgin Australia in 2013. It is on lease from Irish lessor AerCap, which owns and manages the aircraft.<br/>