US Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes to answer if the low-cost airline privately forecast its planned $3.8b merger with Spirit Airlines will dramatically hike air fares, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Warren, a Democrat, cited reports that court documents suggested internally JetBlue had estimated fares on Spirit planes "could go up by as much as 40%," following the merger. Warren said in the previously unreported letter that if accurate the documents "reveal that you have misled the public about the impacts of your merger – and they reveal that the merger will result in higher costs and reduced service for airline passengers." The documents were filed by lawyers suing to block the merger on behalf of private travelers. The information Warren cited had been redacted, but remained visible on the documents. JetBlue said the reported claims do "not reflect facts set out in JetBlue documents." The carrier said the 40% figure was plaintiffs' "spin on confidential evidence" and that "the factual evidence ... will demonstrate that JetBlue intends for the merger with Spirit to increase competition and help lower fares across the board." Warren also asked if JetBlue documents show "Spirit’s exit from a route results in market-wide price increases of all other airlines serving that route by 30%." She also sent a copy of the letter to Spirit CEO Ted Christie. A judge has set an Oct. 16 non-jury four-week trial in a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking to halt the JetBlue acquisition. The Justice Department challenged the deal, saying it would eliminate competition, lead to higher ticket prices, reduce passenger capacity and shrink consumer choices. Hayes told Reuters in March that JetBlue will still serve Spirit customers buying very low-cost tickets and rejected the idea fares will go up.<br/>
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US airlines have scheduled too many flights this fall for the number of travelers, Breeze Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman said. This is pushing down airfares just as fuel prices are rising and putting pressure on airline profits. “There’s a lot of people traveling [this fall] but you just have to fill that extra 20% of seats,” he told The Airline Observer founder Brian Sumers at the Skift Global Forum in New York on Wednesday. “Fares have come down as fuel prices have gone up, and that’s challenging.” US domestic airline seats are scheduled to increase nearly 8.4% from 2022 levels in the fourth quarter, according to Cirium Diio schedule data. That comes after a 8.6% increase in the third quarter. Compared to 2019, capacity will be up 2.5% in the September quarter and 4% in the December quarter. The number of travelers was up on average 3% from 2019 levels this month, according to the latest TSA screening data. At the same time, the price of jet fuel was up nearly 50% to $3.17 per gallon on September 26 from its bottom in May, according to data from airline industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A). Fuel and labor are the two largest expenses for airlines. Neeleman is the latest executive of a US budget airline to highlight weak travel demand this fall. Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines surprised the market earlier in September when they both forecast losses in the third quarter, which is historically a strong end-of-summer travel period. They cited increased “promotional activity” — in other words, fare sales — weak close-in bookings, and the rise in fuel prices for their outlooks. Demand is “soft but we’re looking forward to a good winter,” Neeleman said.<br/>
Ryanair said it faces broad delivery delays of the 737 Max aircraft as Boeing deals with the latest supplier glitch afflicting the workhorse jet, with disruptions poised to linger through mid-2024. Boeing advised the Irish discount specialist at a meeting this week that it will only be able to deliver 14 of the 27 aircraft due by late December, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in an interview Wednesday in London. The setback is the result of quality lapses at Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc., which builds the jet’s frame, he said. The timing of deliveries of the remaining 43 aircraft scheduled to arrive by next April is “in the lap of the gods”, O’Leary said. Boeing aims to push back some of the handovers into the peak summer period next year, while Ryanair wants the planes sooner. The disruption is particularly vexing for Ryanair as it needs all the capacity it can get to benefit from the post-pandemic travel boom, the CEO said. “We’re really getting worried,” O’Leary said of Boeing. “Most of the delays here are production failures, quality control failures in Wichita or Seattle and they have to eliminate those. They build great aircraft but quality control and production problems have really become a feature of the last couple years.” The disruptions at one of Boeing’s most important and loyal customers highlight the obstacles that the US manufacturer faces as it addresses supplier defects while trying to speed up work in its factories to meet soaring demand for fuel-efficient new jetliners. “We value our partnership with Ryanair and are committed to supporting them,” a Boeing representative said. Spirit AeroSystems recently discovered a drilling irregularity in the aft pressure bulkheads that helps maintain cabin pressure, affecting some Max 7, 8 and -8200 models — the high-density version ordered by Ryanair. The inspections are more complicated than for a separate issue found earlier this year, requiring X-ray probes of hundreds of holes per plane, Brian West, Boeing’s CFO, said this month.<br/>
Irish budget airline Ryanair's boss Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday the UK air travel industry was weaker than Europe's as British consumers grapple with high interest rates and a cost-of-living crisis. "Europe itself is strong, Italian domestics are strong, Spanish domestics are strong, Eastern Europe is strong. The UK I think is probably a little bit weaker with the exception of London," he said, referring to the demand for air travel in each market. "People are generally struggling here in the UK, interest rates are much higher, energy prices are higher, the economy is not in a good place here. We would expect weakness in the winter," he added, speaking at a press conference in London on the airline's winter schedule. Ryanair - Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers - is taking a cautious approach, O'Leary told reporters even as he estimated current booking levels were around 4%-5% higher than last year. He said "demand for travel is not insatiable", citing signs of a dip in consumer confidence. Earlier, the head of British Airways owner IAG, Luis Gallego, said demand for travel was "very, very strong", except from the corporate sector, adding that the recovery of corporate demand in Spain was happening faster than in Britain. A rebound in travel following the damaging impact of pandemic restrictions on the sector helped Ryanair make E663m in after-tax profits for the three months to June, beating market expectations.<br/>
Virgin Australia says it was blindsided by a government rejection in July of additional flights into Australia by partner airline Qatar Airways as pressure mounts on authorities to explain the decision. Speaking at a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra on Wednesday, Virgin’s CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said a meeting with Transport Minister Catherine King in January made her believe that Qatar Airways’ request to operate more flights would be granted. “I was left with a very clear impression that a decision to proceed was imminent,” Hrdlicka told senators on the panel. But Hrdlicka said her doubts grew after a May 1 conversation with King, who raised concerns about a 2020 incident at Doha airport in which Australian women were subject to invasive, naked inspections after a baby was abandoned in the terminal. “I was now concerned that the air rights might not be granted,” Hrdlicka said. She had a phone call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on July 13, when he also expressed concern about the same matter. Hrdlicka’s disclosures shed the most light yet on a government decision that has baffled academics and CEOs from aviation to banking. Qatar had asked to operate 28 more flights into major Australian airports, effectively doubling its capacity into the country. Demand for international flights is outstripping supply and fares have soared. The extra services would have delivered annual economic benefits of about A$1b ($638m), according to the University of Sydney. According to Hrdlicka, approving the Qatar Airways request was a no-brainer. “Our assumption was that this was an easy decision to make,” she said. “If anything, I regret that we did not lobby on this issue more actively and aggressively. The case of granting rights seemed so compelling that we didn’t believe it either necessary or appropriate.” The parliamentary inquiry is exploring Qantas’ potential influence on the decision after the airline, which controls 60% of the domestic market, lobbied the government over Qatar Airways’ application. Bain Capital-owned Virgin Australia argues the extra Qatar Airways passengers would have fed its own domestic network in Australia.<br/>
Vietnam's Bamboo Airways will embark on restructuring its aircraft fleet from next month to increase efficiency and optimize operating costs, the company said on Wednesday. "The restructuring process aims to stabilize Bamboo Airways' operations and further growth opportunities," it said in a statement sent to Reuters, adding that it aims to "increase the uniformity of aircraft types in the long run", without elaborating. The company also said it had agreed to adjust a cooperation agreement with an unidentified leasing company, adding this was a temporary step. It did not say what type of aircraft were involved or how many. Dozens of airlines have rescheduled deliveries or adjusted fleet plans since the pandemic, from which Asian airlines have staged a partial recovery. Bamboo's fleet comprises 30 planes, according to specialist websites Airfleets.net and Planespotters.net, including Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Embraer ERJ-190 jets.<br/>
A Pacific national carrier is “working as quickly as possible” to get a part delivered for its only Boeing 737 aircraft capable of international flights. 73 Kiwis are amongst hundreds of tourists stranded after Air Vanuatu cancelled a week's worth of flights earlier this week, right as school holidays kicked off in New Zealand and Australia. Almost 20 international flights have been cancelled or rescheduled, and the airline has pulled in Nauru Airlines to keep its flight paths open.<br/>Jonas George, commercial manager of the New Zealand arm of Air Vanuatu confirmed to Stuff on Wednesday, that the mechanical part required for its Boeing 737 aircraft had been sourced, and the airline is working to get it to Brisbane, “as quickly as possible”. “In the meantime, we are continuing to do what we can to get travellers where they need to be,” George said. “We are working closely with our partners at Nauru Airlines and expect they will be able to help operate additional services at the end of this week and into next week. We are continuing to assist travellers stuck in Vanuatu with accommodation and meals, and we are keeping the service desk at the Port Vila airport staffed to help answer questions.” George said the airline’s “full refund policy” for affected travellers remains in place, and guests can contact their travel agent or the customer service team to organise a refund or rebooking.<br/>