Federal regulators have told Southwest Airlines that the carrier failed to provide enough help to travelers who were stranded during massive cancellations last December, and the airline could be subject to a fine. Southwest said in a regulatory filing Monday that it can’t estimate the cost of a fine and damages from lawsuits stemming from nearly 17,000 canceled flights last December. Southwest said the US Department of Transportation told the airline Friday that “it has determined the company had failed to provide adequate customer service assistance, prompt flight status notifications, and proper and prompt refunds and that the assessment of a civil penalty is warranted.” The government indicated in January that it was investigating Southwest over the service collapse, which stranded more than 2m travelers and cost the airline at least $1.1b in lost sales and extra costs including refunds. Southwest said in a quarterly financial filing Monday that it could also face costs from lawsuits filed by customers and shareholders. The filing followed Southwest’s report that its profit slid 30% in the July-through-September quarter and it will scale back growth plans early next year.<br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines expects up to four of its A321-200Ns to be grounded at any one time because of the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine recall issue. Hawaiian operates eighteen A321-200Ns on routes to California, Nevada, and Oregon, as well as some inter-island flights. Presently, two of those aircraft are grounded and awaiting engine inspections. Calling it a "significant near-term challenge," CEO Peter Ingram told an earnings call the airline had also seen several engine removals not associated with the powdered metal inspection issue, saying those removals had contributed to an increased flight cancellation in the early days of the current quarter. "We expect to have between two and four aircraft out of service at any point in time over the next few months," Ingram said, adding that the current schedules can accommodate up to four out of service aircraft. "We expect the situation for 2024 will improve as our engine inventory will be bolstered by the return of several engines that are already in the MRO pipeline. In July, Pratt & Whitney's owner, RTX, disclosed that "a rare condition in powder metal used to manufacture certain engine parts" for PW1100G engines between 2015 and 2020 could result in micro-cracks and fatigue, necessitating an engine recall that is now impacting airlines worldwide. The CEO said Hawaiian Airlines had reached terms with Pratt & Whitney on short-term compensation over their failure to supply the required engine spares, but that compensation agreement will expire later this year. Ingram says discussions with Pratt & Whitney about further compensation beyond the scope of the current deal are ongoing. Ingram says he wants more certainty around engine availability so the airline can plan more effectively over the medium and long term.<br/>
LATAM Airlines Monday posted a Q3 net profit of $232m, boosted by higher passenger revenue and a turnaround from a loss in the same period last year when the carrier was still in bankruptcy proceedings. The profit, which topped an analyst consensus, reverses a year-earlier net loss of $296m, with passenger revenue jumping 26%. Available seat kilometers (ASK), a measure of an airline's seats multiplied by kilometers flown, rose 15%, with recovery seen especially in international flights, LATAM said. The passenger boost plus lower jet fuel prices offset a 20% drop in cargo revenue to bring the carrier's adjusted operational margin to 13.4%. Q3 revenue, also beating consensus, rose 18% to a record $3.06b. The results were "better than expected," analysts at J.P. Morgan wrote in a client note, adding the news would likely be welcomed by the market. The airline late last year exited pandemic-related bankruptcy with an $8b reorganization plan. The airline's adjusted EBITDAR - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and restructuring or rent costs - increased in the quarter by 82% year-on-year to $726m. Last quarter, LATAM raised its forecasts for 2023. The airline now anticipates adjusted EBITDAR of $2.35b to $2.50b, versus the previous estimate of $2b to $2.2b. "We now think we're going to be in the upper end of that range," said CFO Ramiro Alfonsin in a call with journalists on Monday.<br/>
Swoop Airlines has officially ended its independent operations after its parent airline WestJet decided to fold operations under the same banner. In a tweet, the low-cost airline marked its final day of operations by thanking customers for their support over its five years in business. “As we merge with WestJet, we look forward to new adventures ahead,” Swoop wrote in the tweet. “Thanks to the loyal Swoop travellers for their support.” Over the summer, WestJet announced Swoop would be ending operations in October after pilots for both airlines reached a deal to bring them to a level pay scale, which made operating a low-cost airline less feasible, the Canadian Press reported back in June. The move is not resulting in any layoffs and the Swoop fleet will now be repainted with WestJet decals.<br/>
Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat is targeting Africa for the first time with plans to launch flights between Montreal and Marrakesh, Morocco in June 2024. The Montreal-based airline plans to operate twice-weekly flights to Marrakesh starting 12 June and continuing through 24 October. Flight frequencies will then be reduced to once weekly during the Northern Hemisphere winter. ”The Montreal-Marrakesh [route] with our partner Air Transat is the first nonstop connection to Marrakesh from North America,” says Adel El Fakir, CE of the Moroccan National Tourism Office. Air Transat Group CE Annick Guerard calls the planned flights to North Africa ”a milestone in the evolution of our company”. ”This exclusive year-round service will meet the growing demand, generated by the significant presence of the Moroccan community in Montreal and the undeniable tourist appeal of Marrakesh,” she adds. Air Transat has in recent months expanded its network of transatlantic flights with a fleet of Airbus A321LRs that is now 14 strong, according to Cirium fleets data. It holds orders for a further five of the long-range A321neo variant. The airline is also looking to gain a greater foothold in Mexico and South America starting in December. <br/>
Israel's El Al Airlines said Monday it had temporarily stopped flying over Omani airspace on its route to Bangkok for safety reasons. El Al in February became the first Israeli national carrier to use a new corridor over Saudi Arabia and Oman, after Muscat joined Riyadh in allowing Israeli civilian overflights. An El Al spokeswoman said there was no specific threat to El Al aircraft but the airline opted to revert back to a route over Saudi Arabia but not Oman, lengthening the flight time between Tel Aviv and Bangkok to 11 hours from eight. El Al, she said, is seeking a new route over Oman and has asked Omani officials for approval. Israel has stepped up security on all its transport networks since attacks by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza.<br/>
Vistara plans to launch a handful of new routes next quarter as it approaches the end of its time as a standalone Indian airline, CEO Vinod Kannan said. The full-service carrier will deploy new aircraft that are pending delivery for mostly international routes, Kannan said at an event to mark the introduction of Vistara’s daily Delhi-Hong Kong service Monday. The inaugural flight was more than 90% full and demand looks very strong throughout November, he said. “We will continue to expand internationally and we feel that demand will continue to grow,” Kannan told reporters in Hong Kong. “There will be two or three more new routes coming through in the first quarter of next year,” he said separately. Vistara has already announced it will soon start flights to Bali from India’s capital, as well as to Frankfurt from Mumbai. Paris is another possible route from the Indian financial hub, Kannan said. Vistara, co-owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines Ltd., is being merged with Air India Ltd. Founded a decade ago, the airline is expected to gradually disappear when regulatory antitrust hurdles to the combination are cleared, with jobs, aircraft and routes being transferred to Air India. Vistara’s flight schedules will be refined once merger approvals go through, and other aspects such as uniforms, aircraft livery and airport signage updated. The airline operates 63 aircraft, mostly Airbus SE single-aisle jets, and some Boeing Co. 787s, flying to 32 domestic and 16 overseas destinations. Kannan said international flights will account for 40% of Vistara’s operations by the end of the financial year. “The focus has been international, that is where we think we bring more value to the table,” he said. <br/>
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Monday it should be able to run more flights in the coming days as the state oil company extended a credit facility, allowing it to fund fuel purchases. Since Oct. 15, 349 PIA’s domestic and international flights have been cancelled because of disruption to fuel supplies. “The PIA’s disrupted operations are heading toward restoration after an improved fuel supply,” the airline said in a statement, adding that it has scheduled 45 flights for Monday. “The flight operations are expected to come back to normal routine in next few days with more improvement in the fuel supply,” the airline said. The airline has accumulated billions of dollars in losses and liabilities, which the caretaker government says it can no longer fund, and has been in dispute with the Pakistan State Oil company (PSO) over payments. On Monday, the PSO said “to further support the national carrier” it had extended the credit facility by 500m rupees ($1.82m). It added the PIA’s outstanding balance to the PSO was 26.8b rupees ($97.37m). The PSO had earlier this month suspended the credit facility, and the PIA had been paying 100m Pakistani rupees against daily purchase of fuel. Pakistan said in August it would privatise the airline as part of a fiscal discipline plan agreed under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. The airline has long been in the crisis.<br/>
The Sarawak government will upgrade MASwings to a regional airline from rural air service provider after its takeover from the federal authorities in the next three months, says Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg. He noted Sarawak aims to bring the state aviation sector to another level and expand its air connectivity to nearby regions, especially Hong Kong, Shenzhen in China, Singapore, Indonesia and other South-East Asian countries. “With the rural, regional and international air services, we are opening up Sarawak for more opportunities in trade and investment, as well as tourism and business events. For us to be more efficient in providing air services, we are preparing Sarawak to become an aviation hub and to tap the potential for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities and training centre for aviators in this region,” he said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the management of rural air services by Sarawak via the acquisition of shares in MASwings Sdn Bhd here last Friday. The MoU was signed between Sarawak state-owned Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd and Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the parent company of MASwings.<br/>