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United Airlines on Monday forecast a Q1 loss due to the FAA’s grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 planes this month after a part blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight operated with that type of aircraft. United expects to post an adjusted loss of between 35 cents and 85 cents a share for the first three months of the year, it said in a filing. The forecast is the first indication for investors of the financial damage caused by the FAA’s grounding of the planes, issued a day after the incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5. United has 79 of the aircraft in its fleet, more than any other carrier, followed by Alaska. United said Monday it expects the planes to remain grounded through Jan. 26, though its forecast assumes it won’t be able to fly the planes at all this month. Both airlines have canceled hundreds of flights this month while the planes remain grounded for inspection. The more common Boeing 737 Max 8, which is in fleets at United, American and Southwest, isn’t affected by the grounding order. United said it expects unit costs, excluding fuel, to be up mid-single-digit percentage points in the first quarter from last year, three points of that impact coming from the Max grounding. It forecast flat unit revenues for the first three months of the year. The Q1 warning from United comes after a relatively strong holiday period, though airlines have faced several winter storms in the first few weeks of January.<br/>

One of Boeing’s biggest customers has lost confidence in the planemaker’s ability to overcome the ongoing quality lapses that climaxed this month with a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines flight. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has been venting his frustrations with management to colleagues and voicing his concerns over the handling of the Max grounding, according to people familiar with the matter. Kirby has stopped short of a direct appeal for change to Boeing’s top brass, while seeking to enlist support to revamp management from a range of parties, the people said, asking not to be named discussing confidential conversations. He has also spoken to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over the grounding, which is now heading into its third week. While the White House is monitoring the discussions, there’s no indication yet of what steps the Biden administration would take in response to complaints about Boeing. Buttigieg has been in touch with the planemaker, in keeping with the hands-on approach he’s taken with US airline executives — including Kirby — following service breakdowns. The fulminations targeting the planemaker by the often outspoken Kirby, who has been forced to ground dozens of 737 Max 9 aircraft following the Jan. 5 accident, underscore the pressure on Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and the company’s directors. The Federal Aviation Administration, which grounded most of the Max 9 fleet and is investigating Boeing production, on Sunday doubled down on its scrutiny of the company, asking airlines to inspect door plugs on an older 737 model. <br/>

German train drivers' union GDL announced a six-day nationwide strike on Monday, confronting Deutsche Bahn with the longest strike in its history, and further industrial action looms over the country's aviation sector. Labour union Verdi is set to continue wage negotiations with airline group Lufthansa on Tuesday, saying strikes are an option to increase pressure on Germany's flagship carrier. Story includes list of Lufthansa branches in negotiations, and what could be at stake for passengers.<br/>

The authorized share capital of EgyptAir Holding Company has been increased to EGP10b (US$323m), along with a corresponding rise in the number of shares. The value of each share has increased to EGP 1,000, as per the decision of the Minister of Civil Aviation, No. 1250 for the year 2023, published in the official gazette on Saturday, 20 January. The decision comes in an effort to mitigate the recent downfall of the country’s flagship carrier. The recent removal of EgyptAir from both the top 100 global airlines list and the top 10 Arab airlines list has led the Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee of Egypt’s House of Representatives to propose a comprehensive restructuring of the EgyptAir Holding Company on 17 January. This recommendation aims to address recent shortcomings in the airline’s services. In 2023, EgyptAir fell out of the top 100 global commercial airlines ranking published by Skytrax Global Airlines, slipping from its 95th position in 2022. Story has more details.<br/>

All Nippon Airways will launch three new routes between Tokyo and European cities in fiscal 2024 and resume or expand service on existing routes, tapping into renewed post-pandemic demand for travel to Japan. The Japanese carrier begins flights between Haneda Airport and Milan, Stockholm and Istanbul in the latter half of the fiscal year. The airline had intended to start serving the three cities before its plans were scuttled by the pandemic. ANA also resumes service between Haneda and Vienna in August after a hiatus of over four years, with three round-trip flights weekly. Combined with the new cities, this lifts the carrier's European routes to nine, from five now. It will add more flights to Munich and Paris as well in July, operating seven per week each. The airline just this month announced a codeshare agreement with ITA Airways, Italy's state-owned flag carrier. This expansion in Europe comes amid a sharp rebound in inbound tourism to Japan since the pandemic ended, even as the need to avoid Russian airspace after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has made flights to the continent longer and more expensive. The number of visitors to Japan was up 8% in December 2023 compared with the pre-COVID figure in December 2019, setting a record for the month, the Japan National Tourism Organization reports. Arrivals from North America, Australia, the Middle East and Asia all rose over that period. Visitors from Europe were still down around 10% to 20%, but are expected to pick up going forward.<br/>

Air India’s first Airbus A350-900 has begun commercial operations, marking the airline’s ongoing transformation efforts as it aims to return to the “upper echelons of world aviation”. The aircraft (VT-JRA) departed Mumbai for Chennai on 22 January, and will be deployed on other domestic flights to Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad in the coming weeks for crew familiarisation and regulatory compliance. “The aircraft will be later deployed for long-haul flights to destinations across continents, strengthening Air India’s growing fleet of widebody fleet, comprising its own and recently leased aircraft,” the Star Alliance carrier states. The airline did not indicate where it will deploy them on the international network, but says the aircraft’s long range enables non-stop flights from India to Australia, the USA and Canada. Air India also confirms it will be rolling out a widebody cabin upgrade from mid-2024, as it continues to take delivery of its A350s. The carrier has 20 A350s on order, and will take delivery of five more examples through March. The airline’s first A350 – together with its cabin products – was unveiled at the Wings India airshow in Hyderabad on 18 January. The aircraft has 316 seats in a three-class configuration: 28 business class suites, 24 seats in premium economy, as well as 264 seats in economy. <br/>