JetBlue Airways has withdrawn its complaint against the Dutch government after securing favourable summer take-off and landing slots at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport, but warns that it will renew the fight for access to the busy European hub if necessary. In a 6 March letter from the US Department of Transportation (DOT), JetBlue was notified that its complaint – filed in response to tight capacity restraints that threatened its access to Schiphol – has been dismissed, as it had requested last month. ”JetBlue has successfully worked with the slot coordinator at [Schiphol], the European Commission and KLM to secure historic-eligible slots for the summer 2024 scheduling season at commercially viable times,” says the DOT. The New York-based carrier successfully launched transatlantic services from the East Coast of the USA in summer of 2023, but its initial request for continued slot access in Amsterdam was not granted. It filed a complaint with the DOT in September 2023. US regulators sided with JetBlue, finding that “implementation of the government of the Netherlands’ Phase 1 noise reduction plan at Amsterdam airport… constituted unjustifiable and unreasonable activities” under the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act. EC regulators also took a favourable view of JetBlue’s case, as it said last month it would have intervened if the US carrier had been unable secure “appropriate access” to Schiphol. “JetBlue has improved its slot portfolio at Amsterdam airport during the later phases of the slot allocation procedure and has eventually obtained all the slots it needs to continue operating at Amsterdam airport throughout the IATA summer 2024 season,” the commission said. “As a result, consumers will not be deprived of choice at a time of strong demand for transatlantic services.”<br/>
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Spirit Airlines bondholders, growing increasingly worried about the company’s ability to manage its more than $3b of borrowings, are mapping out a strategy that they think may insulate them from devastating losses in the event the air carrier can’t repay its obligations. The plan, dubbed a “triple-dip” by some of the creditors, would aim to capitalize on a series of moves the airline made during a 2020 bond sale. Certain company units sold notes backed by Spirit’s loyalty program and intellectual property, and sent proceeds of the deal to the airline’s parent company, which also guaranteed the debt. The mechanics of the deal resemble a structure known as the “double-dip” that has helped struggling companies raise fresh financing in exchange for giving lenders two claims on the company’s assets, said the people who asked not to be identified because talks were private. A representative for Spirit declined to comment. Representatives for bondholder advisers Evercore Inc. and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld didn’t respond to requests for comment. In Spirit’s case, the bondholders believe they have three claims — to Spirit’s guarantee, the intercompany loan and the loyalty program and related assets, the people said. A “triple-dip” hasn’t yet been tested in court, but “double-dip” creditors have ended up with improved recoveries in past bankruptcies. When American Airlines’ then-parent company AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy, double-dip creditors who had claims tied to both American and the parent received full payouts when AMR emerged from court protection in 2013. The bondholders are examining options that would further boost their claims on the collateral, some of the people said. <br/>
American Airlines’ regional subsidiary Envoy Air is planning to take an additional 12 large regional jets, with the first of the aircraft due for delivery in 2025. Irving, Texas-based Envoy disclosed the planned fleet expansion on 5 March, on the heels of American’s 90-strong order for Embraer 175s. American’s deal with Embraer includes potential order options for a further 43 of the type. With the additional incoming E-Jets, Envoy expects its total fleet to grow to 181 aircraft – 178 E175s and 43 E170s. ”This expansion is on top of the fleet growth previously announced during 2023 and early this year,” Envoy says. <br/>
After pursuing an aggressive early growth strategy, US start-up carrier Global Crossing Airlines has cooled off on its ambitious fleet-expansion plans. Global Crossing, which operates as GlobalX, now plans to grow its fleet to 35 aircraft by the end of 2026, rather than its previous goal of eventually operating 50 aircraft, executives revealed during the company’s quarterly earnings call on 6 March. ”We could grow to 50 really fast, but you’ll see what we saw last year where you have to make huge upfront investments,” says president Ryan Goepel. “I’d rather grow through our own cash flow and use positive cash flow, versus outside money. We think getting to 35 is a much more measured and much more achievable growth target,” he adds. During an investor presentation in November 2023, GlobalX said it was “actively transitioning its fleet towards [an] equal mix between passenger and cargo aircraft, totalling 50 by 2025”. Last year, the carrier said it had set a goal of growing its fleet to 30 jets by the end of 2024, which now appears unlikely. GlobalX currently operates 15 Airbus A320-family aircraft, all of which are leased. The carrier expects delivery of another jet as soon as next week. <br/>
Flair Airlines CE Stephen Jones says he still hopes to add several Lynx Air planes to his fleet, even after their tentative merger fell through when Lynx shut down last month. Jones said the Boeing 737 Max 8s are the same model that comprise the bulk of his 20-plane fleet and would bolster the discount airline's stalled growth plans. "We would love to get access to those aircraft — not all of them, but we'd love to get access to some at least," he said. "We're very interested in an open process." In an Edmonton court filing, Flair's CE sought to have Lynx include it among those allowed to bid on the insolvent airline's assets. The court-supervised asset sale currently before the judge — who must approve the process — could lead to a "highly anti-competitive result" if large airlines are allowed to bid while Flair is locked out, according to an affidavit from Jones. Any process that gives Lynx the final say — which selects the "pre-qualified bidders" — over who can submit offers "unfairly prejudice" the sole remaining budget carrier in the Canadian market, the document argues. Court filings state that Lynx has $345m in property and equipment, with nine leased planes counted as assets, alongside $355m in long-term lease liabilities. Some observers question whether Flair has the financial stability to mount a serious bid, especially as consumers' travel appetite levels off amid higher interest rates and inflation. "As much as Jones has got a lot of bravado that he's showing, he hasn't got the financials to support it," said John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University's aviation management program.<br/>
South African regional carrier Airlink will focus on standardising configurations within its Embraer regional jet fleet after a period of rapid growth since starting operations under its own brand three and a half years ago. Airlink has grown to a fleet of 66 Embraer aircraft, ranging from 37-seat EJR-135s and 44-seat ERJ-140s to a mix of larger Embraer 170, 190 and 195 jets. ”For the foreseeable future, certainly our next five-year time horizon, I can’t see us putting our name on a piece paper for new aircraft,” Airlink CE Rodger Foster tells FlightGlobal during a recent wide-ranging interview. On the one hand, he says the airline plans to operate its 27 ERJ-135/145s regional jets for as long as possible. “They are paid-up assets and they are very useful on the thinner routes in order to get to the frequencies [we need],” Foster explains. ”As far as the E-Jets are concerned, we need to rationalise the variants there. We will probably end up with only one standard type going into the future. It may take us a few years to get to that. At the moment we are operating a few Embraer 170s, a rather large fleet of Embraer 190s – not all in standard [98 seat] configuration – we’ve got a couple of variants which are in a different configuration. ”Part of our efforts over the next year or two is to get them into a standard configuration.”<br/>
Emirates President Tim Clark threw his support behind Boeing Co.’s leadership as the manufacturer works through a crisis of confidence triggered by a near-catastrophic accident, saying the company understands what needs to be fixed and that the reintegration of a key supplier is a step in the right direction. “I think Calhoun and his colleagues are on it,” Clark told journalists in Berlin, referring to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun. “This is so urgent. If we had any issue like this we’d take the company apart, we wouldn’t sleep. You’re expected to do the right thing.” Clark has said Boeing has one final chance to right the company following the Jan. 5 blowout of a door panel on a 737 Max 9 model during flight. To stabilize the business, Boeing needs to review its governance model and consider enlisting support from what Clark called third parties with expertise in engineering to help Boeing address its manufacturing issues. “Just get the quality done correctly, it’s what the US government expects, it’s what the flying public expects,” Clark said. “If they haven’t got the message, they’ll never get the message. I think they got the message.” Emirates is among Boeing’s most important customers, having recently added to its fleet of 777 widebody aircraft. Clark said Calhoun and the head of the civil aircraft business, Stan Deal, should be given a chance to make the required fixes, and that “they understand it, they have to get the people to do it.” Boeing’s talks to bring back Spirit AeroSystems Inc., the supplier of large parts of its airframes, are a “step in the right direction,” Clark said. Spirit said last week that it’s exploring strategic options, and Boeing confirmed that the two sides are in discussions about bringing the former subsidiary back under its roof. <br/>
Iraq’s government has openly floated the idea of establishing an associate carrier to Iraqi Airways as it continues efforts to improve operations and lift long-running restrictions imposed by European regulators. Prime minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani chaired a high-level meeting on 26 February to review the work of the carrier. According to the prime minister’s office, attendees of the meeting discussed the idea of “establishing an auxiliary airline company” based on studying business models from specialist aviation consultants. Iraqi Airways was blacklisted by the EC towards the end of 2015 and, despite several rounds of talks, the restrictions have remained in place, forcing the airline to resort to wet-leasing to serve European destinations. At the end of last year the Commission stated that it planned to carry out an on-site assessment of airline oversight by the Iraqi civil aviation authority – focusing on both the regulator and “selected air carriers” after adding Fly Baghdad to its blacklist.<br/>