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United Airlines on Tuesday cut its aircraft-delivery expectations for the year as it grapples with delays from Boeing, the latest airline to face growth challenges because of the plane-maker’s safety crisis. United expects to receive just 61 new narrow-body planes this year, down from 101 it said it had expected at the beginning of the year and contracts for as many as 183 planes in 2024. “We’ve adjusted our fleet plan to better reflect the reality of what the manufacturers are able to deliver,” CEO Scott Kirby said in an earnings release. “And, we’ll use those planes to capitalize on an opportunity that only United has: profitably grow our mid-continent hubs and expand our highly profitable international network from our best in the industry coastal hubs.” United said it plans to lease 35 Airbus A321neos in 2026 and 2027, turning to Boeing’s rival for new planes as the U.S. manufacturer faces caps on its production and increased federal scrutiny. In January, United said it was taking Boeing’s not-yet-certified Max 10 out of its fleet plan. The airline said it has converted some Max 10 planes for Max 9s. It lowered its annual capital expenditure estimate to $6.5b from about $9b. United is also facing a Federal Aviation Administration safety review, which has prevented some of its planned growth. A spokeswoman told CNBC earlier this month that the carrier will have to postpone its planned service from Newark, New Jersey, to Faro, Portugal, and service between Tokyo and Cebu, Philippines. United earlier this month postponed its investor day, which was scheduled for May, “because our entire team is focused on cooperating with the FAA to review our safety protocols and it would simply send the wrong message to our team to have an exciting investor day focused primarily on financial results.” The airline said it would have reported a profit for the quarter if not for a $200m hit from the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 in January. The airline posted a net loss of $124m, or a loss of 38 cents a share, in Q1 compared with a $194m loss, or 59 cents, a year earlier.<br/>

United Airlines has signed letters of intent with two lessors to acquire 35 new Airbus A321neos starting next year, in a move backfilling Boeing 737 Max 10s dropped from its fleet plan. The additional A321neos will “allow for a more-consistent delivery schedule” of about 100 narrowbody jets annually between 2025 and 2027, the Chicago-headquartered carrier said on 16 April, when it also disclosed its Q1 financial results. The jets will be powered by CFM International Leap-1A engines. United does not reveal which lessors will deliver the jets or the financial terms of the deals. ”We’ve adjusted our fleet plan to better reflect the reality of what the manufacturers are able to deliver,” says CE Scott Kirby. “And we’ll use those planes to capitalise on an opportunity that only United has, [to] profitably grow our mid-continent hubs and expand our highly profitable international network from our best-in-the-industry coastal hubs.” The deal is another blow to Boeing’s beleaguered Max 10 programme, which remains in certification limbo. Last month, Kirby said the carrier was considering an order of A321neos to replace the Max 10s it has removed from its fleet plan, as certification of the largest variant of Boeing next-generation narrowbodies is pushed into 2025. <br/>

Police have made arrests in the theft of a cargo container that included gold and other items worth over C$20mi Canadian dollars that were stolen from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago, authorities said Tuesday. Peel Regional Police and the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau will announce details and arrests at a new conference about the case on Wednesday. Police said last April that a “high value” container was taken from a holding area facility after being unloaded off a plane. The missing goods were reported to police a short time after that. Police declined to provide more details at the time. Brinks, an American cash handling company, later sued Air Canada over the theft. According to the company’s filing last year, a thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a fake document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17. In a Nov. 8 statement of defense, Air Canada rejected “each and every allegation” in the Brink’s lawsuit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or “careless” conduct. The country’s largest airline also said Brink’s failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink’s did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada’s liability. In Federal Court filings that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brink’s said an “unidentified individual” gained access to the airline’s cargo warehouse and presented a “fraudulent” waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson. The statement of claim says the staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars plus nearly $2m in cash to the thief, who promptly “absconded with the cargo.”<br/>

Lufthansa's new remedies on its ITA Airways stake buy are not markedly different from an earlier package rejected by EU antitrust regulators which have also discounted Ryanair as a rival in its scrutiny of the deal, people familiar with the matter said. The two factors are key to whether the German carrier can secure EU antitrust approval for its E325m bid to acquire a 41% stake in Italian state-owned ITA, the successor to Alitalia. The airline sector has seen a slew of acquisitions in recent months, with the Lufthansa deal and British Airways owner IAG's bid to buy out Spain's Air Europa the most high-profile ones. Lufthansa submitted its latest remedies to the European Commission last Thursday, three months after its first offer was dismissed as insufficient. The EU competition enforcer and the airline did not provide details on both occasions. The first offer included ceding airport slots, traffic rights and planes to a rival, a person familiar with the matter had told Reuters. The remedies are not much different from what was submitted previously but there is the possibility of tweaks following feedback from the Commission, rivals and customers, the people said. They declined to be identified because the terms of the deal are confidential. However, failure to address the EU watchdog's concerns about competition on short-haul routes between Italy and Central European countries, as well as on long-haul routes between Italy and the United States, Canada and Japan, and ITA's market power at Milan's main airport could put the deal at risk of an EU veto. The Commission's decision to exclude Ryanair as a rival to Lufthansa despite the Irish budget carrier's more than 40% market share in Italy also underscores the German airline's uphill battle.<br/>

Shares of Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and other low-cost carriers (LCCs) have been hit by a strengthening dollar and soaring crude oil prices amid heightened tension in the Middle East, according to data and company officials, Tuesday. Airline stocks are swayed by the ups and downs of the two key indexes. Airlines incur more operational costs at this period, as they shoulder a heavier financial burden from leasing aircraft and purchasing jet fuel. According to data from the Korea Exchange, shares of Korean Air, the nation’s flag carrier, extended a losing streak on Tuesday, closing down 1.58% at 19,980 won ($14.28) per share. The airline’s stock price has continued a downward curve from the beginning of April, when the won-dollar exchange rate started soaring at an alarming pace due to such external geopolitical risk factors. The rate surged to a 17-month high of 1,400 won per dollar at one time on the same day. “We need to pay close attention to the volatility of not just the oil prices, but the won-dollar exchange rate,” a Korean Air spokesperson said. “When the exchange rate goes up or down by 10 won, this causes gains or losses on the appreciation of the foreign exchange for Korean Air.” The situation is no different to other airlines whose stock prices display a curve similar to Korean Air. Asiana Airlines shares also inched down 0.29% and closed at 10,440 won per share. “We stepped up monitoring of the volatile dollar and oil prices,” a spokesperson for the company said, declining to comment further. Other LCCs also suffered stock falls for similar reasons. Shares of Jeju Air, the largest LCC here by market capitalization, suffered a bigger fall of 2.31% during the same period.<br/>