American Airlines slashed its sales outlook on Tuesday. The company has also let go of its CCO, Vasu Raja. He will leave his position next month. American Airlines said it expects unit revenues to fall as much as 6% in Q2 from a year earlier, down from a previous forecast of a decline of no more than 3%. The carrier also trimmed its adjusted earnings estimate for the period to a projected range of $1 to $1.15 a share, down from a prior range of $1.15 to $1.45 a share. The airline has trailed rivals Delta and United Airlines in recent months in financial performance. United Airlines later on Tuesday reiterated its expectation to earn an adjusted $3.75 to $4.25 per share in Q2. Executives from both carriers will present at a Bernstein conference Wednesday morning. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom plans to discuss the carrier’s plan to modify its ticket distribution strategy in favor of driving bookings to its own platforms instead of third-party channels and agencies. When asked during an April earnings call whether American Airlines had been receiving pushback from corporate customers while rivals reported strong business travel growth, Isom admitted that the carrier could have to make changes to the system. “Look, we’ve got some fine-tuning to do,” Isom said during the April call. “No doubt the objective here is … to hang on to all the cost savings and then also to make sure that we maximize revenue production. As we take a look at the first quarter, there’s quite likely some benefit that our competitors received because of some of … the changes that we’ve made.” Raja, just more than two years into his role as commercial head, had been on leave recently, and a spokeswoman for the carrier said last week that he was not leaving the company. That changed after internal discussions in the past few days, according to a person familiar with the matter.<br/>
oneworld
Qatar Airways is the world’s best airline, according to AirlineRatings.com. The Doha-based carrier nabbed the prestigious Airline of the Year title for 2024, having nudged out last year’s winner, Air New Zealand, for the top spot. “The passenger reviews however scored Qatar Airways ahead of all airlines and its consistency and high standard of service delivery came through in the feedback.” Coming in second on the Top 25 list is Korean Air followed by Cathay Pacific Airways.The judging panel, which consists of five editors, consider a range of criteria that include safety and product rating, fleet age, profitability, serious incidents, passenger reviews from several sources, innovation and forward fleet orders. Between the judges there’s more than 100 years of industry experience. “In our objective analysis Qatar Airways came out number one in many key areas although it was a very close scoring for the top 10,” AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas said in a statement. “The passenger reviews however scored Qatar Airways ahead of all airlines and its consistency and high standard of service delivery came through in the feedback.” Coming in second on the Top 25 list is Korean Air followed by Cathay Pacific Airways.<br/>
Intelsat has disclosed new deals with Japan Airlines (JAL) for its multi-orbit in-flight connectivity service covering more than 20 Boeing 737 Max jets and with German charter carrier Condor for its Ku-band service on over 40 Airbus narrowbodies. Notably the JAL commitment will see the new service installed by Boeing in the factory, making JAL one of the first airlines to take delivery of a Boeing aircraft with electronically steered array (ESA) in-flight service ready for immediate passenger use. Intelsat says the first line-fit aircraft is expected to be delivered in 2026. The Oneworld carrier already has Boeing 737s and 767s in service with Intelsat’s 2Ku connectivity service, while regional unit J-Air is installing the service on its fleet of Embraer 190 regional jets. JAL’s fresh commitment for Intelsat’s multi-orbit connectivity offering makes it one of the first Asia-Pacific carriers to offer multi-orbit service using the company’s new ESA antenna. Intelsat’s senior vice-president for commercial aviation, Dave Bijur says: “Japan Airlines’ passengers will soon benefit from multi-orbit connectivity that will provide the same fast and dependable internet access they enjoy at home, thanks to wide coverage and low latency. ”JAL was Intelsat’s first non-U.S. commercial aviation customer, and we look forward to continuing to support JAL’s market-leading inflight connectivity service in Japan where their guests enjoy free service.”<br/>
Qatari and Indian interests are part of a consortium that wants to buy a majority stake in SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International), according to Colombo's Daily FT outlet. MBS Investments, the investment arm of Sheikh Nayef Bin Eid Al Thani's private office, has teamed up with Sri Lanka's Supreme Global Holdings and India's Sherisha Technologies Ltd., formerly known as SunEdison Energy India Ltd., to bid for SriLankan. The Sri Lankan government, which owns 99.52% of SriLankan Airlines, is in the process of selling a controlling stake in it, with the request for qualification (RfQ) ending in April. ch-aviation previously reported on Supreme's interest in bidding to take over the airline after it was outed via an MMAG Aviation Consortium Bursa Malaysia filing announcing a deal to operate a feeder cargo network for Supreme if it managed to win the right to acquire SriLankan. The sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling Thani family, uses his office to invest in a wide range of industries. Via his website, Thani says he invests to "accelerate the growth of companies." There are unconfirmed reports that Sherisha's foray into the Sri Lankan aviation sector enjoys the backing of the Indian government. Indian company records indicate the private business was established in 2010, has eight active directors, and paid up capital of INR1.49b rupees (US$17.9m).<br/>