Spirit Airlines CFO Scott Haralson is leaving the airline to join car rental company Hertz Global Holdings as its finance chief, the companies said on Monday. Shares of both Spirit and Hertz were up over 2% in premarket trading. The transition at Spirit comes at a time when the carrier has been losing money despite booming travel demand, raising questions about its ability to manage debt that is due to mature in 2025 and 2026. The ultra-low-cost carrier, last month, forecast a loss for Q2 as its earnings continue to reel from the grounding of a number of its aircraft, as well as bloated industry capacity in key markets. Meanwhile, Hertz is reported to be exploring options to raise financing as it struggles with the EV rental business. Haralson, who has held key financial roles at Dish Network and Frontier Airlines, will join Hertz the end of June and will succeed Alexandra Brooks. Spirit named Brian McMenamy as its interim CFO effective June 14, while it searches for a permanent replacement.<br/>
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JetBlue Airways Monday forecast a smaller drop in Q2 revenue than it had previously forecast due to healthy travel demand, sending its shares up about 5% in early trading. Major U.S. carriers expect record passenger numbers for the summer season but uneven demand on certain routes has led to overcapacity and is hurting pricing power for a few airlines. JetBlue now expects its Q2 revenue to fall between 6.5% and 9.5%, compared with its previous forecast of a 6.5% to 10.5% decrease. "Better operational performance is driving solid cost execution in the second quarter, and is further supported by recent trends in jet fuel prices, which have declined over the quarter," the airline said in a regulatory filing. The New York-based carrier has been grappling with higher operating costs as ongoing inspections of Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines have led to the grounding of several of its aircraft. JetBlue had cut some of its routes and markets that were unprofitable and moved resources to better-performing regions. The airline also lowered its fuel cost forecast on Monday and now expects to spend $2.85 to $2.95 per gallon. It earlier forecast fuel expenditure in the range of $2.98 to $3.13 per gallon.<br/>
Eddy Doyle, the founding CE of Canadian leisure and charter carrier Canada Jetlines, is retiring from the company on 30 June. The company on 31 May indicated that its board of directors has launched a search for the company’s next CEO, with current board chair Brigitte Goersch stepping into the role on an interim basis. Doyle has led the company since 2021, before it launched passenger service the following year. “After leading the Company through licensing, start-up and growth of its aircraft fleet, Eddy has notified the board of his intention to retire,” says Goersch, adding that she will work to “assure a smooth transition and continue to grow revenue as we recruit Eddy’s successor”. Doyle says that he has been “contemplating retirement for some time”. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Jetlines operates scheduled passenger flights to popular vacation destinations in Jamaica, Mexico and the USA. It also flies Airbus narrowbodies under aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) contracts with other carriers. “Now that the company is set up with great ACMI contracts that will have Jetlines flying five aircraft for the coming months, I thought the timing was right,” he says. This summer, the carrier will fly two Airbus A320s between Morocco and Europe through three-month wet lease agreements with Air Arabia Maroc. <br/>
Mexicana de Aviacion, Mexico’s new government-run carrier, has placed an order for 20 Embraer E2 narrowbody aircraft, making it the first customer of the type in that country. The San Jose dos Campos-headquartered airframer said on 3 June that the Mexican airline, which launched almost six months ago, has ordered 10 E190-E2 and 10 of the larger E195-E2 aircraft, with deliveries beginning in Q2 2025. The aircraft will be configured with 108 seats in the E190, and 132 seats in the E195, in a single-class layout. “Seeing the success and rapid growth Mexicana has achieved since it restarted operations in December 2023 has been remarkable,” says Priscilla Doro Solymossy, vice-president sales and marketing and head of Latin America and the Caribbean for Embraer Commercial Aviation. “The airline is already flying to 18 destinations, and has transported more than 115,000 passengers, accumulating more than 3,280 flight hours in this short period, reflecting Mexicana’s commitment to operational excellence and customer service,” she adds. After Mexicana went out of business in August 2010, the government resuscitated the brand last year, with plans for the carrier to be overseen by the country’s defence ministry. After numerous delays dogged the project, the new airline launched operations on 26 December. According to Cirium fleets data, it now operates three older-generation Boeing 737 NG jets.<br/>
Aer Lingus pilots have rejected Labour Court proposals aimed at brokering an interim deal in their pay row with the airline, but both sides have indicated they are open to further talks. Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) voted over the last week on a Labour Court recommendation that they accept pay hikes totalling 9.25% and return to negotiations with management over deadlocked issues. Ialpa confirmed on Monday that 94.4% of the 98% of its members who voted rejected the proposals, a move the union’s executive recommended as it argued the proposal failed to address pilots’ key concerns. Captain Daniel Langan, Ialpa’s vice president finance, argued that the pay offer did not reflect the E225m profit that Aer Lingus made last year. “Reduced pay, terms and conditions were accepted by Aer Lingus pilots during the Covid crisis to help the company recover from the pandemic,” he said. “However, management failed to reverse these measures, which include lower pay scales for new entrants, while they report bumper profits.” Capt Langan added that new pilots at the airline earn up to 10% less than those hired before the pandemic.<br/>
Israeli airline El Al must make a decision soon on placing an order for narrow-body jets with Airbus and Boeing or otherwise risk losing delivery slots, its CEO said. Airbus and Boeing are locked in negotiations with El Al to win an order from the Israeli flag carrier for around 30 aircraft to replace and expand its fleet of narrow-body jets. "We will probably want to take a decision soon, otherwise we're going to lose the slots," El Al CE Dina Ben Tal Ganancia told Reuters at an airline conference in Dubai. The Israeli carrier, which operates an all Boeing wide- and narrow-body fleet, has been assessing Airbus' A321neo jets against Boeing's comparative 737 MAX aircraft for the order. Ben Tal Ganancia did not say when exactly the airline would make a decision and said that negotiations were continuing with both planemakers. CFO Yancale Shahar last week told Reuters the airline would decide within a few weeks. Shahar said an order would be worth about $2b. Ben Tal Ganancia said the airline would hope to start receiving the narrow-body jets it orders from 2026-27, although she acknowledged that Airbus was sold out until about 2029. Boeing, meanwhile, is facing a crisis over major industrial and safety issues that have led to an overhaul of management, scrutiny from US lawmakers and delays in producing new jets.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines signed a codeshare and club sharing agreement with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic effective on June 19, Israel's flag carrier said on Monday. Under the agreement, customers of both airlines will be able to fly on the Tel Aviv-London Heathrow route on flights operated by El Al and Virgin with a common code - El Al's code will be added to Virgin's flights and Virgin's will be added to El Al's flights. Virgin, which is 49% owned by Delta Air Lines, is a member of the Sky Team Alliance. El Al has also recently signed codeshare deals with Delta, Scandinavian Airlines and Air France.<br/>
Saudi budget airline flyadeal is studying a possible order for between 10 and 20 wide-body jets to carry more passengers, and could make a decision by the end of the year. The low-cost subsidiary of state carrier Saudia is in the early stages of comparing the Boeing 787 and Airbus A330neo, CEO Steven Greenway told Reuters. It has not yet started a formal competition between planemakers, he added. Such a deal would be worth up to around $5b at list prices, though airlines typically win sharp discounts. Saudia Group, owner of Saudia, and flyadeal placed an order for a total of 105 Airbus narrow-body aircraft last month. Among larger aircraft, Jeddah-based Saudia already operates the Boeing 787 and the A330ceo, an earlier version of the A330neo which is an upgrade based on new engines. "We have on our back doorstep an operator, in our owner, that has intimate knowledge of both aircraft, which is very helpful to us," Greenway said in an interview. The larger A350, the latest Airbus wide-body jet which competes with both the Boeing 787 and 777, is less likely to be a contender because it was built for longer ranges than flyadeal needs, Greenway said. "The A350s are a great airplane, but they're over-engineered for what we need," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the IATA airline association's annual meeting in Dubai. Greenway, a former senior executive at Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), opens new tab subsidiary Scoot, which operates Boeing 787s, was appointed CEO of flyadeal in January.<br/>
Oman Air is set to simplify its fleet over the coming months and is likely to base its widebody operations around one type. The Middle East carrier operates a mixed widebody fleet of seven Airbus A330-200/300s and nine Boeing 787-8/9s, as well as 25 Boeing narrowbodies – a mix of 737 Max jets and -800/900s. Oman Air’s new CE Con Korfiatis said: ”The fleet continues to grow. We have to simplify our fleet in the coming months. Narrowbodies are relatively consistent and will sort itself out with natural expiration of leases pretty quickly. On the widebody side, we have got some older A330s and we’ve got some younger 787s. It makes sense to simplify around one aircraft [type], so don’t be surprised to see that soon.” Korfiatis, who has previously worked for JetStar Asia, Citilink, Qantas, Viva Macau and most recently led Saudi budget airline Flyadeal, was named CE in March. The appointment is crucial to Oman Air, which has embarked on a restructuring effort to turn around heavy losses, and Korfiatis will be tasked with steering the transformation programme. ”It really is a beautiful country and a beautiful asset at home from an inbound perspective and an airline that not only brings people to Oman, but also connects east to west because we do have a network to the east and to the sub-continent and to Europe,” he says.<br/>
IndiGo, India's biggest airline, will focus its next phase of international expansion on lesser-known destinations while increasing its presence in popular markets such as Singapore and Dubai, its CEO told Reuters on Monday. The budget carrier made a successful push into central Asia last year with flights to less-frequented cities like Baku, Almaty, Tashkent and Tbilisi, opening travel destinations void of major competition. As more Indians take to international skies and as IndiGo prepares to take delivery of its longer-range planes next year - the Airbus A321XLR - the airline hopes to build on its strategy, CEO Pieter Elbers said during an interview in Dubai. "With the growing desire and aspirations of Indians to fly international I think we have a great opportunity for also the more unknown places," Elbers said on the sidelines of the annual meet of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). "Singapore and Dubai and Phuket is still aspirational for a lot of people but there's a sort of next layer of destinations which we can add," he said, adding that it is looking at such places in Thailand and Central Asia. With the A321XLR, IndiGo can reach destinations in parts of Europe and further into Asia, he added. IndiGo, which reported record profit of close to $1b for the financial year 2023-2024, is pushing deeper into India, where it flies to 88 cities, and has doubled its global network to 33 destinations from 15 two years ago. It will add 10 new domestic and global destinations this year. The carrier also offers connections to dozens of European cities through its codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines and recently ordered 30 Airbus A350 wide-body planes that can take it as far as the United States and Australia.<br/>
IATA is to hold its next annual general meeting, the 81st edition of the event, in Delhi in 2025. The airline association announced at its 80th AGM in Dubai that low-cost operator IndiGo to be the host airline for the 2025 edition, which will run from 8-10 June. Speaking at the AGM, IndiGo chief Pieter Elbers – who will serve as IATA’s chair over the next year once this year’s AGM is complete – notes that India last hosted the IATA AGM in 1983. “Coming back after an absence of 42 years— think about that; the world’s largest population, soon to be the third largest economy in the world and then its 42 years since its was last hosted in India,” he says. “It is an appropriate time [now] and an incredibly proud moment for IndiGo and India.” IATA director general Willie Walsh adds: ”With record aircraft orders, impressive growth, and world-class infrastructure developments, India is firmly on the trajectory to become the world’s third largest aviation market within this decade. With such bright prospects, it’s the perfect time for the IATA AGM to return to India and witness these exciting developments first hand.”<br/>
Low-cost carrier HK Express is looking boost its operations to Mainland China beyond its current network of three points, as it seeks to grow “a more balanced and diverse network”. Speaking to FlightGlobal on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Dubai, airline CE Jeanette Mao says the airline intends to grow its frequencies to “double digits”, but did not commit to a timeline. The number of flights HK Express operates to the mainland now stands at about 5% of its total network – the low-cost arm of Cathay Pacific flies to Ningbo in the east, and launched flights to Beijing’s Daxing airport and Sanya on Hainan island this year. HK Express’ Northeast Asia operations – including Japan – take up the lion’s share of flights at 70%, and Southeast Asia stands at around 25%. “I think the next step for us [in Mainland China] will be to operate to more secondary… and tertiary cities. [For us] low-cost carriers we promote the affordability of travel… we want everyone to be able to travel, so for that we see huge potential for the Mainland China market,” she adds. <br/>
A new airline founded by a Thai aircraft dealer and technology trading company plans to operate short domestic flights in the South, banking on high-spending local travellers. Dhanee Dharapak, CE of M-Landarch, said as an authorised dealer of Cessna turboprop aircraft, as well as a maintenance and repair service provider for this type of plane, the company has the expertise to launch EZY Airlines. M-Landarch was founded by Dhanee in 2005 with registered capital of 92.7m baht to sell aviation software and Cessna turboprops to buyers in Thailand. According to the Department of Business Development database, M-Landarch earned 296m baht in revenue with 13m baht in net profit last year. He said the company gained a total profit of about 70m baht during the past five years. The firm plans to raise another 200m baht to register EZY Airlines as a new company this year, with Dhanee assuming the role of CE and managing director. Describing itself as a flying shuttle bus, EZY Airlines will initially have only two pilots, without flight attendants or food service, he said. The company plans to use a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan Ex with 12 seats to operate one-hour flights. EZY Airlines already obtained an air operator licence from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, and acquired one new aircraft. The airline is in the process of document evaluation and preparing for an on-site and operational audit to obtain an air operator certificate by July.<br/>