unaligned

Struggling Mesa Air Group has posted its first adjusted quarterly profit in almost three years as it continues to regain its financial footing. The Phoenix-based parent of regional carrier Mesa Airlines said on 18 June that its profit during the fiscal second quarter, which ended on 31 March, was $11.7m, compared to a loss of $35.1m in the same quarter in 2023. Adjusted net profit was $6.3m, up from a loss of $21.3m in the fiscal second quarter last year. That marks the first profit in 11 quarters, the company adds. “Our second-quarter results have begun to demonstrate an improvement in our business and reflect our efforts over the past year-and-a-half to restructure and strengthen our operations, P&L, and balance sheet,” CE Jonathan Ornstein says. Revenue during the quarter was $131.6m, up 8% from the same period a year earlier. Expenses fell to $120m, down 19.3%, reflecting lower asset impairment losses, lower depreciation and amortisation expense, and lower flight operations expense as the company divested of its surplus CRJ fleet, Mesa says. Over the past year, the airline has been selling off its excess Bombardier CRJ-900s in order to pay off debts and return to a stable financial state. Mesa says that it has reduced its total debt by $221.5m, or 36%, in that time period. The airline currently flies regional routes for United Airlines as United Express under a capacity purchase agreement which was sealed in December 2023, after the carrier had operated for competitor American Airlines for three decades. As part of the deal, United took a 10% stake in the company, which at the time was valued at $10.5mv.<br/>

The rift between Aer Lingus management and Ialpa has widened with the airline accusing the pilots’ union of “blackmail” and the union responding with claims of “greed”. Both parties have also claimed they stand ready for talks while suggesting that the other side is the sole stumbling block to meaningful negotiations starting. The airline has cancelled close to 250 flights over a five day period from next Wednesday, including over 100 on Saturday. Aer Lingus said it was left with no choice after pilots announced an eight hour all-out strike from 5am on Saturday, June 29th. The dispute centres around a pay claim with Ialpa seeking a 24% increase which is says it will cover inflation over a five-year period and management making an initial offer of just under 10%. Speaking on the Anton Savage Show on Newstalk on Sunday morning, Donal Moriarty of Aer Lingus accused the pilots of “seeking to blackmail the company by inflicting enormous pain on the company but more importantly on the company’s customers”. He denied claims made by Ialpa that management was unwilling to enter into talks aimed at resolving the dispute. “The last talks that we had with Ialpa were on June 17th and Ialpa ended those talks based upon their refusal discuss ways in which pay could be increased beyond the 12.5% that had been agreed with every other collectively bargained group in Aer Lingus,” he said.<br/>

Scandinavian long-haul carrier Norse Atlantic Airways has ended talks with a potential strategic investor, without reaching an agreement. Norse Atlantic has been looking at partnership options – both strategic and commercial – after appointing Seabury Securities as its investment banker at the beginning of the year. The carrier stated that this could involve another airline taking a material ownership stake. Norse has not disclosed the identity of the prospective partner with which it has been holding talks, but says the discussions had reached an “advanced stage” before ending with “no formal agreement”. The carrier says it will continue to work with Seabury Securities to “ensure that potential opportunities are carefully considered”.Norse, which has been flying for two years, operates a fleet of Boeing 787s. It has been looking to diversify its operations by offering winter services to other companies in order to balance seasonality effects. It recently unveiled an agreement with Italian leisure airline Neos for 787 capacity out of Milan. “Our focus remains to deliver on our opportunistic and flexible business model by securing additional longer-term winter charter contracts, and operating our own core summer routes when demand is at its highest,” says Norse chief Bjorn Tore Larsen.<br/>

A professional writer and storyteller from Co Antrim has accused easyJet of “discrimination” after she was left on the runway in a wheelchair at Belfast International Airport while the plane took off with her luggage on board. Liz Weir MBE (73), from Cushendall, was supposed to be the guest speaker at a literary event in Edinburgh on Friday evening. But despite arriving early for the 1pm flight that morning to ensure she could avail of the special assistance service, checking in on-time and getting to the gate early – the pensioner was abandoned on the tarmac causing her to miss the event. EasyJet has apologised for what happened and launched an investigation to determine exactly what happened. Story has details.<br/>

The government on Friday ordered low-cost carrier T'way Air to come up with measures to address repeated safety and flight delay issues. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it has conducted a special inspection of T'way Air and ordered the airline to implement safety measures by next month. The airline experienced four flight delay incidents last week alone, affecting hundreds of international passengers on flights between South Korea and overseas destinations, including Japan and Thailand, due to maintenance problems. Air safety authorities also plan to implement special safety management for T'way Air, which plans to soon launch four routes to Europe, and low-cost carrier Air Premia, which is expanding its long-haul routes, particularly to North America. T'way Air will begin flights to Rome, Paris, Barcelona and Frankfurt later this year. Air Premia is scheduled to launch flights to Seattle and Honolulu next year. T'way will take over the European routes from domestic industry leader Korean Air as part of conditions set by the European Union over Korean Air's envisioned acquisition of No. 2 player Asiana Airlines. Further, the ministry plans to conduct a thorough investigation into the delay and cancellation incidents of T'way Air and Air Premia during the summer season and impose penalties, such as fines, if they fail to fulfill consumer protection obligation measures.<br/>

There’s no end in sight to the high airfares that are a mainstay of the world’s post-pandemic travel boom, according to Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier. Travelers may see a little reprieve next year as jet fuel prices decline and the airline’s flight capacity rises, said AirAsia Aviation CEO Bo Lingam, who will head a new listed entity called AirAsia Group following a merger between the company’s short and long haul operations in September. But strong demand means airfares are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels any time soon, he said. “My load factor is around 90% — this was unheard of pre-Covid,” Lingam, 59, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Sepang, Malaysia. The global aviation industry has been transformed as the post-pandemic reopening unleashed a wave of pent-up travel demand that’s sent ticket prices surging faster than inflation in many parts of the world. At the same time, a series of supply chain constraints from aircraft delivery delays to unplanned engine maintenance has left many airlines struggling to roll out enough flights. For AirAsia, the demand is underpinning ambitions to establish the world’s first low-cost carrier network by 2030, using its Southeast Asia bases as a hub. So far this year that’s seen it add flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan and the start of operations by its Cambodian unit. Next up will be to start flying to Nairobi, Kenya, from October. Its further-afield routes will be serviced by Airbus SE’s new long-range A321 models, which can fly further at an economical cost. Lingam said the company intends to convert its entire 377-plane orderbook to the A321 LR models and has made a separate order for 50 XLR models. “The cost of operating the aircraft is much cheaper — at least 25% to 30% cheaper — because it’s single aisle and you don’t need to worry about filling up 500 seats, as opposed to 240 seats,” Lingam said. <br/>

Jetstar has announced a big expansion in New Zealand with new routes and extra capacity. To mark the airline’s 15th birthday, the low-cost carrier has revealed it will start flying Christchurch to Cairns, and will be in competition with Air New Zealand on Auckland to the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore). Also, it will increase capacity on domestic routes, starting with Christchurch to Auckland and Auckland to Wellington, as well as adding a new aircraft in Christchurch from December. It will mean the airline will have eight Airbus A320 planes here and it’s the first time Jetstar has expanded its fleet in New Zealand in more than 10 years. Jetstar Group CEO Stephanie Tully said the airline is “really excited to be entering such a significant period of growth”. “Over the past 15 years, we’ve helped make travel more accessible for millions of New Zealanders and this expansion will help to unlock hundreds of thousands of low fares and more choice for our customers and provide a significant boost to tourism on both sides of the Tasman,” said Tully. “Having another aircraft based in Christchurch, as well as the launch of new flights and capacity, will help establish the city as a major gateway for Jetstar in New Zealand, providing more choice and great low fares for South Island residents.”<br/>