United Airlines’ Q2 profit rose more than 20% from last year as strong demand for international travel boosted the carrier’s results, but its third-quarter forecast came in shy of estimates as an oversupply of flights weighs on fares. United said Wednesday that it expects to earn between $2.75 and $3.25 a share on an adjusted basis in the current quarter, lower than the $3.44 a share analysts polled by LSEG estimated. United earned $1.32b, or $3.96 per share, in the three months ended June 30, up from $1.08b, or $3.24 per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, it reported earnings of $4.14 a share, compared with $3.93 that analysts expected. Revenue of $14.99b jumped 5.7% from the year-earlier period, though it was just shy of estimates. United reiterated its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings of $9 to $11 a share. United and Delta Air Lines, which also disappointed with its third-quarter guidance, have still been standouts in the U.S. airline industry. Most carriers have been struggling with an increase in domestic capacity that has weighed on airfares, despite record demand.<br/>
star
Air Canada could have to pay more than $100m in compensation to workers who lost their jobs at maintenance centres more than a decade ago, say lawyers in a class-action suit. A 2022 ruling in Quebec Superior Court found the airline violated federal law by failing to keep three centres operational when Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. -- the contractor that ran them -- collapsed in 2012. Air Canada has filed an appeal, which has not yet been heard. This week, the judge decided on a formula to calculate lost wages and other damages for the 2,200 former employees of the shuttered Aveos plants, located in Montreal, Winnipeg and Mississauga, Ont. The compensation will likely top $100 million -- at least $45,400 per employee -- said Elodie Drolet-French, a lawyer representing the workers. The ex-employees would need to make individual submissions. "There will be a process that is clear," Drolet-French said. "It will be easy." The compensation could cover damages ranging from a loss of benefits to "loss of self-esteem," stress and divorce, according to a release in French from law firm Trudel Johnston and Lesperance. "Although it is difficult at this time to estimate the total amount that Air Canada will have to pay as a result of the members' claims, the representative's attorneys conservatively estimate that this amount well exceeds $100m," said Anne-Julie Asselinit, a partner at the firm. Air Canada stressed that Monday's decision merely lays out a calculation method and calls for proof of losses from individual members. "It is completely silent on the quantification of the total amount. Any assessment at this stage is therefore pure speculation," said spokesman Christophe Hennebelle in an email.<br/>
Due to the excruciating shortage of Foreign Exchange that has hit Ethiopia for more than one year, the country’s carrier, Ethiopian Airlines has announced that airline tickets for passengers outside the country will now only be available for purchase in US dollars. Previously, air transport tickets for international travellers could be bought using Birr, Ethiopia’s currency if they come to Addis Ababa. The implication is that the situation could impact the carrier and once again bring to the fore different policies of many nations including Nigeria that forbids transaction in any other currencies than the Naira. The new policy will affect companies with the issue of limited dollar availability. Concerns have been raised about the potential impact of this decision, with sources indicating that it could significantly affect their operations. A travel expert and entrepreneur, Tayo Ojuri hinted that the new policy won’t affect the carrier, adding that many airlines who use the online booking platforms already designed that tickets are paid for in dollars. Some other experts said the new policy would help the carrier to avoid a situation where its funds are trapped and would find it extremely difficult to repatriate its huge trapped in Ethiopia, occasioned by acute Forex scarcity.<br/>