general

Airlines are reporting better unit revenues for the tail end of summer, a sign customers will continue to have to shell out more to fly in the coming months. Alaska Airlines on Thursday raised its third-quarter profit forecast to a range of $2.15 to $2.25 per share from a previous outlook of no more than $1.60 per share. It also said it expects unit revenue to rise by as much as 2% after previously estimating flat to “positive” unit revenue growth over last year. Delta Air Lines said domestic and trans-Atlantic unit revenue would be up in September from last year, though it said the CrowdStrike outage in July will mean unit sales will rise no more than 1% compared with a previous forecast of as much as 4% higher for the quarter. Delta has said it expected a $500m hit from the outage and its aftermath, when it canceled some 7,000 flights. Alaska said it had a tail wind from the outage, which affected Delta customers more than those on other airlines. “While capacity remains in line with prior expectations, revenue has performed better than anticipated driven by additional revenue in July related to CrowdStrike disruptions across the industry and stronger performance in August and September,” Alaska said in a securities filing. Delta’s president, Glen Hauenstein, told a Morgan Stanley conference on Thursday that Delta isn’t seeing a lingering impact on bookings from the outage.<br/>

The Biden administration on Thursday proposed delaying full enforcement of new regulations requiring Americans to get new identification cards in order to board airplanes or enter a federal building by up to another two years to May 2027. Congress in 2005 approved new, stricter federal standards for issuing identification cards but enforcement has been pushed back repeatedly. The Department of Homeland Security had in December 2022 pushed back the "REAL ID" enforcement deadline until May 7, 2025. Enforcing the requirements immediately could have a significant impact on U.S. airlines and airports. The TSA, which is part of DHS and oversees airport security checkpoints, said Thursday it wants to implement a "phased approach" to the requirements through May 2027 but could begin full enforcement earlier. TSA spokesperson Carter Langston said the agency's message to travelers is get the new ID to avoid delays. "Don't wait," Langston said. DHS believes that without the postponement, U.S. agencies could face a serious risk of operational disruption, negative public impact, and potential security vulnerabilities. The 2005 law enacted the Sept. 11, 2001, commission's recommendation that the U.S. government "set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses." The law sets minimum security standards for license issuance and production.<br/>

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has proposed a seat capacity limit on airlines with slots at Dublin Airport next summer as the aviation hub continues to grapple with a 32m limit on annual passenger traffic imposed almost two decades ago. In its draft decision on next summer’s scheduling season, which runs from the end of March 2025 to October, the regulator on Thursday proposed a seat capacity limit of 25.2m for next summer. If implemented, it would be the second consecutive flight scheduling season in which capacity growth at the airport has been curtailed as it struggles to keep under the cap imposed by An Bord Pleanála in 2007, when it first granted planning permission for the new north runway. DAA, the State-owned operator of Dublin Airport, has made a planning application to Fingal County Council to have the cap increased to 40m but the process has been hit with delays, pushing out the decision to an indeterminate date. In the meantime, DAA said last week it will likely breach the 32m upper limit on passenger traffic this year by about 1m passengers amid record-breaking demand for air travel, putting it in breach of planning law. Against this backdrop in May, the IAA for the first time introduced a 14.4m seat capacity limit at the airport for the winter 2024 season, from October 2024 to March 2025. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have said the IAA’s decision will limit their ability to grow capacity this winter and expand their route networks.<br/>

India and China discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights between their two countries, India's Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Thursday, in an indication that their air travel could recover after four years. Reuters reported in June that China was pressing India to restart direct passenger flights, but New Delhi was resisting as a border stand-off continues to weigh on ties between the Asian rivals. Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who share a largely undemarcated Himalayan border, have been strained since a military clash on their Himalayan frontier in 2020 killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. Ever since, India has tightened scrutiny of investments from China, banned hundreds of popular apps and severed passenger air routes, although direct cargo flights still connect the world's two most populous nations. Kinjarapu said he met Song Zhiyong, the head of Civil Aviation Administration of China, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in New Delhi. The two discussed "further strengthening civil aviation cooperation between the two countries, especially promoting early resumption of scheduled passenger flights", Naidu said in a post on X. Restarting direct flights would help both countries, but the stakes are higher for China, where recovery in travel after the COVID-19 pandemic has not been as upbeat as in India's booming aviation sector.<br/>

Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai International Airport will operate four inbound and four outbound flights on Friday, but passengers are advised to allow up to five hours to reach the terminal due to severe flooding. The airport announced that Thai Airways International, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai AirAsia will offer a combined total of four flights from Bangkok to the northern border province and four return flights. Thai VietJet has not yet confirmed its operations for Friday. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest flight details. All airlines cancelled flights to Chiang Rai on Thursday due to flooded roads, leaving passengers stranded at the airport despite its operational status. The airport advises against using small vehicles to reach the terminal due to high water levels and has limited transport options available.<br/>

Members of Boeing Co.’s largest union vote on the first comprehensive labor contract in 16 years on Thursday, setting the stage for a disruptive strike just as the embattled planemaker works to recover from a series of manufacturing missteps. Company and union leaders presented their tentative agreement over the weekend, calling it a landmark accord that includes 25% guaranteed wage increase, the largest such offer in Boeing’s history. But the terms swiftly enraged workers expecting a far greater payout, demanding payback after their wages were curtailed by soaring inflation in recent years. Members of IAM District 751, which represents 33,000 Boeing workers from northern California to Idaho, have pilloried union President Jon Holden and his deal in furious social media posts. They’ve vented their ire with horns, sirens and marches on factory floors, and held an impromptu strike rally outside the company’s widebody plant in Everett, Washington. Holden has said he understands the angry response from members still seething over a 2014 accord that hiked health care costs and stripped away pensions. Boeing management, meanwhile, has sought to quell the rage, saying they bargained in good faith and that the company had put its best foot forward. “I ask you not to sacrifice the opportunity to secure our future together, because of the frustrations of the past,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a memo to workers on Wednesday. He said employees considering another path is “one where no one wins.”<br/>

S&P Global Ratings said on Thursday if Boeing faces an extended worker strike, it could delay the planemaker's recovery and hurt its overall rating. Boeing's U.S. West Coast factory workers started voting on Thursday on a much-criticized new contract and a possible strike, piling pressure on the company as it wrestles with chronic production delays and mounting debt. A potential strike starting on Friday would be a big early blow to Boeing's newly appointed CEO Kelly Ortberg, who was brought on last month to restore faith in the planemaker after a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX jet in mid-air in January. "A shorter strike (along the lines of the situation at Spirit Aero last summer where union leadership accepted the company's offer and membership rejected it) would probably be manageable for the company and the rating," said Ben Tsocanos, aerospace director, S&P Global Ratings. Tsocanos said the strike could pressure Boeing's ability to reach its target of increasing MAX jet production to 38 planes a month by the end of the year. S&P rates Boeing's long- and short-term issuer credit at "BBB-" and "A-3", respectively.<br/>

The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board told new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg that the planemaker "has a safety culture problem" that must be addressed. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Washington that she said to Boeing's new CE in a recent conversation the company must make changes. "Unless they have a partnership with their workforce, a lot of these issues are not going to be fixed," Homendy said. "Right now they have a workforce that doesn't trust Boeing, that is afraid of retaliation. As long as that continues, which is really anti-aviation safety ... they're going to have problems." Homendy said she plans to hold a longer meeting with Ortberg and travel to Renton, Washington, where Boeing builds the 737 MAX, at a later date. Boeing did not immediately comment. She said Ortberg "listened and he said he took (this) very seriously." The NTSB is investigating a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 in-flight emergency when a door panel that was missing key bolts blew out at 16,000 feet (4,880 meters). Many issues surrounding Boeing's safety culture were raised during a two-day investigating meeting on the MAX incident last month. She said the NTSB is requesting more information in the probe and will soon conduct a safety culture survey of Boeing. "Right now they're still in fact-finding, before they get to analysis," Homendy said of the investigation. The head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, met last month with Ortberg and wants to ensure the planemaker follows through on its quality turnaround plan. Whitaker said he plans to head to Washington to meet with Ortberg as soon as later this month.<br/>

The head of the FAA will testify on Sept. 25 before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on the planemaker’s oversight of Boeing, a committee aide told Reuters. The committee, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, in June sharply questioned then Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on the planemaker’s safety record. The hearing later this month, titled “FAA Oversight of Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture”, comes as FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker has ramped up scrutiny of the planemaker since a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency in a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 and acknowledged it should have done more before the incident. “This is a very long term journey for Boeing. I think it’s going to be measured in years not months,” Whitaker told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a conference in Washington, D.C. Whitaker in February barred Boeing from boosting production of its best-selling plane and required them to submit a quality improvement plan. Whitaker also said the agency will continue increased on-site presence at Boeing for the foreseeable future. In July, Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell asked the FAA to conduct a thorough review into its oversight of Boeing and other manufacturers, raising serious questions about the government’s scrutiny of the planemaker. After the Jan. 5 mid-air emergency involving the Max that lost a door plug at 16,000 feet, the FAA conducted a 737 Max production audit into Boeing fuselage supplier Spirit and found multiple instances where the companies had failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. In June, Whitaker said at a Senate Commerce hearing that before January the FAA had been “too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections” at Boeing.<br/>