Southwest Airlines has warned employees that it will announce some tough decisions in coming days under a plan to restore profits and help fend off changes being demanded by activist Elliott Investment Management. Steps the carrier has already announced, including ditching a 50-year history of not assigning seats, offering a premium product and beginning red-eye cross-country flights, aren’t sufficient to improve its finances to the extent needed. That’s driving plans to eke out more revenue through changes to its route and flight network, COO Andrew Watterson told employees in a video. “There are some difficult decisions coming as well,” Watterson said in the video, a transcript of which was obtained by Bloomberg News on Saturday. “Not city closures. But you know, bigger changes for some cities,” he said in the Sept. 19 video. “I apologize in advance if you as an individual are affected by it,” Watterson told employees. He didn’t offer any details on the pending moves. Southwest will release a new flight schedule Sept. 25 that should include network changes. The video is part of a regular series of explanatory presentations that Watterson sends to workers, Southwest said Saturday. The airline is set on Sept. 26 to detail steps it has already disclosed, like assigned seats, and will unveil new steps during an investor day in Dallas. There’s a lot on the line, with Elliott moving to oust CEO Bob Jordan and to remake Southwest’s board with its own nominees. “We’re trying to get more out of what we already have, but getting our costs under control is not going to be enough, because we’re not going to do this on the back of employees or customers,” Watterson said. “Therefore, it has to be on the revenue side that we make the traction to get our profitability and equation balanced.”<br/>
unaligned
The top executive at JetBlue Airways Corp. called out federal antitrust authorities for policies she says have exacerbated competitive imbalances and made it harder for small airlines to turn a profit. CEO Joanna Geraghty said in an interview that the US Department of Justice has been “a bit short-sighted” when evaluating corporate acquisitions in recent years. JetBlue has had two tie-ups dashed by regulators recently, including a planned acquisition of Spirit Airlines that fell apart earlier this year. The comments come days after rival Alaska Air Group Inc. was allowed to complete its purchase of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., the first significant merger in the US airline industry in years. Still, the deal isn’t likely to alter the broader dynamics in the industry, which is dominated by four large carriers. “If you look today at the airlines that are profitable and those that aren’t,” regulators are “playing right into the hands of the big guys,” Geraghty told Bloomberg Thursday. “That really requires them to take a look at their antitrust policies and make sure that they’re not so focused on a textbook approach and much more on a practical, real life approach.” JetBlue’s deal for Spirit was scuttled by a federal judge earlier this year after the Biden administration said the tie-up would eliminate a deep discount carrier and harm consumers by reducing competition and increasing fares. An alliance with American Airlines Group that focused on New York and Boston met the same fate and was dismantled. <br/>
Argentine civil aviation regulator ANAC has granted low-cost carrier FlyBondi authorisation to provide ground handling services to other airlines in the country. The Buenos Aires-based carrier said on 16 September that it is the first airline to receive such an authorisation. “Since 2018 at Flybondi, we have managed our own handling services in 80% of the airports where we operate,” says CE Mauricio Sana. “Now, we are certified to provide these services to other airlines. This is a huge step towards the growth of the commercial aviation industry in Argentina, by offering a new option to other national and international airlines while consolidating the strength of our operations.” The services include baggage, cargo and ramp handling – such as push-back procedures, aircraft marshalling and co-ordination and supervision of all operations. De-icing as well as transport of passengers via buses from the terminal to the aircraft and placement of passenger stairs for boarding and disembarcation are also included in ANAC’s certification. Flybondi has its own handling services at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza international airport and “in most of the other provinces where it operates”.<br/>
Following the collapse of the country’s national carrier, the DRC government is expected to launch a new national airline in December which will effectively fly again. Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said on Friday, that the government will relaunch the project to create a new national airline called “Air Congo SA”. Suminwa presented a note to the council of Ministers on Friday in the Capital Kinshasa. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Communication Channels and Disenclavement, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, revealed that, since September 13, 2024, discussions have been ongoing with the aim of reviving the national carrier. The launch date has been set at Sunday, December 1 when the inaugural flight will be flagged off. The government of DRC is partnering with Ethiopian Airline under the new company “Air Congo SA”. Jean-Pierre Bemba revealed to the council of Ministers that the two shareholders, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ethiopian Airlines group, are respectively 51% and 49%, for a total amount of US$40m.” This new project has been established following the non renewal of the leasing contract between Kenya Airways and Congo Airways.<br/>
The family of a kidnapped New Zealand pilot on Sept 22 thanked the Indonesian rebels who released him for taking care of him during more than 1½ years in captivity. Phillip Mehrtens, 38, was working for Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was snatched by rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army insurgent group at Papua’s Nduga airport on Feb 7, 2023. A day after his release was announced, Mehrtens’ family issued a statement thanking all those involved in his liberation, including the Indonesian government, the police and military, and the New Zealand authorities. They also expressed thanks to Ekianus Kogoya, a military commander in the Papua rebel group, and his fighters for “keeping Phil as safe and healthy as their means allowed, and for allowing Phil to get several messages out during this period to let us know that he was alive and okay”. “Those messages filled our souls and gave us hope and that we would eventually see Phil again,” the family said. During his captivity in the Papuan countryside, the New Zealander made sporadic appearances on video to address his family and his government. The rebels said he was in good health throughout, but his appearance changed drastically over time, with the pilot becoming gaunt, long-haired and bearded in proof-of-life videos.<br/>