unaligned

Southwest Airlines is considering selling some of its older Boeing 737-800s and newer 737 Max jets, in addition to executing aircraft sale-leaseback deals, to boost its weakened financial position. CE Bob Jordan discussed Southwest’s plans to leverage its current and incoming narrowbody Boeing jets during its investor day on 26 September, as the company unveiled a sweeping strategic overhaul aimed at recapturing its lost form. “We have a unique opportunity to capture value and earnings on excess aircraft we do not need with our moderate growth plan,” Jordan says. ”With that in mind, we are pursuing direct sales of [737]-800 aircraft. We are also looking at sale-leaseback where we can be opportunistic.” Demand for narrowbody jets is strong thanks to Boeing’s ongoing delivery delays – compounded by what increasingly looks like a protracted machinists’ strike – and the recall of hundreds of Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) engines, which power Airbus A320neo and A220 aircraft. Those constraints are causing slower-than-anticipated growth for airlines around the world. “So, the secondary market for used aircraft is going to stay strong for literally years to come,” Jordan says. “The implication is that we have a lot of flexibility [for] sale-leasebacks on the -800s and the new Maxes.”’<br/>Sale-leaseback transactions involve an airline selling its aircraft to a lessor and leasing them back as a means of generating cash. It is a strategy often employed by ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines. ”Southwest needing to borrow from Frontier’s playbook is pretty sad commentary,” William Swelbar of the Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy opines on social media. He and other airline analysts believe it would be a mistake for Southwest’s recovery plan to rely too heavily on such financial manoeuvres. CFO Tammy Romo says leveraging the value of Southwest’s all-737 fleet is not a “core” part of its revamp. <br/>

Bahamasair’s CE Tracy Cooper expects a disagreement between the Bahamas government and US airlines about air traffic control fees to be resolved by the end of this week. The Nassau-based flag carrier appears to be caught in the crosshairs of the quarrel through no fault of its own, and Cooper tells FlightGlobal on 30 September that a solution to the problem could be imminent. “We are working with everything within our means to have a resolution,” Cooper says. “There are plenty of moving parts. And … we think that we’ll have an expected resolution.” On 12 September, US airline lobby group Airlines for America (A4A) had complained to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), alleging that the Bahamian government charges unreasonable air navigation service fees, violating the US-Bahamas air transport agreement. A4A urged the DOT, therefore, to take out punishment on Bahamasair, and to prohibit the government-owned flag carrier of the Bahamas from flying US routes – unless the government eliminates the alleged “excessive charges”. Specifically, A4A asked the DOT to hold up approval of Bahamasair’s pending request to renew its US operating authority, which it submitted in August. The row does not affect current routes that the airline flies, between Nassau and five US cities: Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Raleigh-Durham, Cooper says, as permission to fly into those destinations “should not change”.<br/>

Mexican state-run airline Mexicana will kick off cargo flights soon, its CE said on Monday, and is eyeing opportunities to launch international flights throughout the Americas. Mexicana, run by the military, re-started operations at the end of last year after the government bought the rights to the brand from a defunct airline. At the moment, the carrier operates domestic passenger flights, using the also military-run airport outside of Mexico City as its hub. "Soon we'll start offering cargo (flights)," CEO Leobardo Avila said at a panel alongside business leaders, including the CE of Brazilian planemaker Embraer. Mexicana signed an agreement in June for 20 Embraer E2 jetliners. With their arrival, Avila said, Mexicana can greatly boost its offerings. The CEO did not say how soon Mexicana could launch cargo flights, but that it was targeting large supply chains. Mexicana's hub, the Felipe Angeles International Airport, is also a hub for cargo flights in the country. Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered cargo flights be moved there from the main Mexico City airport last year.<br/>

Air Serbia on Monday started its first flight linking Belgrade and Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Air Serbia flight JU988 received a water arch ceremony, the highest welcoming etiquette in civil aviation, after its landing at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. The airline company has planned to operate the Belgrade-Guangzhou round flights twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays. Previously on Sept. 25, China Southern Airlines also launched a direct air route linking Guangzhou and Belgrade. Deng Yonggang, deputy general manager of the Guangdong Airport Authority, said that the opening of the Belgrade-Guangzhou route of Air Serbia marked another historic step in the aviation connectivity between China and Serbia, and built a more convenient air bridge for personnel exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.<br/>

A dismissed Aer Lingus captain who claims he was poisoned by “toxic fumes” on a flight from London to Dublin three years ago, leaving him with brain damage, is set to open a claim for whistleblower penalisation and other alleged employment rights breaches against the airline. A barrister acting for Aer Lingus has said the pilot had “defamed” the airline and senior members of its management team – and told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that there is “absolute and unreserved denial” that passengers or crew had been exposed to any safety risk. The pilot, Tom O’Riordan, has lodged claims under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Payment of Wages Act 1994, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against Aer Lingus Ltd, and represented himself at a preliminary case management hearing on Monday. He told the hearing that he had suffered “chronic fatigue syndrome and brain damage” as a result of “exposure to toxic fumes” on a flight from London Heathrow to Dublin Airport. He claims he made a series of protected disclosures in connection with “fumes and falsification of reports” on various dates in correspondence with members of management at the airline, in letters to the Health and Safety Authority, the Minister for Transport, the Air Accident Investigation Unit, the Oireachtas and in posts on social media. O’Riordan’s case is that the reduction of his sick pay to 75% of his salary in January 2024 and then the withdrawal of sick pay in April this year, as well as the disciplinary proceedings against him which led to his dismissal last month, amounted to whistleblower penalisation.<br/>

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is expanding its international network as it is set to offer 22 weekly flights to Australia starting next month. “We are poised to intensify efforts to promote tourism between the Philippines and Australia,” PAL President and COO Stanley K. Ng said in a media release on Monday. PAL, operated by listed PAL Holdings, Inc., said it will expand its flights between Manila and Brisbane to daily nonstop flights, seven times a week starting Oct. 27. With this, PAL has now the widest network of flights to Australia from the Philippines, offering more routes to four cities of Australia than any other carrier, the flag carrier said. Aside from its daily Manila-Brisbane flights, PAL also operates daily flights to Sydney. It also provides flights to Melbourne, which it operates five times a week, and flights to Perth, three times a week. “We at Philippine Airlines are excited to welcome tourists and business travelers onboard our daily flights from Manila to Brisbane, and likewise on our extensive network of nonstop flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth,” Ng said.<br/>

BBN Airlines Indonesia has commenced scheduled passenger flights, launching what will be daily Jakarta Soekarno Hatta-Surabaya roundtrips on September 27, 2024. Despite obtaining its air operator's certificate for commercial passenger flights from Indonesia's civil aviation authority in March, until now, the Avia Solutions Group subsidiary has only operated as an ACMI carrier. ADS-B data shows B737-800 PK-BBH (msn 36121) operated the first scheduled services as flight 7B763/764. Beginning September 30, the airline will start daily Jakarta-Balikpapan roundtrips, to be followed by the start of daily Jakarta-Denpasar roundtrips on October 2. BBN Airlines Indonesia has three B737-800s, which until mid-September were all operating for SpiceJet. Te operator also has a pair of B737-800(BCF)s and is expecting a B737-400(SF).<br/>

The cash poured into failed Australian airline Bonza is being examined as part of a US investigation into money laundering. The US Department of Justice is investigating whether private investment firm 777 Partners and its primary source of funding, insurer A-CAP, have violated US money-laundering laws. Investigators are examining whether policyholders' money was invested where it was supposed to be, including why some funds meant for 777's football teams instead went to Bonza. Southern District of New York assistant attorney Nicolas Roos, who helped prosecute crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, is part of the team conducting the probe. His office did not respond to request for comment. Bonza, which had been "wholly reliant" on funding from 777, went into voluntary administration in April and liquidation in July.<br/>