unaligned

Spirit Airlines shares tumbled to a record low on Friday after a report that it’s exploring Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The carrier faces a deadline this month to renegotiate more than $1b in debt. A bankruptcy filing would mark a dramatic turn for the carrier with its iconic yellow planes that caters to budget-conscious travelers. Profitable and punctual before the pandemic, Spirit’s no-frills service became a punchline for late-night comedians and a thorn in the side of big network carriers, enticing customers with double-digit fares and fees for everything else from seat assignments to carry-on luggage. But big airlines soon successfully copied much of that business model with their lowest bare-bones fares. And a federal judge at the start of the year blocked Spirit’s planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways on antitrust grounds, halting what both carriers argued was a key avenue to compete with larger rivals. The scuttled deal left Spirit on its own to struggle with a Pratt & Whitney engine recall, shifting consumer travel patterns and higher costs. After the JetBlue deal fell apart, Spirit said in January that it was looking at options to refinance its debt. Spirit has $1.1b in loyalty-program backed debt that is due next September. It has until Oct. 21 to refinance or extend those secured notes. The carrier has been losing money since 2020 and has reported disappointing results this year, including a nearly $193m loss in Q2. The company has spent much of this year scrambling to cut costs, including furloughing pilots, slashing flights and deferring Airbus jetliner orders. Spirit reduced its November and December capacity growth plans by about 17%, Barclays airline analyst Brandon Oglenski said earlier this week. “As we’ve said, Spirit has been implementing a comprehensive plan to help us better compete, strengthen our balance sheet, and return to profitability,” CEO Ted Christie said in a note to staff on Friday. “We remain engaged in productive conversations with our bondholders, and we’re focused on securing the best outcome for the business as quickly as possible.”<br/>

Federal authorities said Sunday that they are investigating the emergency landing of a Frontier Airlines plane in Las Vegas. The FAA said Frontier Flight 1326 from San Diego with 190 passengers aboard was in the process of landing Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and declared an emergency. In a statement, the FAA said airport emergency crews extinguished a fire on the plane’s right engine after it landed. Witnesses at the airport reported seeing flames and smoke coming from the underside of the plane. Frontier officials said there were no reported injuries and all of the passengers plus seven crew members exited the plane using the stairs and were transported to the terminal. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Sunday that it was launching an investigation into the incident along with the FAA.<br/>

JetBlue Airways has become the latest airline to make changes to its in-flight catering by introducing a chilled-only menu on transatlantic flights and ending the option of hot meals. Breakfast menus will include choices such as a breakfast crepe, a courgette frittata, oats, fruit and yoghurt – depending on the direction you’re flying, eastbound or westbound. Lunch or dinner items will include a chicken grain bowl, tofu and noodles, pasta salad, mushrooms and lentils, and sides of fruit and vegetables. However, for those flying in JetBlue’s upper classes – such as those in the frequent flyer loyalty ‘Transatlantic Mint’ programme and business-class – hot meals will still be available. The ‘Mint’ passengers are served different meals depending on where they fly, but guests can expect choices including mushroom rigatoni, chicken milanese and pizza. JetBlue said in a statement to The Independent that “after a trial run this summer on our Dublin and Edinburgh seasonal flights, we are extending a new core menu onto our six transatlantic daily flights this winter. "The menu, created in partnership with DIG, lives up to the standard we set for high-quality meals. This change is part of our effort to ensure we can continue to provide a great experience at JetBlue’s competitive fares on these routes."<br/>

Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) opened an EU-wide probe on Friday into whether Ryanair's use of facial recognition technology to verify the identity of customers booking through some third party websites violates the bloc's privacy laws. The regulator said it had received a number of complaints from Ryanair customers across the European Union over the airline's practice of requesting additional verification when they booked travel tickets from third party sites or online travel agents (OTAs), as opposed to directly with Ryanair. The Irish carrier, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, welcomed the inquiry into a process it said was designed to protect customers from OTAs not affiliated with the airline that might provide incorrect customer contact and payment details. Ryanair says on its website that the additional verification is required for these customers in order to comply with safety and security requirements. Passengers can avoid verifying through facial recognition by showing up at the airport at least two hours before departure or submitting a form and picture of their passport or national ID card in advance, a process Ryanair said can take seven days to complete. A similar process is not required when booking on Ryanair's website or mobile phone app, or through an OTA that has signed a commercial agreement with Ryanair that guarantees tickets are booked directly with the airline. Ryanair has signed 14 such agreements since the start of the year. Ryanair said in the statement that its biometric and non-biometric processes were both fully compliant with all the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).<br/>

A man has been arrested after he "incorrectly" boarded an easyJet flight without the correct documents. Police responded to reports that a man was on the aircraft - which was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Milan - around 7pm on Friday. The individual, a man in his 20s, was arrested by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers on suspicion of hiding for the purpose of being carried in an aircraft without consent and intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance. All passengers and their luggage had to be removed from the flight - as is standard practice in such an incident. Nothing suspicious was found aboard the aircraft and there is no suggestion the incident was terror-related. The man remains in police custody for questioning as inquiries continue. In a statement, easyJet said its EZY2127 flight was subject to "additional security checks... due to a passenger incorrectly boarding the flight". The airline added: "Safety and security is our highest priority, and so we will now work with our ground partner at Manchester Airport to understand how he was able to board the flight."<br/>

Israeli airline Arkia said on Sunday it had repatriated 17,000 Israeli citizens over the past four days who were stranded after European carriers halted flights to Tel Aviv due the conflict in the Middle East. Europe's aviation safety regulator EASA issued a bulletin at the end of September advising airlines not to use Israeli airspace. That left thousands Israelis stuck across the continent. Many made their way to Greece and Cyprus in the hope of getting back to Israel before the start of the Jewish New Year last Wednesday. Flag carrier El Al Airlines, said all its scheduled flights were full but it had added flights from both countries and boosted capacity from Paris. Smaller rival Arkia said it joined the "national effort" and operated an "air train" from Athens and Larnaca by using aircraft from other airlines while Eastern Airlines participated with a Boeing 777 plane. "After EASA's recommendation to foreign companies to avoid flying to Israel, Israeli passengers received many cancellations and found themselves around the world with no way back," Arkia said.<br/>

Dubai's Emirates Airlines has banned passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on its flights, following last month's attacks on Lebanese group Hezbollah involving communication devices that exploded. "All passengers traveling to, from, or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage," the airline said in a statement on its website on Friday. It added that any prohibited items found will be confiscated by Dubai Police as part of heightened security measures. In the deadly September attacks, thousands of booby-trapped Hezbollah pagers and hundreds of radios exploded - attacks that were widely blamed on Israel but which it has not claimed. The Middle East's largest airline also announced that flights to Iraq and Iran will remain suspended until Tuesday, while services to Jordan will resume on Sunday. Flights to Lebanon will remain suspended until Oct. 15 due to escalating Israeli attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah, including strikes near Beirut's airport.<br/>

Saudi Arabia's low-cost airline Flyadeal is considering premium economy seats on long-haul flights, as a decision on its first wide-body jet order is expected by the end of October, its CE said. The airline will choose between the Airbus A330 Neo and Boeing 787 Dreamliner models, with a decision mainly depending on getting the best contracts for the jet engines, Steven Greenway, Flyadeal's CE, told The National on the sidelines of Routes World in Bahrain. The move to buy twin-aisle jets comes as Flyadeal seeks to expand into long-haul destinations in Western Europe and South-east Asia, with the budget airline considering a change from its single-class cabin. “We'll look at a small premium cabin for our wide-bodies. I'm talking about something akin to an Economy Plus or a Premium Economy type of product. Once the flight is over four or five hours, there is a small segment that sits there and says, 'I don't want to be in an Economy seat, I want a bit more space',” he said. “You've got a little bit more real estate on a wide-body and you've got a little bit more flexibility on what you can and cannot do … I'd envisage it to be functional, comfortable and a small part of the cabin for those people who wish to upgrade.” This comes as the airline focuses on expansion of its international route network, moving to capture a larger share of pilgrim traffic into Saudi Arabia as well as the “high-volume and low-yield” workers traffic.<br/>

Korean low-cost carrier (LCC) T'way Air was imposed with a total fine of 2b won ($1.48m) for multiple air safety rule violations in a special inspection carried out earlier this year, a government document showed Sunday. According to the transport ministry report submitted to Rep. Lee Yeon-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, T'way Air was fined for five counts of violations of aviation safety regulations related to operation and maintenance in early August. A ministry official said the fines were imposed "based on the results of safety inspections conducted on the airline from the end of last year to the beginning of this year." T'way Air was also imposed with a temporary operation suspension for one of its A330-300 aircraft in July due to urgent measures required to address a hydraulic system defect in the plane. The suspension was lifted four days after the aircraft underwent maintenance. It was the ministry's first suspension measure imposed on a specific aircraft since 2018.<br/>

With airfares surging 30% post-pandemic, AirAsia Group says it will not hike its fares to maintain affordability for the mass market, while it seeks to add routes on other continents by utilising long-range single-aisle jets. "We survived a five-year downturn related to the pandemic, losing about US$10b with 200 planes grounded during that time. This year we have recovered somewhat, with our fleet at 91% of the 2019 level," said Tony Fernandes, CE of Capital A, the parent company of AirAsia. "From 2025 we hope to grow, with Airbus committing to feed us new jets, while 2026 could be the best ever year for the group." According to AirAsia's expansion plan, the company expects to take delivery of 34 aircraft from its orderbook, with 10 coming from a lessor's orderbook over the next three years. Adding 15 Airbus A321XLR Neos would allow AirAsia to have longer flight hours, tapping new routes such as Almaty in Kazakhstan. AirAsia serves 92 destinations and wants to add more long-distance direct flights, which airlines in Asia rarely do, targeting East and North Africa, areas that are within range of the new aircraft, said Fernandes.<br/>

Virgin Australia pilots have voted through a new enterprise agreement on pay and working conditions after rejecting an earlier offer this year. The new deal, backed by 75% of respondents, will see base salary increases of more than 21% over three years as well as improvements to flexible working. It comes after months of negotiations that eventually saw the Fair Work Commission brought in to help break the deadlock, before a deal was agreed last month. Virgin Australia chief pilot Alex Scamps hailed the “generous increases to pay”, as well as increased flexibility around part time arrangements. “We know both pay and flexibility are really important to our people,” he said. “This outcome is great news for our pilots and recognises our collaborative relationship with both the AFAP and the TWU over the last 15 months of negotiations.” TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine hailed the new deal but warned the company still has a long way to go to “restore worker morale”. “Pilots and many others in the Virgin workforce have stuck by this airline throughout administration and helped get it back into the air,” he said. “Ground crew, cabin crew and pilots have now settled agreements but only after months of negotiations, movements towards industrial action, and assisted bargaining. With a new CEO announcement still to come, it’s time now for owners Bain Capital to get back to listening to its people who’ve delivered strong profit results for the airline. We will push to ensure the proposed Qatar stake presents career opportunities for pilots but there are still question marks around what it will mean for the workforce and its culture, with concerns particularly from cabin crew around the airline’s track record with workers.”<br/>