Frontier Airlines pilots have voted to authorize a strike, the Air Line Pilots Association said on Tuesday. 99% of the votes cast were in favor of the strike, the ALPA added. According to its website, the ALPA covers 2,200 pilots at the carrier. While the strike authorization does not guarantee a work stoppage, it is a vital tool in negotiations. Frontier pilots' contracts became amendable in January and have been engaged in mediated talks under the Railway Labor Act since then. "Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement have yet to yield a market-based contract that aligns with industry standards," the ALPA said. The announcement comes at a time when unions across the U.S. are pushing for better pay and work conditions.<br/>
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The war of words between Southwest Airlines and minority shareholder Elliott Investment Management continues as the airline refutes Elliott’s request to hold a special shareholder meeting later this year. The Dallas-based carrier said early on 15 October that the request for the meeting – where Elliott intends to oust the airline’s CE as well as eight members of Southwest’s board and install its own candidates – is “unnecessary and inappropriate”. “The timing of Elliott’s request to apparently pursue board control appears designed to maximise disruption of Southwest’s execution of its important business transformation underway as we approach one of the busiest travel periods of the year,” Southwest’s directors say. “Elliott’s actions highlight its lack of understanding of Southwest’s business and its insatiable need to put its own interests ahead of those of all shareholders.” Elliott, which holds 11% of the company’s shares, on 14 October made the formal request, saying it was pursuing “the need for improved oversight” over Southwest. It named eight board candidates who it regards as more qualified to lead the airline after a rocky year. The carrier said it will evaluate Elliott’s request for a meeting on 10 December, but that it has already made “every effort to reach a constructive resolution” to the conflict with its shareholder. “Unfortunately, Elliott remains entrenched in demanding control of the board, while continuing to block its director candidates from being interviewed by the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee, making it impossible to find a constructive resolution,” Southwest says. “For nearly four months, Elliott has failed to offer any substantive feedback on Southwest’s strategic plan.”<br/>
Wizz Air has confirmation of its Airbus deliveries until the end of 2025, the airline's CE said on Tuesday, despite questions over whether the European planemaker can meet its full-year delivery target. As plane manufacturers have struggled to keep pace with demand because of supply chain and technical issues, Airbus deliveries fell 9% in September to 50 jets compared with a year ago. "Right now, as we speak, we are reconfirmed with Airbus till the end of 2025," Wizz Air CE Jozsef Varadi told a news conference in Warsaw. "I'm pretty confident that... (until) the end of 2025 we are fine and we understand the delivery profile. We are fine in 2026 and beyond too, but we just need to understand how many aircraft we are going to be able to take." Varadi said Airbus faced challenges with the delivery of engines from Pratt & Whitney, as well as other parts and with its own capacity. "As we have previously said, Airbus is facing some persistent and specific supply chain issues," the company said in an emailed response to Reuters questions. "We are working together with suppliers to mitigate the impact of the current situation on our customers." Neither Pratt & Whitney nor its owner RTX immediately responded to request for comment. Varadi also said he believed inflationary pressures, which have led to fare increases, were easing.<br/>
During what’s been a tough year for European airline stocks, one UK carrier is bucking the gloom.Jet2 Plc shares have risen 15% this year, with the stock extending gains for a sixth straight session on Tuesday. Meanwhile, leisure carrier rivals Ryanair Holdings Plc and TUI AG are both in negative territory for 2024, while EasyJet Plc is up just 2.5%. The reason may partly lie in Jet2’s strength as a provider of cheap package holidays at a time when many consumers are tightening their purse strings. Package holidays have received a boost since the pandemic as younger travelers became tempted by the prospect of cheaper and hassle-free holidays. The collapse of Thomas Cook Group Plc in 2019, once among the industry leaders, also helped Jet2 to gain market share in the UK, according to Ed Vyvyan, an analyst at Redburn Atlantic. Jet2 has “a strong balance sheet and net cash position, a healthy order book out to the start of the next decade at advantageous prices and a well-seasoned management team,” said Davy analyst Stephen Furlong. <br/>
Iran's foreign ministry summoned Hungary's ambassador on Tuesday to protest against new European Union sanctions on Tehran, and denied Western allegations that it has transferred ballistic missiles to Russia, Iranian state media reported. The EU agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on seven people and seven organisations, including airline Iran Air, for alleged links to Iranian transfers of ballistic missiles to Russia. Britain, which is not in the EU, also imposed new sanctions. Hungary's ambassador was summoned because Budapest holds the 27-nation EU's rotating presidency. "In addition to voicing the Islamic Republic's strong protest against the EU's recent decision, the meeting helped stress that resorting to illegal and coercive methods like sanctions against Iran is unacceptable and will lead nowhere," the official IRNA news agency said. Britain added nine new designations under its Iran sanctions regime on Monday, after the United States said last month that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran for Moscow's war in Ukraine. Denying the missile transfers, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on X: "Some European countries and the UK have unfortunately claimed without evidence that Iran has militarily intervened in this conflict which is totally refuted." Baghaei said the imposition of new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities went against international law. A spokesperson for Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation told IRNA that national airline Iran Air would cease flights to Europe as it was no longer able to receive the flight permits it needs. Iran Air is the only Iranian airline that has recently been flying to Europe, an official from the Association of Iranian Airlines told the Iranian Labour News Agency. Saha Airlines, Mahan Air and Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari are included in the latest sanctions.<br/>
No bomb was found aboard an Air India Express plane from India which landed in Singapore more than an hour after its scheduled arrival time, the police said on Oct 16 after completing security checks on the low-cost carrier’s aircraft at Changi Airport. The airline had received an e-mail about a bomb on flight AXB684 bound for Singapore from the southern Indian city of Madurai. The flight landed in Changi Airport at 10.04pm on Oct 15, escorted by fighter aircraft. Two F-15 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) were scrambled to escort the plane, which was scheduled to arrive at 8.50pm. In response to queries, the police said they were informed of the bomb threat at 8.25pm and completed checks after the plane landed. Investigations are ongoing and action will be taken against those who intentionally cause public alarm, the police added. Flight tracker Flightradar24 showed the plane was circling for about an hour in the east of Singapore before landing. In a Facebook post, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said: “Two of our RSAF’s F-15SGs scrambled and escorted the plane away from populated areas, to finally land safely at Singapore Changi Airport at around 10.04pm tonight. Our Ground Based Air Defence systems and Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were also activated.” When it landed, the plane was handed to the airport police, he added.<br/>
India’s largest airline IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., has received approval from the country’s markets regulator to launch a venture capital fund as it seeks to boost the South Asian nation’s travel and aviation market. IndiGo Ventures will start investing by the end of the financial year to March 31, the Gurugram-based airline said in a statement Tuesday. The fund will invest in pre-series A, series A, and series B funding rounds in consumer firms in aviation and allied sectors, including travel, lifestyle, hospitality and food and beverages. It has started engaging with “select” startups, according to the statement, which didn’t give further detail. “The startups will benefit from IndiGo’s extensive technical expertise and diverse geographical imprint, leading to the development of new products and services,” Chief Digital and Information Officer Neetan Chopra said in the statement. IndiGo’s fund aims to bolster India’s aviation and travel industry, which it hopes will benefit the airline as well. The carrier commanded 63% of India’s domestic market share as of September and has ambitious plans amid increasing competition, as it starts bookings for its premium product dubbed IndiGoStretch. It has an order of 30 Airbus A350-900 planes to begin international long-haul operations. <br/>
AirAsia is targeting operations to Europe – and possibly the west coast of the USA – by 2030, as part of an “ambitious” network growth strategy over the next five years. The Malaysia-based low-cost carrier will focus on secondary cities in “key regions” in Asia in 2025, growing its international network by eight points, with its fleet increasing its operational fleet from 63 to 76 aircraft. AirAsia is looking at expanding into “strategic markets” in the Pacific and East Asia in 2026-2027, says AirAsia group advisor Tony Fernandes, who was speaking at a media event in Kuala Lumpur on 15 October. By 2028, the airline is planning expansion into the Middle East and Central Asia, citing Oman, Uzbekistan and Mongolia as candidate markets. Fernandes, who is CE of AirAsia parent Capital A, says the expansion is enabled by incoming aircraft deliveries of Airbus A321neos, A321LRs and A321XLRs. He notes that the long-range narrowbodies will allow it to operate thinner routes with lower costs. Fernandes anticipates the network expansion will allow its Kuala Lumpur hub to rival that of Dubai as a transit hub. The disclosure comes as Capital A clinched overwhelming shareholder approval for the disposal of its aviation business to sister carrier AirAsia X. Capital A shareholders voted 99.97% at an extraordinary general meeting on 14 October to approve the divestment. Capital A first announced the divestment plan in January, as part of efforts to restructure its business and exit its financially-distressed status. <br/>