Spirit Airlines Inc. said Tuesday it still expects shareholders will get wiped out in its bankruptcy as the carrier pushes forward with a restructuring deal that hands control of the airline to its bondholders. The airline tried its best to avoid bankruptcy and filed Chapter 11 as a last resort after it failed to complete a merger with rival Frontier Group Holdings Inc. and exhausted all other restructuring options, Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner said during a New York court hearing. More than a dozen shareholder letters that have been submitted to Judge Sean Lane that criticize Spirit CEO Ted Christie or board members for putting the airline in Chapter 11 and supporting a deal that will cancel their shares for no compensation. A lawyer for the US Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog said during Tuesday’s hearing that shareholders have also requested the formation of an official committee during the Chapter 11. Huebner said although its regrettable Spirit shareholders stand to lose their investment in bankruptcy, company equity is “out of the money.” Spirit shares are trading at about 60 cents on Tuesday. “The market has fully understood for rather a while that, absent a transaction, Spirit is insolvent and that’s the way it is,” Huebner said. Shareholders are last in line for repayment in bankruptcy, and Chapter 11 almost always wipes-out equity for no compensation. Efforts to obtain further concessions from creditors, as some retail investors have requested, would merely create new claims against Spirit that would also need to be repaid before shareholders, Huebner said.<br/>
unaligned
JetBlue Airways Corp. is urging President-elect Donald Trump to bolster the nation’s air traffic control system, which industry leaders have blamed for travel disruptions due to insufficient staffing and outdated technology. “I wish this administration would focus more on air traffic control,” CEO Joanna Geraghty said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday. “That has definitely been a meaningful pressure for JetBlue and other airlines.” The nation is “grossly understaffed” in air traffic controllers, she said, and “we should be able to have a more resilient air traffic system.” JetBlue and other carriers with large operations in the New York area have been particularly hard hit by the shortages. Halts to hiring and training during the pandemic, along with retirements, created a shortfall in the number of air traffic controllers, straining the aviation system. The Federal Aviation Administration hired 1,811 controllers this year, the largest number in nearly a decade. “I’d love to see more hiring, better technology and ultimately improving the amount of delays that come out of air traffic control,” Geraghty said. She noted that she has not met with members of the incoming administration.<br/>
Saudia has emerged as the new leader among global industry peers, ranking first in On-Time Performance with an impressive on-time arrival rate of 89.85%. This comes after operating more than 16,300 flights and marks the third time, following its first-place rankings in June and July of 2024. This accomplishment reiterates the integration and efficiency of Saudia’s operations. flyadeal, one of the fastest-growing low-cost carriers in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, achieved a remarkable on-time performance (OTP) of 90.48%, securing the second position in the global low-cost airline category for the second consecutive month. Notably, flyadeal was ranked first in this category in September 2024. His Excellency Ibrahim Al-Omar, director general of Saudia Group, said: “These outstanding results underscore the strategic importance of safe and timely operations, which significantly enhance customer confidence across our entire group. Saudia and flyadeal's commitment to operational excellence is a testament to the collective efforts of our dedicated front-line staff and the invaluable support from all Saudia Group business units.”<br/>
Air Arabia, a major low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced the launch of its new flight to the Russian city of Sochi from its hub in Sharjah. The new non-stop flights on Airbus A320 will connect Sharjah International Airport to Sochi International Airport with a frequency of three flights per week starting from June 27, 2025. With this launch, Sochi becomes the sixth Russian city served by the airline directly from Sharjah, after Moscow, Kazan, Samara, Ufa, and Yekaterinburg. Air Arabia said it operates a modern fleet of 79 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, the most modern and best-selling single aisle aircraft in the world. The airline also provides non-stop services from its operating hubs in the UAE, including flights between Ras Al Khaimah and Moscow, as well as between Abu Dhabi and Yekaterinburg. This expansion underscores Air Arabia’s commitment to strengthening connectivity between the United Arab Emirates and Russia, fostering tourism, trade, and cultural exchange between the two nations.<br/>
Air Tanzania’s blacklisting by the European Commission centres particularly on failure to maintain adequate control of its flight-training programme, and inability to understand the root causes behind safety deficiencies. The carrier, whose fleet includes some of the latest aircraft types, applied for third-country operator authorisation from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in August last year. But EASA denied this authorisation in April, on safety grounds, and the Commission has banned Air Tanzania from European operations in its latest blacklist revision. The Commission’s accompanying justification for the decision refers to a “lack of ability” by the airline to respond to identified safety deficiencies. It specially highlights EASA’s concerns over flight training, and particularly whether the airline assured all types of emergencies and abnormal procedures – for airframe, engine or system malfunction, fires or other “critical” scenarios – featured within its recurrent pilot training. “In view of the considerable number of serious deficiencies identified during its assessment, [EASA] determined that this situation indicates a systemic weakness within the air carrier that compromises safety and poses a serious hazard to flight operations,” it states.<br/>
Regional airline Skytrans has said the decision to extend Rex’s administration to next June is holding it back from moving into its beleaguered rival’s routes. Speaking to Australian Aviation, CEO Alan Milne argued regional carriers are in limbo, unsure whether to launch flights now or wait for the carrier’s ultimate fate to be decided. His comments come after the AFR reported the Government is also considering buying out investment firm PAG’s debt from Rex to have more say over the outcome of the administration process, which has been extended to the end of June 2025. “We were waiting for that decision in November, and then to [have them] say, ‘Oh, actually, we’re pushing it to June’ puts us in a difficult position,” said Milne. “We have to now re-strategise: do we push ahead regardless, assume that they’re either one, not going to make it, or two, that they’re going to come in at a much lesser capacity? Or do we just not do anything and watch the airplanes get sold offshore, never to be seen in Australia again? “It is a difficult position. From a strategy perspective, it makes it very difficult for us – we had a strategy in place ready to go, two different strategies for the November decision, and now that’s been pushed out till June.” <br/>