general

This year just got started, but it is already shaping up nicely for U.S. airlines. After several setbacks, the industry ended 2024 in a fairly strong position because of healthy demand for tickets and the ability of several airlines to control costs and raise fares, experts said. Barring any big problems, airlines — especially the largest ones — should enjoy a great year, analysts said. “I think it’s going to be pretty blue skies,” said Tom Fitzgerald, an airline industry analyst for the investment bank TD Cowen. In recent weeks, many major airlines upgraded forecasts for the all-important last three months of the year. And on Friday, Delta Air Lines said it collected more than $15.5b in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, a record. “As we move into 2025, we expect strong demand for travel to continue,” Delta’s CE, Ed Bastian, said in a statement. That put the airline on track to “deliver the best financial year in Delta’s 100-year history,” he said. The airline also beat analysts’ profit estimates and said it expected earnings per share, a measure of profitability, to rise more than 10% this year. Delta’s upbeat report offers a preview of what are expected to be similarly rosy updates from other carriers that will report earnings in the next few weeks. That should come as welcome news to an industry that has been stifled by various challenges even as demand for travel has rocketed back after the pandemic. “For the last five years, it’s felt like every bird in the sky was a black swan,” said Ravi Shanker, an analyst focused on airlines at Morgan Stanley. “But it appears that this industry does have its ducks in a row.” That is, of course, if everything goes according to plan, which it rarely does. Geopolitics, terrorist attacks, air safety problems and, perhaps most important, an economic downturn could tank demand for travel. Rising costs, particularly for jet fuel, could erode profits. Or the industry could face problems like a supply chain disruption that limits availability of new planes or makes it harder to repair older ones.<br/>

Airlines have extended travel waivers for Los Angeles airports as wildfires continue to burn in the area. American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and other carriers that serve the area have waived fees for flight changes for travelers booked to Los Angeles while the city grapples with power outages, water shortages and conservation, as well as the outright damage of more than 10,000 homes and other structures. On Friday, the area’s airports were operating normally, according to flight-tracking platform FlightAware, but parts of the city were still in the grip of the wildfires. Power outages were reported across Los Angeles County and local residents in the decimated Pacific Palisades area were told to boil or use bottled water. Parts of the county were also still under evacuation orders as firefighters sought to contain the fires. American Airlines on Friday said travelers booked to or from Hollywood Burbank Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport and John Wayne Airport, which serves Orange County, can rebook without paying a change fee or fare difference if they can fly as late as Jan. 20. Southwest said the wildfires could affect service to those airports and that customers can rebook within 14 days of their original travel dates without additional charges. It said customers could also change their trips to other California cities: Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and San Diego.<br/>

A winter storm that dropped heavy snow and glazed roads throughout the U.S. South was maintaining its icy grip on much of the region into the weekend. Power outage numbers around Atlanta crept up Friday night as meteorologists warned of accumulating freezing rain. More than 110,000 customers were without electricity, mostly in the Atlanta area. “As our crews anticipated based on the forecast, additional freezing rain and falling trees have caused power outages as the sun has gone down,” Georgia Power said via social media. “Conditions overnight remain challenging with icy roads and winds, but as long as it is safe — we will be working,” the utility said. Georgia transportation officials urged people to stay off the roads until midday Saturday, and snow and ice was also forecast to continue in the Carolinas, Virginia and the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Four passengers were injured after a Delta plane bound for Minneapolis aborted takeoff that morning, according to the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. One passenger was hospitalized, while three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The incident contributed to further delays, although Delta said it was unclear whether the weather had anything to do with the flight aborting its takeoff. The airline said there was an indication of an engine issue. Other airports with significant delays and cancellations included those in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, Tennessee. The storm could continue to affect air traffic, the FAA said Friday night.<br/>

Pulkovo airport in Russia's St Petersburg has resumed operations after being closed for several hours on Sunday due to heavy snowfall, the national aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said. At around 0830 local time (0530 GMT) the airport announced it was halting all flights and planned to resume operations shortly. However, this has been postponed until weather conditions improve. Artyom Korenyako, a spokesman for Rosaviatsia, wrote in his Telegram account that as of 1325 local time Pulkovo was reopened for inbound and outbound flights. Korenyako said that during the runway closure, 33 planes bound for St Petersburg had been redirected to alternate airports, primarily in Moscow. Earlier, Mash Telegram channel posted a video showing what it said was a plane waiting for departure from St. Petersburg, with passengers seated in the cabin and the outer panes of the windows heavily iced. It was unclear how long people had been waiting inside the aircraft.<br/>

South Korea plans to improve the structures housing the antenna that guide landings at its airports this year following December's fatal crash of a Jeju Air plane, which skidded off the runway and burst into flames after hitting such a structure. The transport ministry, which has been inspecting safety conditions at airlines and airports since the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed at the southwestern Muan airport, announced the move to change the so-called "localizer" structures on Monday. Seven domestic airports, including Muan, were found to have embankments or foundations made of concrete or steel that needed to be changed, the ministry said in a statement. It added that it would prepare measures to improve the structures by this month and aim to complete the improvements by the end of 2025. The government has also finished its inspection of six domestic airlines flying Boeing 737-800s, and found violations at some operators including exceeding the period of inspection pre- and post-flight, and non-compliance with procedures to resolve plane defects or passenger boarding. The transport ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Jeju Air was among the airlines where violations were found. A Jeju Air spokesperson could not be immediately reached. A special safety inspection of the country's major airport facilities will also take place between Jan 13-21, the ministry statement said.<br/>

Korea's air passenger traffic jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, nearly reaching the pre-pandemic level on increased overseas travel, data showed Sunday. The number of airline passengers at Korean airports came to more than 120m, up 19.5% from about 100.5m tallied in 2023, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number represents 97.3% of the record 123.36m posted in 2019. The number had dipped to 29.5% of the record figure in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, before recovering to 81.5% of the 2019 tally in 2023. The sharp increase last year was largely attributed to a rise in the number of international passengers to and from Korea, which jumped 30.2% on-year to some 88.9m, while domestic passengers gained 3.3% to 31.13m over the cited period, the data showed. By destination, passengers to and from Japan spiked 29.7 on-year to over 25m, apparently helped by the weak Japanese currency.<br/>

The 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne train has become so popular services are selling out – even with extra carriages added – as travellers seek alternatives to an aviation duopoly that is stronger than ever, with carriers charging $900 for one-way economy tickets. Ridership on the Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor has exploded in recent months, with 203,000 passenger journeys between July and December. Data for the 2023-24 financial year revealed 393,000 passenger journeys, a 14% increase on the previous year and just 7,000 shy of the annual record. While many of the passengers on the twice-daily New South Wales government-run XPT services travel only part of the trip from regional centres, Sydneysiders and Melburnians faced with significantly higher air fares on Australia’s busiest air route are increasingly turning to the train. The popularity of the train – currently operated with decades-old stock that lacks device charging or wifi but boasts window tinting that helps block mobile reception for the entire journey – has seen Transport for NSW routinely add a sixth carriage to the service, bringing capacity up from 215 to 285. Despite the extra carriage, services have continued to sell out. In 2023-24, an average of 277 passengers rode each service. Beyond the lure of flat pricing on one-way tickets – $117 during peak holiday periods and $83 at other times – travellers do not need to pay to check in large suitcases or for airport transfers at both ends.<br/>

Financiers and lessors who make the global air travel industry tick gather for an annual meeting in Dublin on Monday, buoyed by strong lease rates and relatively stable oil prices but facing uncertainty over jet shortages and trade tensions. Ireland is home to the worldwide aircraft leasing industry, which controls about half the world's airline fleet, and the Airline Economics gathering provides an early chance each year to monitor economic and trade risks around the globe. Leasing companies have seen rentals and resale values for jetliners rise as airlines try to meet new demand at the same time as planemakers are struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, that means good profits for lessors and many airlines, since shortages push up demand and fares. But there are concerns over access to efficient new aircraft as supply chains lack parts and labour. Older second-hand planes have been in strong demand to fill the gap. "The main question for the industry is the speed at which manufacturers will be able to ramp up deliveries. That will determine a lot of other things," said independent aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.<br/>

The number of air passengers is projected to more than double by 2050, causing surging fuel demand and undermining the aviation industry's steps to reduce its emissions, a study from climate advocacy group Transport and Environment showed on Monday. As aviation industry leaders meet in Dublin this week at an annual finance conference where many plane sales are expected, the Brussels-based group called for the European Union to implement measures to limit the sector's growth. "It's time to come back down to earth and put an end to this addiction to growth," Jo Dardenne, the group's aviation director, told Reuters. Steps to tame fast-growing air travel could include limiting airport infrastructure growth and corporate travel while increasing taxation on the sector, the report said. The airline industry, which accounts for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, has vowed to use more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in an effort to cut emissions and to reach net zero by 2050. But scant supply and prices that are up to five times higher than traditional jet fuel mean little of the greener fuel is in use. Monday's report said fuel use by the industry was forecast to rise by 59% by 2050 from 2019 levels as passenger numbers increase. With plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing both projecting high growth in the coming years and more planes in the sky, emissions are set to increase even with more efficient jets on the market and the use of SAF. x"The more they grow, the further away they move from it. At this rate, they will still be burning two billion barrels of oil per year in 2050, despite using SAF," said Dardenne.<br/>

Boeing is expected to confirm it made less than half of the aircraft of its rival Airbus in 2024, with analysts questioning whether the troubled US planemaker will be able to increase its rate of production as planned. The company is expected to report that it delivered only 340 aircraft to customers, when it publishes numbers on Tuesday, according to forecasts by Flight Plan. That is far below the 766 delivered by Airbus, Europe’s planemaking champion. Boeing is hoping to ramp up deliveries of its bestselling 737 Max jet under the leadership of the new CE, Kelly Ortberg, who was appointed in July to lead the latest turnaround of the giant manufacturer. It comes after a difficult 2024 for Boeing, which started with a door panel blowing out in mid-air because four bolts were missing after repair work. The year ended with the crash in the Korean city of Muan of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, killing all but two of the 181 people onboard. Investigators have not so far identified the reasons for the crash, although there are no indications yet that design flaws were to blame. Ortberg also had to deal with a workers’ strike lasting more than seven weeks that prevented the company from producing aircraft at its main factories near Seattle in Washington state. The various troubles have meant that deliveries to airline customers have fallen well below the 528 it managed in 2023, let alone its record annual deliveries of 806 in 2018, before two fatal crashes of its 737 Max plane prompted its biggest crisis, before the Covid pandemic stopped most international travel for months.<br/>

Turbulence on flights is usually caused by mountains, storms or powerful jet stream currents, so it’s not surprising that rocky ranges feature prominently in a new list of flight routes that had the most turbulence in 2024, according to tracker site Turbli.com. The Andes in South America and the Himalayas in Asia are a recurring factor in the bumpy routes featured in its top 10, which is based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the UK Met Office. Having analyzed 10,000 routes connecting 550 of the world’s largest airports, it found the route most prone to turbulence was the 196-kilometer (122-mile) trip between Mendoza (MDZ) and Santiago (SCL). The journey starts in Argentina’s stunning Mendoza region, famous for wine, olive oil and outdoor pursuits such as mountaineering, rafting and horse riding. It then flies west over the Andes to Santiago, the Chilean capital, which sits in a valley surrounded by the snowy Andean peaks and the Chilean Coastal Range. Last year is now officially the hottest year on record, with scientific analyses saying that is playing a role in recent extreme weather events, with the LA wildfires being the latest example. Rising temperatures might also contribute to an increase in severe “clear air” turbulence, which strikes fast and offers no visual cues. While incidents are predicted to rise, experts say it doesn’t mean flying will be less safe.<br/>