Southwest Airlines is pausing corporate hiring and promotions, suspending most of its summer internships and going without some employee team-building events that date back to the 1980s in order to cut costs and improve margins, CEO Bob Jordan told staff. “Every single dollar matters as we continue to fight to return to excellent financial performance,” Jordan said in the note Monday, which was seen by CNBC. He said the company will delay other activities “when it makes sense.” A Southwest spokeswoman confirmed the changes. “We’ll continue to evaluate hiring needs on an ongoing basis to determine when it makes sense for the business to resume hiring,” she said in an email. As part of the cost cuts, Southwest is pausing its employee “rallies,” a company team-building tradition that dates back to 1985 in which staff hear from the airline’s leaders about the year’s goals and are treated to food and entertainment. Southwest spent months last year under pressure from activist Elliott Investment Management, which called for a CEO change at the carrier. The two sides settled in October with Elliott winning five Southwest board seats, short of control, and Jordan remaining in the top job.<br/>
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US regional carrier Silver Airways is aiming to emerge from financial restructuring through Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the next several weeks. The Hollywood, Florida-based operator recently told FlightGlobal that it plans to complete the process in the first quarter but declined to get more specific, citing “pending proceedings” with US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida. “We will have further information in the coming weeks as the case progresses,” says a company spokesperson. Silver Airways filed for bankruptcy on 30 December in a bid to “ensure a sustainable future” for the company, adding in a note to customers that it was seeking additional capital and planned to emerge “stronger and ready to continue serving” air travellers in Florida and the Bahamas. The carrier has continued operating as normal and honouring codeshare agreements with major US carriers JetBlue Airways and United Airlines during the restructuring. The carrier also has a codeshare agreement with Brazil’s Azul. “Tickets purchased through any other airline or agency will be honoured,” it said at the time. <br/>
Porter Aircraft Leasing, a subsidiary of Canada’s Porter Aviation Holdings, has agreed to the sale-leaseback of four Pratt & Whitney engines with international lessor Avolon. Deliveries of the quartet of PW1900G geared turbofan (GTF) engines are expected to begin this year and continue in 2026, amid Porter Airlines’ rapid Embraer E195-E2 fleet expansion, the company said on 13 January. The deal builds off Porter and Avolon’s existing relationship, which has previously involved sale-leasebacks of E195-E2 aircraft. The parties do not disclose the agreement’s financial terms. Porter has taken deliveries of 43 E195-E2s to date, making it one of the largest global operators of the narrowbody type. It holds unfilled orders for 32 of the latest-generation E Jets and options for a further 25 units. The Toronto-based carrier has been undergoing an ambitious network expansion thanks to its new E195-E2s, now operating transcontinental flights to Western Canada and the USA. <br/>
Aurigny has announced a "programme for improvement" for 2025 after a series of delays and cancellations. Between 12 December 2024 and 12 January 2025 more than 6% of flights were cancelled due to persistent poor weather, the Guernsey States-owned airline said. Aurigny said 29 of its 1,077 flights during the same period were impacted by technical issues. The airline, which flies between Guernsey, Alderney, the UK and France, thanked its customers for their patience after the "particularly challenging" period.<br/>
Play Airlines is pulling out of Canada less than two years after entering the market. The discount carrier’s schedule shows that starting in late April it will stop its four flights per week from Hamilton, Ont., to its home base in Reykjavik, Iceland, which it uses as a stopover for trips to Europe. Hamilton-based Tripcentral.ca founder Richard Vanderlubbe says the updated schedule means Play is making its exit from the Canadian market. Several trade publications have reported the airline is leaving Canada. The halt also comes amid a narrowing of the low-cost carrier field after Lynx Air filed for creditor protection last February and WestJet folded Swoop into its mainline operation in 2023. Play did not respond immediately to questions on why it is leaving or whether customers with bookings beyond April are being refunded.<br/>
Saudi budget airline flyadeal is putting the finishing touches to a deal to order 10 Airbus A330neo jets in its first full-blown expansion into wide-body planes, as the kingdom pursues a surge of spending on aviation, industry sources said on Tuesday. The low-cost subsidiary of state carrier Saudia is likely to unveil the order for the upgraded A330-900 variant in the coming weeks after comparing it with Boeing's smaller 787-9, and the first jets are expected to arrive in 2027, the sources said.<br/>
Pakistan’s prime minister on Tuesday ordered an investigation into how the country’s national airline approved an advertisement with an illustration that many on social media said was uncomfortably similar to imagery from Sept. 11, 2001. The advertisement, by the state-run Pakistan International Airlines, or PIA, was meant to be a celebratory announcement that it was resuming flights to Paris. But the ad — featuring an image of an aircraft pointed toward the Eiffel Tower with the caption “Paris, we’re coming today” — drew swift condemnation after its release late last week. A post by the airline on X that showed the image has been viewed more than 21m times. “Pakistan air needs a new graphic designer,” Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and author, wrote on Threads, a social network. Omar R. Quraishi, a newspaper columnist, said the advertisement had left him speechless. “Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy — which used planes to attack buildings,” Quraishi wrote on X. Pakistan has some connections to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of being the mastermind of the attacks, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011. The country’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said during a session of Parliament that the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, had asked for an inquiry into how the advertisement had cleared internal airline approvals. The outcry over the ad is the latest setback for PIA, which has been battling financial losses and hurdles in the government’s desperate efforts to privatize the airline.<br/>
Jetstar Asia will launch direct flights linking Singapore to Labuan Bajo, the Indonesian town considered the “gateway” to Komodo National Park, the company said. The park, a UNESCO Heritage Site inscribed in 1991, is home to several thousand Komodo dragons, the largest species of lizard in the world, according to UNESCO. Komodo National Park is the only place where these lizards are found in the wild, adding to the mystique of the reptiles which, on rare occasions, have been known to attack humans. The park, which is spread across several islands in Indonesia, is accessible from Labuan Bajo via boat. Jetstar Asia, a low-cost carrier based in Singapore, said twice-weekly flights to Labuan Bajo will start on March 20. The airline will be the only carrier operating this route. Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s executive vice president for air hub and cargo development, said in a press release announcing the new flights: “This is the first time Changi Airport is directly connected to this stunning destination.”<br/>