Airlines flashed an early-warning signal on Tuesday, suggesting that consumers and businesses were starting to get nervous amid wider economic and political uncertainty. Several carriers cut their financial forecasts for the first few months of the year, saying that revenue would be weaker than expected. They pointed to a number of reasons: bad weather, high-profile plane crashes, and less spending by consumers, businesses and the federal government. “We just went through a little bit of a parade of horribles,” Ed Bastian, the chief executive of Delta Air Lines, said at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference on Tuesday morning. Delta, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines all downgraded their revenue forecasts for the first quarter compared with earlier projections. Those revised projections suggest that uncertainty and flagging economic confidence have started to take a toll on travel, which can be an early indicator for other industries. But the news was not all bad. Airlines still expect revenue in the first quarter to be about the same as, if not higher than, the same period last year. And most are optimistic about the rest of 2025. The softening travel spending also appeared to be limited, for now, to flights within the United States and to lower-priced fares, according to Delta and United Airlines. “Good news is that international, long haul, Hawaii, premium, all remain really strong,” Scott Kirby, United’s CE, said at the investor conference. United did not revise its quarterly forecast, but Kirby said that he expected to finish the quarter at the low end of its financial projections. Delta similarly said that premium and international travel remained strong, which was welcome news to analysts, who were surprised by the size of the cut to its forecasts. But that may not be enough to ease all investors’ concerns, according to Andrew Didora, an analyst at the Bank of America.<br/>
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Two recent plane crashes have stoked worries among flyers and prompted some to pull back on air travel plans, according to two of the airlines that had those crashes. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Tuesday morning that the fatal crash of an American Airlines flight on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January, as well as a non-fatal crash in which a Delta flight flipped upside down upon landing in Toronto last month, are likely at least partly behind the travel pullback the airlines are seeing this year. “It caused a lot of shock among consumers,” he said at a JPMorgan Chase investors conference. Bastian did not say by how much ticket sales have slowed. On Monday the company revised its expected revenue growth for the quarter down by half in a regulatory filing. The crashes were some of the worst aviation incidents in the past 25 years, Bastian said, and as a result “there’s a whole generation of people traveling these days that didn’t realize these things can happen,” he said. That’s not the only thing driving down demand. Uncertainty about the economy and a drop in consumer confidence are also hurting, Delta said. But Bastian said the crash and worries about safety were “causal facts” in the drop-off in travel that a variety of US airlines are reporting. “We saw a pretty immediate stall in both corporate travel and bookings,” he said. “Consumer confidence and certainty in air travel started to wane a little bit as questions of safety came in.”<br/>
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday issued two urgent recommendations to reduce and reroute helicopter traffic around Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington after a midair crash of a passenger jet and an Army helicopter in January killed 67 people. Jennifer Homendy, the investigative board’s chair, said that a review of air traffic at the airport from 2011 to 2024 found that an airplane alert was triggered at least once a month, instructing pilots to take emergency action to avoid hitting helicopters. Airline pilots are expected to follow the alerts, known as resolution advisories, over other commands, including air traffic control instructions. In more than half those instances, which were documented in voluntary safety reports and F.A.A. data, the helicopter may have been flying above permitted altitudes for the route. Two out of three such collision threats took place at night. Investigators have been trying to understand why an Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying above the maximum height for its route and how it ended up in the path of an American Airlines regional jet on the evening of Jan. 29. In response to the data review and other findings, the safety board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration permanently ban helicopter traffic along a corridor known as Route 4 — which the Black Hawk was traveling on the night of the collision — when airport Runways 15 or 33 are in use. The corridor runs between Hains Point of East Potomac Park and the Wilson Bridge near National Airport. Airplane traffic on those runways accounts for less than 10% of departures and arrivals, so the helicopter closures would be limited, the agency said.<br/>
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that Verizon is "not moving fast enough" in its $2.4b, 15-year telecom contract with the Federal Aviation Administration. Duffy, who plans to ask Congress for tens of billions of dollars to reform air traffic control, spoke after Elon Musk's Starlink unit last week denied it wanted to take over the Verizon FAA contract. "I want companies that want to move fast," Duffy said at a press conference. "I can't wait 10 years... The American people can't wait 10 years or 12 years to lay fiber." Verizon said in response it is working with the FAA on solutions to create an advanced, safer national air traffic control. "We are open and willing to work with companies that may offer complementary services to this new communications network," Verizon said, adding it is "actively working with the FAA's technology teams and our solutions stand ready to be deployed." Duffy said companies need to move fast to address aging systems. "It's not going to be one company. We're going to need a lot of companies to buy in and help build up the system," he said. Last week, Musk's SpaceX said its Starlink satellite unit has no intent to take over any FAA telecommunications contract, rejecting media reports. Reuters has reported the FAA is reviewing the Verizon contract. "Starlink is a possible partial fix to an aging system. There is no effort or intent for Starlink to 'take over' any existing contract," SpaceX posted on X, the social media platform also owned by Musk. The Government Accountability Office says the FAA must take urgent action to address aging air traffic control systems, saying that one third are unsustainable. Many Democrats have suggested the FAA could cancel a $2.4b contract with Verizon and give it to Starlink because of Musk's close ties to President Donald Trump. Musk, who is leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency federal cost-cutting operation, has criticized the current FAA telecom system.<br/>
US Secretary of transportation Sean Duffy is gearing up to ask the US Congress to approve “upfront” funding needed to pay for an envisioned sweeping plan to modernise air traffic control (ATC) and to improve air safety. “Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to come out with this plan. I am going to share it with the Congress. Get the feedback,” Duffy said on 11 March. “Then, I am going to come back and ask the Congress for all the money upfront, so we can expedite this process of building out this system.” Duffy disclosed the plan in broad strokes on 11 March, the same day the National Transportation Safety Board issued recommendations in response to the 29 January collision of a PSA Airlines regional jet and a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The collision killed all 64 people on the regional jet and all three on the helicopter. The NTSB has said the helicopter had been flying at 300ft altitude, exceeding a 200ft cap for the flight corridor in which it was flying. “It’s going to [cost] a lot of money,” Duffy says of his plan to modernise ATC. “It will be tens of billions of dollars to fix it.” Numerous trade groups and labour unions have insisted for years that the FAA needs to modernisation its ageing ATC systems. The agency’s lacklustre progress is widely blamed on its dependence for funding on short-term spending bills passed by the US Congress. Those measures have hindered the FAA’s ability to make long-term investments, critics say. Duffy, however, plans to ask Congress to approve what he describes as a massive spending package that would pay for the plan. “We are going to lay out our plan, to actually do it really quickly,” Duffy says. “This is the time, when you lose 67 lives. I think we can honour those who lost their lives by paying this forward.”<br/>
The FAA said on Tuesday it was extending prohibitions barring U.S. flights to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince through September 8, citing risks from armed gangs to civil aviation. In November, the FAA temporarily halted all flights to Haiti but later allowed U.S. flights to resume to six airports in northern Haiti after three U.S. commercial jetliners were struck by gunfire. The restrictions had been set to expire Wednesday. The agency last year allowed American carriers and general aviation pilots to resume flights to six airports in Haiti: Port-de-Paix, Cap-Haitien, Pignon, Jeremie, Antoine-Simon and Jacmel. The FAA said on Tuesday that armed gangs continue to control large portions of the capital and have used small arms to fire on civilian aircraft, helicopters and airports that damaged multiple aircraft and injured an air crew member. The FAA said Haitian gangs "possess small arms, including high-caliber rifles and machine guns, posing risks primarily to aircraft on the ground, during low-altitude flight operations and during the approach/departure phases of flight." U.S. planes can transit over Port-au-Prince above 10,000 feet (3,048 m).<br/>
A council has called for expansion plans at London Stansted Airport to be delayed over concerns about air quality and noise levels. The owner of the Essex terminal is expected to submit fresh proposals in order to increase passenger capacity to a limit of 51m people per annum. But Hertfordshire County Council, which governs an area bordering the airport, called for a pause on the project in its official response to a consultation. Conservative cabinet member Stephen Boulton said: "Ploughing ahead to the detriment of local people would be unwise and a mistake." In 2023, the government's Planning Inspectorate approved the airport's proposal for a GBP600m project, which would include a bigger departure lounge, security hall and an extension to the terminal building. This would increase its passenger capacity to 43m - up from 35m. About 29.3m took flight from Stansted in the year to September. Funding for Stansted's initial expansion was approved in October 2024, as part of GBP1.1b in government investment which would see it become the UK's second biggest airport defined by passenger numbers. As part of the airport's latest Sustainable Development Plan, it further wants to increase the passenger capacity to 51m.<br/>
Labor’s proposal to bolster airline customers’ rights to empower them when confronted with poor service and disruptions offers weaker protections than those Australians are entitled to under consumer law, Choice has warned. The consumer advocacy group also criticised the use of timeframe “targets” instead of “deadlines” as being more likely to let airlines off the hook more easily. It issued a range of warnings about the draft version of the aviation customer rights charter – an initiative that emerged from the Albanese government’s year-long white paper process for the industry. The draft charter revealed that the government had bowed to pressure from Qantas and other airlines advocating against laws that would force them to pay cash compensation to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled – similar to a scheme that exists in the EU – after carriers said such rules would force them to pre-empt costs and bake them into higher base air fares. Choice, along with several other consumer groups, had long advocated for Australia to introduce a scheme to compensate passengers on delayed or cancelled flights for their lost time, on top of additional expenses incurred by the disruption.<br/>
Boeing said on Tuesday it delivered 44 aircraft in February, up from 27 in the same month a year ago, as it works to stabilize and then increase production of its 737 MAX and 787 models. It was only slightly behind January when the planemaker’s 45 deliveries were the company’s best for a single month since 2023. In February, Boeing’s deliveries included 32 of its best-selling 737 MAX single-aisle jets and five 787 widebody planes. Aircraft deliveries are closely watched by Wall Street because planemakers collect the majority of their payment when they hand over jets to customers. The U.S. planemaker booked 13 gross orders, plus eight cancellations, for a net total of five orders in February. The 13 new orders were all for 737 MAX jets. Included among them was an order by Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation for five MAX planes, which it plans to lease to Dominican Republic-based carrier Arajet, which canceled its own order for five MAXs. The cancellations included Florida-based cargo carrier Western Global Airlines abandoning orders for two 777 freighters. Through the first two months of the year, Boeing booked 41 net orders, compared to 65 net orders for its European rival Airbus.<br/>
Global ratings agency Fitch said on Tuesday that Boeing made early progress in resuming production post-strike, reducing legacy inventory, and managing supply chains. Fitch added that it believes the initial post-strike operational progress paves the way for the planemaker to produce 38 units per month in the third quarter.<br/>
Embraer aims to significantly expand its civilian aerospace presence in Poland, saying it is considering establishing an E-Jet E2 landing gear overhaul site and an E190 passenger-to-freighter conversion line in the country. The Brazilian company disclosed the plans on 11 March, also saying it wants to create a manufacturing site in Poland for its KC-390 heavy-lift military aircraft. Embraer’s CE Francisco Gomes Neto is visiting Poland this week, seeking to enlist partners to assist with “manufacturing, final assembly, maintenance and repair, passenger-to-freight conversions, research and development and [electric air taxis]”, the company says. “We are committed to expanding our industrial engagement together with Polish partners,” Gomes Neto says. “Embraer plans to help develop the capabilities and skills that will drive the Polish aerospace sector to the next stage of success.” Embraer already has a strong presence in the country. LOT Polish Airlines is a top E-Jet customer and several Polish firms supply E-Jet components, including seats, auxiliary power units and engine components – work Embraer says is worth $30m annually. “In commercial aviation, Embraer is ramping up production and actively seeking to turbocharge its supply chain in Poland,” the company adds. It estimates its ambitions could generate $3b in value in Poland over ten years, including $2b from new commercial aviation work and $1b from its envisioned KC-390 work. Also on 11 March, Embraer said it has agreed to collaborate “on new aircraft technologies and materials” with Lukasiewicz-Institute of Aviation, a Warsaw research organisation that provides aerospace design and testing services and research related to composite structures, aerospace systems and metal processing.<br/>