general

U.S. airlines were flying high less than two months ago on talk of a new golden age, as strong travel demand and tight industry-wide capacity raised the prospect of a multi-year profit boom. But President Donald Trump's broad tariffs and a crackdown on government spending have upended that optimism. Tourists and companies have reduced spending amid rising economic uncertainty, forcing carriers to cut their first-quarter profit forecasts. With travel a discretionary item for many consumers and businesses, growing odds of weak economic growth and high inflation have clouded the outlook for the remainder of the year as well. The S&P 500 passenger airlines index is down about 15% this year and widely underperforming the broader S&P 500 index. Shares of Delta and United Airlines have fallen about 20% each this year. Discounter Frontier Airlines is down 2%. "Your first needs are food and shelter. And then, we're a little bit down the list of expenditures," said David Neeleman, CEO of low-cost carrier Breeze Airways, in an interview. "If you don't have a job, you're not going to go buy an airline ticket." With demand slowing, airlines have started culling flights to avoid lowering fares and to protect margins. Frontier, Delta, United, American Airlines, JetBlue and Allegiant all trimmed their April-June quarter capacity in the past two weeks. United CEO Scott Kirby has warned of a large drop in industry-wide capacity by the second half of August if demand does not rebound. To be sure, bookings for premium and long-haul travel are holding up. United reported an 8% year-on-year jump in spring international bookings. Some of the demand slowdown is also due to recent safety incidents. Amanda Demanda Law Group data shows airplane safety concerns reached an all-time high in February, with Google searches for "Are planes safe now?" up 900%. Airlines expect the hit from safety incidents to fade soon. But they are less sure about economic pressures. U.S. consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level in more than four years in March, with future expectations for income, business, and labor market conditions hitting a 12-year low, a Conference Board survey showed on Tuesday.<br/>

Cautious European airline leaders have so far seen no negative effects from the policies of US President Donald Trump on the lucrative transatlantic passenger market, although they are continuing to keep a close eye on trends. Speaking during the A4E Aviation Summit in Brussels on 27 March, the CEs of the three big European airline groups agreed that forward bookings between Europe and the USA were tracking in line with expectations – for now. “Many of us, as well as our American competitors, are not seeing anything as of today,” says Air France-KLM CE Ben Smith. Nevertheless, Smith describes the situation as “concerning for us”, adding that the group continues to study developments “very, very closely”. That concern partly comes from the risk factors that have ramped up in recent weeks – and the real-world impacts of the Trump administration’s actions in some airline markets already. Those risk factors include falling confidence among US consumers in the world’s largest economy, which has already had an impact in domestic leisure markets in particular, prompting a number of US carriers to downgrade their earnings expectations for the first quarter. And with the US administration instigating trade wars and showing hostility to key allies, there is a concern that European travellers, for example, might choose to fly – and do business – elsewhere. <br/>

Britain's competition regulator said on Friday five airlines, including British Airways and American Airlines, have offered commitments to resolve concerns over their agreement to cooperate on passenger routes between the UK and the U.S. The group of airlines, which also includes Iberia, Aer Lingus and Finnair, has agreed to give their competitors' slots for take-off and landing at London airports on routes to and from Boston, Miami and Chicago, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The five carriers together form the Atlantic Joint Business Agreement, which allows them to coordinate their transatlantic flights and make business decisions on prices and schedules. American Airlines and British Airways owner IAG told Reuters that the companies were cooperating with the regulator's review.<br/>

The FAA said Friday it was making it easier for airplane owners to keep information private like their name and address after Congress approved legislation over privacy concerns. The FAA said that starting on Friday, private aircraft owners and operators can electronically request that the agency withhold their aircraft registration information from public view. Social media accounts have used FAA registry information and Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast data to track private planes used by celebrities like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and singer Taylor Swift. Some websites or social media bots track numerous planes used by well-known politicians and entertainers including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Harrison Ford, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey. Some sites seek to highlight the carbon emissions footprint of celebrities who regularly travel by private plane. In February 2024, media outlets reported a lawyer for Swift sent a cease and desist letter to a college student that tracked Swift's jet movements and posted regular social media updates. Twitter -- now known as X -- suspended the creator of an account tracking Musk's private jet in real-time soon after Musk bought Twitter. The FAA said it will seek comment, including whether removing the information would affect the ability of stakeholders to perform necessary functions, such as maintenance, safety checks, and regulatory compliance. The agency said it is also evaluating whether to default to withholding the personally identifiable information of private aircraft owners and operators from the public aircraft registry and provide a way for owners to download their data if needed.<br/>

When Christina Cassotis, the CE of Pittsburgh International Airport, heard about the power outage that forced London’s Heathrow Airport to suspend operations last week, she thought of the workers who were frantically trying to manage the chaos. But when an outage hits closer to home, she has a more restrained response: Keep calm and carry on. For almost four years, her airport has been powered by a mix of on-site natural gas generators and solar panels. The airport estimates that the stand-alone system, known as a microgrid, has saved it about $1m a year on its energy costs and allowed it to use the electric grid as a backup, Cassotis said. “We did it because we wanted resiliency and redundancy,” she said. “Airports are critical transportation infrastructure. We should be able to operate no matter what.” That level of energy independence is rare, especially among larger airports. Many airports have backup generators to help them maintain critical functions like air traffic control and lighting during power outages. But those standard emergency measures have limitations. They may require refueling if an outage lasts for many hours or days, for example. That’s why most airports remain heavily reliant on external power to keep passengers and planes moving. But U.S. airports are increasingly experimenting with generating and storing electricity on site — typically with solar power and batteries — to curb carbon emissions, prepare for future electricity needs, and manage rising disruptions caused by climate change and aging infrastructure. Denver International Airport has multiple connections to the grid in case one fails, but it recently also put in place a solar-powered battery storage system to keep its underground trains running in an emergency. At New York’s Kennedy International Airport, a $19b overhaul includes plans to install thousands of solar panels and batteries to cut emissions and keep its new Terminal 1, which is expected to open in 2026, running during outages that can be very disruptive and costly for airports and everyone who relies on them.<br/>

The CE of Heathrow has said it could cost about £1bn to install a more resilient power supply system to prevent a repeat of the outage that shut Europe’s busiest airport last week, and that airlines could pay higher charges to help fund it. Thomas Woldbye, who has been criticised for going to bed on the night of the crisis so he could be “better rested” to handle the fallout the following day, has said he was frustrated the incident occurred and would like to have handled it better. The disruption last Friday, caused by a fire at a nearby electricity substation, led to the cancellation of 1,300 flights and affected more than 200,000 passengers around the world. John Pettigrew, the CE of National Grid, has claimed there was enough power available from two other substations near Heathrow to have allowed it to remain open during the shutdown period. Woldbye maintains the airport had no choice but to close on safety grounds but suggested it might have been able to switch over its systems more quickly and reopened sooner. “It’s a relevant question,” he told the Financial Times. “And I’ll start out by saying that, you know, we don’t profess to be 100% perfect.” Heathrow took 24 hours to fully reopen after engineers reconfigured power supplies and tested that all its critical safety systems were working properly. “I really regret this happened on my watch,” Woldbye said. “This is not something I take lightly. I am truly frustrated about what happened, and of course I would like to have done it better. Having lost a day in the airport’s history is not something we are overall proud of or happy with.” Woldbye, who left the COO, Javier Echave, in charge on the night of the substation fire, said Heathrow was assessing whether it was possible to install a “fully resilient” power system that would allow it to switch between sources more swiftly.<br/>

The High Court has been asked to extend a pause it imposed last November on the Dublin Airport passenger cap. Justice Barry O’Donnell said he would give his judgment next week. Following the November pause, the court also agreed to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to clarify certain matters. However, as it takes an average of 16 months to get a ruling from the CJEU, the High Court was on Friday asked by a number of airlines to extend its November order pending the CJEU decision. If the court grants an extension of the pause, it will apply to passenger caps until the CJEU decision is delivered. Aer Lingus, Ryanair and a consortium of American carriers had sought a pause on the cap imposed by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) limiting passenger numbers to 25.2m between late March and October. The airlines claimed the restriction will cost them millions and will also mean they will be deprived of some of their “use them or lose them” take-off and landing slots. The case is against the IAA and the airport operator, the DAA, along with Airports Coordination Ltd, which allocates slots, are notice parties. The IAA, in making its decision limiting winter and summer passenger caps, said it took into account technical, operational, environmental and local planning constraints, including a 32m passenger limit for the airport imposed by planning conditions in 2007.<br/>

Singapore-based BOC Aviation said Monday that it will purchase 120 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus as part of its plan to expand its fleet to 1,000 by the end of the decade. BOC Aviation, majority-owned by the Bank of China, will buy 70 A320NEO family aircraft from Airbus and 50 737-8 jets from Boeing. The deal underscores the increasing demand for narrowbody aircraft as global travel surges, though production challenges, including workers' strike, regulatory scrutiny, and supply pressures, threaten to cause delivery delays. Boeing and BOC Aviation did not disclose the details of the deal, while Airbus did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. "With this transaction, we have commitments to purchase over 140 of these (Boeing 737-8) aircraft, which is the largest Boeing orderbook position in our history," BOC Aviation CEO Steven Townend said in an official statement from Boeing late on Sunday. BOC Aviation planned, to grow its fleet to 1,000 planes by 2030, as Townend told The Business Times last September. As of the end of 2024, it owned and managed 709 aircraft. The lessor said the aircraft from Boeing are scheduled for delivery through 2031, while the Airbus aircraft will be delivered through 2032.<br/>

New Zealand's Auckland International Airport said on Monday it will cut airline passenger charges after the country's competition watchdog said the airport operator was overcharging airlines and travellers. Auckland Airport will discount per passenger airline charges by around 11% on average for regional, domestic jet and international travel, according to Reuters calculations from its statement. New Zealand's Commerce Commission said in its report the airport operator's passenger charges were reaping an excess profit of about NZ$190m ($108.34m). The excess profit represented a return of 8.73% from priced aeronautical activities such as aircraft landing and passenger terminal charges compared to the Commission's estimated reasonable return of between 7.3% and 7.8%, the report said. The conclusions were largely in line with the regulator's initial findings in July last year. While the regulator found the company's forecast revenue and targeted returns were excessive and unreasonably high, it said the airport operator's planned investment fell within a reasonable range. Commissioner Vhari McWha said the price increases were higher than what was needed to fund investment to build more resilient infrastructure and add additional capacity.<br/>

Several private equity firms and at least one aerospace supplier are among the remaining bidders competing to buy Boeing's Jeppesen navigation unit for more than $8b, according to people familiar with the matter. Boeing is expected to invite bids for Jeppesen from the suitors in the coming weeks, six sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential. In recent weeks, several private equity firms have joined together to pursue a buyout of Jeppesen. Those private equity groups include Vista Equity and Warburg Pincus; Advent International and Permira; and TPG and Francisco Partners, according to three of the sources. The remaining parties also include aircraft parts maker TransDigm, and technology-focused buyout firms Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake, who are bidding separately. Honeywell and Carlyle had also expressed interest in acquiring Jeppesen, the sources added. It is unclear whether Honeywell and Carlyle are planning to submit final offers. Honeywell has its own competing navigation products. If the talks to sell Jeppesen are successful, the deal would rank as one of the biggest carve-out transactions in recent memory. In 2023, Ball Corp sold its aerospace assets to Britain's BAE Systems for about $5.6b. The final offers are expected to value Jeppesen between $8b and $9b, three sources said. Boeing had initially expected to fetch a price of more than $6b when the auction was launched late last year, but robust demand from potential buyers has pushed up the price tag, the sources said. Boeing is expected to further whittle down the list of potential buyers in the coming weeks ahead of final-round bids, one of the sources said. Boeing, TransDigm, Vista, Warburg Pincus, Advent, Permira, TPG, Francisco Partners, Thoma Bravo, Silver Lake, and Honeywell declined to comment. Carlyle did not respond to a request for comment.<br/>

Airbus is taking a down-to-earth approach for its latest study into aviation’s non-CO2 impacts, unveiling plans to replicate the conditions found at cruise altitudes and generate contrails at ground level. Running until June 2028, the EU-funded project, called PACIFIC, sees Airbus head a consortium that includes engine supplier Rolls-Royce, German aerospace research centre DLR, fuel supplier Neste, and universities in Finland, Germany and the UK. PACIFIC is designed to improve modelling and prediction capabilities to better assess contrail formation. Typically found in the upper troposphere at altitudes of 32,000-42,000ft, contrails are increasingly considered to have a warming effect on the atmosphere that is more short-lived, but potentially greater than, that of CO2. Recent studies – including the Airbus-backed VOLCAN and ECLIF3 projects – have suggested that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can cut contrail production by up to 25% due to lower emissions of soot particles. While more data is needed to validate those potential benefits researchers face a challenge to replicate the results obtained through flight testing. “The repeatability and predictability are not there,” said Mark Bentall, Airbus head of research and technology programmes, speaking during the manufacturer’s Summit event in Toulouse on 25 March.<br/>