Airline stocks went into a nosedive Wednesday on investor fears that a plan by United to grow rapidly will undercut prices and profits. Shares of United Continental Holdings plunged 11.4% to $69.05. American, Delta and Southwest also fell sharply. The largest six US airlines lost more than $9b in stock-market value. United was the nation's biggest airline a decade ago but has slipped behind American and Delta. United executives say they have to rebuild service on routes that the airline abandoned to regain high-paying connecting passengers. Investors fear that United's plan — on top of growth by other airlines — will flood the market with too many flights and seats, triggering ruinous fare wars to keep planes full. After the market closed on Tuesday, United reported solid financial results for Q4. Profit jumped 46% to $580m, beating Wall Street's expectations. The airline indicated that average prices are heading higher, which cheered investors. In after-hours trading, the company's stock went into a tailspin, however, midway through a meeting with Wall Street analysts that was webcast for investors everywhere to hear. It marks the fourth consecutive stock slump for United following an earnings report. In October, a disastrous conference call contributed to a 12% one-day drop. The breaking point this time was United's disclosure that it plans to add between 4 and 6% to its passenger-carrying capacity this year and maintain that pace through 2020.<br/>
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United Airlines is hitting pause on its fleet upgauging programme in 2018, as it plans the "temporary" addition of 40 Bombardier CRJ200s to support growth. The carrier will add 40 CRJ200s operated by Air Wisconsin and one Embraer ERJ-145 to its feeder fleet this year, a fleet plan released on 23 January shows. The net increase in small regional jets is 38, after it removes its final three Embraer ERJ-135s. These jets are in addition to the 24 mainline aircraft due in 2018. United plans to add its first 10 Boeing 737 Max 9s as well as three used Boeing 767-300ERs – understood to come from Hawaiian Airlines – four Boeing 777-300ERs and seven Boeing 787s to its mainline fleet this year. The regional and mainline aircraft will help drive a 4-6% increase in capacity in 2018, as the airline continues to focus on boosting higher-yield connections over its hubs. "A big chunk of our growth in 2018 is actually this temporary surge in regional jets, which doesn't last," said Scott Kirby, president of United, during an earnings and investor presentation on 23 January. Fleeting or not, the 50-seat jet additions break from the carrier's strategy over the past few years. Its small jet fleet shrank by 66 aircraft to 256 at the end of December 2017 compared to the end of 2014, while the number of two-class regional jets increased by 69 to 255 aircraft. Andrew Levy, CFO of United, says the upgauging strategy "pauses" in 2018 with the 50-seat jet additions before resuming in 2019 and 2020. <br/>
SIA's "Capital Express" route offering direct flights from Wellington to Canberra has been axed 16 months after it was announced. The tax-subsidised flight, which carries on to Singapore, will now go through Melbourne four times a week. The change "enhances economic opportunities for the region", said Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) acting CE Derek Fry. "A Wellington-Singapore via Melbourne service will provide more opportunity for Wellington. The opportunity for our region from Southeast Asia and across the Singapore Airlines network is still excellent, but Melbourne itself is a large market for Wellington with plenty of potential for growth both in the tourism and business sectors." The change would also increase the tourism potential between Wellington and Victoria, he said. It was "well-timed for business-related travel and of course gives Wellingtonians more travel choice to an Australian city that's widely liked here". Calling it a shame to lose the direct connectivity with Canberra, Fry said nevertheless a strong awareness of Wellington as a tourism destination had been developed in the Australian capital.<br/>
A Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew member has been arrested in India for allegedly smuggling gold. The steward was arrested by Indian customs officers on Monday at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. An SIA spokesman said: "SIA confirms that a member of its cabin crew operating on SIA flight SQ402 on Jan 22 was detained by Delhi Customs authorities. "SIA will provide full co-operation to the investigating authorities. We are unable to provide details of the crew member concerned due to confidential reasons." The airport's Joint Commissioner of Customs Anubha Singh told Indian media that officers intercepted the SIA steward who had arrived from Singapore. "We searched him and recovered 1,048g of gold," he said. Initial investigations have revealed that the crew member had intended to hand over the gold to an agent at a prominent hotel in Delhi. "He would get S$500 for this," a senior official said, adding that the crew had worn the gold items - a chain and a bangle - under his uniform.<br/>