The US Department of Transportation issued its final approval for antitrust immunity (ATI) of the American Airlines-Qantas joint business agreement on Friday afternoon. Expect to see new routes, fares and other cooperative efforts within the next six months.
Airplanes and Airports
PaxEx Update: 19 July 2019
United Airlines has new seating plans for its 787s, EgyptAir has a sleek looking new A220 and OneWeb has connectivity in space. Plus a big financial hit for Boeing and a soft-launch for IAG.
MAX, XLR and NMA: United addresses future fleet flexibility fundamentals
On the heels of its strongest second quarter results since the 2010 merger United Airlines found itself facing tough questions from investors about future fleet plans. There’s a decent chance neither the NMA nor XLR figure into the company’s needs for the next decade, given other options available.
WOW Air assets sold to investors
What’s next for bankrupt WOW Air? No one really knows, though maybe the team that just bought most of its assets has a plan.
Bjørn Kjos retires as CEO of Norwegian
Call it the end of an era. After 17 years in the role Bjørn Kjos, the CEO of Norwegian, will step down from the role with immediate effect.
WOW Air is Dead; Long Live WAB Air
WOW Air is dead. Completely dead. The planes are mostly off flying for other airlines while the true financial impact of the collapse remains u der debate. And yet. Perhaps there is a chance for another life for the flashy, LCC after all?
Virgin Atlantic acquisition of Flybe approved
Flybe’s absorbtion into the Virgin Atlantic family receive final approval from the European Commission last week, with conditions applied. At least one competitor will be disappointed at just how limited the conditions are.
Hackity hack, pay that back
Travel companies (along with nearly everyone else) have spent the past several years talking up how important and valuable the data they collect about passengers is. This week two of them saw huge penalties announced for failing to protect that data. Big rewards availalbe down the line, but big risks along the way.
Norwegian drops Vegas service. Again.
Norwegian will not fly its 787s from London to Las Vegas this winter. That is one of a dozen routes affected in the latest long-haul LCC shakeup.
American gives up on China – Chicago connections
Just over a year after admitting publicly that the routes “often don’t earn enough cash to cover the price of fuel” American Airlines is officially surrendering its route authorities from Chicago-O’Hare to Beijing and Shanghai. Both Delta and United figure to gain significantly as a result.