Rising costs have continued to plague the company, now facing soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran
The White House is finalizing a financing package to help ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.
News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines reportedly seeks emergency US government funding as war against Iran keeps aviation fuel costs high
Air Canada has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, citing rising fuel prices.
The move comes amid growing concerns that airlines worldwide may scale back services as aviation fuel costs climb in the wake of the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, which entered a fragile ceasefire earlier in April. Although Iran announced on Friday that the strait of Hormuz had reopened, helping ease oil prices, fuel costs remain significantly elevated after weeks of disruption.
Continue reading...Passengers can book a four-hour session in the bunk beds from May for Auckland-New York flights but airline cautions against smuggling in children
Economy passengers on Air New Zealand’s ultra-long-haul flight between Auckland and New York can book a spot in the airline’s bunk-bed style sleeping pods from May, which will take to skies in late 2026.
In what the airline says is a world first, six full-length, lie-flat sleeping pods, are squeezed into the aisle of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The pods, known as “Skynest”, will include fresh bedding, a privacy curtain, ambient lighting and kit with eye-masks, skincare, earplugs and socks.
Continue reading...Summer holidays could be hit unless oil flows through strait of Hormuz recommence within three weeks
Airports have warned that jet fuel could run short within three weeks in Europe if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz, raising concerns over flight cancellations in the UK and EU going into the summer holiday season.
Jet fuel shortages will become so acute without the resumption of supplies from the Middle East that cancellations across Europe will be inevitable, disrupting travel plans for potentially millions of passengers.
Continue reading...Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers
Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say.
Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays.
Continue reading...Austrian officials took action after airline ignored court order to pay €890 to unnamed women
Bailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.
Austrian officials took action after the budget carrier ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman €890 (£742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago.
Continue reading...Hong Kong-based airline has business-class return listed at A$39,577, as travellers seek routes avoiding Middle East
The Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific is selling seats from Sydney to London for more than £20,000 in April, as passengers search for scarce long-haul flights without changing in the Middle East.
The tickets, listed at A$39,577 in business class for returns departing in mid-April, far outstrip the usual fares charged even in the first-class cabin.
Continue reading...Airline reports spike in ticket sales to Europe in March, as passengers with carriers affected by flight chaos rebook
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Qantas has announced it is increasing the price of its international air fares amid oil price volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, while the airline also reported higher-than-normal ticket sales for flights to Europe.
While the company hedges against change in jet fuel prices, it was not fully covered for the spike seen in the wake of surging oil prices, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Select departures organised as US state department warns Americans to leave on commercial flights ‘due to safety risks’
Travellers stranded by a widening war in the Middle East began departing the United Arab Emirates onboard a small number of evacuation flights on Monday, as governments around the world worked to extract their citizens from the region.
Etihad Airways and Emirates, the airlines based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively, and the budget carrier FlyDubai said they would operate limited flights after the chaos and damaged caused by Iranian missiles and drones.
Continue reading...IAG reports record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at British Airways and sister airline Iberia
British Airways’ owner, International Airlines Group, has announced a sharp rise in annual profits to almost £4bn despite a slight fall in passenger numbers in 2025.
Pre-tax profits across IAG increased by 20% to €4.5bn (£3.9bn), with record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at BA and its sister airline Iberia.
Continue reading...Federal Aviation Administration bars flights around Fort Hancock after reported use of anti-drone military laser
The Federal Aviation Administration barred flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, after congressional aides told Reuters a military laser-based anti-drone system was believed to have accidentally shot down a US government drone.
The FAA and Pentagon did not immediately comment but the FAA cited “special security reasons” in its notice about the restrictions on the airspace near the Mexican border posted on its Notam alert system, shorthand for “Notice to Air Missions”.
Continue reading...Experts say air traffic controllers quickly returning to work, with promise of full back pay, and even $10,000 bonus
Fears that it would take weeks or even months for flight schedules in the US to return to normal in the wake of the US federal government shutdown do not appear to be coming true and the busy upcoming holiday season should be normal for travel, experts say.
That is at least in part because air traffic controllers are quickly returning to work, according to the Department of Transportation.
Continue reading...Aryasp Nejat says he was fired after enduring ‘sexually assaultive touching’ and making pro-union posts
Delta Air Lines settled a lawsuit that alleged a flight attendant was fired in retaliation for supporting unionization and enduring “sexually assaultive touching” during training.
The flight attendant, Aryasp Nejat, said he was suspended without pay, then fired, for making two pro-union, anti-harassment posts on social media, and was told his sexual harassment allegation would be investigated, but that he never received a follow-up.
Continue reading...Nearly 50% of 30 busiest airports facing absences as staff are forced to work without pay and shutdown hits 31st day
Nearly 50% of the 30 busiest US airports faced shortages of air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday, leading to flight delays nationwide as a federal government shutdown hit its 31st day.
The absence of controllers on Friday is by far the most widespread since the shutdown began, with one of the worst-hit regions being New York, where 80% of air traffic controllers were out, the agency said.
Continue reading...Nearly three-month strike includes 3,200 machinists at plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed
Boeing workers at three midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed voted Sunday to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago.
The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in Mascoutah, Illinois, and the Missouri cities of St Louis and St Charles is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners but threatens to complicate the aerospace company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
Continue reading...Hacker collective Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters demanded payment in return for preventing the stolen data of nearly 40 companies from being shared
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Hackers say they have leaked the personal records of 5 million Qantas customers on the dark web, after a ransom deadline set by the cybercriminals passed.
The airline is one of more than 40 firms globally caught up in the hack, reported to contain up to 1 billion customer records.
Continue reading...Zaventem asks airlines to cancel half of Monday departures, while most of Heathrow flights expected to operate
Hundreds of thousands of passengers at Heathrow and Berlin airports faced flight delays on Sunday after a cyber-attack hit check-in desk software, while cancellations at Brussels airport suggested that disruption of Europe’s air travel would continue into Monday.
Airlines were forced to revert to slower manual check-ins from Friday night after the attack hit Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in desk technology to various airlines.
Continue reading...Regulator Easa concludes there is not enough evidence it is as safe as flying with two pilots as currently required
Proposals for commercial aeroplanes to operate with just one pilot in the cockpit have been put on ice after a report for the European regulator suggested it would make flying more dangerous.
A three-year research project into “extended minimum crew operations” commissioned by the EU Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) found that despite advances in technology there was not sufficient evidence that flying with a single pilot could be as safe as with the two currently required.
Continue reading...Unite says stoppages at Broughton and Filton factories could disrupt production of wings and delay deliveries
Thousands of Airbus workers in the UK are to go on strike for 10 days in September in a row over pay that threatens to disrupt the production of aircraft wings.
A series of two-day strikes are planned to begin on 2 September and continue throughout the month at the company’s factories in Broughton, north Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, according to Unite.
Continue reading...Pilot reportedly removed all his clothes and walked into reception area of Cape Verde hotel after drinking session
An easyJet flight captain has been suspended pending an investigation after claims that he wandered naked around a luxury hotel at the end of an all-night drinking session.
The pilot, who has not been named, was seen without any clothes in the reception of a five-star hotel on the Atlantic resort island of Cape Verde early last Tuesday.
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