Aviation Industry Updates: Oct 31, 2023

Spirit Airlines Suspends Pilot And Flight Attendant Training

KEY POINTS:

• US low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has sent a memo to its inflight crew members announcing the airline will suspend training for new pilots and flight attendants indefinitely starting next month, according to a CNBC report. The airline on Thursday posted what it called a “disappointing outcome” for its third-quarter results.
• In its memo to flight crew, Spirit Airlines said that it wanted to ensure that its crew size matched its needs based on aircraft and was already taking measures to adjust to lower demand.
• Over the third quarter, the airline took delivery of three new A320neo aircraft and five new A321neo aircraft while retiring four A319ceo aircraft, ending the quarter with 202 aircraft in its fleet. The airline additionally anticipates removing ten of its A320neo fleet from service to inspect a known flaw with powdered metal inside its Pratt & Whitney 1100G engines.

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Frontier Airlines Plans To Transform Business, Be More Like Ryanair

KEY POINTS:

• Ultra low cost carriers in the United States have had a really tough few months. While travel demand in general has been strong, that demand has overwhelmingly been for long haul travel and for premium products, neither of which ultra low carriers can really capitalize on.
• Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle is a bright guy, and he recently stated that “you’ve got fuel, capacity and demand all headed in the wrong direction, we’re kind of the canary in the coal mine.” Well that’s certainly not something you want to hear an airline CEO say!
• During Frontier Airlines’ recent Q3 2023 earnings call, Biffle made some interesting comments about how the airline will transform, as flagged by The Airline Observer.
• Frontier Airlines has plans to make significant changes to its business model, and become more like Ryanair and Wizz Air in Europe. Wait a second, isn’t Frontier already kind of like that, in terms of cramming in tons of seats, and charging for just about everything? Yes, indeed.
• The way that Frontier plans to evolve and become more like European ultra low cost carriers is in the way that it builds its network. Currently, Frontier largely operates like the “big three” US carriers, in terms of cycling planes throughout its schedule and route network. A plane might fly a complicated multi-day pattern, spending every night in a different city.

One Mile At A Time

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JetBlue Earnings and Start of Spirit Merger Trial Sync Up

KEY POINTS:

• Tuesday is a big day for JetBlue Airways The low-cost carrier not only reports third-quarter earnings but is due in court.
• The Justice Department is suing to block the company’s proposed $3.8 billion merger with Spirit Airlines 
• Either earnings or the trial could jump-start JetBlue (ticker: JBLU) stock, which is off 56% since its July peak and 36% for the year, as of Friday’s close.
• Any boost, though, may be more likely to eventually come from the trial than from its earnings, though it’s hard to be too optimistic about either.
• In its lawsuit, the government opposes the merger on the grounds that it would hurt competition. Prices would increase and travelers would have fewer choices for routes nationwide, according to the Justice Department.  
• JetBlue disagrees and has tried to ease the government’s concerns, including voluntary agreements to divest Spirit holdings in Boston, Newark and at New York’s LaGuardia Airport if the deal is allowed to go throu

Barrons

Southwest Airlines Sees No Letup In Cost Pressures, Orders Additional Boeing Jets

KEY POINTS:

• Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) on Thursday warned of higher costs next year due to rising labor pay rates as well as its decision to slow down capacity growth to protect its pricing power.
• The Dallas-based company also unveiled new orders for Boeing's (BA.N) 737 MAX planes to help modernize its fleet.
• A tight labor market in the United States has driven up wages. The shortages are far more acute for pilots amid robust travel demand, enabling unions to secure big gains in new contracts.
• While Southwest has yet to reach a contract deal with its pilots, the company is widely expected to match the hefty pay raises at rival carriers.
• The company also expects higher aircraft maintenance expense next year. In the meantime, its bid to protect margins by slowing down capacity growth is projected to worsen the cost pressure.
  Soaring costs led to a 30% fall in Southwest's third-quarter profit.

Reuters

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