The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with the CEOs of U.S. passenger airline companies on Thursday to discuss the FAA's plans to use advanced software for a re-organization of flight schedules to improve 'flight management. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford has met with top executives of American Airlines, United Airlines Delta Air Lines Southwest Airlines and other airlines to discuss the plan for the agency to start rolling out the SMART system this month. Bedford told reporters at the end of August that "it's going be transformational." We'll be able to make better decisions if we have more...

JetBlue Airways lowered its capacity growth forecast on Thursday due to higher fuel costs and weather-related disruptions. However, the carrier said that bookings continued to be healthy in September, both during peak and off-peak times. Fuel prices have risen due to the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, forcing airlines worldwide to raise ticket prices and reduce capacity. JetBlue has been struggling since its proposed tie-up deal with Spirit Airlines, now bankrupt, fell through. JetBlue says weather and air traffic control related disruptions, especially in the Northeastern U.S. in July and august, led to an increase in cancellations, and pushed...

JetBlue Airways is expecting to pay more for fuel during the third quarter, as the 'Iran War' keeps prices high and demand strong. The carrier announced on Thursday that it expected to pay $3.96 for a gallon of fuel during the third quarter. This is up from its previous forecast of $3.49. In premarket trading, its?shares fell by about 1%. U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has pushed fuel prices up, increasing?costs to airlines around the world. JetBlue said on Thursday that weather and air traffic disruptions, especially in the Northeastern U.S. in July and August have led to an...

Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive Officer of Ryanair, boosted the airline's forecast for average fares on Thursday. He said they could?rise?slightly?this winter, following a'mild increase' since July. However, this outlook was heavily dependent on oil prices. As oil prices rose, the airline's costs increased. The result was a drop in profit in its last quarter. O'Leary, on Thursday, said that since then, fares have risen "by a very low single digit" percentage year-over-year. O'Leary said at a press conference that there had been a "slight upturn" in the last month. He said it was impossible to determine what caused the increase...

According to data from the industry and interviews with decision makers and suppliers, mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace industry are increasing as buyers gain more confidence in long-term demands due to clearer Boeing and Airbus schedules. Through August, the aerospace and defense investment bank Janes Capital Partners, which focuses on commercial aerospace, tracked 154 publicly-disclosed commercial aerospace transactions in this year. This is just a few short of the record of 159 that was set in 2019. Buyers target suppliers who have specialized manufacturing abilities, scarce workers and the capacity to meet an increasing jet production. The major manufacturers...

The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the pilot of an Amazon Prime Air cargo aircraft that crashed in Miami on Sunday warned they were flying 'too fast' just over a moment before touching down on the 'runway overran by the plane. The pilot continued to make comments about the plane's speed as automated warnings were sounded. The other pilot, however, did not provide a clear response verbally, according to a cockpit voice recording that was detailed in a Wednesday investigative update. However, it did not identify who the speakers were as either the captain or the first officer. The...

Arianespace, the operator of Europe's flagship rocket programme, announced on Wednesday that Amazon 'Leo' has ordered six more launches using Europe's 'Ariane 6' launcher. Amazon has now ordered 24 Ariane launches by 2031, following the announcement made at a space conference in Paris. ArianeGroup's commercial arm announced that new flights on the Ariane 64 high-capacity version will start in 2029. Emmanuel Macron, French President, praised the deal during the opening of a 2-day space summit that was boycotted by a number of?top U.S. companies, including Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. This followed what sources described last week...

Two?Democratic Senators on Wednesday urged Delta Air Lines' CEO Ed Bastian to stay neutral in the ongoing attempts by some airline.flight attendants unionize. In a letter seen by the?Senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, they said that flight attendants at the Atlanta-based carrier have been trying for years to organize. They argued that management's attitude is "threatening future pay and benefits to flight attendants if they decide to organize", and called it inappropriate. Delta welcomed discussions with senators. Delta fully supports our employees' rights to decide if union representation is the right choice for them, and maintains a strict non-interference...

A nationwide strike on Wednesday against the government's proposal to cut welfare spending halted public transport in The Netherlands. A 24-hour strike affected train services in the entire country, including international trains to Belgium, Germany France and Britain. The strike was organised by the unions against plans to reduce welfare spending up to EUR6.5billion ($7.6billion) annually, mainly through limiting unemployment benefits. The strike is a further obstacle to the centre-right minorities government that was installed in this year's parliament. The coalition is in need of outside support, as it lacks a majority. The opposition's leading left-wing Pro Party has joined...

After a major failure in air traffic control, flights from British airports were resumed on 'Wednesday morning. However hubs warned it would take time before operations returned to normal. The shutdown that lasted for hours on Tuesday resulted to the cancellation of over 1,000 flights, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded. This has increased pressure on NATS, a provider of air traffic control, and Martin Rolfe, its boss. Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, has already asked him to resign because of his role in the August 2023 system meltdown, when cancelled flights cost operators PS100,000,000 ($135,000,000). Heathrow Airport near London...

Air India's request to its owners, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, for $1.5 billion has sparked debate in Singapore about the exposure of state investor Temasek to Indian carrier. A government minister stated that the news of the funding request had led to anti-Indian abuse on the internet, and asked the police to investigate the comments. Here are some key facts AIR INDIA REQUEST FOR FUNDING Air India approached India's Tata Group as well as Singapore Airlines to discuss equity funding. This comes after Air India and its budget airline posted a record-breaking annual loss of 2,33 billion dollars last...

Budget airlines 'Wizz Air' and 'Ryanair, both European carriers, called for a restructure of Britain’s air traffic controller NATS on Tuesday after a?new technical issue that caused?hundreds? of flights to be disrupted at key airports across the country. "A vital national infrastructure provider shouldn't repeatedly stop the aviation system." NATS in its current state is not suitable for the purpose it was intended for," said a Wizz Air spokesperson. Rival airline Ryanair has also criticised this agency and demanded the resignation of its CEO, Martin Rolfe. We were told that lessons would be learned after the collapse of 2023. "Resilience...