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Sources say that the US could cut air traffic by 10% on Friday, without a shutdown agreement.
Sources familiar with the situation say that Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, is likely to order a 10% cut in scheduled air traffic at 40 major airports beginning Friday if he cannot reach an agreement to end the shutdown. The shutdown forced 13,000 air-traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to work for free, which halted tens thousands of flights. Duffy warned on Tuesday, that if federal government shutdown continues another week, this could lead to a "massive chaos," and force him close part of the airspace for air traffic. This drastic measure could disrupt American aviation. The airlines have repeatedly called for an end to this shutdown, citing safety concerns. In extended trading, shares of major airlines including United Airlines and American Airlines fell by about 1%. A group representing the airline industry estimated that since October 1, more than 3.2 million passengers had been affected by delays or cancellations of flights due to an increase in air traffic controllers' absences. The airlines have expressed concerns to lawmakers regarding the impact of the shutdown on their operations. Airlines have said that the shutdown did not affect their business in a significant way, but warned that bookings may drop if it continues. On Wednesday, more than 2,100 flights had been delayed. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated on Tuesday that 20 to 40 percent of controllers in the 30 largest airports within the FAA failed to report to work. David Shepardson, Chris Sanders, and Cynthia Osterdy edited the report.
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Lyft's revenue growth is slower than expected, which clouds the positive booking forecast
Lyft's third-quarter revenue growth was a little below Wall Street expectations, despite intense competition in the company's core North American markets. This overshadowed a positive booking forecast for holiday travel. The shares of the San Francisco based company dropped about 3% during extended trading. A saturating market in major metropolitan areas has allowed the company to benefit from its recent push in international markets. Freenow's European operations have been positioned as premium services, complementing the mass-market presence of North America. The company stated that "our strategic acquisition of Freenow will bring over six million riders annually to our platform by 2026." The upmarket strategy has also gained traction in the United States, where high-margin rides have grown 50% during the last quarter. In addition, the Lyft Business Travel Program is helping to capture airport and corporate travel. According to LSEG data, Lyft expects gross bookings of between $5.01 and $5.13 Billion for the fourth quarter. This is above the average analyst estimate of $4.98 Billion. Lyft reported revenue of $1.69 billion for the three-month period ended September, a 10.7% increase from a year ago, but slower than analyst's estimates. Lyft reported that the growth of rides in the third quarter was largely due to the push into untapped U.S. market, notably college towns. The company also focuses on business travel. It launched a recent program that offers cash back for business rides, and secured a new partnership to strengthen its presence in the highly-valued airport transportation market. The company's adjusted core earnings were $138.9 millions during the third quarter. This was slightly below the estimated $140 million. (Reporting and editing by Sriraj K. Kalluvila in Bengaluru)
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Sources say that the US could cut air traffic by 10% on Friday, without a shutdown agreement.
Sources familiar with the situation say that Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, is likely to order a 10% cut in scheduled air traffic at 40 major airports beginning Friday if he cannot reach an agreement to end the shutdown. The shutdown forced 13,000 air traffic control officers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to work for free and disrupted tens thousands of flights. Duffy warned on Tuesday, that if federal government shutdown continued another week, it could lead "mass confusion" and force him to shut down some national airspace for air traffic. This drastic measure could disrupt American aviation. The airlines have repeatedly called for an end to this shutdown, citing safety concerns. In extended trading, shares of major airlines including United Airlines and American Airlines fell by about 1%.
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Lyft predicts a strong holiday quarter for bookings
Lyft Inc. forecast fourth-quarter bookings exceeding Wall Street estimates Wednesday, signaling a steady demand for their ride-hailing service heading into the busy Holiday Travel Season. A saturating market in major metropolitan areas has allowed the company to benefit from its recent push in international markets. Freenow's European operations have been positioned as premium services, complementing the mass-market presence of North America. The company stated that "our strategic acquisition of Freenow will bring over six million riders annually to our platform by 2026." The upmarket strategy has also gained traction in the United States, where high-margin rides have grown 50% during the last quarter. In addition, the Lyft Business Travel Program is helping to capture airport and corporate travel. According to LSEG data, Lyft expects gross bookings of between $5.01 and $5.13 Billion for the fourth quarter. This is above analysts' average estimates of $4.98 Billion. Lyft's revenue for the quarter ended September is a record, with a 10.7% increase to $1.69 Billion, which is in line with analyst estimates of $1.7 Billion. Lyft reported that the growth of rides in the third quarter was largely due to the push into untapped U.S. market, notably college towns. The company also focuses on business travel. It launched a recent program that offers cash back for business rides, and secured a new partnership to strengthen its presence in the highly-valued airport transportation market. The company's adjusted core earnings were $138.9 millions during the third quarter. This was slightly below the estimated $140 million. (Reporting and editing by Sriraj K. Kalluvila in Bengaluru)
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Iraq awards $764 Million Baghdad Airport Project to CAAP and Amwaj
Iraqi government awarded $764 million to Corporacion America Airports, a Luxembourg-based company, and Amwaj International of Iraq. The companies announced the award in a joint statement released on Wednesday. Amwaj CEO Namir El Akabi said the project will be a build, operate, and transfer model over a period of 25 years, starting with the expansion of the airport’s capacity up to 8.5 millions passengers in the initial phase through the construction of a brand new terminal. Phase 1 of the project is expected to be finished in three years. Baghdad’s international airport was constructed in the 1970s-80s. Since then, little has been done to improve it, despite decades of turmoil. This includes a war with Iran that lasted for nearly ten years in the 1980s, the Gulf War of the 1990s and the U.S. invasion in 2003. Iraq has experienced relative stability in recent years. Major cities have seen a boom in construction, fueled by the huge oil revenues of the country. The office of the Iraqi Prime Minister did not respond immediately to a comment request. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman, Andrea Ricci and Timour Azhari)
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Delta Air Lines is being investigated by US House of Representatives for using AI to price tickets.
On Wednesday, a group of 20 U.S. House Democratic members asked Delta Air Lines' CEO Ed Bastian to respond to questions regarding the use of artificial intelligence in setting ticket prices. In a letter, the lawmakers including Jesus "Chuy” Garcia, Jerrold Ndler, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and Dan Goldman asked Delta to reveal whether it would use AI to increase prices by "individualized, surveillance based price discrimination." Delta announced on Wednesday that "there are no fare products Delta has used, is currently testing or plans to implement which target customers with personalized offers based upon personal information or other factors." Legislators have expressed concern that airlines may use AI, consumer data, or internet usage (such as visiting a funeral website) to determine when people want to travel and then increase air fares. Delta has not addressed concerns raised by senators in July, according to the lawmakers. Delta hasn't explained the safeguards it uses to comply with federal law. Sean Duffy, the Transportation Secretary, said in August that his department would look into whether any airline was using AI to set its prices. Duffy stated that "we would be very concerned if any company tried to use AI for pricing their seats individually." Delta announced earlier that it planned to deploy AI-based technology for revenue management across 20% of the domestic network in partnership with Fetcherr. The House letter stated that Delta President Glen Hauenstein previously said that Delta would use AI-generated pricing to tailor airfares to "that flight at that time and to you as an individual". The letter was signed by Rashida and Greg Casar, both Democratic legislators. In July, they introduced legislation to prohibit companies from using AI for setting prices or wages on the basis of Americans' personal data. They also wanted to ban airlines from increasing individual prices based upon a search made for an obituary. The legislation has not yet been passed. Delta told senators in August that it has been using dynamic pricing since the 1970s. Pricing is based on factors such as overall demand, fuel costs, and competition but not personal information. (Reporting and editing by Nia William; David Shepardson)
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UPS Air hub closure will cause delivery delays throughout its global network
Temporary closure of United Parcel Service's sprawling air cargo hub, located in Louisville, Kentucky following a fatal plane crash, will cause delays throughout the global delivery network. The Worldport hub is a hub and spoke model that UPS uses to manage air cargo. It processes millions of packages each day for approximately 360 aircraft, both incoming and departing. On Tuesday night, the company ceased operations at Louisville International Airport after a UPS cargo aircraft crashed, killing nine people including three members of the flight crew. UPS on Wednesday cancelled the Worldport shift from mid-morning until mid-afternoon that deals with Second Day air packages. The company has not stated when it intends to resume normal operations at its 5.2 million-square-foot (483.096-square-meter) facility, which is about the size of 89 U.S. soccer fields and can handle 416,000 packages an hour. UPS warned that scheduled delivery times of air packages and international packages could be affected in a Tuesday service alert. Niall van de Wouw is the chief airfreight officer of transportation pricing platform Xeneta. He said that UPS customers will experience delays because many UPS packages travel through Worldport to reach other destinations. He said that it would take several days to recover from a day's closure for air cargo, particularly as we approach the end of year peak season. He predicted that the impact of his decision would be limited on air freight services and rates. In early afternoon trading, UPS shares rose about 0.5% to $93.76. UPS's delays will have a wide-ranging impact, as its customers include many U.S. agencies and businesses. Customers include the U.S. Amazon.com and the Postal Service are among UPS's largest customers. UPS delivers packages to Walmart, Target, manufacturers, and many small businesses. Worldport also has inventory from more than 150 UPS clients, including Merck & Co. and other major pharmaceutical companies. UPS customers have not commented on possible delays. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein and Lisa Barrington, both in Los Angeles; editing by Paul Simao
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Telecom Italia increases 9-month core earnings by 5.3%
Telecom Italia reported a 5.3% increase in core earnings for the first nine-month period of this year. The company also confirmed that its earnings growth projection of around 7% by 2025. The company announced that customers of PosteMobile - the Italian financial conglomerate Poste Italiane's telecommunications arm - will migrate to its network in the first quarter 2026. Why it's important Poste Italiane replaced France's Vivendi, as the single largest shareholder in TIM with a 24,8% stake. Poste Italiane is owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the state bank, and the Italian Treasury. Its core business includes mail, parcels, financial services, insurance and broadband. TIM, having sold its landline network in a bid to reduce debt last year, is expected play a key role in the consolidation of Italy's telecoms industry, which has faced intense price competition for years. Last month, France's Boygues Telecom and Iliad Free and Orange made a joint bid of 17 billion euros (19 billion dollars) to purchase the majority of assets of France’s second largest telecoms operator SFR. This increased the appeal of European telecommunications firms and boosted TIM’s share price. The shares of TIM rose after reports that Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is considering a possible tie-up between its Italian telecom unit Wind Tre, and the Italian operations from French telecoms group Iliad. By the Numbers The largest Italian telecoms group reported that its EBITDA (after leases) for nine months rose to 2.7 billion euro. The domestic EBITDAal was 1.5 billion euros in 2016, up 4.1% on the previous year. EBITDAal for its Brasilian operations was 1.2 billion Euros, an increase of 6.9%. As of September 30, TIM's net loan debt was 7.5 billion euro. The group revenue for the third quarter was 10 billion euros. This is a 2.3% increase year-on-year. TIM reported that its revenue and margins increased due to a strong performance on the Brazilian and domestic markets. Reporting by Philippe Leroy Beaulieu, Gdansk. Editing by Matt Scuffham.
Trade group: US government shutdown is starting to affect airline passenger bookings
On Wednesday, the head of an industry group that represents major U.S. carriers said that bookings are starting to drop as the government shutdown entered its 36th record day.
"We've seen an industry-wide pullback on people booking travel plans just a few days ago, and it grows a little every day," said Chris Sununu who is the head of Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines and United Airlines as well as Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and other major airlines. He added that carriers have not noticed a spike in cancellations.
Sununu stated that they were trying to encourage travelers to keep their plans and bookings.
He said that airlines are contacting lawmakers to urge them end the shutdown, as the busy holiday season of Thanksgiving approaches.
Sununu stated that "no political party will win if the Thanksgiving is ruined because of their politics - everyone loses." "They'd better get their act in order and solve this problem."
The shutdown forced 13,000 air-traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to work for free and disrupted tens thousands of flights.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday that if federal government shutdown continued another week, it could cause "mass confusion" and force him to shut down some national airspace for air traffic. This drastic measure could disrupt American aviation.
Sununu, four of the largest U.S. Airlines and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association all urged Congress to pass a temporary funding bill as soon as possible to allow the government to reopen. Airlines have repeatedly called for an end to the government shutdown, citing safety concerns. U.S. Aviation has already experienced tens and thousands of flight delays in the last month. More than 3.2 millions passengers have also been affected by delays or cancelled flights because of a spike of air traffic controller absenteeism since October 1. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated on Tuesday that "anywhere between 20 and 40% of our controllers don't come to work" at the 30 largest airports. Air travel disruptions in 2019 forced lawmakers to end a 35-day shutdown of the government during Donald Trump's term as president. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Deepa Babington, and David Shepardson)
(source: Reuters)