AW Daily

United, Delta, and Alaska tails at Washington Reagan National airport.

U.S. Airlines Now Balancing Strong Ticket Sales With Escalating Costs

January 19, 2023

U.S. airlines are enjoying strong demand and ticket sales, a recent analysis by trade group Airlines for America (A4A) found. But they also face significant inflationary pressures across most key cost categories that could put a damper on earnings. Delta...

Ryanair CEO Embraces Booking Record Cautiously as ‘S**t Always Happens in This Industry’

January 18, 2023

“This is the biggest growth opportunity I have seen for the last 20 years,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Tuesday. The airline surpassed 2019 traffic levels in 2022, and predicts robust growth this year as it rapidly pulls out of...

An Air New Zealand Boeing 777 lands in Auckland

Air New Zealand Prepares for New Competition from Qantas and Delta

January 17, 2023

Air New Zealand had the nonstop market between Auckland and New York all to itself for all of five months last year. Then, as a precursor to its own nonstop flights from Sydney, Qantas Airways announced plans to join it...

Delta CEO Wants Politics Out of FAA Funding Following Outage

January 13, 2023

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian made a call to action for more funding and investment in the U.S. air traffic control system after an outage Wednesday disrupted more than 11,000 flights across the country. "It's very clear that there...

A Bonza Boeing 737 arrives at Sunshine Coast in Australia

Australian Airline Startup Bonza Set to Take Flight as First New National Carrier in Years

January 12, 2023

Discount carrier Bonza has received approval from Australian authorities to begin revenue passenger flights, clearing the way for the country's first new national carrier in more than a decade. The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued Queensland-based Bonza an air...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks to reporters

U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Seeks Root Cause of Issue That Disrupted 10,000 Flights

January 11, 2023

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said his agency is "pivoting" to understand the causes of a system issue that temporarily halted all U.S. domestic flights on Wednesday. "There was a systems issue overnight that led to a ground stop because...

American Eagle pilots sit in the cockpit

American Airlines Made the Wrong Bet by Doubling Regional Pilot Pay: Analyst

January 10, 2023

American Airlines may be regretting its decision last year to unilaterally hike regional pilot pay to historically high levels, according to Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier fundamentally changed the economics of regional flying when it...

Global Airline Traffic Still Just 75 Percent of Pre-Covid Levels

January 9, 2023

Worldwide passenger traffic in November reached 75 percent of its November 2019 level, according to new data from IATA, the airline industry’s international trade association. That’s traffic measured by revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), which account for both passenger volumes and...

Air China, United, and Lufthansa jets at San Francisco airport.

Geopolitics Get in Way of Resuming U.S.-China Flights as Demand Surges

January 6, 2023

The Chinese government will lift Covid-era travel restrictions this weekend, on January 8. While international travel demand to the country is expected to surge, airline schedules will take some time to recover, especially amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and...

American and JetBlue Await U.S. Antitrust Decision With Implications for Spirit Takeover

January 5, 2023

A U.S. judge could any day rule in the Department of Justice's antitrust suit against American Airlines and JetBlue Airways' alliance in Boston and New York, with their decision having potential big implications for JetBlue's proposed takeover of Spirit Airlines....

European Airlines Could Face Steep Operational Challenges in 2023

January 4, 2023

Europe's air traffic manager, Eurocontrol, is warning of potentially “huge challenges" to the continued recovery of air travel on the continent this year. Matching capacity to demand, and keeping delays in check, will be the two biggest challenges the aviation...

Southwest Airlines ticket counters at the Nashville airport.

Southwest Faces an Estimated $500 Million Hit From Holiday Flights Fiasco

January 3, 2023

Southwest Airlines could face a roughly $500 million revenue hit from its meltdown during the year-end holiday season that resulted in thousands of cancelled flights and disrupted trips. Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth has estimated that the flight cancellations and...