Daily Airline News

Bad Luck Run Amok: The Air New Zealand Story

Talk about bad luck. Greg Foran’s first day as chief executive of Air New Zealand was February 3rd, 2020. Barely a month later, the Covid virus all but grounded the airline’s passenger business. The crisis would end. But Foran’s luck didn’t get much better. Today, about 16% of ANZ’s jet fleet is grounded due to engine issues, affecting both B787s and A320-family Neos. Despite the woes, Foran and his team are bullish about the carrier's prospects, as we discover in this week's feature story.

For Delta, No Glee in Q3. But Happy Times Ahead?

It wasn’t Delta’s greatest summer. Enough went wrong (the CrowdStrike disruption, lost business during the Olympics) to spoil all that went right (strong demand, cheaper fuel). Fortunately, almost everything’s coming up roses this fall, including heavy capacity cuts by domestic rivals. Will United finally beat Delta in the margin fight? We’ll find out later this week, when Scott Kirby and company report for Q3.

Turn Baby Turn: Jordan’s Plan To Revitalize Southwest

What’s the right tool to fix Southwest? A scalpel or a sledgehammer? As a Wall Street dissident leans toward the latter, calling for wholesale change in the airline’s executive ranks, the executives themselves are championing a less radical approach. What the company needs, argued CEO Bob Jordan last week, is not a new leadership team but a network and inflight product adapted to meet new post-Covid trends.