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  • JetBlue Promotes Christie to COO

    JetBlue Promotes Christie to COO

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    JetBlue has promoted current SVP of safety, security, fleet operations, airports and JetBlue University Warren Christie to the position of chief operating officer, effective Feb. 12, the carrier announced Monday. He will report to and succeed Joanna Geraghty as she takes over as JetBlue CEO on that date. Christie will lead the airline’s day-to-day operational performance. He joined JetBlue in 2003, according to the carrier.

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  • Amex Commercial Client Q4 T&E Spending Outpaces Overall Growth

    Amex Commercial Client Q4 T&E Spending Outpaces Overall Growth

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    Travel and entertainment spending by American Express’ U.S. commercial customers increased 4 percent year over year to $26 billion in the fourth quarter even as overall spending for business customers had slower growth, the company reported.

    Total spending among Amex’s U.S. commercial clients totaled $131 billion for the quarter, up 1 percent year over year, as spending on goods and services was flat at $105 billion. Total spending among small and midsized U.S. clients was up 1 percent year over year in the quarter, and spending among large and global U.S. clients was down 2 percent year over year.

    In an earnings call, American Express CFO Christophe Le Caillec said spending growth by SMEs—which made up 83 percent of total spending by U.S. commercial clients in the fourth quarter—is “modest” because of “unique dynamics seen by small businesses over the past few years.”

    “Specifically in 2022, we saw a large increase in organic spending as businesses restocked their inventories following supply chain issues during the pandemic,” he said. “This caused a significant grow-over challenge with spending from this segment in the industry in 2023.”

    T&E spending by Amex’s international clients—which includes both consumer and commercial clients—increased 16 percent year over year to $25 billion in the fourth quarter. Commercial client spending—inclusive of both T&E and goods and services spending—increased 13 percent year over year and accounted for more than a third of Amex’s total international customer spending.

    For the fourth quarter, Amex reported total revenue of $15.8 billion, up 11 percent year over year due to both higher levels of card spending and a higher net interest income, according to Amex. For the full year of 2023, revenue was up 14 percent to $60.5 billion, a record for the company, as it “added 12.2 million new proprietary cards in the year, bringing the total number of cards-in-force issued on our global network to over 140 million,” Amex chairman and CEO Stephen Squeri said in a statement.

    Amex reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.9 billion, up 23 percent year over year. For the full year, Amex’s net income increased 11 percent year over year to $8.4 billion.

    RELATED: Amex Q3 results

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  • JetBlue Might Terminate Spirit Merger Agreement

    JetBlue Might Terminate Spirit Merger Agreement

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    JetBlue on Thursday notified Spirit Airlines that it may terminate its merger agreement as early as Jan. 28, according to a Friday JetBlue filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    JetBlue in the filing indicated certain closing conditions required by the merger agreement from July 28, 2022, “may not be satisfied” by the New York-based carrier prior to the dates in the agreement, and accordingly, the merger could be canceled. 

    Spirit later on Friday responded with its own SEC filing stating that it will “continue to abide by all of its obligations” under the agreement and “expects JetBlue to do the same.” The carrier “believes there is no basis for terminating the merger agreement,” according to the Spirit filing.

    JetBlue and Spirit announced in July 2022 their intentions to merge. The U.S. Department of Justice in March 2023 filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block the merger. The judge in that trial, which had closing arguments in December, ruled earlier in January against the merger. As of Jan. 19, JetBlue and Spirit jointly filed a notice to appeal that determination. 

    JetBlue noted that it “continues to evaluate its options,” and that unless and until the merger agreement is terminated, the carrier will continue to abide by all of its obligations under the agreement.

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  • Southwest ‘Confident’ in Managed Business Trajectory

    Southwest ‘Confident’ in Managed Business Trajectory

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    Southwest Airlines’ managed business revenue improved from the third quarter to the fourth, and from the fourth quarter into the new year, and the carrier expects another sequential improvement for the first quarter, Southwest chief commercial officer Ryan Green said on a Thursday earnings call.

    In addition, close-in bookings, including managed business bookings, performed at the better end of expectations in November and December, driving fourth-quarter unit revenue to outperform Southwest’s previous guidance, according to the company.

    “We’re definitely on track,” Green said. “How we finished the fourth quarter and then what we can see here in the first quarter and going forward makes me very confident. … We’ve got very strong bookings in place on the managed business side for February as we begin to get into that part of the curve. I think the overall macro-environment sets up well for us having a really good year.”

    Green added that during 2023 Southwest gained more than three points of market share in the managed business space compared with the end of 2022. 

    The fourth quarter also marks the one-year anniversary of Southwest’s disruptions during the 2022 holiday period. “I’m pleased to report that we saw no bookings impact from last year’s operations disruption, which speaks to the operational improvements we have made over the last year, as well as the enduring loyalty from our customers,” Green said.

    Southwest president and CEO Bob Jordan noted the new winter weather action plan the carrier created after last year’s incident has already been “successfully tested” in multiple winter weather events, “including the extended nationwide winter storms we experienced this month, but also with other types of disruptions such as hurricanes, severe fog in Chicago and the Maui fires.” 

    “Through all those events, our aircraft and crew networks remained stable,” Jordan said. “We recovered quickly, and we were able to minimize the impact on our customers.”

    Q4, FY 2023 Metrics

    Southwest reported total fourth-quarter revenue of $6.8 billion, a 10.5 percent increase year over year. Passenger revenue was up 12.1 percent for the period to $6.2 billion. Full-year 2023 revenue was nearly $26.1 billion, up 9.6 percent from the prior year. Passenger revenue for the year was $23.6 billion, representing a 10.4 percent increase. Both the quarter and full-year revenue figures were records, according to the company. 

    Still, the carrier reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $219 million, nearly equal with last year’s $220 million quarterly loss. For 2023, Southwest had net income of $498 million, a drop of 7.6 percent from 2022.

    Average fuel costs for the quarter were $3 per gallon and $2.89 for the full year. Southwest projects first-quarter fuel costs to be $2.70 to $2.80 per gallon, and $2.55 to $2.65 for the full year.

    The carrier plans to increase first-quarter capacity about 10 percent year over year. Southwest expects second-quarter capacity to increase 8 percent to 10 percent versus Q2 2023, and third-quarter capacity to increase 3 percent to 5 percent year over year. Full-year capacity is projected to increase 6 percent.

    “We made rapid adjustments to capacity for both 2023 and 2024 and put in place significant network adjustments in response to changing demand patterns,” Jordan said. “These changes reduced our planned 2024 year-over-year capacity increase to roughly 6 percent, all of which is carryover from 2023 network restoration. So, there will be no net new additional capacity in 2024 as we work to mature our route network.”

    Southwest in 2023 received 86 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft during the year and retired 39 aircraft. For 2024, there is “continued uncertainty around the timing of expected Boeing deliveries and the certification of the Max 7 aircraft,” Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said. 

    In October, the carrier placed an order for an additional 108 of the new jets, bringing its orderbook to more than 300. Southwest is planning for 79 deliveries and to retire 49 planes for the coming year. “Our 2024 capacity plans do not currently include any Max 7 flying,” Romo said.

    Jordan addressed an analyst question regarding whether it was considering changing its model of an all-Boeing fleet following the grounding of the 737 Max 9 aircraft after a door-plug incident Jan. 5. Southwest does not fly the Max 9 model. 

    “The Max 8 is a great aircraft; we’re very satisfied with it,” Jordan said. “Like Boeing, we support the work of the FAA and the oversight to improve quality, address any issues, because at the end of the day, a better Boeing is good for Southwest Airlines. … You have to understand, there’s no such thing as being able to de-risk all of this. … So, the best thing that we can do is work with Boeing to make them an even better company, which is exactly what’s happening.”

    RELATED: Southwest Q3 performance

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  • Alaska: Groundings Blunt Corp. Travel ‘Momentum’

    Alaska: Groundings Blunt Corp. Travel ‘Momentum’

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    This month’s grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 aircraft has reduced Alaska Airlines’ first-quarter capacity by about seven basis points year over year and at least temporarily blunted “momentum” in business travel recovery that brought the sector’s revenue to within 5 percent of pre-pandemic levels, carrier executives said on a Thursday earnings call. 

    In the fourth quarter, Alaska’s business travel clientele increased booking revenue by 15 percent year over year, chief revenue officer and chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison said, representing “slow and steady recovery.”

    “Overall, business revenues are within 5 percent of 2019 levels with most industries now fully recovered,” Harrison said. “The notable exceptions are tech and professional services, which still lag other industries but did see 26 percent and 14 percent year-over-year revenue growth, respectively, in Q4.”

    That recovery, though, was “severely impacted” by the grounding of Alaska’s 737 Max 9 aircraft fleet after a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug flew off during a carrier flight, Harrison said, and the subsequent cancellations damaged Alaska’s short-term corporate bookings. However, “we have continued to see good momentum in average fares for business travel, and I don’t see why that would not continue,” he said. 

    737 Max 9 Plans

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday announced an inspection process that would allow Alaska and other carriers to begin to return 737 Max 9 aircraft to service. Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci said about one-third of the carrier’s January capacity was affected by the grounding, and that the carrier likely would delay several aircraft deliveries. That would affect the carrier’s 2024 capacity plans, which he said otherwise would have been for a 3 percent to 5 percent year-over-year increase. 

    “As a longtime valued partner, we remain fully committed to our relationship with Boeing, but we also intend to hold them accountable,” Minicucci said. He cited “raising the quality standards at the factory as well as making us whole,” as part of that process, but that it was secondary to safely restoring the 737 Max 9 aircraft to service.

    Hawaiian Deal Update

    Alaska last month announced it had agreed to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal. Since that announcement, a U.S. district court ruled against another would-be airline merger, that of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

    Minicucci said Alaska has “held initial conversations” with DOJ about the Hawaiian acquisition and this month submitted filings under U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law. Still, Minicucci said he felt “we have a stronger and differentiated case from JetBlue and Spirit.”

    “Our view is that these deals are completely different,” Minicucci said. “JetBlue-Spirit was blocked by the judge essentially because it would eliminate a low-cost competitor. In our case, between Hawaiian and Alaska, these are two very similar business models. The networks are very, very complementary. In fact, when you combine the networks, there’s only 12 overlap routes through the combination.”

    Minicucci said Alaska would “work through the DOJ on that process.”

    NDC Update

    Unlike some other U.S. carriers, Alaska has not taken significant steps to limit bookings through EDIFACT channels or increase bookings through channels enabled by the New Distribution Capability standard. That likely won’t change in 2024, Harrison said, but afterward might be a different story. 

    Calling 2024 “a big year for us,” Harrison said that “there’s something like 12 APIs that we’re building out to fully unlock NDC. We have a number of modules already up and running on folks like Hopper. It’s actually [a] small percentages right now, but we’re seeing the benefits of it, and it’s going to be really good for us. ’25 is going to be the year of NDC for us.”

    Q4 Performance

    Alaska Airlines parent Alaska Air Group’s fourth-quarter passenger revenue increased 3 percent year over year to more than $2.3 billion. Total operating revenue also increased 3 percent to nearly $2.6 billion. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $2 million, compared with net income of $22 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

    Full-year 2023 passenger revenue increased 8 percent year over year to more than $9.5 billion. Total operating revenue also increased 8 percent to about $10.4 billion. The company reported net income of $235 million, compared with net income of $58 million in 2022.

    Fourth-quarter capacity as measured in available seat miles increased 14 percent year over year, while full-year capacity increased 13 percent. 

    RELATED: Alaska Q3 performance

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  • American Doubles Down on Direct, NDC Sales

    American Doubles Down on Direct, NDC Sales

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    If it wasn’t already clear prior to the end of last year, American Airlines executives crystallized it on its Thursday fourth-quarter earnings call: It eventually plans to have all its content available via direct or New Distribution Capability channels. 

    “We sell our product through the internet. That’s what our customers demand,” American chief commercial officer Vasu Raja said during the call. “That’s how we can give them the best content at the lowest expenses to them and the best servicing. … As we go forward, we’re going to lean further into this. We need to make it easy for our customers to consume our content through the internet.”

    How soon that will happen is anyone’s guess. In November, BTN portfolio mate The Beat reported that an American spokesperson at the time said the carrier has “no plans to discontinue EDIFACT support.” 

    Still, for the fourth quarter, 80 percent of American’s bookings came through its website, app or NDC, compared with 69 percent in Q4 2022, according to the company. Of that 80 percent figure, 65 percent came through the carrier’s own channels, “which is our greatest rate of growth,” American CEO Robert Isom said, adding that the company was “a little surprised” at how quickly the transition has happened. 

    “Strategically, we’re going to distribute through the internet. At some point, the number becomes 100 [percent],” Isom said. “And the real issue in 2024 is, we want to just continue to transition as many of our retailing partners to use the internet with us.”

    Of course, there wasn’t much of a choice for some customers when American in April 2023 began to pull content out of the legacy EDIFACT channel. On earnings calls and in interviews since then, company executives have justified that decision and did so again on Thursday’s call.

    “We’re up 15 percent in revenue,” compared with 2019, Raja said, adding “we are down 8 percent to 9 percent in selling expenses.”

    Raja also added that the company plans to offer more loyalty-program mileage for customers who shop through the internet, plans to roll out better servicing capabilities for internet distribution, “and we are going to start restricting the amount of selling and servicing that we do through non-internet-based channels.”

    Fourth-quarter domestic revenue from business travel was at about 90 percent of 2019 levels, Isom said. The ratio between unmanaged business and managed was almost three to one, with unmanaged business more than 100 percent recovered from 2019 and managed business less so, Raja added. “The impact on managed business is really flat from traffic on higher yields,” Raja said.

    The company also is “excited” about the continued rollout of the AAdvantage Business program, introduced in October and which does not reward agency bookings. “We continue to see strength among small and medium-sized businesses,” Isom said. 

    When it comes to loyalty, in 2023 two-thirds of American’s revenue came from AAdvantage members, Isom added. “More than ever, our revenue growth is fueled by a growing number of AAdvantage customers who acquired our co-brand credit cards in record numbers in 2023. AAdvantage customers represent both our greatest source of value and greatest opportunity going forward.”

    New AAdvantage enrollments in 2023 were up 51 percent compared with 2019 figures, according to the company.

    American Q4, FY 2023 Metrics

    American reported fourth-quarter revenue of nearly $13.1 billion, of which $12 billion was passenger revenue. Each figure represented a 1 percent drop year over year. Full-year revenue was a record, according to the carrier, at nearly $52.8 billion, a 7.8 percent increase versus 2022. Passenger revenue was up 8.8 percent to $48.5 billion.

    Net income was $19 million for the fourth quarter, down from $803 million a year prior. Full-year net income was $822 million, up from $127 million in 2022. 

    Average fuel prices were $3.06 per gallon for the fourth quarter and $2.96 per gallon for the year. Fuel guidance is $2.65 to $2.85 per gallon for the first quarter of 2024 and $2.50 to $2.75 for the full year.

    American projects capacity to increase 6.5 percent to 8.5 percent year over year for the first quarter, and to be up mid-single digits in 2024 versus 2023. 

    RELATED: American Q3 performance

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  • United to Add Nonstop Alaska Summer Service

    United to Add Nonstop Alaska Summer Service

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    United Airlines on May 23 will add seasonal daily nonstop service between Washington Dulles and Anchorage, as well as between Denver and Fairbanks, the carrier announced Thursday. The carrier claims this will be the industry’s only nonstop service between Washington, D.C., and Anchorage.

    United in May also is resuming six routes for the summer season, including between Chicago O’Hare and each Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada; between Denver and Winnipeg; between Newark, N.J., and Halifax; between Washington Dulles and Vancouver, B.C.; and between Houston and Ontario, Calif., according to the carrier.

    The airline’s Canadian expansion, which also includes added service on several routes, has been “enabled by the airline’s strong relationship with Air Canada,” one of United’s joint venture partners. For the summer season, United will offer more than 150 daily flights between the U.S. and Canada, serving nine Canadian destinations from its seven U.S. hub airports, according to the carrier. 

    United also is expanding service in each of its seven hubs for the summer 2024 season, including more than 40 new North American flights added for each Denver and Houston, 20 each for Chicago O’Hare and Washington, D.C., and 10 for Los Angeles.

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  • Sixt Opens Six New U.S. Locations

    Sixt Opens Six New U.S. Locations

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    Car rental company Sixt recently opened six new U.S. off-airport locations, the Germany-based company announced Thursday. 

    The locations are at the InterContinental Hotel Doral in Doral, Fla.; the Hyatt Regency Chicago; downtown Portland, Ore.; downtown Pasadena, Calif.; the Cherry Creek neighborhood in Denver; and at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, according to the company.

    The openings follow the earlier January launch of a Sixt location at the Salt Lake City International Airport, and five new North American off-airport locations opened in October. In addition, last week Sixt announced plans to purchase up to 250,000 Stellantis vehicles by 2026. 

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  • FAA Approves Boeing Max 737-9 Inspection Process

    FAA Approves Boeing Max 737-9 Inspection Process

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    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has approved a “thorough inspection and maintenance process” for the 171 grounded Boeing Max 737-9 aircraft, the agency announced Wednesday. Upon successful completion of the process, which is expected to take about 12 hours per plane, the aircraft will be allowed to return to service.

    The aircraft have been grounded since Jan. 6 after a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug flew off during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland. Ore., to Ontario, Calif. 

    “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase,” FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement. 

    Alaska Airlines on Jan. 26 plans to resume flying the first of its 65 Max-9 planes, the carrier announced Wednesday, “with more planes added every day as inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy.” The carrier expects all inspections of the grounded aircraft to be completed over the next week.

    United Airlines expects to resume flying its 79 grounded Boeing Max. 737-9 planes on Jan. 28, according to an internal memo from United EVP and chief operations officer Toby Enqvist. “We will only return each Max 9 aircraft to service once this thorough inspection process is complete,” he said. “We are preparing aircraft to return to scheduled service beginning on Sunday.”

    Copa Airlines also is following the inspection process for its 21 grounded aircraft and will gradually reinstate flights that had been canceled, beginning today, it announced Thursday. It expects to return to a full schedule on Jan. 28. 

    Whitaker also added that though the Max-9 inspections have been approved, “this won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing,” he said. “We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 Max until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”

    The agency has increased its oversight activities of new Boeing Max 737 aircraft and is launching an investigation into Boeing’s compliance with manufacturing requirements. 

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  • OAG: Delta Tops Large Airline On-Time Performance for 2023

    OAG: Delta Tops Large Airline On-Time Performance for 2023

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    Delta Air Lines was named 2023’s most on-time airline among large global carriers in OAG’s annual on-time performance report, released Thursday. 

    The airlines included in this category are based on their number of flights and available seat miles, or capacity, according to OAG.

    Delta flights for the year were on time 83.2 percent of the time, followed by Latam at 82.7 percent and Azul Airlines at 82.4 percent. A flight is considered on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time. Delta repeated its 2022 performance for being the North American carrier with the best on-time performance and improved from last year’s 81.8 percent. The carrier also was the top North American performer in Cirium’s 2023 on-time report. 

    North American carriers claimed four of the top 10 spots, with another three—Southwest Airlines (75.5 percent), Spirit Airlines (69.5 percent) and JetBlue (68.3 percent)—landing in the top 20. 

    2024-01-24 OAG Airport OTP

    “Strong on-time performance results from Delta, American, United and others point to a collective effort by the industry to overcome challenges posed by manufacturing disruptions, supply chain challenges and operational pressures,” OAG chief analyst John Grant said in the report. “We expect on-time performance to improve in the coming year, especially in the U.S. market as we see major airlines and airports competing to cut down on delays to ensure traveler satisfaction and loyalty.”

    Top N. American Airports

    The 2023 leader among large on-time North American airports by departing flights was Minneapolis/St. Paul at 82.6 percent, representing a 2.2 percentage-point increase from 2022. Seattle-Tacoma (82.5 percent) came in second, followed by Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (81.9 percent).

    Only one Canadian airport made the top 20 list—Toronto in 20th with a 63.1 percent score. 

    RELATED: OAG: Delta Top N. American On-Time Airline for 2022

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  • InteleTravel Acquires Mtgs. Agency MGME

    InteleTravel Acquires Mtgs. Agency MGME

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    Host travel agency InteleTravel has acquired global events agency McVeigh Global Meetings & Events, the company announced.

    The acquisition—for which the financials were not disclosed—follows InteleTravel’s acquisition of corporate travel consortium Hickory Global Partners last year. As with Hickory, MGME will remain an independent brand wholly owned by InteleTravel, but the agencies will deploy cross-efficiencies across all three businesses, according to the company.

    In Hickory’s case, for example, it will be able to provide air fulfillment for MGME events via its contact center business, Hickory Solutions365, which it launched last year. MGME annually produces about 1,000 events and conferences across 70 countries valued at about $500 million in annual spending, so it could be a “significant source of revenue” to Hickory, according to the consortia. Hickory agency and corporate travel department members, meanwhile, will be able to offer clients MGME’s meeting planning and production services.

    “This will allow our members and partners to have full access to top-to-bottom world-class event planning and coordination without having to engage with multiple vendors,” Hickory president Chris Dane said in a statement. “With our services, like Hickory Solutions365 for staffing air and registration overflow, MGME’s added volume for key suppliers, and new sources of business all around, it’s a natural fit and a game changer.”

    MGME and its clients also will have access to InteleTravel’s booking technology and automation, according to the company. All three companies will be able to consolidate some supplier contracts, including air, car and hotel, with MGME booking more than 100,000 room nights each year.

    “The MICE market is predicted to double to over a trillion dollars by the end of the decade,” according to InteleTravel president and cofounder James Ferrara. “Getting behind a leader like MGME makes sense, while being able to represent top quality event and exhibition offerings is a strong competitive advantage for both Hickory members and InteleTravel advisors.”

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  • United: Corp. Travel Took 'Significant Step Up' in January

    United: Corp. Travel Took 'Significant Step Up' in January

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    Though still “well behind” where it should be relative to gross domestic product growth, corporate travel in the first few weeks of January took a “nice step up,” United Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said on a Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings call. 

    “Quarter four was OK, it wasn’t spectacular in any way,” Nocella said. “But as we started January and the new budget season for all of our big-budget clients, we did notice a significant step up.”

    The carrier also is seeing close-in yield gains “as a result from that,” and it’s one of the reasons United’s domestic revenue per available seat mile for the first quarter “is as strong as it is,” Nocella added. “It’s only been a few weeks, and I hesitate to say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s fixed.’ But the first few weeks of January we have gotten off to a really strong start, and it gives us increasing signs that this is going to be I think a very good year.”

    United’s first-quarter outlook projects total revenue per available seat mile to be approximately flat year over year, “which is a nice sequential improvement versus the past few quarters,” Nocella said. He credited ongoing strong domestic demand, business traffic volumes up year over year and “stronger pricing” so far in 2024.

    The carrier, however, also is forecasting for the first quarter a per-share loss of between 35 cents to 85 cents, mainly due to the grounding of its Boeing Max 737-9 fleet of 79 planes since Jan. 6 following theAlaska Airlines door-plug incident on Jan. 5. 

    The planes represent about 8 percent of United’s first-quarter capacity, United president Brett Hart said. In addition, because of the “close-in” cancellations, most of the expenses were fixed, and the carrier incurred additional interrupted trip expenses, United CFO Mike Leskinen said. For Q1, “we expect the combination of these items will increase CASM-ex by approximately 3 points,” he said. 

    United CEO Scott Kirby clarified on the earnings call that United was not canceling its order Boeing 737 Max-10 orders, a few hours after a Tuesday CNBC interview that called them into question. Kirby on CNBC said Boeing already was five years behind on original deliveries, and United was working on an alternative plan that didn’t have the Max-10s in it. 

    “We are taking it out of our internal plans,” Kirby said. “We’ll be working on what that means exactly with Boeing. But Boeing is not going to be able to meet their contractual deliveries on at least many of those airplanes. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

    Kirby added that Boeing is “one of the best engineering, they’re one of the best technology companies in history. … They’re going through a rough patch right now, but I believe that Boeing across the board from top to bottom is committed to changing and fixing it. It is going to impact United in the near term, … but there are great people there, and they will get it together.”

    United Q4, Full-Year 2023 Metrics

    United reported fourth-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, a 9.9 percent increase year over year. Full-year 2023 revenue was up 19.5 percent over 2022 to $53.7 billion, 

    Passenger revenue for the fourth quarter was up 10.9 percent to $12.4 billion and increased 22.5 percent for the year to more than $49 billion. Domestic passenger revenue for the quarter was up 6.9 percent year over year to nearly $7.7 billion. International passenger revenue for the period was up 18 percent to more than $4.7 billion. 

    Net income for the fourth quarter was $600 million, a decline from $843 million a year prior. Full-year net income was more than $2.6 billion, more than 3.5 times the $737 million reported in 2022.

    United served nearly 41.8 million passengers during the fourth quarter, up 9.2 percent year over year. For 2023, it reported nearly 165 million passengers, up 14.3 percent from 2022. Capacity for the quarter was up 14.7 percent versus Q4 2022, and for all of 2023 was up 17.5 percent year over year.

    The average fuel cost was $3.13 per gallon for the quarter and $3.01 for the year.

    RELATED: United Q3 performance

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  • Brex Cuts Workforce by 20 Percent

    Brex Cuts Workforce by 20 Percent

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    Financial services and technology company Brex laid off 282 employees, about 20 percent of its workforce, and restructured its management organization on Tuesday as it seeks to “increase the intensity and quality of our execution,” founder and co-CEO Pedro Franceschi said in a memo to employees.

    In the memo, first reported by The Information, Franceschi said the aim is to build “a high-velocity product and growth machine” that requires the reductions. Brex launched as a corporate card product in 2017 and has expanded to a broader spend management platform, including a travel booking service launched in partnership with Spotnana last year. Brex currently serves “tens of thousands of businesses,” including “one in every three startups in the US,” Franceschi said in the memo.

    “Looking inward, I realized we grew our org too quickly, making it harder to move at the speed we once did,” according to Franceschi. “This year, we decided to take a hard look at our current structure and reduce the number of layers between leaders and the actual work that affects customers. This resulted in today’s hard decision.”

    Among the leadership changes, COO Michael Tannenbaum will leave that role and join the Brex board, with SVP of global operations Camilla Morais stepping up to the COO position. Chief technology officer Cosmin Nicolaescu will move to an advisory role this summer, and engineering director James Reggio will be promoted to VP of engineering. Both Reggio and Morais will report directly to Franceschi.

    The latest layoffs come after Brex laid off 136 people, or about 11 percent of its staff at the time, last October, according to TechCrunch.

    The memo indicated that Brex grew gross profit by 75 percent last year but “we still have a way to go to ensure high-velocity growth and profitability for years to come,” Franceschi said in the memo. “Combined, these changes enable us to get there and become cash flow positive with the money we have in the bank.”

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Former AA Exec Benedetti Consulting with Blockskye

    Former AA Exec Benedetti Consulting with Blockskye

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    Former American Airlines global head of corporate sales Hank Benedetti now is working with blockchain travel startup Blockskye as a consultant, Benedetti announced.

    He will help Blockskye CEO and co-founder Michael Share with business development and growth for the company, which is powering the Kayak for Business new Enterprise solution last year building off its pioneering work with PwC U.S. Benedetti is working with Blockskye in tandem with former American Airlines executive Cory Garner’s Garner Advisory.

    Benedetti was with American Airlines for more than two decades and left in September as part of a sales team restructuring with the airline.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Survey: European Cos. Exploring New Payment Methods

    Survey: European Cos. Exploring New Payment Methods

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    About four in 10 European companies are exploring the introduction of new payment methods, according to an AirPlus survey of 534 purchasing managers in the region.

    The survey—which included purchasing managers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K.—showed that 38 percent of respondents already have introduced new payment methods to their companies, and 41 percent said they are considering it. Eleven percent of respondents said they had researched new payment methods but decided not to introduce them.

    About half of respondents said they are exploring or introducing payment methods primarily targeting traveling employees, according to AirPlus.

    Risk minimization was the top priority for European businesses in their payment tools, cited by 34 percent of respondents. That was followed by simplification of the payment process for employees and optimizing payment deadlines, each cited by 25 percent of respondents.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Wyndham, SBE to Launch Lifestyle Brand

    Wyndham, SBE to Launch Lifestyle Brand

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    Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and the SBE hospitality group have created a lifestyle residential brand and plans to open 50 hotels by 2030, the companies announced Tuesday. 

    SBE, founded by Sam Nazarian, was acquired by Accor in 2020. Nazanin remains CEO of SBE. 

    The new brand, under the working title Project HQ Hotels & Residences, will include “approximately 7,500 rooms,” according to SBE and Wyndham. Project HQ properties will be split 50-50 among the United States and elsewhere, according to the companies. 

    The new brand will be “affiliated with Wyndham’s Registry Collection Hotels,” and will be included in the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program, the companies said. 

    Additionally, the companies plan 80 percent of Project HQ properties to be conversions, with new construction making up the remainder.

    The news marks the first hotel brand opening for SBE since the company was purchased.

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    aplatas@thebtngroup.com (Angelique Platas)

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  • JetBlue, Spirit File Notice to Appeal Merger Denial

    JetBlue, Spirit File Notice to Appeal Merger Denial

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    JetBlue and Spirit Airlines late on Friday jointly filed a
    notice of appeal of the Jan. 16 court
    decision denying the merger     of the two carriers, according to JetBlue and a
    filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

    JetBlue in a statement said the filing was “consistent
    with the requirements of the merger agreement.” Neither carrier provided
    further information.

    On Tuesday, the judge presiding over the civil antitrust lawsuit
    against JetBlue acquiring Spirit said in his ruling that “the consumers
    that rely on Spirit’s unique, low-price model would likely be harmed,” and
    that a merger of the two would “further consolidate an oligopoly by
    immediately doubling JetBlue’s stakeholder size in the industry,” and
    “would likely incentivize JetBlue further to abandon its roots as a
    maverick, low-cost carrier.”

    Spirit’s share price was up in after-hours trading after
    news of the appeal broke. JetBlue’s shares declined.

    RELATED:  Siding
    with DOJ, U.S. Judge Denies JetBlue’s Spirit Acquisition

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Report: JetBlue to Cut Routes in Effort to 'Return to Profitability'

    Report: JetBlue to Cut Routes in Effort to 'Return to Profitability'

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    JetBlue plans to cut some routes and service as it attempts to return to profitability, CNBC reported on Friday, citing an internal JetBlue memo it reviewed. 

    The carrier reportedly plans to focus on leisure routes, with additional service to the Caribbean and Paris, while it will eliminate flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to each Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif. It also plans to stop flying from New York’s Westchester County Airport and from Martha’s Vineyard, according to the report. In October, JetBlue also will suspend service from New York to Ponce, Puerto Rico, and to Milwaukee. 

    The carrier also is expected to leave Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and instead serve the area from Washington, D.C.

    The alleged moves come days after a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s plans to acquire Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion. According to the report, JetBlue in the internal memo said that the changes were not a result of the antitrust trial outcome and had been “in the works for almost a month.”

    JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Hawaiian Airlines to Offer NDC Content Via Sabre

    Hawaiian Airlines to Offer NDC Content Via Sabre

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    After settling their breach-of-contract lawsuit earlier this week, Hawaiian Airlines and Sabre have signed a new distribution agreement that will offer the carrier’s New Distribution Capability content to Sabre-connected agencies, the travel technology company announced Thursday. The Hawaiian NDC content, dubbed HA Connect, is expected to be available by the end of 2024. 

    “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Sabre to expand our long-standing distribution partnership to not only EDIFACT but also HA Connect content once the technical connectivity has been implemented,” Hawaiian EVP and chief revenue officer Brent Overbeek said in a statement.

    It wasn’t immediately clear whether Hawaiian is maintaining the per-segment surcharge on global distribution system bookings of U.S. point-of-sale tickets; neither Hawaiian nor Sabre returned requests for clarification. 

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • The Timeline: Boeing’s Grounded Max 737-9

    The Timeline: Boeing’s Grounded Max 737-9

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    What first looked like it could be a swift response-and-recovery
    effort for the Boeing Max 737-9, which the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
    grounded on January 6 after a door plug flew off during takeoff of a flight
    from Portland, Ore to Ontario, Calif., has turned into a prolonged investigation
    and deeper questioning of Boeing’s manufacturing and quality assurance processes,
    including appointing a special advisor to Boeing CEO David Calhoun. 

    The fallout from the grounding for the U.S. air carriers—of which
    both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have the Max 9 in heavy rotation—and
    the flying public has been the cancellation of thousands of flights since the
    first week of January. Alaska Airlines said yesterday it would continue to
    cancel approximately 150 flights daily while the Max 9 remained grounded. Alaska
    confirmed that duration of Max 9-related cancellations would be at least
    through Monday, January 21.  

    In the meantime, a bitter winter storm has impacted all U.S.
    airlines, complicating the reduced fleet situation for both United and Alaska. Data
    from FlightAware showed Alaska has cancelled 148 flights today and United has
    cancelled 191. The following is a timeline covering the latest Max 9-related developments
    first. BTN will add to this story as more information becomes available on how and
    when the Max 9 may return to the skies, and how Alaska and United are
    mitigating the impact to flight schedules.

    Jan. 18: Alaska completed preliminary inspections on
    a group of Boeing Max 737-9 aircraft. It shared the data with Boeing and is
    waiting for next steps based on the data provided. Given the continued
    grounding order, the carrier extended its cancellation of flights using that
    aircraft through Sun., Jan. 21. Sister carrier Horizon Air is flying some
    routes that Alaska would normally fly with Max 737-9 planes.

    Jan. 16: Boeing named U.S. Navy Retired Admiral
    Kirkland H. Donald as a special advisor to CEO Dave Calhoun effective
    immediately. Donald and a team of outside experts will conduct an assessment of
    Boeing’s quality management system for commercial airplanes, including quality
    programs and practices in Boeing manufacturing facilities and its oversight of
    commercial supplier quality. In addition, United said cancellations of Max
    737-9 flights would continue through Tuesday.

    Jan. 13: Alaska said it will initiate and enhance its
    layers of quality control to the production of its Boeing airplanes. The
    carrier’s quality and audit team began a review of Boeing’s production quality
    and control systems and will partner with Alaska’s maintenance team on the
    design of enhanced processes for its own quality control. It also starting this
    week will enhance its quality control of Alaska aircraft on the Boeing
    production line, expanding the team to validate the work on the 737 line.

    Jan. 12: The FAA announced new actions to immediately
    increase oversight of Boeing production and manufacturing, including considering
    independent third-party entities to oversee those functions. The FAA also asked
    Boeing for additional data before the agency would approve the inspection and
    maintenance process for returning the Max 737-9 aircraft to service. In
    addition, Alaska and United announced plans to continue to cancel flights
    originally scheduled on Boeing Max 737-9 aircraft through at least Tues., Jan.
    16. 

    Jan. 11: The FAA sent a letter to Boeing announcing
    it had launched an investigation to determine if Boeing failed to ensure
    completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for
    safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations.

    Jan. 10: Operators continued to wait for
    documentation from Boeing and the FAA to begin inspections. Alaska canceled
    flights scheduled on Max 737-9 aircraft through Sat., Jan. 13. The carrier
    noted that affected between 110 to 150 flights per day.

    Jan. 9: The Boeing instructions from the day before were
    being revised because of feedback received in response to the prior method, and
    the Max 737-9 planes remained grounded awaiting inspections. In the meantime,
    preliminary inspections by Alaska found “loose hardware” and United
    found “loose bolts.” Alaska canceled 109 flights for the day.
    Further, during a company meeting, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun acknowledged the
    manufacturer’s mistake.

    Jan. 8: The FAA approved a method for operators to
    comply with its emergency airworthiness directive as provided by Boeing in a
    multi-operator message. While waiting, Alaska and United canceled Max 737-9
    flights—as of Mon., Jan. 8 United had canceled about 200 of its related flights
    with more to come on Tuesday, while preserving about 30 flights for each day by
    switching to other aircraft types. Alaska had canceled about 140 flights that Monday.

    Jan. 6: United Airlines also suspended service on its
    79 Boeing Max 737-9 aircraft. The same day, the U.S. Federal Aviation
    Administration issued an “Emergency Airworthiness Directive” ordering
    a temporary grounding     of the aircraft type operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S.
    territory, and the National Transportation Safety Board began an investigation
    into the incident. Additional airlines affected by the grounding included Copa
    Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

    Jan. 5, 2024: A door plug flew off Alaska Airlines’
    Flight 1282 shortly after takeoff from Portland, Ore., en route to Ontario,
    Calif. The Boeing Max 737-9 aircraft landed safely back at Portland with 171
    passengers and six crew members. As a precautionary measure, Alaska grounded
    its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 planes.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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