Aviation Daily Roundup: Jan. 26, 2023

Southwest Airlines is sticking to its 2023 growth plans, concluding the expansion will fortify its operational reliability.

Regent, the Rhode Island-based startup developing an all-electric seaglider, has secured a strategic investment from Japan Airlines (JAL), the two companies announced on Jan. 26.

JetBlue Airways continues to focus on a positive outcome for its alliance with American Airlines as a judge overseeing a challenge of the partnership is expected to render a decision in the case very soon. 

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is joining the chorus of some U.S. carriers notching their highest-ever annual revenues—recording $9.6 billion in fiscal 2022 revenue. 

American Airlines detailed its accelerating recovery in the 2022 fourth quarter (Q4) during its Jan. 26 earnings call, reporting net income of $803 million for the December quarter and a $127 million net profit for full-year 2022. 

For Tony Douglas, becoming CEO of Saudi Arabia’s new airline RIA looked like the opportunity of a lifetime.

Construction of the production site for Boom Supersonic’s planned Mach 1.7 Overture airliner has begun at Piedmont Triad International Airport, in Greensboro, North Carolina, setting the clock ticking on an ambitious timetable that targets roll-out of the prototype in 2026.

Airbus intends to hire another 13,000 new employees in 2023, roughly the same number the company added in 2022.

As manufacturing crises tend to start deep in the supply chain, the aeronautical industry should keep a close eye on its suppliers and build buffers along the chain, according to French consultancy Kyu.

AirAsia Group parent Capital A reports 2022 passengers-carried and capacity for its four AOCs in Southeast Asia reached 46% and 47% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively, reflecting the fragmented border re-openings across the region. 

Wizz Air is seeing continuing evidence of a “solid fare environment” with average fares trading above 2019 and 2022 levels as the company posted a net profit for December quarter.  

Boeing’s fourth-quarter financials included a “small” charge to cover the costs of 737 MAX retrofits required by European regulators and U.S. lawmakers as part of the model’s ongoing safety improvements following fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019.