Airlines & Lessors

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has hinted he may be poised to make an order announcement in Dubai, with the Boeing 777X and Bombardier CSeries on his wish list.

Star Alliance is evaluating strategies to compete against the increasingly global presence of the major Gulf carriers, but has no immediate plans to pursue Emirates or Etihad Airways.

Lufthansa’s biggest challenge is the transferring of flights to subsidiary Germanwings as part of its restructuring program SCORE.

Swedish regional operator Flyglinjen will introduce jet services through an ACMI lease from UK carrier bmi Regional.

Lufthansa Group subsidiary Austrian Airlines has appointed Swiss International Air Lines CEO Harry Hohmeister as supervisory board chairman.

The US Dept. of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports the 10 largest US scheduled passenger airlines recorded a first-quarter net loss of $433 million, compared to a $1.72 billion net loss for the year-ago quarter.

Libyan Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330-200, becoming a new operator for the type.

US Mishandled Baggage Data for US airlines for the month of April.

US Airline Consumer Complaints for April 2013

US Airlines Ontime Performance Data by Month

Rolls-Royce has admitted it “clearly fell short” after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) concluded that a fatigue crack in an incorrectly manufactured oil feed pipe caused a Qantas Airbus A380 engine failure.

British Airways has taken delivery of its first of 42 Boeing 787s.

Spanish bank Bankia has sold its 12.09% shareholding in International Airlines Group (IAG) for €675 million ($881 million).

Hainan Airlines subsidiary Hong Kong Express Airways has completed its strategic rebranding as a low-cost carrier (LCC) as it aims to explore Hong Kong’s low-cost market potential.

The European Commission (EC) has begun an investigation into what it believes is illegal state aid to SAS Scandinavian Airlines.

India’s domestic air traffic has remained stagnant in the first five months of 2013.

Airport Traffic by month in passengers and movements

Hainan Airlines is scheduled to make its Boeing 787 debut July 3 on domestic routes from Beijing to Haikou and Shanghai.

Russia’s Red Wings Airlines, which had its air operator’s certificate (AOC) suspended in February, has relaunched flights after Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, renewed its AOC.

Lessor Boeing Capital Corp. has announced additional deployments of Boeing 717s to Australian regional carrier QantasLink and to European startup Volotea.

The US District of Columbia Appeals Court has reversed a July 2012 decision by the DC District Court to uphold the Export-Import Bank’s 2011 issuance of $3.4 billion in loan guarantees to Air India for its purchase of 30 Boeing widebodies, including 28 787 Dreamliners.

The UK Competition Commission (UK CC) has pushed back the deadline for its investigation of Ryanair’s minority Aer Lingus shareholding until Sept. 5.

Finnair has finalized a deal to lease three Embraer E-170s to Aeromexico Connect as it seeks to optimize capacity under its €140 million ($184 million) cost-savings program.

American Airlines has distributed Apple iPads equipped as electronic flight bags (EFB) for use by all of its pilots on all of its mainline aircraft types.

The US Dept. of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported that US airlines collectively employed 380,748 workers in April, down 2.4% from April 2012.