Airlines & Lessors

China Eastern Airlines expects it will have transported 101.4 million passengers by the end of 2016, an 8.2% increase over the 93.7 million carried in 2015.

LATAM Airlines Group and Qatar Airways have completed their transaction in which the Middle East airline has taken a 10% stake in the Latin America group.

Delta Air Lines said Dec. 27 it had reached an agreement with Boeing to cancel an order for 18 Boeing 787s that the Atlanta-based airline assumed in 2008 as part of its merger with Northwest Airlines.

Canadian low-cost carrier (LCC) WestJet has been given the go-ahead from its pilots to acquire additional widebody aircraft.

Emirates Airline, which saw a steep drop in profit its latest financials, is deferring delivery of six Airbus A380s from 2017 to 2018 and postponing delivery of another six A380s from 2018 to 2019.

Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines will expand European services with 46 additional frequencies in the 2017 summer flight schedule, effective March 26, 2017, using five wet-leased airberlin Airbus A320s.

SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, is expected to report a solid 2016 performance, despite “challenging conditions” for the airline industry in the tourism sector—including a series of terrorist bombings and a failed coup attempt in Turkey, which depressed yields and slowed bookings because of decreased demand.

São Paulo-based low-cost carrier (LCC) GOL is estimating its 2017 operating margin (EBIT) will be in the 5%-7% range, the airline said Dec. 22.

[UPDATED] Two Libyan hijackers who took over an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 and forced it to fly to Malta Dec. 23 have been taken into custody after releasing all 118 passengers and crew unharmed, according to the Mediterranean island’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Corporate leaders at the major US airlines will be all about returning to positive unit revenue growth after competition helped drive lower fares.

The UK Brexit, repeated terrorist attacks and continuing labor battles all contribute to a volatile European market.

Airlines in Latin America believe transnational JVs are the future of long-haul services while domestic and short-haul flying will be dominated by LCCs.

Deregulation of international air fares helped drive Middle East carriers' market share from just 6% as recently as 1996 to 14.3% in 2015.

Deadline approaches for intra-African liberalization while new new intra-African passport debuts in 2018. RawandAir CEO predicts turnaround within three years.

Growing middle-classes populations in China, India and many Southeast Asia countries are driving passenger traffic growth and new aircraft deliveries.

Jetstar was founded by Qantas in Australia in 2004 and has since grown into a $4 billion pan-Asian low-fares airline group, with joint-venture airlines in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Chapter 1 of 4 of the Flight Operations and Optimizations eBook

Air Canada has named Lucie Guillemette EVP and CCO.

Chinese carriers are expected to transport 480 million passengers this year, up 11% over 432.4 million in 2015, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Russia’s S7 Airlines has agreed to lease 17 used Embraer E170s from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), beginning in the first half of 2017.

Oscar Munoz and a management ‘dream team’ attempt to find the winning solution at United Airlines.

Embraer Commercial Aviation has named Arjan Meijer chief commercial officer.

FedEx Corp. has posted a consolidated net profit of $700 million for its FY2017 second quarter ended Nov. 30, up 1.3% from $691 million net income in the company’s FY 2016 second quarter.

Kurt Hofmann interviewed Mark Schwab in Rio de Janeiro in December, where the Alliance celebrated the opening of a dedicated lounge at Rio’s Galeão–Tom Jobim International Airport. Schwab joined Star from United Airlines in 2011. He retires Jan. 1 and will be succeeded by COO Jeffrey Goh.