21.01.2021 - 14:33 UTC
American Airlines Group has secured at least USD3.09 billion from the US Treasury as part of the government’s Payroll Support Programme Extension Agreement (PSP2) to preserve jobs in the airline sector.
A first instalment of USD1.54 billion of the additional PSP2 payment was dispersed on January 15, 2021, to American Airlines and its subsidiaries Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines.
The pay-out was part of a USD6.1 billion first PSP2 payment by the Treasury to a number of benefiting airlines. In total, the Treasury has approved another USD12 billion in payroll support for passenger air carriers to support airline industry workers. This follows after the government passed a new relief bill at the end of December 2020 releasing additional funds to help companies pay salaries following the air traffic collapse caused by the pandemic.
To protect taxpayers, American Airlines, like other benefiting carriers, have agreed to issue warrants to the US Treasury to acquire shares in the airline at an exercise price of USD15.66 per share, as required under Section 408...
05.08.2020 - 02:39 UTC
A number of United States-based airlines have issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices to their staff, warning them of possible furloughs once federal job protections end on September 30, 2020.
Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale Int'l) sent WARN notices to around 2,500 staff, representing between 20 and 30% of all pilots, cabin crew, dispatchers, gate agents, and ground handling staff. Chief Executive Ted Christie said in a letter to the staff that the airline had to make "tough decisions" given continuously declining demand and a lack of federal support past September.
The ultra-low-cost carrier also launched a new issue of 9 million common shares, raising up to USD155.2 million in fresh capital.
During a quarterly earnings call, Allegiant Travel Chief Executive Maurice Gallagher said Allegiant Air (G4, Las Vegas McCarran) would furlough 275 pilots in October due to the "pilots' unions unwillingness to work on labour expenses". The airline underlined that the period between mid-August and November is its lowest season even in normal years.
Alaska Airlines...
29.07.2020 - 11:28 UTC
United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has told two of its regional capacity providers, ExpressJet Airlines (EV, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and CommutAir (C5, Cleveland Hopkins), that it will end its capacity purchase agreement with one of them going forward, Reuters has reported citing union letters.
United Airlines holds minority stakes in both airlines (directly in CommutAir and through ManaAir, a joint venture with KAir Enterprises, in ExpressJet), which, in turn, operate exclusively on behalf of United under the United Express brand. As such, the loss of the CPA with United could herald major problems for the carrier in question.
United admitted that as a result of COVID-19, it has had to cut its schedules and costs across the board and anticipates the pandemic will continue to impact its relationships with its regional partners.
CommutAir and ExpressJet cover the same market segment as they both operate E145 regional jets on behalf of United Airlines. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, CommutAir currently operates thirty-eight EMB-145XRs, while ExpressJet Airlines...
24.07.2020 - 12:48 UTC
Investment firm Wexford Capital says it has received bankruptcy court approval to reorganise and acquire Via Airlines (VC, Orlando Int'l), which it plans to relaunch under a new brand as a "quality regional air service provider".
"We are evaluating initial launch markets and strategic partnerships, including, but not limited to, the Southeast, Midwest and Alaskan markets. Although the Pandemic has decimated and challenged the airline industry today, we believe that a quality regional air services provider will continue to be highly desired and vital for the transportation of people and goods throughout the U.S for the foreseeable future," Via Airlines' new Chief Executive Wayne Heller said.
Heller had worked as the Chief Operations Officer of Republic Airways (YX, Indianapolis Int'l) for more than 15 years before his retirement in 2015.
Via Airlines stopped operations in May 2019, blaming a shortage of pilots. It subsequently filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October after a failed takeover attempt by Ashley Air, an Atlanta-based business charter broker. According to the airline, the potential investor...
