The looming conflict about alleged state subsidies for Gulf carriers reached the IATA AGM, with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker calling for the association to stand up against “protectionism.”
IATA objects to some Latin American and Caribbean governments implementing new taxes and fees and using airlines as a “cash cow,” a senior executive from the trade group said at the AGM in Miami.
IATA has boosted its 2015 collective net profit forecast for the world’s airlines to $29.3 billion, up 47.2% over the the $19.9 billion projected by the organization in December 2014.
AEA has taken a massive hit as a result of the recent exit of IAG carriers British Airways, Iberia, Alitalia, and Air Berlin, a move the airlines made after voicing their disagreement in key policy areas, such as how to deal with the Gulf carriers.
Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will definitely see financial improvements this year, compared with 2014, but it’s still tough going, despite the region’s continued growth.
Although changes in U.S. visa policy for Chinese citizens has increased tourism and travel from China to the U.S., Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley says the situation is still far from ideal.
South African Airways has looked at a “reset-the-clock” scenario, but at “this point in time there is no such action or need to take such action” to bring the embattled airline to commercial sustainability, acting CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said.
Etihad Airways’ near-term network growth will come through codeshares and the airlines in which it has invested—Etihad Airways Partners—CEO James Hogan told Aviation Daily.
Christoph Mueller and Stefan Pichler once worked together at Lufthansa. They were considered to be at the top in their disciplines and were seen as rising stars heading for the very top. Then they left for jobs that can easily be viewed as among the most difficult the global airline industry has to offer.
In a normal year, trying to mitigate the three persistent and long-standing safety concerns for airlines — loss of control inflight, controlled flight into terrain and runway excursions — would be more than enough to fill the working hours for IATA’s Kevin Hiatt, senior vice president for safety and flight operations. This year, however, Hiatt is also addressing three recent high-profile atypical incidents.
Japan Airlines is the highest-scoring in Aviation Week’s Top-Performing Airlines rankings, with narrowbody operators also featuring prominently in the top 10.
TPA Rankings draw on wide range of data and algorithms New Top-Performing Airlines rankings use a new source of data, but the methodology behind the results remains the same.