Airlines tips

British regional airline Flybe on Saturday ceased trading for the second time in three years, cancelling all flights and 276 workers made redundant.

Despite a number of constraints in the aviation industry, American Airlines has achieved a full year of profitability for the first time since 2019. 

Colombia’s civil aviation authority, Aerocivil, is taking a new look at the proposed merger of Avianca and Viva Air following what it described as a “substantial irregularity” in its initial review. That process, which concluded in November, rejected the airlines’ combination due to competition concerns.

Hydrogen-powered flight is one step closer to reality. Universal Hydrogen, which is developing a hydrogen fuel-cell powered commercial aircraft engine, has a green light from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to begin test flights.

With fewer business travelers in the skies, Lufthansa is now allowing passengers to bid for an upgraded seat during a live auction.

Hawaiian Airlines reported a net loss of $240 million for all of 2022 on Tuesday, largely attributed to a slower than previously expected return of Japanese travelers and competition for inter-island service between the eight major Hawaiian islands.

Delta Air Lines will give its non-union staff, including flight attendants but not pilots, a 5 percent pay raise this April. The move, as CEO Ed Bastian put it in a memo Tuesday, was “well earned” by staff after a challenging 2022.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, February 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

So-called junk fees that drain American travelers’ pockets need to end, said President Joe Biden on Wednesday who again called out companies building business models on “frustrating charges” that are often not disclosed.

U.S. air passengers would be offered refunds for delayed flights and transportation on rival carriers under sweeping consumer protections proposed on Tuesday after a series of disruptions including a holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines.

It may be a full on bidding war for bankrupt Colombian budget airline Viva Air. Latam Airlines has expressed interest in acquiring the carrier, joining Chile’s JetSmart, and put Avianca in defense mode over its proposed merger with Viva.

Despite uneven demand in 2022, Sabre expects continued overall recovery leading to positive free cash flow for the company by the end of this year. 

EU antitrust regulators warned on Friday a bid by South Korea’s biggest carrier, Korean Air Lines, for second-place Asiana Airlines could hurt competition, as they opened a full-scale investigation of the deal.

United Airlines has launched a new seat map feature that dynamically finds available adjacent seats at the time of booking, while a new policy will allow passengers to switch flights for free if none are available.

Struggling Latin American discounter Viva Air has entered the local equivalent to bankruptcy protection under Colombian law, as it works to restructure debt while awaiting a decision on its proposed merger with Avianca.

JetBlue Airways alleges that the Netherlands has violated the terms of the open-skies agreement between the U.S. and European Union after repeatedly denying the airline’s requests to serve Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

Scandinavian airline SAS said it was hit by a cyber attack Tuesday evening and urged customers to refrain from using its app but later said it had fixed the problem.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Air Canada expects “solid” demand through 2023 as it comes off a small operating loss last year driven, in part, by operational challenges over the year-end holiday period.

A 24-hour strike at seven German airports on Friday was set to affect almost 300,000 passengers as unionized workers press their demand for high wages.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn saw demand for connections between its trains and flights operated by Lufthansa increase 25 percent last year. The increase comes after the railroad and airline expanded their partnership, including more direct trains to the Frankfurt airport, in 2021.