Finnair issues a long-term incentive plan in order to survive

Finnair has made this announcement:

Finnair is in the middle of the largest crisis in aviation’s history and is facing a challenging financial situation due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. To emerge from the crisis the airline has launched a comprehensive adjustment and cost-savings program. The program includes, among many other actions, jointly agreed decreases in personnel costs for several personnel groups. Top management remuneration does not include variable salary elements from 2020-2022.

The rebuild of Finnair will take years, and it requires hard work and dedication. Securing the company’s future demands a long-term contribution from all Finnair employees.

Finnair has prepared a long-term incentive program for those personnel groups with whom it reaches agreements on permanent cost savings that support Finnair’s recovery. Finnair has now launched this incentive programme, which starts during this year and ends in the third quarter of 2023.

“Finnair is facing an extremely difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company must make painful decisions to emerge from the ongoing crisis which is reshaping our industry. Getting through this phase requires renewal so that Finnair can be competitive in the years to come,” says Jouko Karvinen, Chairman of the Board, Finnair. “Finnair has launched an incentive programme for personnel and management, aiming at in due course rewarding the Finnair team for their contributions to Finnair’s future. The targets and key performance indicators we have set for the programme are ambitious and in line with the company’s best interests. They are also aligned with the interests of the company’s shareholders.”

The program for personnel will result in an incentive being paid to participating groups if Finnair succeeds in rebuilding its business over the coming three years in line with the set performance indicators and targets. At maximum the incentive pay-out can amount to approximately two months of salary, payable in the third quarter of 2023.

The key performance indicators of the new three-year incentive plan for the Finnair Executive Board are the same as those of the personnel incentive programme. Incentives are paid only if Finnair achieves the common targets.

Finnair has reserved the possibility to offer the incentive program to personnel groups with whom agreements on permanent cost savings have not yet been reached. If such agreements are reached shortly, these personnel groups will take part in the new incentive programme under the same conditions as other participants.

Finnair aircraft photo gallery:

Southwest to also add Montrose Regional Airport (Telluride)

Southwest Airlines confirmed its winter flight schedule for seekers of sun and snow with service details for new destinations in Florida, California, and nestled in the Colorado Rockies.

The carrier announced new seasonal service to Montrose Regional Airport (Telluride) on the Western Slope of Colorado, begins Dec. 19, the same day as previously announced seasonal service to Steamboat Springs. Service to Miami and Palm Springs both will begin Nov. 15.

Beginning Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, Southwest will offer nonstop service:

Miami

As low as $39 one-way nonstop between Miami and Tampa (three times daily in each direction),
As low as $69 one-way nonstop between Miami and Baltimore/Washington (four times daily in each direction),
As low as $69 one-way nonstop between Miami and Houston (Hobby) (four times daily in each direction), and
As low as $69 one-way nonstop between Miami and Chicago (Midway) (once daily in each direction).

Palm Springs

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Palm Springs and Oakland (twice daily in each direction),
As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Palm Springs and Phoenix (three times daily in each direction), and
As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Palm Springs and Denver (once daily in each direction).

Beginning Saturday, Dec.19, 2020, and mirroring the flight schedule previously announced for Steamboat Springs (HDN), Southwest will operate new service seasonally through April 5, 2021:

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Montrose (Telluride) and Denver (up to three times daily in each direction), and
As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Montrose (Telluride) and Dallas (Love Field) (once daily on weekends in each direction).

Southwest Airlines announces new service to Montrose (Telluride), CO. Flights to Montrose, as well as previously announced service to Steamboat Springs (Hayden), CO, begin Dec. 19, 2020

International by Southwest

Southwest also today reestablished service to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, offering the airline’s inaugural international nonstop service from Phoenix. The carrier is now operating daily service between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and both Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.

Southwest flight schedules are currently published through April 11, 2021, offering connecting international service to Customers in the majority of its airports across the United States through a dozen gateway airports with international departures: Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago (Midway), Denver, Houston (Hobby), Indianapolis, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, St. Louis, and Tampa. Southwest currently offers published service to five countries: three cities in Mexico—Cancun, Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta—Aruba, Montego Bay in Jamaica, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, and Havana in Cuba.

Southwest Airlines Begins international service from Phoenix Sky Harbor with daily service to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos (Photography by Stephen M. Keller)

New Nonstop Routes for November, December, and Beyond

Southwest recently revised its published flight schedule for November and December and added new routes linking existing Southwest cities across the country with timesaving nonstop service. These new flights will give travelers more options to visit family, friends, and vacation destinations during the winter holiday season.

Southwest announces its new routes from Miami

Southwest Airlines has announced today that it will launch first-ever daily flights at Miami International Airport to four destinations on November 15: Baltimore/Washington; Chicago (Midway Airport); Houston (Hobby Airport); and Tampa.

The combined total of 12 daily round-trip flights will make Southwest one of the busiest passenger airlines currently operating at MIA.

Southwest’s flights to Baltimore four times daily and Tampa three times daily will significantly increase MIA’s existing service to those cities, while its four daily flights to Houston Hobby and daily flight to Chicago Midway will provide new service from MIA to those airports.

Allegiant reports September 2020 traffic

Allegiant Travel Companytoday reported preliminary passenger traffic results for September 2020 as well as third quarter 2020.

“Average daily cash burn came in at roughly $1.3 million for the third quarter,” stated Gregory Anderson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Allegiant Travel Company. “Gross bookings for the quarter averaged more than $2.0 million per day, which is better than our previous booking levels of less than $2 million per day, due primarily to steady improvements in bookings throughout the month of September. During the third quarter, we paid approximately $15 million to Sixth Street Partners in conjunction with the termination of the Sunseeker loan agreement, which drove cash burn up slightly. As previously stated, our cash burn figure includes debt payments. We continue to expect fourth quarter daily cash burn to be well below $1 million based on the assumption of average daily gross bookings of more than $2.0 million, which is inclusive of the remaining $5 million payment to Sixth Street Partners.

“As we enter the final quarter of the year, we meaningfully increased our liquidity position to over $850 million, primarily driven by the $84 million in senior secured debt backed by two A320 aircraft and eight CFM engines along with the sale of $150 million of senior secured notes, which is backed by collateral pledged to our existing Term Loan. We believe this improved liquidity coupled with our industry-best cash burn rate not only bolsters liquidity further, but provides enhanced flexibility to best respond to the fluid environment.”

“We will continue to approach the fourth quarter by maintaining a wide selling footprint,” stated Drew Wells, vice president of revenue. “This approach has been effective at capturing demand as it returns. We completed the quarter with capacity down 6.5 percent year over year and a load factor of just below 50 percent. We saw some strength towards the back half of the quarter, as evidenced by September’s load factor of 57.4 percent. We continue to monitor bookings and will make any necessary cuts to the schedule as dictated by demand trends.”

Scheduled Service

	September 2020	September 2019	Change
Passengers	475,814	770,768	(38.3%)
Revenue passenger miles (000)	405,590	639,534	(36.6%)
Available seat miles (000)	706,148	775,906	(9.0%)
Load factor	57.4%	82.4%	(25.0 pts)
Departures	4,885	5,638	(13.4%)
Average stage length (miles)	839	808	3.8%
	3^rd Quarter 2020	3^rd Quarter 2019	Change
Passengers	2,003,648	3,753,611	(46,6%)
Revenue passenger miles (000)	1,714,622	3,170,826	(45.9%)
Available seat miles (000)	3,449,339	3,687,473	(6.5%)
Load factor	49.7%	86.0%	(36.3 pts)
Departures	23,710	26,238	(9.6%)
Average stage length (miles)	839	824	1.8%

Total System*

	September 2020	September 2019	Change
Passengers	483,278	799,592	(39.6%)
Available seat miles (000)	734,898	855,962	(14.1%)
Departures	5,137	6,248	(17.8%)
Average stage length (miles)	830	802	3.5%

	3^rd Quarter 2020	3^rd Quarter 2019	Change
Passengers	2,016,241	3,806,369	(47.0%)
Available seat miles (000)	3,521,508	3,888,400	(9.4%)
Departures	24,365	27,707	(12.1%)
Average stage length (miles)	834	823	1.3%

*Total system includes scheduled service and fixed fee contract. System revenue passenger miles and system load factor are not useful statistics as system available seat miles include both ASMs flown by fixed fee flying as well as non-revenue producing repositioning flights used for operational needs. Fixed fee flying is better measured through dollar contribution versus operational statistics.

Air Canada completes aircraft sale and leaseback transactions

Air Canada today announced that it recently completed sale and leaseback transactions for three Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with Jackson Square Aviation and six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft with Avolon Aerospace Leasing Limited for total proceeds of US$365 million (C$485 million) and long-term lease commitments of US$345 million (C$458 million). The nine aircraft were delivered to Air Canada over the past three years.

“Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, Air Canada has accessed financial markets numerous times and has successfully raised almost $6.0 billion in liquidity, on reasonable terms and conditions, including with this transaction, as it continues to maintain liquidity levels to mitigate the challenges and uncertainty ahead. We are very pleased to be extending our strong relationship with Avolon and beginning a new relationship with Jackson Square Aviation,” said Michael Rousseau, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Air Canada.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, Air Canada has raised almost $6.0 billion in liquidity. Additionally, it recently completed two long term financings to replace $1.4 billion in short-term debt coming due within the next nine months.

Air Canada is utilizing the net proceeds from these transactions to supplement its working capital and for other general corporate purposes. The net proceeds from the transactions will serve to increase Air Canada’s cash position, thereby allowing for additional flexibility in the implementation of mitigation and recovery measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Canada will update the amount remaining in its unencumbered asset pool as part of its third quarter 2020 financial reporting process. Air Canada will continue to explore financing arrangements as additional liquidity may be required or to refinance existing debt to push out maturities.

British Airways says farewell to its last two Boeing 747s

Despite cloudy weather, British Airways today bid farewell to its last two Boeing 747-400s at London’s Heathrow Airport. The airline issued this statement:

British Airways’ remaining two Boeing 747 aircraft based at Heathrow taxied for take off for the last time today.

To commemorate the occasion the airline’s two aircraft took to the skies one after the other from runway 27R. Once in the air, G-CIVY circled back over the southerly runway in an emotional farewell to its home before heading to St Athan where the aircraft will be retired.

G-CIVB, painted in the airline’s historic Negus livery and G-CIVY, in its current Chatham Dockyard livery, are going to be retiring in the UK at Kemble and St Athan, respectively. Between the two aircraft they have flown an impressive 104 million miles in their 47 years of service and carried millions of British Airways customers.

To express its gratitude to the millions of people who flew on the jets, British Airways is also offering a jumbo reduction on seven hundred and forty seven (747) Club World seats which will be on sale on ba.com for just £999 for the lucky customers that find them. The limited number of ultra-low fare seats are live now to popular destinations that the airline’s Queen of The Skies used to fly to which will include Miami, Dallas and Cape Town.

At 7:47am this morning, hundreds of aviation enthusiasts and customers flooded social media sharing their favourite 747 memories using #BA747farewell.

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO said, “Today was an emotional milestone in the retirement of our 747 fleet as it was our last chance to see the Queen of the Skies depart from our home at Heathrow airport. The 747s have played a huge role in our 100-year history, forming the backbone of our fleet for over 50 years. I know I speak for our customers and the many thousands of colleagues who have spent much of their careers alongside them when I say we will miss seeing them grace our skies.”

In July, British Airways announced that its remaining 747s had sadly flown their last commercial services as a result of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the airline and the aviation sector. The fleet is being replaced by quieter more fuel efficient aircraft as part of the airline’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

British Airways expects the last 747s (currently positioned in Wales) to leave the fleet by the end of the year.

British Airways 747 G-CIVB

Date it entered service	February 15, 1994
Retirement date	September 08, 2020
Popular/recent routes	Last passenger flight was April 6, 2020 from Miami to Heathrow
Livery	Current livery: Negus Previous livery: Landor and was named ‘City of Litchfield’
Fact and stats (approx.)	Operated 13,398 flights Flown for 118,445 hours Flown 59 million miles

British Airways 747 G-CIVY

Date it entered service	September 29, 1998
Retirement date	September 08, 2020
Popular/recent routes	March 20, 2020 last passenger flight from Chicago to Heathrow April 5, 2020 last freighter flight from Dallas to Heathrow
Livery	Chatham Dockyard
Fact and stats (approx.)	Operated 11,034 flights Flown for 90,161 hours Flown 45 million miles

Facts and stats:

Boeing has been manufacturing 747 aircraft for more than 50 years
BOAC flew its first 747 flight on 14th April 1971
British Airways took delivery of its first 747-400 in July 1989 and its last in April 1999
At its height, the airline had a fleet of 57 747-400s
British Airways was the world’s biggest operator of 747-400 aircraft
The 747-400 has 6ft high winglets on the tips of its wings to improve efficiency
It has 16 main wheels and two landing nose wheels
The wings of a 747-400 span 213ft and are big enough to accommodate 50 parked cars
The tail height of 64ft is equivalent to a six-storey building
The 747-400 is 231ft longAbout British Airways’ retro liveries:
Last year to mark its centenary British Airways re-painted three of its jumbo jets in heritage colours donning it’s historic BOAC, Negus and Landor livery The BOAC jet put in a guest appearance with the Red Arrows much to the delight of spectators at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

British Airways aircraft photo gallery (Boeing):

Croatia Airlines to downsize to its smaller Q400s to survive the winter

Croatia Airlines is planning to assign its six smaller Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400s) to most of international routes during the lean winter months. The winter schedule commences on October 25.

During this month, Croatia Airlines will connect Croatia with the most important European cities and transport hubs, with air connections within Croatia provided on scheduled domestic flights.

During October, Croatia’s frag carrier airline will connect Croatia directly with 15 international destinations (Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Lyon, Munich, Paris, Rome, Sarajevo, Skopje and Zurich). From these transport hubs, passengers are offered connecting flights to destinations around the world, particularly on flights of Croatia Airlines’ partners from Star Alliance.

As far as scheduled international flights are concerned, Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, will be directly connected with 12 European destinations, Split with 10 European cities, Dubrovnik with two international destinations, and Rijeka will continue to be connected with Munich.

As for scheduled domestic flights, Croatia Airlines will be connecting Zagreb with Croatia’s five airports (Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula and Bol on the Island of Brač), with flights continuing to be operated on the Osijek-Split and Osijek-Dubrovnik routes as well.

Croatia Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Wizz Air enters the Norwegian domestic market

Wizz Air has announced it will connect Oslo with Bergen, Tromsø and Trondheim starting on November 5. Flights will compete against SAS and Norwegian.

This will be its first base in Scandinavia. Initially one Airbus A321 will be based at Oslo Gardermoen Airport. A second A321 will arrive in December.

In 2020 Wizz Air already has introduced six new routes to Norway: Krakow to Bergen, Haugesund, Stavanger, Tromsø and Trondheim and from Larnaca to Bergen.

End of an Era: The last two British Airways Boeing 747s prepare to depart London Hearthrow

British Airways has made this announcement:

British Airways’ last Heathrow based 747s will retire on the morning of Thursday, October 8, 2020
Social media users are invited to share their memories of the aircraft at 7.47am and 7.47pm on Thursday to mark the occasion using #BA747farewell
The retirement of the airline’s fleet of 747-400 was brought forward as a result of the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the airline and the aviation sector, which is not predicted to recover to 2019 levels until 2023/24

British Airways has announced that its final two Heathrow based Boeing 747 aircraft are scheduled to depart from the airport for the very last time tomorrow morning (Thursday, October 8). One aircraft is painted in its heritage ‘Negus’ livery and the other in its current Chatham Dockyard livery.

Thousands of British Airways flight crew, cabin crew and engineering teams have worked over several decades on and with the aircraft during their time at British Airways during a period when they represented the heart of the airline’s long-haul fleet.

To commemorate G-CIVB and G-CIVY’s final take-off from the airport at 08:30am, the airline has arranged a special send off with a unique and rarely seen synchronised dual take off on parallel runways*, which will be followed by fly past along the southerly runway by one of the aircraft (G-CIVY in current BA livery) as it bids its home a final farewell.

Celebrating the occasion in a virtual way to keep spectators safe, the airline will be live streaming moments from the departure on its Facebook page and is also inviting its colleagues, aviation enthusiasts and customers to share any special memories or photos of British Airways’ 747s on social media channels at 7:47am and 7.47pm on their departure day using the hashtag #BA747farewell.

Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said “Tomorrow will be a difficult day for everybody at British Airways as the aircraft leaves our home at Heathrow for the very last time. We will pay tribute to them for the incredible part they have played in our 100-year history and to the millions of customers and BA colleagues who have flown on board and taken care of them.

“We hope that Britain will join us in sharing their memories with us on social media at 7:47am and 7.47pm on Thursday using #BA747farewell.”

IATA: Looming cash crisis threatens airlines

IATA made this announcement:

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that the airline industry will burn through $77 billion in cash during the second half of 2020 (almost $13 billion/month or $300,000 per minute), despite the restart of operations. The slow recovery in air travel will see the airline industry continuing to burn through cash at an average rate of $5 to $6 billion per month in 2021.

IATA called on governments to support the industry during the coming winter season with additional relief measures, including financial aid that does not add more debt to the industry’s already-highly-indebted balance sheet. To date, governments around the world have provided $160 billion in support, including direct aid, wage subsidies, corporate tax relief, and specific industry tax relief including fuel taxes.

IATA estimates that despite cutting costs just over 50% during the second quarter, the industry went through $51 billion in cash as revenues fell almost 80% compared to the year-ago period. The cash drain continued during the summer months, with airlines expected to go through an additional $77 billion of their cash during the second half of this year and a further $60-70 billion in 2021. The industry is not expected to turn cash positive until 2022.

Airlines have undertaken extensive self-help measures to cut costs. This includes parking thousands of aircraft, cutting routes and any non-critical expense and furloughing and laying off hundreds of thousands of experienced and dedicated employees.

Sector Wide Action Needed

“Government support for the entire sector is needed. The impact has spread across the entire travel value chain including our airport and air navigation infrastructure partners who are dependent on pre-crisis levels of traffic to sustain their operations. Rate hikes on system users to make up the gap would be the start of a vicious and unforgiving cycle of further cost pressures and downsizings. That will prolong the crisis for the 10% of global economic activity that is linked to travel and tourism,” said de Juniac.

There will be little appetite among consumers for cost increases. In a recent IATA survey, some two thirds of travelers have already indicated that they will postpone travel until the overall economy or their personal financial situation stabilizes. “Increasing the cost of travel at this sensitive time will delay a return to travel and keep jobs at risk,” said de Juniac.

According to the latest figures from the Air Transport Action Group, the severe downturn this year, combined with a slow recovery, threatens 4.8 million jobs across the entire aviation sector. Because each aviation job supports many more in the broader economy, the global impact is 46 million potential job losses and $1.8 trillion dollars of economic activity at risk.