United Airlines is trimming its schedule, scrapping flights on less profitable routes as it faces soaring fuel costs. In a message to staff, chief executive Scott Kirby says the airline is preparing for a scenario where oil prices reach USD175 a barrel, up from just under USD100 a barrel this morning.
UA has already cut flights by about 5% and is prepared for an increase of $USD11b in fuel costs this year. “Honestly, I think there’s a good chance it won’t be that bad—but there isn’t much downside for us to [be] preparing for that outcome,” he wrote.
UA doesn’t plan to furlough staff, defer aircraft orders or delay investments but it has cut midweek, Sat and overnight services as well as keeping some Middle East flights suspended.
UA will continue to take delivery of about 120 new aircraft this year and another 130 new planes by Apr 2028. Kirby says UA has built up healthy cash balances since the pandemic and had enjoyed its strongest bookings ever in the first 10 weeks of this year.
. . . QF Fare Watch
Qantas will review its fares every fortnight as it grapples with cost hikes described by its head of international Cam Wallace as something he hasn’t seen in three decades of working in aviation.
He told a Tourism Australia conference that forecasting fares was difficult. ‘‘There’s a kind of unique volatility, so trying to pick where airfares go in the next three months is going to be really, really challenging because our costs have increased, the likes of which I’ve never seen in like 30 years at air lines,’’ Australian Aviation reports. QF is deploying more fleet onto Europe in coming months to meet a spike in demand. “We’re just keeping an eye on our markets and making sure we can deploy as much capacity as practically we can in the short term, to get as many people where they want to go, and that includes looking at ways to find more capacity to get into Europe,” says Wallace.
