American and JetBlue File Motion to Dismiss
Northeast Alliance partners American Airlines and JetBlue Airways filed a joint motion to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice.
The motion was filed Monday morning in U.S. District Court in Boston in which the two airlines said the lawsuit lacks proof of anti-competitive impact. The duo also told the court that they have spent a lot of “time, money, and energy designing and ordering really cool Northeast Alliance lapel pins and buttons and hates to see them go to waste.”
American and JetBlue insist that “using analytical tools from merger analysis” isn’t relevant because their tie-up isn’t a merger and reiterated that the lapel pins were very expensive.
The DOJ has 21 days to respond to the motion.
Air Canada Politely Settles Refund Case with DOT
Air Canada and the U.S. DOT settled the case over Air Canada’s whole “we don’t wanna give refunds” thing for cancelled flights during the pandemic. Air Canada agreed to pay $4.5 million, much less than the $25.5 million the government originally sought.
Air Canada also provided two prime season tickets for each of the NHL’s seven Canadian teams for DOT use in perpetuity, and the DOT has first right of refusal on four tickets to opening night if Montreal gets a Major League Baseball team in the future.
Of the $4.5 million Air Canada is paying, $2.5 million can be used by the airline to pay refunds, which seems like getting a speeding ticket and instead of paying the fine, using money going towards gas and insurance as the fine. The remaining $2 million will be paid to the U.S. treasury, primarily to fund Secretary Pete’s love for Canadian bacon.
The deal must still be agreed to by the Administrative Law Judge overseeing the case. Despite less than 20% of the original fine being paid, it still clocks in as the largest penalty ever assessed by the Official of Aviation Consumer Protection – a figure that is expected to be broken by something Spirit will inevitably do sometime in the future.
Israel Offers $44 Million to Bail Out Airlines
The Israeli government approved an additional $44 million in aid to be split among all Israeli carriers as the government acknowledged its continued tightening of border controls is having an adverse effect on airlines from returning to profitability.
Israel’s three airlines – El Al, Arkia, and Israir – would receive the aid as three-year bonds which do not accrue interest. The airlines will have the option to convert the bonds into shares then allotted to the Israeli government. The state could not hold more than 24% of equity in the airline and would not have voting rights.
El Al has been losing money for three years – dating back to prior to the pandemic. The carrier, which is considering a purchase of rival Israir, requested as much as $100 million in aid from the government earlier this fall. El Al has laid off 1,900 employees, nearly one-third of its pre-pandemic workforce, since 2020.
- Aero Nomad can stop wandering through the desert as the carrier received its AOC from the Kyrgyzstan government.
- Air Malta has ended plans to operate long-haul routes, because it was a really bad idea.
- Brussels will take delivery of its ninth A330 in June.
- Copa and Boeing have agreed to accelerate the delivery of up to 12 B737-9 aircraft by as much as three years.
- Emirates will switch its daily flight between Dubai and Melbourne to an A380 beginning February 1.
- Equair, an Ecuadorian startup now says that all things being equal, it plans to launch operations later this year.
- Qantas will begin 4x-weekly service between Melbourne and Delhi on December 22.
- TAG Airlines will begin 4x-weekly flights early next year between Mérida (MID) and Guatemala City.
- Virgin Australia chief of corporate affairs Moksha Watts resigned her role after the airline began an internal review of her workplace behavior, which can’t be a good look for her or the airline.
- Zambia Airways still plans to begin operations sometime in 2021.
I accidentally gave my friend a glue stick instead of the lipstick she asked for.
She’s still not speaking to me.