Aviation

Bloomberg WestJet Airlines Ltd. dropped the most in more than two and a half years after it said increased spending to create a new low-cost unit and expand overseas will vastly exceed revenue growth. Costs for each seat flown a mile, excluding fuel and employee profit sharing, will climb as much as 8.5 percent this quarter, Canada’s second-biggest carrier said. ...

Bloomberg British Airways parent IAG SA’s approach for Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA was opportunistically pitched to coincide with the discount carrier’s weakest period for earnings, according to Bjorn Kiese, its chairman. “It wasn’t a coincidence that this came at this time,” Kiese said at Norwegian’s annual shareholder meeting. “April, May is the weakest part of the cycle, also for the ...

Bloomberg Japan Airlines Co. is examining setting up a new low-fare carrier to increase capacity and take on rising competition from budget operators in Asia’s second-largest economy. Starting a discount airline is part of the carrier’s need to widen its product line-up, Vice Chairman Junko Okawa, 63, said in an interview in Singapore. It is one of several options the ...

Bloomberg French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said concern is mounting about Air France-KLM Group’s French arm as a protracted labor dispute over wages hurts the airline’s competitiveness and ability to buy new planes. “I’m worried about the future of Air France,” Borne said. The carrier “is less competitive than its partner KLM and other European airlines.” The government has waded ...

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. intends to offer island-hopping flights within Hawaii after it ramps up service to the state from California, boosting the competitive threat to Hawaiian Airlines. Inter-island flights will “eventually” be added to complement new service from the US mainland, Southwest said in a statement. The carrier named San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento and Oakland as the first ...

Bloomberg China isn’t backing down after the White House called an order for airlines to stop referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as countries “Orwellian nonsense.” The foreign ministry in Beijing said that all three places “are indivisible parts of China.” Hong Kong and Macau answer to Beijing, despite having different currencies, separate financial systems and elected legislators, while ...

Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group is facing its biggest crisis in years as CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac prepares to quit amid a deepening labour conflict that the French government has warned is threatening its very survival. The stock dropped as much as 14 percent, the most since 2002. Even before today, the shares had lost 40 percent in value this year, making ...

Bloomberg Who doesn’t love a Hawaiian holiday? Airlines have recognized strong traveller demand for the Aloha State and are pouring on new service — even before Southwest Airlines Co. launches its planned entry into the market. American Airlines Group Inc. plans to begin a daily winter flight from Chicago to Honolulu on December 19. Hawaiian Holdings Inc. also plans additional ...

Bloomberg For a brief moment these past weeks, it appeared that France’s once-mighty unions had lost their clout. Rail workers, once synonymous with crippling strikes, staged a walkout that went largely unnoticed as travellers shrugged, turning to buses and ride-sharing instead. But over at Air France, that well-oiled worker conflict played out in a decidedly more retro fashion. On May ...

Bloomberg Bombardier Inc.’s drive to bolster its cash reserves is getting a lift from the booming real-estate market in Canada’s biggest city. The maker of planes and trains agreed to sell its Downsview factory in Toronto to Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board for about $635 million. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, increasing cash by ...