UK low-cost airline Jet2 has disclosed that pricing for summer flights is showing a “modest increase” against last year, although it has been "more competitive" in recent weeks, particularly for April and May travel. In a trading update that covers the year to end-March 2024 as well as looking ahead to the summer, Jet2 says higher fares are helping to offset an increase in costs amid a generally inflationary environment. The carrier is 90% fuel hedged for the coming season and 80% for the full year, "providing important cost certainty given unfolding events in the Middle East". Meanwhile, summer seat capacity is up 12% on last year to 17.1 million seats, currently 55% sold with load factors a percentage point higher. Package holiday bookings are up 13%, "and we are also seeing healthy demand from flight-only passengers for which bookings are currently up by over 18%", says Jet2. It has narrowed its guidance range for its full-year pre-tax and forex adjusted profit to £515-520 million ($641-647 million), from £510-525 million previously. That would represent a rise of around a third on the year to end-March 2023. In February, the carrier upped its guidance from £480-520 million, citing a strong winter season and well-performing forward bookings. Its full-year results will be announced on 7 July. "We are pleased with the strong financial results for FY24 which underlines the resilience, flexibility and popularity of our product offering, plus the outstanding customer service provided by our colleagues," states chief executive Steve Heapy. Investment firm Goodbody notes that the market consensus for the year to end-March 2025 is a profit before tax of £543 million, "and we do not expect a material change to this number after the update today". The mostly upbeat assessment of the market tallies with the positive sentiment in the European sector as the summer season gets underway. EasyJet said as part of a mid-month trading update that bookings for the summer were continuing to "build well", with higher volumes and pricing compared with last year, underpinned by strong demand across its network.

Loganair will remove Aberdeen-Teesside, Aberdeen-Newcastle, and Glasgow-Southampton routes from its network, effective 10 May. The UK carrier says this is part of an "initial root and branch" review of its operations under new chief Luke Farajallah, as it seeks to stabilise and improve resilience in its network. It adds that several other routes will see frequency adjustments until the end of the summer schedule on 26 October. "We are ruthlessly focused on confidently serving our core markets and core customers, who must be able to book with certainty, and experience a stable and resilient flying programme, says Farajallah. "This is especially true for the Highlands and Islands communities who rely on Loganair for being so much more than an airline serving a leisure market."

A key union claims managers at Boeing retaliated against two of its members who raised issues about its compliance with Federal Aviation Administration requirements, although the airframer says those allegations are "unsubstantiated". A complaint filed on 18 April by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) to the US National Labor Relations Board states: "Yesterday's news covered the Congressional hearing in which a whistleblower, a Boeing engineer, testified that employees who raise alarms, and/or resist Boeing shortcuts, concerning safety are 'ignored, marginalised, threatened, sidelined and worse'." It adds: "Such was Boeing's response to two engineering bargaining unit employees who, acting on behalf of the FAA as Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) Engineering Unit Members (E-UM), pushed back against Boeing's resistance to make changes necessary to comply with FAA regulations and insisted that Boeing make the FAA-required changes." The complaint goes on to say that in those two employees' next performance management assessments, they received "identically" downgraded marks on the "Performance Values" portion of the assessment. One of the employees, according to the complaint, filed a "Speak Up Report" challenging this "apparent retaliation". SPEEA claims Boeing completed an investigation into the claim but has "expressly refused" to provide a copy of the report to the union. About the complaint, Boeing says: "We have zero tolerance for retaliation and encourage our employees to speak up when they see an issue. After an extensive review of documentation and interviewing more than a dozen witnesses, our investigators found no evidence of retaliation or interference. We have determined the allegations are unsubstantiated." Boeing goes on to say: "Investigations into interference claims are conducted as confidential investigations; providing the report to any party outside the FAA would be a departure from our standard practice, which is why we shared with SPEEA that we are looking into the union's requests." Following a 17 April hearing before the US Senate's committee on homeland security and governmental affairs during which a Boeing quality engineer, Sam Salehpour, accused the company of having created a "culture that prioritises speed of production over safety and quality and incentivises management to overlook significant defects", Boeing insisted all employees can raise safety concerns. The US airframer said at the time it has taken "important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to raise their voice" since 2020.