Singapore Airline Group's budget subsidiary Scoot is outpacing the mainline carrier in capacity recovery, having restored 90% of pre-Covid capacity in May. This compares with Singapore Airlines' 79% of pre-pandemic capacity in ASK terms. Disclosing the figures during an analyst briefing on 17 May, the group noted that the budget unit had accelerated following the easing of border restrictions in the region. Scoot's capacity recovery versus pre-Covid levels had been lower than SIA's amid the pandemic, as long-haul destinations began reopening ahead of regional one. Capacity recovery only gained momentum towards the end of 2022, surpassing the mainline's in November and sharply increasing from March. The low-cost carrier plans to introduce nine 112-seat Embraer 190-E2 jets to its fleet from 2024 to enable it to expand on "thinner routes to non-metro destinations out of Singapore". As a group, SIA had restored about 80% of its pre-pandemic capacity as of March, and plans to reach 90% by March 2024, says executive vice-president of commercial Lee Lik Hsin. On prospects for the China market, Lee notes that despite the excitement around that country's reopening "it will take some time for [all] stakeholders in the industry to be totally ready". He cites tour operators as a key example, pointing to how "a large part of Chinese travel is leisure travel through tour operators". "Truth be told, that is not yet up to 100% pre-Covid levels yet. But it is starting to come in and we are optimistic about the full resumption," he adds. The group is also continuing to see "very strong demand" on Southeast Asian flights, chief executive Goh Choon Phong says, adding that "we haven't quite seen any weakening in the near term at least".

BOC Aviation chief Robert Martin foresees that lessors will still have to deal with a "probably a handful" of airline restructurings this year, amid a widening gap between the haves and have-nots among airlines emerging from the pandemic. "I believe there'll be a number of restructurings still this year," Martin says, speaking on a panel session on 10 May at the ISTAT Asia conference in Bangkok. He outlined the profile of such airlines as highly leveraged, largely relying on working capital from the lessors and rather than banks, volatile local currency against the US dollar, and "probably" high domestic interest rates that make it unfavourable refinance in the domestic market. Martin highlights Brazil, and potentially Vietnam, as countries of interest at the moment. "Ideally, all those bankers around there should be helping these people raise equity, but we're not seeing that sign of it yet," he adds. Martin notes that there is a widening gap between well-capitalised airlines and those that are not. "We're seeing a bifurcation of credit markets, so the strong customers are definitely getting stronger – the US domestics, the guys in the Middle East, the big carriers here in Asia, the big carriers in Europe. And so we're not concerned at all about those things, they're all fine. "There is then a group of people who have come through Covid that survived. They've had big deferrals, generally they're in countries where foreign exchange rates against the US dollar are volatile, and they have not finished their refinancing yet… and they haven't raised equity. So this problem, this shoe is still going to fall," he explains. Similar dynamics are at play among lessors, Martin noted, when asked if some lessors could see improvement in their credit ratings. "Some of the stronger leasing companies have got stronger and some of the weaker leasing companies unfortunately will have become weaker, and size definitely plays a role in that. "If you're a large leasing company, you can take some hits during a downturn. You can take the write-offs related to Russia. And so because of that those who made those decisions and took the hard decisions, I think yes, we'll see some of them getting upgraded," he says.

WestJet Group has issued a lockout notice in response to a 72-hour strike notice issued by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union that represents WestJet and Swoop pilots. A work stoppage could occur as early as 19 May at 3 am MT, the Calgary-based airline says in a LinkedIn post. The WestJet Group "has been left with no choice, but to issue our own notice to lockout. This was an incredibly difficult decision to make and we sincerely apologise for the impact and unnecessary stress this will have on our guests ahead of the May Long Weekend", says WestJet chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech in his LinkedIn post. The WestJet ALPA pilots have called out for a strike starting 19 May if no "meaningful" progress is made in the negotiations regarding a new contract with the airline. Meanwhile, the carrier maintains that the proposed contract makes "generous advancements to address the concerns of WestJet and Swoop pilots surrounding job security and scope. Despite efforts to be reasonable and provide significant improvements to the current contract, the union maintains its expectation of closing in towards US – like wages, despite living and working in Canada. This expectation is not reasonable and is impeding the WestJet Group's ability to reach an agreement in advance of the upcoming long weekend". "Our commitment and priority remains at the bargaining table where we will continue to focus the entirety of our efforts on obtaining a deal as soon as possible, doing our best to protect our guests travel plans," von Hoensbroech adds. "‪I have personally joined the bargaining table and I am committed to coming to a reasonable deal that prevents any labour action and economic damage, rewards our valued pilots and secures a sustainable future for our company".