Oneworld is exploring the possibility of adding an Indian carrier as a member, the airline alliance's chief executive Nat Pieper has indicated. Speaking on 18 September at a Wings Club event in New York, Pieper noted that Oneworld lacks a partner based in India, a country served by 10 of its 15 member airlines. Oneworld carriers American Airlines, Finnair, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines in the fourth quarter of this year are set to operate a total of 10,670 flights to and from India, Cirium schedules data shows. "[It is a] super-important market, growing like crazy," Pieper says. "We will be interested in continuing to canvas and see if anybody does make sense." In the fourth quarter, IndiGo is set to be the top India-based carrier by capacity, with 27.9 billion available seat-miles scheduled, followed by Air India (15.9 ASMs), Air India Express (7.3 billion ASMs) and Akasa Air (2.3 billion ASMs). Air India is a member of the Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Avianca, among other carriers. IndiGo is not a member of any of the three major global airline alliances, the third being SkyTeam, which includes Delta Air Lines, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Aeromexico and China Airlines, among other carriers. Delta, IndiGo and European operators Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic disclosed on 1 June at IATA's AGM event in Delhi that they had signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a codeshare linking IndiGo's domestic network with Delta's international network. IndiGo had partnerships already in place with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic. A week later, speaking at a Wings Club event in New York on 11 June, IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers noted that IndiGo works with "different types of alliances". "It used to be, actually, mostly Turkish [Airlines] and Qatar [Airways]," Elbers said on 11 June. "But more recently we've added, for example, Japan Airlines, [which] flies to India and connects on our domestic network. And now if a quality airline as Japan Airlines is putting their codes on our flights, I guess that's a confirmation of the quality of the product [we have]. "And last week, clearly, we have added an arrangement here with Delta, where we start to codeshare beyond Amsterdam and Manchester on Delta and Virgin, to make sure that our flows to the North Atlantic – which is one of the largest Indian flows, clearly – between India and the US, could also connect on those sides. " At the Wings Club event on 18 September, Oneworld CEO Pieper noted that adding a new alliance member "is always tricky". "You've got to make sure that it makes sense for not only the group as a whole, but then [for] each of the 15," Pieper says, adding that there is always the possibility that "one or two of the members are really going to take a financial hit" if the alliance adds a particular carrier. "We wouldn't do that" if that were the case, Pieper says. If Oneworld is unable to add an Indian carrier, member airlines can still expand their presence in the Indian market if those members "co-operate", Pieper says, listing joint aircraft operations, joint lounges and "creative marketing" among the potential benefits. "It's easiest if you've got a home carrier there," he admits.

Azul intends to raise up to $950 million through an equity rights offering under its reorganisation plan that would pave the way for it to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The carrier says in a disclosure statement filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York state that the plan is supported by several of its "key economic stakeholders", including lessor AerCap, bondholders and secured debtholders. Under the proposed equity raising, strategic investors United Airlines and American Airlines will subscribe for up to $300 million of the offering, while other parties have agreed to backstop the remaining $650 million. Azul will also enter an exit debt facility, either through the exchange of the $1.6 billion debtor-in-possession notes or through other loans or notes, and it " expect[s] to commence a robust marketing process in the near term to achieve better financing terms than those in the Exit Notes." "Azul has been able to leverage the chapter 11 process to effectively transform its businesses and simplify its balance sheet," it says, adding that it will eliminate over $2 billion in debt from its balance sheet, largely through restructuring aircraft leases with AerCap and other lessors. "At the same time, Azul expects to emerge from bankruptcy as a strong, competitive, and global airline that continues to make Brazil accessible." Azul calls the filing of the plan, along with a related disclosure statement, a "significant milestone toward the completion of Azul's financial and operational restructuring". Creditors are scheduled to vote on the plan on 14 October, and a confirmation hearing to approve it has been set for 11 December. Azul's 28 May Chapter 11 filing was precipitated by a combination of pandemic-driven losses, currency volatility, and Brazil's challenging macroeconomic environment. In August, Azul received court approval for its agreement with AerCap. Cirium fleets data shows that it manages 70 of the carrier's in-service and stored fleet of 225 aircraft. DAE Capital is its second largest lessor with 28 aircraft, while Falko has 20.

SpiceJet's near-90% fall in first quarter operating profit appears to have only exacerbated the financial and operational pressures that it has not yet overcome, amid signs that it has nearly burned through the Rs30 billion ($341 million) it raised from investors last September. The carrier eked out earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and rent collapsed to Rs840 million, compared to Rs6.5 billion in the previous corresponding quarter, while revenue fell 43% to Rs119 billion. The result was announced the same day that it released its 2024-2025 annual report, which lay bare its financial state. The carrier's total debt and payables stood around $600 million at year's end, compared with about $850 million a year earlier, while free cash inched up only marginally from around $25 million to about $35 million. A breakdown of the debt indicates that it had around $290 million in trade payables—including money owed to aircraft lessors and other vendors—borrowings of roughly $240 million, and statutory dues to the government of around $36 million. This compares with US$410 million of trade payables for the fiscal year ended March 2024, $277 million of borrowings, and $96 million in statutory dues. This indicates that the airline has paid a significant portion of the $350 million it raised to clear trade payables and statutory dues but is still not out of the woods. “There have been delays in repayment of dues to banks/financial institutions and certain statutory authorities. Trade payables include amounts which are outstanding for a period exceeding contractual terms,” auditors Walker Chandiok & Co, an affiliate of Grant Thornton in India, states in the report. It adds that the company has incurred losses in the past and its accumulated losses as at 31 March had resulted in erosion of its net worth in prior years led to it repeating a warning about the carrier's ability to remain a going concern. “The Company’s ability to meet its obligations is dependent on successful negotiations with lessors, lenders, and vendors, and on the timely realisation of its plans for raising funds and improving operations." The going concern warning is a stark contrast to the enthusiastic presentation that Ajay Singh gave in Singapore in February, when he advised that there was " practically nothing left” when asked about ongoing litigation and claims from creditors. “The relationships are great because we paid everybody back, so they're happy with us,” he said at the time. Signs are, then, that even as the airline looks to convert some debt to equity that it will once again go cap-in-hand to investors for a further equity infusion – one that will likely further dilute Singh's stake, which is now around 30%, down from around 60% when he took over a decade ago. Another curiosity buried deep in the pages of the report was that the financially struggling airline had given an interest-free advance of about $3.9 million to Singh – almost equivalent to five years of his salary. Even though the company has clarified that the advance will be adjusted against his monthly remuneration and is in line with its internal policy, it did not go down well with corporate governance analysts.