The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into whether financial support provided by the Romanian government to local airline Blue Air violated EU state-aid rules. The interventions by the Romanian authorities date back to 2020, as the airline industry was roiled by the Covid-19 pandemic. In August of that year, the Commission approved two measures in favour of Blue Air: a public guarantee of around €28 million to compensate for the damages caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions, and a €34 million public guarantee on a rescue loan to partly cover the airline's liquidity needs for the following six months. In April 2021, Romania presented a restructuring plan for Blue Air to the Commission. This was later updated and included a six-year extension of the guarantee on the rescue loan, enabling repayment until 2026. In November 2022, Romania reimbursed the loan and took a 75% shareholding in the airline. That same month, Romanian authorities temporarily suspended Blue Air's operating license citing its financial condition, and it ceased trading. "At this stage, the Commission has concerns that the restructuring plan and the aid measures implemented to support this plan are not line with EU state-aid rules, in particular with the guidelines on recue and restructuring aid," says the Commission. Its investigation will look at whether the plan can restore Blue Air's long-term viability without continued state aid, whether the airline's own or market contributions to restructuring costs are sufficient, and whether appropriate measures are in place to limit competition distortions. EU state-aid rules allow countries to assist companies in difficulty, but only under certain conditions. Aid may be granted for up to six months, and restructuring aid "must ensure that the viability of the company can be restored without continued state support, that the company contributes sufficiently to the costs of its restructuring and that distortions of competition created by the aid are addressed through compensatory measures". Previous to its collapse in November 2022, Blue Air held a roughly 20% market share in Romania with a fleet of 18 Boeing 737s.

SAS has secured US bankruptcy-court approval to flip an Airbus A350-900 JOLCO into a finance lease, despite earlier opposition to the proposal from the equity owners. In a 13 April order, Judge Michael Wiles approved the entry of the Scandinavian group into a term sheet for a finance lease in relation to MSN 358. The aircraft was one of two JOLCO-financed A350s that SAS rejected in 2022 as part of its US Chapter 11 restructuring programme. SAS sought court permission in early March to enter into a finance lease for the same aircraft and, in a document submitted as part if the motion, said it had initiated negotiations with the JOLCO lenders, consisting of MUFG as facility and security agent, Commerzbank, Bank of China UK and Credit Industriel et Commercial. This led to a finance lease term sheet being formulated that contained what SAS said were "improved rental and other economic terms". But the owner of the aircraft, an entity named JPA No 199, objected to the motion, stating in a filing that SAS and the lenders had undertaken a “set of hostile back-to-back transactions” in relation to the aircraft. This consisted of a foreclosure/enforced sale of the aircraft through a "credit bid" by the finance parties that held a security interest in the A350, followed by a "pre-baked follow-on sale" to SAS. There was also an alternative proposal to lease the aircraft to SAS that would have been undertaken without the owners' consent, JPA 199 asserted. JPA 199 noted that after agreeing the term sheet, the lenders accelerated the debt under the existing debt financing and appointed Geoffrey Bouchier and Philip Dakin of Kroll Advisory to act as joint receivers for the collateral provided by the owner to secure the existing debt financing. MUFG subsequently filed its own submission in which it defended its actions. The 13 April order specifies that nothing within in is "intended to or shall affect any rights or claims (or any defences thereto) of any party, including JPA No. 199 Co, the receiver, and the finance parties, under or in connection with the existing loan agreement, any other transaction document (as defined in the existing loan agreement), any enforcement sale in connection therewith, and/or under applicable law". Notwithstanding anything set forth in the term sheet, the finance lease and/or the other transaction documents to the contrary, the order states, JPA's rights to assert claims against SAS under previous orders and stipulations made by the court are "fully preserved and reserved, provided, in each case, that the debtors retain any and all rights to raise any and all defences to the ownership, validity, enforceability, liability, amounts, priority, and/or allowance of any such claims". Furthermore, the judge states that the order shall not "affect or impair in any way" SAS and JPA from reaching and implementing settlement terms with respect to any claims against the airline reserved and preserved by JPA, subject in all respects to terms of the security documents.

Capacity plans for three of the four US majors face an unwelcome update from Boeing, which disclosed on 13 April that it expects deliveries of 737 Max aircraft will be delayed in the "near term". Boeing has cited a manufacturing issue at one of its suppliers as the cause of the delays. "We expect lower near-term 737 Max deliveries while… required work is completed," the manufacturer states. "We regret the impact that this issue will have on affected customers and are in contact with them concerning their delivery schedule." It adds that it will provide more information "in the days and weeks ahead as we better understand the delivery impacts". US majors American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are scheduled to take delivery of a combined total of 154 Max jets through the rest of 2023.