Allegiant Air will not expand its fleet size in 2026, the US carrier's chief executive Greg Anderson has forecast. This year, Las Vegas, Nevada-based Allegiant will be awaiting regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of Sun Country Airlines. Allegiant expects the deal – disclosed in mid-January – to close in the second half of this year. "Looking ahead to 2026, we do not plan to grow the fleet this year as a standalone and we expect to lean into our existing infrastructure and commercial initiatives to drive travel improvement and margin expansion," Anderson said during an earnings call on 4 February. "Importantly, we remain committed to balancing growth with profitability, which we refer to as earning the right to grow." As of 5 February, Allegiant's fleet of 130 aircraft comprises 31 Airbus A319s, 83 A320s and 16 Boeing 737 Max 8s, Cirium fleets data shows. It has 11 Max 8s and 23 yet-to-be-certificated Max 7s on order. The 11 Max 8s are scheduled for delivery in 2026. The leisure carrier's A319s have an average age of 20.4 years. Some A319s could presumably be slated for retirement if new Max 8s arrive in 2026 as scheduled. Anderson notes that Allegiant "is well positioned to take on this significant undertaking" of acquiring Minneapolis-St Paul-based Sun Country, based on its "execution over the past year". Allegiant Air made a fourth-quarter operating profit of $60.1 million, down 23% year on year. Its full-year 2025 profit rose 1.2%, to $144 million. Fourth-quarter revenue was up 7.6%, to $656 million, outpaced by a 12% increase in expenses, which grew to $596 million. Allegiant raised fourth-quarter capacity by 10% year on year. Load factor was up one percentage point, to 81%. "We saw meaningful improvement over the holiday period, and that momentum continued into January," Anderson says. "Current leisure demand is strong, and our customers continue to value convenience and affordability, areas where Allegiant is uniquely positioned." Parent Allegiant Travel Company ended 2025 with $1.1 billion of liquidity, and total debt of $1.1 billion.

Pratt & Whitney believes that it will be able to stabilise engine issues by the end of the decade, with its Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 aircraft-on-ground (AOG) issues resolved by the end of this year. Its aircraft on ground due to the geared turbofan (GTF) recall triggered by powdered metal contamination was down over 20% in the fourth quarter from its peak in 2025, while it sees its A220 and E2 fleet as "completely out of AOG risk", says Rick Deurloo, Pratt & Whitney’s president of commercial engines, on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow on 4 February. In January 2026, there were 663, representing 33.5% of all A320neo-family aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, listed as stored, compared with 719 aircraft, or 37.6%, at its peak in October 2025, Cirium fleets data shows. The figures also include aircraft that have been parked for reasons unrelated to the powdered metal issues. Meanwhile, Deurloo details that from conversations with operators A220 and E2 AOGs are in the single digits, with "a clear line of sight coming out of AOG risk". "If you think about the impact powdered metal had, this particular fleet already had in its in its maintenance schedule coming in because of LLPs, so we had already planned for it, so it was less impactful from a powdered metal perspective," he explains. Fleet data shows that stored A220 and E2s powered by the GTF engines have steadily decreased from a high of 142, or 24.8% of the total fleet, in March 2025 to 113, or 16.4%, in January. Overall, he believes that engine issues that the industry is facing should ease up: "We feel confident by the end of this decade, we're going to be in more of a normalised state." He clarifies that "normalisation" does not mean zero AOGs but adds instead that these would be "much more manageable" as it continues to deliver capacity to Airbus and Embraer. Prior to that, however, there is still work to be done, with a key aspect to improvements being its ramp up in MRO capacity and its Advantage engines, which he expects to be "shipping in the coming weeks, months" with full production by the first quarter of 2028. "So we are making great progress, lots of work to do. I won't take away that every meeting I'm in with customers, obviously it's [AOGs] first and foremost on their mind, like it is on ours. But we're starting to demonstrate that progress, and they're starting to feel it," he adds.

Boeing will deliver the first 787-9s and -10s with an increase in maximum take-off weight (MTOW) during the second half of the year but has been tight-lipped on which airline will be the first operator to take them. Boeing's vice president commercial marketing, Darren Hulst, says during a briefing at the Singapore Airshow that the weight increase will add around 10,000lbs (4.5 tonnes) of additional MTOW of the -9 and 14,000lbs (6.35t) to the -10. "Those aircraft are actually already in the production system, moving through towards certification, and we anticipate deliveries of those aircraft beginning the first half of this year," he says. "So we're really close, really excited about what that offers, because those capabilities provide airlines either the ability to fly about 400 miles of additional range or five to six tons of additional cargo payload on the existing markets they already fly." Hulst confirms that the increased weight is now the production standard for the 787-9 and -10 and "it's just a question of whether the airlines need it or want it as part of their own fleet". While Hulst would not identify the first operator for the higher weight increase, Air New Zealand is widely tipped to take the first heavier 787-9, with the additional range expected to benefit its nonstop flights from Auckland to New York JFK. Fleets data shows that out of the five 787-9s and five -10s on order, it has one 787-9 tentatively due for delivery in March and another in July. Boeing holds orders for 716 787-9s and 357 787-10s, plus 27 of the smaller -8 variant, the data shows.