The UK government in consulting on a post-Brexit shake-up of passenger compensation legislation which could include cash payments for customers who experience delays of as little as one hour on domestic flights. Changes could also include a simpler process to claim compensation, although the amount passengers may be entitled to would be reduced in many circumstances, with the amounts linked to ticket prices instead of absolute values. Currently, passengers are able to claim for delays of three hours or longer, for which they are entitled to £220 ($297). The government's central proposal is that for a delay of more than one hour but less than two, passengers will be entitled to compensation of 25% of their ticket price. For a delay of more than two hours but less than three, this rises to 50% of ticket price. Beyond three, the full ticket price would be refunded. "People deserve a service that puts passengers first when things go wrong, so today I've launched proposals that aim to bolster airline consumer protections and rights," states UK transport secretary Grant Shapps. "We're making the most of our Brexit dividend with our new freedoms outside of the EU, and this review will help build a trustworthy, reputable sector." In a risk assessment of the proposed changes, the department finds that these proposals would bring a reduction in compensation paid to customers for delays of over three hours, but an increase in the amount paid for delays of 1-3 hours. Based on data from 2018 and 2019, the department says this would equate to a total claim amount of around £2.6 million for delays of three hours or more, £7.9 million less than if they take no action. However, this would be set against an extra £5.9 million in payouts from airlines for compensation for delays that are under three hours. Estimates are derived from CAA data on the number of flight delays pre-pandemic, ticket prices, and information on the proportion of eligible passengers who claim for refunds. Additionally, the proposals include forcing airlines to join the industry's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme, which enables passengers to escalate disputes that have been unsatisfactorily settled. Membership is currently on a voluntary basis. The UK's Civil Aviation Authority would also be given stronger enforcement powers to enforce consumer-protection laws. The government also appears to leave the door open to the possibility of changes for compensation for international flight delays, although no specific proposals are set out. "Considering that the compensation rates are set by the [1999 Montreal] Convention for international flights that are delayed, government is interested in views on alternative approaches to recognise the changes in the types of airlines being used to travel and to link compensation to the costs of travel."

Grupo Aeromexico's joint plan of reorganisation has been confirmed by the US bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York. Aeromexico will continue working with all of its key stakeholders to swiftly emerge from Chapter 11, the group says. At that point, the corporate resolutions adopted at the 14 January shareholders meeting will become fully effective, the group says. The hearing to consider confirmation of the plan of Aeromexico and its subsidiaries, who are debtors in the Chapter 11 restructuring process, was held on 27 January. All eight classes of the Mexican carrier's creditors group that were entitled to vote on its restructuring plan have approved it.

Ryanair has issued an upbeat set of results for the three months to end-December, and group chief executive Michael O'Leary has vowed that it will continue to be aggressive on pricing as it seeks to expand market share and solidify the recovery. The airline made a net loss of €96 million ($107 million) in the period, narrowing one of €321 million in the same period in 2020 and beating market expectations, on revenue of €1.47 billion, up from €340 million. Load factor rose 14 percentage points to 84%, and the group carried 31.1 million passengers. Towards the end of last year, Ryanair warned that the arrival of Omicron would seriously impact its performance in the quarter, as demand crumbled away amid the variant's spread. While the airline notes that this did indeed happen, and that it would have achieved higher load factors and 2 million more passengers in December without Omicron, it also believes that the recovery should be back on course by Easter, providing a solid launchpad for its summer performance. Capacity was cut by roughly one-third in January and 15% for February, but the carrier is now prepared for a "very strong traffic recovery… into March, and Easter", O'Leary told investors on the results webcast, citing a recent surge in bookings. "We would want and expect very very strong traffic and load factors in April, and that would set us up well into the summer." By Easter, Ryanair is hoping to see load factors return to around 90%, compared with typical pre-crisis levels of 95-96%, but this will happen at the cost of yields, reflecting the carrier's aggressive stance on pricing. "I would always give away yield for load factor and a faster recovery," says O'Leary. Capacity should be returned to 115% of 2019 levels by peak summer, and O'Leary foresees that with many competitors having shrunk through the crisis, Ryanair will be able to pick up some of the slack. Investment firm Davy has backed Ryanair's outlook that growth should pick up strongly in time for summer, and that the carrier is ready to be the chief beneficiary of this. Davy highlights that Ryanair Group's cost position, network expansion, customer proposition, employee growth and balance sheet are "poised for the next phase of growth", adding: "We continue to believe that these 'low cost' tenets will show favourably, if not dramatically, this summer. We maintain our forecasts, our 'Outperform' rating and €19 price target." Ryanair is at pains to highlight that in a time of sharply rising fuel prices, it is strongly hedged – up to 80% over the coming months – at a significant discount to the current crude price, in contrast to its key competitor Wizz, which has abandoned the practice.