Malaysia Aviation Group has confirmed that it will reduce capacity by 20% across large parts of its network as it grapples with supply chain issues and significant delays in new aircraft deliveries. "The reduced network involves 20% of our capacity, comprising Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Amal's routes in Malaysia, Asean, North Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, South Asia and the Middle East," says group managing director Izham Ismail in a 29 August statement. "As air travel returned to normalcy with airlines globally restoring capacity into the market, we had been managing our schedules proactively to mitigate post-pandemic challenges including supply chain disruptions. We made the decision to carefully restore our capacity taking into consideration the speed of supply chain support," he adds. MAG flagged that it would reduce capacity until December due to the operational challenges it is facing on 24 August but had not stated which regions would be affected. A major driver of the reduction in capacity is a significant shortfall in new aircraft deliveries, with 17 expected this year. However, it has only received four Boeing 737-8s out of the 13 contractually agreed, while it will only receive three out of the scheduled four A330-900s due this year. MAG has also experienced attrition of skilled workforce as new MRO players have entered the Malaysian market. "To address this, we are collaborating with partners to augment our manpower and increase our skilled engineering workforce, and we have improved remuneration packages to sustain a strong talent pipeline for MAG," Ismail adds.

Air Canada has entered a 21-day cooling-off period in its contract negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
The airline says it remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement and reports what it views as "significant progress" in talks. In response to potential customer concerns, the carrier has introduced a "goodwill rebooking policy" allowing free rebooking for flights scheduled between 15 and 23 September. Customers can change their travel dates, cancel for future credit, or rebook for later dates under specific conditions. The policy applies to all Air Canada-operated flights, including subsidiaries. Air Canada Express flights, which are operated by Jazz or PAL Airlines, will not be affected by the negotiations.The cooling-off period ends on 17 September.

Air New Zealand expects capacity growth for the year ending June 2025 to be flat or down one percent due to maintenance requirements on its Airbus A321neos and Boeing 787s, while the delivery timeline for its new 787s has been stretched out by a year. The airline says that up to six A321neos have been out of service at a time due to accelerated inspections and maintenance required on their Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-series engines. "Ongoing additional maintenance requirements on the Trent 1000 engines that power the existing Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet and reduced levels of spares in the market have meant that up to three Dreamliners are also on the ground at times," Air New Zealand states. Chief executive Greg Foran says the airline has worked to mitigate lower aircraft availability levels. "We took immediate action to minimise the disruption, leasing three Boeing 777-300ERs, securing additional spare engines and adjusting our network and schedule to deliver greater reliability," he says. Nonetheless, capacity is expected to be flat or down up to three percent on its long-haul network this fiscal year, offsetting the domestic and Tasman and Pacific islands markets where capacity is expected to remain steady, or rise by up to three percent. In part, long-haul capacity will also be impacted by the start of a retrofit programme for its 14 Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered 787s from early in the 2025 calendar year, which will take around three years to complete Air New Zealand is also anticipating further delays in the delivery of its eight GE Aviation GEnx-powered 787s, the first of which – a 787-9 – is expected towards the end of the 2025 calendar year. It now expects to receive two aircraft instead of four in the 2026 fiscal year; three instead of two the year after; one instead of two in FY2028 and two in FY2029. Air New Zealand forecasts that its fleet investment will total NZ$3.2 billion ($2.01 billion) through to 2029. The airline also notes that its seven 777-300ERs could remain operational until 2030.