Liquidators of Thomas Cook Group have warned that most of the company’s divisions are unlikely to return a dividend to creditors following its collapse in September. The official receiver says that the group collapsed with around £9 billion ($11.6 billion) in total liabilities. These included £5.7 billion in debts to other group companies and a further £1.77 billion to banks and other lenders. Trade creditors are owed £885 million and £585 million is due to customers who booked package-holidays and flights, although this figure does not include a claim from the Civil Aviation Authority which has yet to be fully quantified. But the receiver estimates total asset realisations at just £176-244 million – a figure which excludes the cost of the realisation, it states. Sale of retail outlets, landing slots at airports, intellectual property rights and other assets have already been achieved. But sales of other parts of the companies – including aircraft and engineering stock – have yet to be finalised The receiver warns that, although certain assets have been realised, some companies did not have assets and creditors of these firms “will not benefit from these realisations”. Twenty-six companies were wound up in the Thomas Cook Group liquidation on 23 September, and 19 of these are listed as having “unlikely” prospects for a dividend, it states. Among the companies from which a “possible” dividend might emerge are Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Retail, and Thomas Cook Group Tour Operations. Another 27 UK companies in the group were subsequently wound up on 8 November, and the official receiver says it will report separately on these in due course.

Source: Cirium

United Airlines will pull its 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft from its schedules through 4 June as the US Federal Aviation Administration's safety review of the grounded aircraft extends into 2020 and carriers remain uncertain when those fleets could be cleared to return to service. The Chicago-based carrier had previously removed the Max from its schedule through 4 March. The airline has 14 737 Max jets in storage, with 144 more of the type on order, according to Cirium fleets data. In total, United Airlines has 764 aircraft of various types in service. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, which have extended cancellations of their Max fleets through April, have removed the aircraft from their schedules one month at a time. United's announcement departs from that month-by-month cancellation trend. The airline will cancel up to 108 flights per day through June during the grounding, said United spokesman Frank Benenati on 20 December. The extended cancellation will help the network team plan the year ahead, he says. "By moving the return to service date back more than just a month, as we have done previously throughout 2019, it allows us to have more certainty by providing our customers and our operation a firmer and more definitive timeline," Benenati says. "We will better help our customers by reducing the number of our passengers we need to reassign to a new aircraft or rebook on a different flight."

Source: Cirium

Air Canada has taken delivery of its first Airbus A220, placing the Montreal-based carrier on track to launch its first A220 revenue flights in January. Airbus announced the delivery, the first of 45 A220-300s destined for Air Canada, and released photographs of the aircraft. Air Canada will begin A220 revenue flights on 16 January between Calgary and Montreal, followed on 19 January between Montreal and Toronto, according to Cirium schedules data. The airline’s A220s will be outfitted with 137 seats, including 12 business-class and 125 economy-class seats, says Airbus. “This is a highly anticipated moment for Air Canada as we welcome this game-changing aircraft into our fleet,” the release says. “The A220 will enable Air Canada to strengthen our position on transborder and transcontinental markets and will be key to our continued growth.” With a published 3,350nm (6,200km) range, the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered A220-300 will have transcontinental capability. Air Canada intends to deploy it on routes such as Montreal-Seattle and Toronto-San Jose, says the release. Air Canada is the first Canadian airline to receive an A220 and the only Canadian airline with A220s on order, according to Cirium fleets data. The Montreal-based airline plans to formally unveil its first A220 at a ceremony in Montreal on 15 January.

Source: Cirium