Japan has agreed to buy 100 aircraft from Boeing as part of a wider trade agreement with the United States. The White House says in a 23 July statement that under the "landmark economic agreement" announced by US president Donald Trump, "Japan has committed to purchase US-made commercial aircraft, including an agreement to buy 100 Boeing aircraft". Fleets data shows that All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Skymark Airlines have 108 Boeing aircraft on order between them across the 737 Max, 777-X and 787 series of jets. That does not include a commitment from ANA to order eight additional 737 Max 8s and 18 787-9s announced in February that has yet to be finalised. Under the trade deal, Japanese goods entering the US will be subject to a baseline 15% tariff rate. Those tariffs could have a negative impact on Boeing's commercial business given that large parts of the 777 and 787 programs, including wings and center wing boxes, are manufactured in Japan by suppliers including Subaru, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Azul has received final approval from the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for motions in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process, including approval of its $1.6 billion debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. The Brazilian carrier filed for Chapter 11 in the USA on 28 May. "With the final DIP approval in hand and the continued backing of our key financial stakeholders, Azul is well-positioned to execute on our transformation plan and emerge as a stronger, more competitive airline," states Azul chief executive John Rodgerson. Additionally, Azul notes that it has filed with the US court its previously announced agreement with AerCap representing a majority of its aircraft lease liabilities. The agreement – scheduled to be heard on 13 August – would generate contractual benefits to Azul of approximately $1 billion, it says. Azul adds that the court has authorised it to reject two engine leases, "which are tied to non-active engines and have no bearing on the company's overall fleet, routes, or ability to serve customers".

Alaska Air Group intends to focus on using artificial intelligence (AI) on the safety and operations side of its business, the company's chief executive has noted on an earnings call. Ben Minicucci said on 24 July during Alaska's second-quarter earnings call that his company started using AI in this way "well before anybody else in 2018, 2019" for its flight planning "with a company called Flyways". That related to the safety and efficiencies of its flight plans, he adds. Minicucci was responding to a question from an analyst, who asked where Alaska is making investments in "machine learning". "How do we think about the multiyear productivity story? I guess how many years off in the future is it before we might see AI in the cockpit, for example?" asked Daniel McKenzie of Seaport Research Partners. Minicucci adds that Alaska is "looking at how [AI] improves operations, our safety data, and the other thing is we're looking at initiatives that put really the guest experience at the centre of it all, and those are the things that really excite us a lot". He goes on to say: "So that's where it's going to be our focus now, whether that's in call centres and improving the experience of call centres, the experience in lobbies, the experience through the app. Those are all things we're looking at in terms of improving the guest experience and, in parallel, how do we improve safety and operations." He concludes: "So that's all our thinking around AI. That's where we want to drive it. That's where we think we can have the biggest bang for our buck with this exciting new technology."