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Industry News and Analysis

Industry News and Analysis

June 15, 2026

American

  • Forecasting a record-breaking summer travel season, servicing 75 million passengers, surpassing the previous record in 2019. Q2 revenue expected to grow double-digits year over year. 
  • Removed service to DOH and TLV from schedules through December 2026. 
  • APA Board has directed APA-ALPA merger negotiation committee to restart negotiations with ALPA. 
  • Selected Starlink for new inflight internet service, with installations starting in the first quarter 2027. Plan to retrofit over 500 narrowbody aircraft plus all incoming A321neo and A321XLR aircraft. 
  • Suspending six routes from California due to potentially higher fuel prices. LAX to CLE, CMH, IAD and PIT, as well as SMF-CLT and ONT-CLT will not be served from August through October. Despite the cuts, American will still lead the majors in growth, with a systemwide increase of 4% during the third quarter. 

Delta

  • Began service May 20 on its 15th route to Italy, with service to OLB from on the island of Sardinia from JFK. The carrier now has the largest market share to Italy at nearly 28%. 
  • Will operate the most capacity to Europe during summer 2026, overtaking United, with 81 routes as compared to 77 in the year-ago period. 
  • Berkshire Hathaway has invested $2.7 billion (approximately 40 million shares) in Delta Airlines in May as the firm noted an improved industry outlook as compared to its previous position that was exited just before the onset of COVID in 2020. 

Southwest

  • Reached an agreement with the San Antonio Airport to end litigation regarding gate assignments at SAT. Settlement ensures Southwest will have three gates in the new Terminal C and three in Terminal B, which allows the airline to leave the outdated Terminal A. 
  • Latest schedule iteration (November base schedule) adds more network connectivity through additions in BWI, DEN, MDW, and STL. Adding red-eye flying from HNL to SJC and SMF and increased international service over the holiday travel season to CUN, MBJ, SJD and SXM. 
  • Officially opened its first international “Global Innovation Center” in Hyderabad, India. Intended to support network engineering, Data and Digital AI/Machine Learning, and Cybersecurity operations. 

United

  • Launching new service from ORD to NRT and SFO to CTS. United’s Pacific revenue is more than double Delta’s and four times greater than American’s. The carrier will serve 22 Japanese routes and as many as 22 daily roundtrips to five major Japanese airports by 2026. 
  • Resuming service to Caracas from Houston in August, first service since June 2017. 
  • Removed more than 9,000 departures from ORD summer schedule following FAA-imposed flight caps. 
  • United flight attendants ratified a new contract, which included an average 31% wage increase, boarding pay, and $741 million of retroactive pay. 

Alaska/Hawaiian 

  • Will add Premium Economy cabin to 787/A330 aircraft beginning in 2028. This would put Alaska on par with the U.S. legacy carriers that operate three cabin service on most long-haul international flights. 
  • Launched daily SEA-LHR flights starting mid-May. Will also begin service to KEF in late May. Opening a new two-level 41,000 square feet lounge at SEA in 2027 to further support brand loyalty. 

JetBlue 

  • Will cease service to MHT by July 2026, terminating flights from FLL, MCO, and RSW. Other route cuts include BDL-TPA, EWR-CUN, MCO-SJO, PVD-SJU, and SDQ-EWR. These cuts are to support new service from FLL following the exit of Spirit Airlines. 
  • Unlocked reciprocal loyalty benefits with United’s Mileage Plus plan as part of the “Blue Sky” collaboration with United. 
  • Summer season service from BOS to MXP began in mid-May with the A321LR aircraft. 
  • The carrier raised its Q2 Revenue per Available Seat Mile (RASM) guidance by 1.5% on broad-based demand strength, saying it saw no degradation on any point of the booking curve despite multiple fare hikes. 
  • Opening a FLL A220 Pilot base in January. 

Allegiant 

  • Closing two crew bases, BLI and SAV, in late 2026. The A320 was the primary aircraft operated from those two cities. 
  • Completed its acquisition of Sun Country Airlines for approximately $1.5 billion including debt. Expects $140 million in annual synergies within three years and should be accretive to earnings in the first year post-close. Fleet totals 195 aircraft with 30 firm orders and 80 options. In 2025, the combined airlines market share was roughly 2.6%. 
  • Initiating several routes from FLL, backfilling previous Spirit Airlines service, with service to BOS, OMA, PIT, and MCI. 

Frontier 

  • Reduced capacity by 3% in Q3 but is still expected to grow its capacity over 20% in 2026. 
  • Despite the reductions in capacity, will begin additional service from DFW, ORD, LAX and MIA this summer to capture spill traffic from OAL hubs. 

Spirit 

  • Ceased operations on May 3. Approximately $1.7 billion in aircraft, engines, property, etc., according to a liquidation analysis. $87 million of LGA slots are expected to go up for bid.

Sun Country 

  • Acquisition by Allegiant Airlines completed in May. MSP expected to be the largest city in terms of departures per day in the combined company. 

Avelo 

  • Announced it will cut all Tuesday flights from its summer 2026 schedule as part of cost-cutting measures enacted due to high fuel prices. 

Breeze 

  • Launching three new international routes to CUN (PIT, RIC and TPA) and two serving PUJ (CMH, PIT) in late 2026, early 2027. The carrier now operates 14 international routes with 43 weekly departures. Delivery schedules impacted until 2028. Also beginning service from TPA to MBJ, NAS, PUJ and SJO by year-end. 
  • Have cut service from LAX to CAK, HSV, and RDU and SNA to MTJ and TPA as it reduces capacity in long, thin routes from Southern California.

Other Industry News

Airbus 

  • Announced delivery delays of several months on A320neo aircraft due to a shortage of GTF engines and other assorted parts. Delivery schedules remain impacted until 2028. 

Boeing 

  • Delivered 57 aircraft (49 MAXs) in May with orders of 136. China confirms a 200 Boeing aircraft order with upside to 750 aircraft. Analysts estimate this could contribute $100 million of cash in the form of pre-delivery deposits. Reportedly exploring raising 737 production to 70 per month versus the goal of 63 per month currently. 

FedEx 

  • Has begun returning its MD-11 fleet to revenue service following the FAA approval of Boeing’s compliance order and validation of completed repairs and inspections. The aircraft has been grounded since November’s UPS crash in Louisville. First revenue flights were on May 10.  
  • Pilots ratified a new four-year contract after five years of protracted negotiations. The agreement calls for a 40% pay increase, back pay, improved retirement benefits and job protections, among other items. 

UPS

  • Announced a $50 million investment to upgrade its network to support time-sensitive heavy airfreight service starting in August. This is to support automobile manufacturing in Mexico. 

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