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Vacation In America: Planes are filling up and tickets are very expensive

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By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

– Americans making summer vacation plans are about to find airfare costs are near or even above pre-pandemic levels, according to the nation’s major airlines.
Executives from most of the major carriers said the recovery in domestic leisure travel is already here. That means yields, which measure how much passengers pay for every mile traveled, are up more than the airlines had been forecasting.
“Domestic leisure [travel] will be 100% restored by June, with … bookings ahead of 2019 levels and yields essentially recovered,” said Glen Hauenstein, president of Delta Air Lines, speaking at the Wolfe Research conference.
The airlines are being cautious about bringing back too much supply of flights too quickly, especially since the leisure fares booked well in advance of travel are not as lucrative as the business travel booked at the last minute. Business travel and international travel have yet to come back, although airlines said they’re seeing signs of a future recovery there as well.
United, which is due to speak at the conference later in the day, said in a filing that overall yields on tickets booked this month for travel in May and June are already near 2019 levels. That’s even with reduced demand for business travel — so it means that domestic leisure yields are already ahead of what was booked in 2019.
Profitability and the business travel problems
This doesn’t mean the airlines are back to being profitable, although several have said they have stopped burning through the cash the way they did for most of 2020 and early 2021.
It’s tough to be profitable with just domestic leisure travelers, said Philip Baggaley, chief credit analyst covering airlines for Standard & Poor’s. Yet getting this part of their business back is still important.
“There certainly has been a surge in domestic leisure bookings, and the yields they’ve been able to achieve,” he said. “They’re not filling up as much of the plane, but in a very large and important part of their business, they’re doing just fine.”
The airlines expect business travel will start to return once offices that had employees working remotely begin to reopen. It didn’t make sense, of course, to schedule business trips if the customer whom a business traveler wants to meet with hasn’t yet returned to an office.
“We still anticipate business travel returns in the fall and beyond,” said Vasu Raja, chief revenue officer at American. “Many corporations are at the nascent stages of coming back to the office.”
That’s why airlines won’t be back to the same number of flights this summer as they offered in the summer of 2019 before the pandemic. But they’re seeing strong demand for the seats they are offering, thanks to vacation travelers’ pent-up demand.
“Right now…the only thing that is keeping us from being at 2019 booking levels is where is we’re constricting supply,” said Raja.
The bad news for the vacation travelers is good news for the airlines and their investors. Shares of American, Delta, United and most other US airlines were up between 2% and 3% in midday trading.
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Aviation

NSIB JOINS MARITIME ACCIDENT INVESTIGATORS INTERNATIONAL FORUM (MAIIF)

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has added another feather to its cap with its acceptance into the Marine Accident Investigators’ International Forum (MAIIF).

The Forum was founded in June 1992 as an international non-profit organisation dedicated to the advancement of maritime safety and prevention of marine pollution through the exchange of ideas, experiences and information acquired in marine accident investigation,

A statement by NSIB’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Dr James Odaudu said Forum’s main goal is to promote and improve marine accident investigation, and to foster cooperation and communication between marine accident investigators around the world.

The NSIB was established by the Federal Government under the NSIB Act 2022 and is charged with the responsibility of investigating accidents and serious incident occurrences in Air, Rail, Marine and other modes of transportation in Nigeria and anywhere else Nigeria interest is affected, with the aim of enhancing safety in the transportation sector.

The fundamental objective of the Bureau is to improve transportation safety by determining the circumstances and causes of Air, Rail, Marine and other modes of transportation accidents as well as proffering safety recommended to prevent reoccurrence.

This induction into MAIIF sets NSIB on the path to even greater successes in its investigative prowess particularly in Maritime investigations and solidifies Nigeria premier spot in Africa as regards transportation accidents and serious incidents investigation.

With MAIIF having over 31 member countries cutting across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa NSIB joins Capo Verde as the second African member.

Engr Akin Olateru
Director-General, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau

Speaking on the admission, the NSIB Director-General, Engr Akin Olateru said it would guarantee the nation’s access to international collaboration and assistance from nations involved in maritime safety investigation, similar to what it is already benefiting from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Banjul Accord Group Investigation Agency (BAGIA), African Civil Aviation Commission (AfCAC) in the aviation sector.

According to him, the membership of organisation will further improve the Nations maritime safety and follow global standards in carrying out its investigations

‘This is a step in the right direction for us as a Nation by joining forums like this where we can exchange information, knowledge and ideas’ said Olateru.

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Flight Diversion: NCAA Investigates United Nigeria Airlines ✈️

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By Elizabeth Okwe

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding United Nigeria flight NUA 0506 to Asaba and the confusion it has created in the public domain.

This is according to a statement signed by the Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu.

The statement however affirmed that preliminary steps have been taken pending conclusions of ongoing investigation.

“The Authority wishes to reassure the traveling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry” it concluded.

But in its defence few hours after the incident, United Nigeria Airlines claimed the flight was diverted to Asaba as a result of bad weather.

Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, the airline spokesperson, said the pilot was properly briefed about the diversion, noting that the cabin crew made “wrong announcement upon landing safely in Asaba [and] created confusion among the passengers.”

Capt. Musa Nuhu DG, CAA

However, unconfirmed reports indicate that the regulatory agency may have suspended the operations of wetleased aircraft in the stable of United Nigeria Airlines pending the conclusion of the investigations.

According to the sources, the Civil Aviation Authority is not satisfied with the explanations of the airline and is determined to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the flight misdirection.

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Omni-Blu AOC: Olateru Duely Resigned as Director of Airline, NCAA DG Affirms

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Contrary to recent reports regarding the involvement of the Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr Akin Olateru in the management of Omni-Blu Aviation, a jet and helicopter charter company, it has been revealed that the NSIB Director-General actually resigned his position as a Director in the company before taking up appointment with the company.

Director general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu who has put the controversy to rest, has also revealed that the documents provided by the management of Omni-Blu aviation show that the Director General of Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, duly resigned from the company before taking up appointment with government.

Capt. Musa Nuhu DG, NCAA

The NCAA DG spoke yesterday at the launch of a book ‘Handbook on Public Relation Practice and Aviation Reporting’, written by Sam Adurogboye, former public relations manager of NCAA.

He said the NCAA only asked somes questions in the course of the processing of the AOC which some quarters have conined to be suspension.

“It is unfortunate that it is coined that NCAA has suspended the AOC processes of Omni-Blu Aviation. One of the directors of Omni-Blu who is DG NSIB, Engr. Akin Olateru, a very close colleague and a friend of mine is a shareholder in Ombi-Blu and this was something he had before he came to the public service. Just because you came to public service does not mean you should wipe off your previous years.

Engr Akin Olateru
Director-General /CEO, NSIB

“There was just a question from NCAA that it appears there was a conflict between this application and the Act of NSIB and NCAA. So, they were asked to respond and they responded. He has provided all the documents, he has shown proof he has resigned and he has declared his interest in those organisations. So, he has provided the appropriate documentation to show that there is no conflict of interest.

“We cannot wipe out our previous lives just because we got to work for government, but there are conditions. In an industry that you are a CEO or a staff, you cannot have an interest, but there are procedures and he has given proof for those procedures; he has showed us that he actually resigned and that letter is actually confirmed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). He showed that he has done all the necessary declarations to show that he has resigned.

“The only thing is that he has given the necessary documents required, but we have to take it through the normal procedures, legal process so that when documentation is done that he has been cleared, somebody tomorrow will not go and challenge it. It is important to go through the process of clearing him so that the records are put there. Anybody that comes in the future, can look at the file, see that the issue was raised, but the appropriate information had been provided and individual is cleared”, he said.

Nuhu said the process would be completed during the new week.

“However, in this new week. It would have been done, but our legal adviser travelled out with me. So, we will work on it and the process will continue.”, he added.

He said the conflict of interest aspect has also be resolved.

It was reported last week that the NCAA had suspended the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) processes for Omn-Blu Aviation (OBA), which would enable it to operate as a scheduled operator.

Ombi-Blu currently operates as a chartered helicopter and jet company.

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