Southwest Airlines president and CEO Bob Jordan, on the carrier's 3Q2026 earnings call, stated (22-Oct-2026) demand for the LCC's product "remained strong" throughout 3Q2026. Mr Jordan noted broad based demand strength was "evident across all geographies and products", including managed business, leisure, loyalty and co-brand. CCO Justin Jones stated: "With approximately 65% of [4Q2026] revenue already booked, demand remains healthy and broad based". Mr Jones added: "Corporate demand continues to perform well, and the pricing environment remains constructive".
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Latest News Headlines
Competition Bureau Canada: Air Canada-United expansion 'would likely harm competition'
Competition Bureau Canada (CBC) concluded (28-Oct-2026) a review on a proposed arrangement between Air Canada and United Airlines, stating the expansion "would likely harm competition" on 10 routes between Canada and the US. CBC's concerns comprise the following:
- The arrangement would allow Air Canada and United to expand their coordination, including on pricing, on 10 routes where such coordination is currently restricted by a 2012 consent agreement;
- The arrangement would eliminate "an important source of competition" between the airlines on these routes. Air Canada and United currently account for all nonstop passenger traffic on five of the 10 routes and have "significant combined market shares on the others";
- CBC found the proposal "would likely result in higher prices on most affected routes, resulting in millions of dollars in consumer harm each year";
- CBC concluded that barriers to entry and expansion are high and competition from other airlines "would be unlikely to constrain" Air Canada and United.
Interim Commissioner of Competition Jeanne Pratt stated: "Allowing Air Canada and United to coordinate on these routes would likely reduce competition on key Canada-US routes and lead to higher prices for travellers". [more - original PR] [more - Aviation Week]
Frontier Airlines CEO Jimmy Dempsey attributed (28-Oct-2026) approximately one third of Frontier's revenue improvements to each factor of better revenue management, Spirit Airlines related benefits, and fuel driven fare hikes. Mr Dempsey reported "a lot of stickiness" in recent gains. He noted "really positive" supply demand dynamics in ex-Spirit markets and across the entire environment. He continued: "I think the airline is moving beyond that structural change", noting: "We have done a lot in our revenue management systems to improve the delivery of better unit revenues into the business". Mr Dempsey added: "We feel pretty good about where the airline sits today and moving forward". [more - Aviation Week]
Brazil's Government increased (28-Oct-2026) the financing capacity of the National Civil Aviation Fund (FNAC) by BRL8 billion (USD1.5 billion), bringing the fund to BRL13.56 billion (USD2.54 billion). FNAC is intended for reimbursable financial support for the operations of Brazilian airlines. The financing limit will be up to BRL2.5 billion (USD467.57 million) for companies with a market share exceeding 5% in the domestic market and up to BRL500 million (USD93.51 million) for other companies. The repayment term will be up to 60 months, with an interest rate of 4% p/a. [more - original PR - Portuguese]
UK Govt and Rolls-Royce announce 10 year, EUR3bn collaboration for narrowbody aircraft engines
UK's Government and Rolls-Royce announced (28-Oct-2026) plans for a joint 10 year, GBP2.5 billion (EUR2.99 billion) research and technology programme to develop cleaner and more efficient jet engines. The agreement is expected to support 3300 jobs by the end of 2029, and "tens of thousands more in the decade ahead". The cooperation aims to develop new jet engines for narrowbody aircraft. The agreement provides the framework under which future government support will be provided, with Rolls-Royce estimating that securing a UK engine on these aircraft "could lead to billions more being invested in the UK in the coming decades", amounting to GBP120 billion (EUR143.42 billion) in economic impact over the life of the programme. Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic stated: "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lay the foundations for decades of sustainable economic growth across the UK, creating high-value jobs and transforming the country's advanced manufacturing supply chain". [more - original PR - UK Government] [more - original PR - Rolls-Royce] [more - Aviation Week]
Background ✨
Rolls-Royce previously said it was progressing talks with the UK Government on potential subsidies for a new narrowbody engine programme, with CEO Tufan Erginbilgic noting it had other options beyond the UK1. It also secured EUR64 million from Clean Aviation to lead the UNIFIED project supporting UltraFan 30 technology for future narrowbody applications, targeting ground testing in 20282. Rolls-Royce committed GBP300 million to upgrade UK manufacturing and engineering sites, including Derby, Bristol and Rotherham, to support future aerospace programmes3.
Condor Flugdienst CEO Peter Gerber stated (26-Oct-2026) the carrier continues to build its own independent European feeder network into Frankfurt to sustain its long haul operations amid an ongoing regulatory and legal dispute with Lufthansa. Mr Gerber said: "Lufthansa has a dominant position in the German/European market and our view is that they need to grant access at least to parts of their network". He added: "We have to plan on our own. We will never be able to build up the broadness of the Lufthansa network". [more - Aviation Week]
Background ✨
Condor Flugdienst CEO Peter Gerber said the carrier was forced to build its own European feeder network in 2025 after the termination of its special prorate agreement with Lufthansa, adding "we had to do this practically overnight".1 Condor also pursued legal avenues to regain access to Lufthansa feeder flights at Frankfurt after a 20-Aug-2025 Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ruling favoured Lufthansa on procedural grounds, with the appeal process continuing.2 3
Most Read News Headlines
FAA Administrator: SMART platform is not intended to 'nationalise' airline schedules
US FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford stated (20-Oct-2026) the Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories (SMART) AI platform is not intended to "nationalise" airline schedules, noting the tool will instead be used to optimise carriers' use of the National Airspace System. Mr Bedford noted the FAA will use the platform to "provide recommendations to the airlines on their own schedules and to reduce the number of conflicts". As previously reported by CAPA, the US Department of Transportation and the FAA announced the SMART platform in Sep-2026 which centralises 200 data streams such as weather patterns, flight paths, traffic flow and controller staffing metrics into one platform. [more - Aviation Week]
Background ✨
US DoT Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said SMART centralised 200 data streams and was expected to cut delays/cancellations, improve predictability and lower fares, with a staged rollout beginning in the National Capital Region and limited-mode use around Washington DC.1
ANA Holdings EVP and group sustainability officer Tomoko Hoya, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia, stated (01-Oct-2026) in contrast to the approach taken by the EU to encourage the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through a minimum supply mandate, "the Japanese model is a system where the government tries to have the SAF supply in market first and then put the mandate, so that the market will not be distorted". She added: "I think this is a very logical step, learning from what has happened in the EU". [more - CAPA TV]