In today’s issue: United finally gets permission, Norse cuts back, Frontier flight attendants put up a fight, and Fiji Airways looks towards the future.

^{NEWS ROUNDUP}

🔵Fighting back 🥊 : Flight attendants at Frontier Airlines filed for federal mediation to get the ULCC to enter into new contract negotiations. This comes after the carrier announced plans to transition to a predominantly ‘turn only’ model where pilots and flight attendants end each day at their home base instead of staying overnight in hotels in different cities.

The airline hopes this model will cut down on hotel and transport costs and also help the airline better recover during irregular operations. However, for flight attendants, these changes will effectively decrease their salaries and significantly increase their off-duty commuting time.

🔵Green light 🟢: The FAA Administrator, Mike Whitaker, announced that the agency has given United Airlines permission to resume taking delivery of new planes. This comes after the FAA initially placed restrictions on United's ability to add new routes and take delivery of new aircraft back in April. Earlier this month, United claimed the FAA had lifted some of those restrictions, though the FAA quickly shot down those reports.

🔵Out with the old: The CEO of Fiji Airways said that the carrier will soon need to make a decision on replacements for its A330s as they are approaching retirement age. The carrier currently operates three A330-200s and one A330-300. The CEO went on to say that their newer A350-900s have been quite successful for the airline and could be the natural successor for the soon-to-be retired A330s.

🔵Cutting back ✂️: Norse Atlantic is cutting its seasonal flight from Paris to Miami. The seasonal service ended in April and was slated to resume in December, but the airline pulled the route from its future schedule with no plans to resume the flight. Another example of a smaller airline struggling to make winter transatlantic flying work.

^{SHARE THE ROUNDUP}

^{Like reading The Airline Roundup?}

^{DEEP DIVE}

🔵During an interview with the German-language publication AeroTelegraph, Etihad’s CEO provided some insights into the airline’s network and fleet planning strategy:

• Rather than competing head-on with the other ME3 carriers, Etihad will focus on key growth areas within its own region and will prioritize expanding within the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia. The carrier aims to fly at least 4x per day to most destinations within four hours from Abu Dhabi and hopes to add a further 40 destinations to its route network by 2029.

• Etihad is aiming to increase its fleet size from around 90 aircraft today, to 150-160 planes within the next five years. 80-100 of those planes will be widebodies, while 60-80 will be narrow-bodies.

• The airline restructured a deal it had with Boeing for 25 777Xs. While it still has the option to buy the jets, the carrier can also purchase more 787s instead. The CEO added that the 777X could eventually be a potential successor for the A380 and/or 777-300.

• The A380 will fly until at least 2032 for Etihad. The carrier currently owns 10 of the aircraft type, of which 4 are in service and 6 are parked.

🎧️ THINGS I’M LISTENING TO

🔵The Air Show’s Emergency pod on Vasu Raja’s departure from American. 

^{SUBSCRIBE TO THE ROUNDUP}

^{New to the Roundup? Subscribe here:}