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Porter attempts to determine its place in Canadian aviation as rivals move into new endeavours

Porter Airlines seems to be instituting a slight strategy shift as its main rivals Air Canada and WestJet turn their attention to the respective launches of their new subsidiaries. While Porter appears largely protected from direct competitive threats from either enterprise, the carrier has recorded dwindling load factors, perhaps an effort to trade loads for yields.

The shift follows increasing competitive pressure in some of Porter’s busier business markets in Canada’s eastern triangle (Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa) after WestJet during 2012 bolstered its frequencies on those routes along with introducing new transborder service from Toronto to New York LaGuardia. Air Canada has repeatedly stated its unit revenues have come under pressure in those markets as competitors increased capacity in those regions.

From its base at Toronto City Centre Porter serves the busy US northeastern transborder markets of Boston, New York (Newark) and Washington (Dulles). The carrier also operates its 70-seat Q400 turboprops to Chicago Midway.

United continues international network shifts and drops service to Accra in Ghana

United is moving international capacity around its largest hubs in what appears to be an effort to maximise its network now that a crucial passenger service system cutover is complete. The IT system cutover allows United and Continental, whose merger is now complete, to fully utilise the combined networks and properly cross-fleet to operate optimal-sized aircraft in United’s markets. One of the more prominent changes is the elimination of flights from United’s Washington Dulles hub to Accra, which was the carrier’s first point in Africa when the route was launched in 2010. Other changes include the seasonal elimination of flights from Washington to Moscow and from Newark to Rome.

The changes will support an overall revised capacity forecast for United this year. The carrier has refined its 2012 capacity guidance from an overall decrease of 0.5% to 1.5%, compared with a previous estimate of between growth of 0.5% and a drop of 0.5%. United’s international capacity is now projected to grow this year by 0.3% to 1.3%, but some of that will be driven by new long-haul flights from Washington Dulles to Doha beginning in May, followed by Dulles to Manchester and Dublin.

Slots continue to make news in the US, first at New York and change comes to SFO

The US aviation landscape is again being affected by the scarcity of capacity in two of the nation’s important metro areas. Last week the FAA gave its blessing to the slot swap between Delta and US Airways at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s Reagan.

Delta slot deal approved as US Airways reports profits

The US Department of Transportation approved the long-fought Delta/US Airways slot deal even as US Airways was saying during its earnings call it expected approval any day. The airline reported a net profit of USD92 million in the second quarter, a dramatic decline from the USD279 million it reported in 2Q2010.

Rising jet fuel price spells more challenges for ultra long-haul flights

The recent spike in oil prices could spell more trouble for ultra long-haul routes, which airlines have struggled to maintain due to poor operating economics and the recent global economic downturn. Singapore Airlines (SIA) this week decided to again cut its non-stop all-business class Singapore-Los Angeles operation from seven to five weekly frequencies.

How consolidation has changed the US airline industry; more to come - US Airways' Doug Parker

Judging from press reports, the greatest insight during the US Airways Media Day last week was something US Airways Chair Doug Parker has been saying for years - there is probably one more big merger move left in this round of US airline consolidation. But there were two greater nuggets during the event - the fact that the world remains unconvinced that the US airline industry has really changed and those changes mean the need for more infrastructure may be completely overstated.