Aer Lingus & Ryanair as well:
Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier, has been forced by record fuel costs to rein in ambitious growth plans prepared for its long-haul network. It is cutting long-haul capacity sharply (LA) in the coming winter season and is highly dependent on gaining all of its 2008 profits during the three summer months.
Aer Lingus had originally – with a current fleet of nine long-haul Airbus A330 jets – planned to take delivery of three new A330s in 2009 and to retire one older plane, leaving a fleet of 11.
Mr Corneille said the plan was now to maintain the fleet at nine next year. A second older plane would be retired and one of the new deliveries from Airbus would be deferred to 2010.
Air Canada plans to slash 2,000 jobs and reduce capacity by 7 per cent, mostly on US routes, while rival Northwest Airlines stepped up its plans to trim flight schedules, as the carriers race to keep pace with fuel costs that have threatened the industry’s financial stability.