United Warns of Uncertainty, Spirit Has a New Boss, and Other Airline News This Week

In this week’s roundup of airline news, stories from the past 7 days that didn’t get their own story range from legacy network airlines to low-cost upstarts, and we’re covering the globe.

Let’s start our tour of the air travel world.

United Airlines Posts Profit, Says 2025 Impossible To Predict

United Airlines, the second U.S. legacy airline to report first-quarter financial results after Delta Air Lines, had a net income of $387 million, compared to a net loss of $124 million in the same period in 2024. (That loss was due to the impact of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, or the airline would have made a profit.)

Unlike Delta, which declined to provide guidance to investors for its full-year results because of uncertainty caused by tariffs, United did say it expects to be profitable in 2025 — but cited the same worries Delta did. In a “stable enviroment,” United said, it would post earnings per share of $11.50 to $13.50. Instead, in what it called a “recessionary environment,” earnings would be $7 to $9 per share.

What we should expect from the economy “is impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence,” United said. The airline will cut domestic capacity by 4% starting in the third quarter, given this uncertainty.

Also differing Delta, United did not say whether it will refuse to take new aircraft due to tariffs. United expects dozens of European-made Airbus A321neo deliveries this year, including its first A321XLR long-haul, single-aisle jets with a new Polaris business class.

Newark Closes Runway, Expect Delays

United’s Newark (EWR) hub is in for a rough couple of months. The longer of its 2 main runways will be closed for maintenance until June 15.

After that, weekend closures will run from September 1 to December 31, starting Friday at 11 p.m. through 5 a.m. on Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration, in announcing the closure, said that its modeling indicated that 21% of total arrivals would experience an average delay of about 38 minutes, and approximately 44% of total departures would experience an average delay of about 40 minutes.

The affected runway is identified as 4L-22R. Runway numbers indicate their orientation on the compass, so runway 4 is oriented to 40 degrees, or north-northeast. In the opposite direction, it becomes runway 22, oriented to 220 degrees. The letters indicate the left or right runway between 2 parallel ones.

South African Airways Wants To Return to D.C.

A LinkedIn post from the president of South African Airways says the airline plans to resume flying to Washington Dulles (IAD) by the end of 2026. The carrier has struggled financially since the pandemic and stopped this route as it went through bankruptcy. Service will operate between D.C. and Johannesburg (JNB) with stops in Accra (ACC), Ghana in each direction.

Air New Zealand’s First 787 With New Business Class Is Finally Here

Air New Zealand is a United partner and a Star Alliance member, serving Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), and New York (JFK) in the U.S. Unfortunately, it does so with Boeing 787s sporting a decidedly subpar business class — though that’s finally changing.

The first of its 14 Dreamliners to be retrofitted with a new business class (plus new premium economy and economy, too) has landed back home after spending 6 months in Singapore for refurbishment, the airline said. That’s a long time, but parts shortages delayed the work.

The new business cabin looks very good, according to images shared by the airline.

Air New Zealand hasn’t said when the new cabin will appear on services to the U.S. but did announce that the first revenue flights of the refurbished 787 will be in mid-May. The entire 787 fleet will be done by the end of 2026, so that’s when you can be 100% sure that you’ll find the new seats on your flight. Until then, look at the seat map when booking: If it shows rows laid out 1-2-1 in business, it’s the refurbished version.

Spirit Has a New CEO To Go With a New Strategy

Just 10 days after ousting its chief executive officer, Ted Christie, Spirit has named a new boss: It’s Dave Davis, the chief financial officer of fellow (but much smaller) ultra-low-cost carrier Sun Country. Davis takes over on April 21, Spirit said.

Christie had led Spirit through bankruptcy, from which it emerged last month as a restructured company with a new business strategy. Chief Commercial Officer Matt Klein was also ousted with the CEO, a sign that the board and the funds that now own the airline didn’t have enough confidence that Christie and his team could also lead through this new phase. Spirit’s new strategy is based on going for higher prices and better perks than the no-frills approach that had made it famous.

Another change: Carrying out the new strategy’s execution will be a manager with a long history in the industry, including with Etihad, an airline that’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from the old Spirit’s cheap image. That’s Trey Urbahn, who will serve as senior commercial advisor to help run both pricing and onboard configurations and offerings, as well as the airline’s network. In other words, he’ll have a say in where Spirit flies, at what prices, and with what seats on board — a big job that will affect, for example, what Spirit does with its famous “Big Front Seat” product.

To communicate this major change, Spirit has hired Duncan Dee as senior vice president of corporate communications. He was formerly the chief operating officer of Air Canada.

With these hires, Spirit looks a lot like a more traditional mainstream airline. For passengers, this will probably bring a less Spartan experience but with predictably higher prices.

Silver Airways Is Close to the End

Florida-based Silver Airways filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 in December. The airline, which serves mostly Florida and the Caribbean, was hoping to fix its precarious financial position while continuing to operate.

That seems unlikely now, since the U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case has filed a motion to dismiss Silver Airways’ bankruptcy protection.

Trustee Mary Ida Townson wrote that Silver Airways “suffered substantial losses” since filing for bankruptcy protection. She requested dismissal not only because the airline is still losing money but also due to the “absence of a reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation” plus “fanciful projections that fail to take reality into consideration.”

The most realistic outcome at this point is that Silver Airways, and its subsidiary Seaborne Airlines, will cease flying within days, and their assets will be liquidated — even though they are worth, the trustee noted, about $100 million while debts total 4 times that much.

You should therefore avoid booking flights on Silver Airways, unless the airline manages to find a miraculous, last-ditch investor. Silver Airways flights can be booked on the JetBlue and United sites, too, so it pays to ensure your flight won’t be on Silver.

Dominican Arajet Serves Its First U.S. Destination

Budget Dominican carrier Arajet has arrived in the U.S., operating its first flight to Miami (MIA) from Santo Domingo (SDQ) on April 11. With a fleet of 10 Boeing 737 Max 8s, Arajet has become the largest airline in the Dominican Republic after being founded just 2 and a half years ago.

Arajet now operates 4 weekly flights between Santo Domingo and Miami. This summer, it will increase its Miami-Santo Domingo service to daily flights. Flights from Santo Domingo to San Juan (SJU) are scheduled to begin on June 5, plus flights from Miami to Punta Cana (PUJ) on June 13.

Delta Grows in Argentina

For the next summer in the Southern hemisphere, Delta Air Lines is boosting flights to Argentina. On November 19, Delta will add a seasonal flight from Atlanta (ATL) to Buenos Aires (EZE) to its existing year-round flight.

Delta said the additional service will operate 3 times a week through December 9, increasing to daily for the peak summer season from December 10, 2025, to January 18, 2026. The route will then return to 3 weekly flights from January 19 to March 28, when it ends for the season.

The second frequency will be operated with the Boeing 767-400ER, while the regular service uses an Airbus A330-900 — both aircraft providing a marked improvement in Delta One business class over the A330-300 that previously flew the year-round service.

Final Thoughts

In the U.S., the week in air travel has been dominated by the first-quarter earnings report from United Airlines, which made a profit but said that economic conditions are so topsy-turvy that predicting how the rest of the year may go is impossible. The last of the big 3 legacy carriers to report will be American Airlines, coming on April 24.