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The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has lifted its objection to Limerick-based aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital’s bankruptcy plan, the Independent reported. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has been seeking to get out from under $6.3bn (€5.8bn) of debt by handing it to lenders. The IRS said in a filing on April 15 that it was withdrawing its objection to the bankruptcy plan on the condition that the lenders pay any administrative claims without the IRS having to file a request for them. The IRS had raised a last-minute objection to the plan last week on technical grounds. NAC entered chapter 11 in December 2021, with a final hearing in the case — when a U.S. court in the state of Virginia will be asked to approve NAC’s restructuring deal with its creditors and debtors — scheduled for tomorrow. The outstanding tax debt owed by Nordic is modest, around $250,000.

Jet fuel, a kerosene-based product akin to diesel fuel, has roughly doubled in price since last April across the U.S., according to S&P Global Commodity Insights, while gasoline has risen about 45%, the Wall Street Journal reported. A fall in exports of Russian diesel in recent weeks has driven Western refiners to shift resources from jet to diesel production, leaving jet fuel undersupplied, S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts said. Rising jet-fuel costs threaten to strain airlines’ profitability just as resurgent travel demand promised relief from the pandemic’s toll on the industry. They are also frustrating passengers who face eye-watering ticket prices as airlines pass on high fuel prices to their customers. The war in Ukraine has lifted energy prices across the board this year as the West shuns Russia’s oil exports, denting world-wide supply. Diesel and jet fuel have seen some of the sharpest price increases. Demand for diesel stayed relatively strong throughout the pandemic, and Europe relied on Russian sources for it before the war. The two fuels are often produced in the same facilities, so a diesel crunch squeezes jet-fuel markets. An uptick in airline travel as the pandemic abates is stretching supplies further. Fuel prices and their upward pressure on airfares helped make airline travel one of the fastest-rising components of the consumer-price index, a measure of inflation, last month. (Subscription required.)

LATAM Airlines Group SA has accused a Chilean bank representing a group of unsecured bondholders of spreading inaccurate information about the airline's proposed restructuring ahead of a key vote on the plan, Reuters reported. Attorneys for the airline will appear before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Garrity in Manhattan on April 15 to force Banco del Estado de Chile, known as BancoEstado, to turn over information about what LATAM described as an attempt to “obstruct and taint” its ability to reorganize in chapter 11 by seeking rulings from a Chilean court that would interfere with the New York proceeding and swaying creditor votes on the deal. Holders of nearly $500 million in unsecured bonds, for whom BancoEstado serves as trustee, have long opposed the plan, which they say gives them only 19.3% in recoveries, or up to 27.8% if they invest new money. During a hearing before Judge Garrity on Thursday, a lawyer for BancoEstado, Pedro Jimenez of Paul Hastings, called LATAM’s demand for additional information a stunt, saying the airline could have simply asked for the documents. LATAM, one of the leading airlines in South America, was one of three large Latin American carriers that filed for bankruptcy in New York in the spring of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic brought global travel to a halt. The other two, Grupo Aeromexico and Avianca, have since emerged from bankruptcy, while LATAM is working to do the same in the coming months.

JetBlue Airways has offered to buy Spirit Airlines for $3.6 billion, throwing a wrench into Spirit’s plan to merge with Frontier Airlines and create a behemoth budget carrier, the New York Times reported. Spirit and Frontier, both low-cost airlines, agreed in February to merge in a deal that the companies said would save consumers about $1 billion a year. JetBlue offered $33 a share in cash, Spirit said on Tuesday. Frontier’s shares have fallen since it and Spirit announced their deal, reducing the value of its offer, which has an implied value of about $25 a share at current prices. JetBlue’s chief executive, Robin Hayes, said in an interview that the acquisition would allow the carrier to offer more quality, affordable flights, helping it to better compete against the airlines that dominate the U.S. market. “This is about really allowing a bigger JetBlue to compete against four large legacy airlines, bringing the JetBlue experience to more customers, bringing more JetBlue flights into high-fare legacy hub airports and offering real competition,” he said. Spirit said its board planned to review the bid, which it described as “unsolicited,” and would “respond in due course.” After news of JetBlue’s offer broke on Tuesday, Frontier said in a statement that the acquisition would limit options and harm consumers.

A group of 21 states led by Florida on Tuesday asked a U.S. judge to block a federal COVID-19 mandate requiring masks on airplanes and other forms of transportation, Reuters reported. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of recent legal challenges to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) public health order and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directive that have been in place since February 2021 covering airports, trains, buses, ride-share vehicles and transit hubs. The administration of President Joe Biden said earlier this month it would extend the transportation mask requirements through at least April 18 and is reviewing if they should be extended again. The White House and CDC did not immediately comment. State attorneys general joining the lawsuit include Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and Virginia. On Wednesday, the chief executives of American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other carriers urged Biden to end the airplane mask mandate, which has resulted in significant friction on airplanes. The Federal Aviation Administration says since January 2021, there have been a record 6,900 unruly passenger incidents reported — and 70% involved masking rules.

Stirrings of a recovery in global travel are bringing airlines back from the brink, but the rebound may come too late for several carriers still facing a heightened risk of bankruptcy, a Bloomberg News analysis shows. COVID-19 paralyzed international aviation as nations locked their borders and imposed other restrictions that are only now being dismantled in some parts of the world. Asia is lagging, with China and Hong Kong almost completely walled off, and the financial positions of some airlines in the region have deteriorated since Bloomberg did the same analysis in March and November 2020. And while governments in Europe and the U.S. injected billions of dollars in aid into carriers, state help wasn’t as forthcoming elsewhere, leaving cash-strapped airlines to work out restructures in court or directly with creditors. Using the Z-score method developed in the 1960s by American finance professor Edward Altman to predict bankruptcies, Bloomberg studied publicly-listed major commercial airlines to identify those most under threat. Scores of 1.8 or below indicate bankruptcy risk, while above 3 suggests sound footing. This doesn’t take into account sources of potential additional funding.