United Airlines will start using gates in boarding area A at San Francisco International to accommodate its continuing growth. The carrier will begin operating select Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 family flights from the 12-gate concourse "soon", said Howard Attarian, senior VP of flight operations at United, in a newsletter to pilots Aug 11. The additional gates will allow United to accommodate additional flying and improve operational flexibility at San Francisco, he says. United has grown aggressively at San Francisco in recent years. In June, it increased service on 18 routes from the airport in response to new competition from Alaska Airlines, which bought Virgin America in late 2016. It has also added new service to Hartford, Sonoma County and Spokane this year. <br/>
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United Airlines captain Todd Insler, head of the airline's powerful pilots union, is upset about what he would undoubtedly classify as "fake news" about the nation's airline industry — namely all the talk in recent months about an alleged shortage of commercial airline pilots in the US. The perceived shortage would seem to be most directly affecting the regional airlines that work with United Airlines and other major domestic carriers. In a sharply-worded memo released late Friday, United pilot Insler said the problem isn't an actual shortage of qualified pilots. Rather Insler argues it's the regional carriers' unwillingness to adequately compensate pilots for their work and their specialised training that is creating the shortage because qualified pilots are unwilling to sign up to work in such situations. <br/>
United Continental has been in the news a lot this year, and not always for good reasons. Chicago Department of Aviation officers forcibly removed a passenger from a flight in April, an incident that raised broader questions about how the airline handles overbooked flights. In February, the airline delayed about 500 flights after suffering a second glitch in its computer systems in just over 2 weeks. Nevertheless, United is benefiting from strong demand for air travel and, like other airlines, has thrived by offering a wider range of fare categories and collecting fees. Linda Jojo, United’s executive VP of technology and chief digital officer, says the company is using data analytics to help manage overbooking situations more strategically, while also helping it target families, business travellers and vacationers with specific offers. <br/>
Air NZ is to offer up to 1000 free domestic flights to the capital in a bid to lure Chinese tourists beyond Auckland. Monday the airline, which has direct daily flights between Auckland and Shanghai, launched a new campaign 72 hours in Wellington, in partnership with Wellington Airport. The campaign will see up to 1000 visitors from Shanghai and Hong Kong offered the chance of a free connection from Auckland or Christchurch to Wellington. Air NZ CE Christopher Luxon said: "China is New Zealand's second-largest international travel market with expenditure by Chinese visitors to Wellington up 17% in the year to June to an estimated NZ$52m, so it's important we continue to build on the work we've been doing and help visitors discover Wellington and promote what there is to see and do in the capital." <br/>