Lufthansa will ground 150 aircraft out of its total fleet of around 770 due to COVID-19, the airline said Wednesday, confirming what company sources had said earlier. "We are dynamically adjusting our plans to reflect extraordinary circumstances," a Lufthansa spokesman said, adding that 25 of the 150 grounded aircraft are long-haul jets. Last week Lufthansa said it had grounded 23 long-haul aircraft. European airline bosses warned Tuesday that the worst is still to come for the airline industry in terms of economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak, but they predicted that travel demand could stabilise in the coming weeks. Lufthansa Group airlines had already said on Friday that it would reduce the number of short- and medium-haul flights by up to 25% in the coming weeks depending on how coronavirus spreads. Lufthansa said Monday that it was extending the suspension of flights to China until Apr 24, to Tehran until Apr 30 and reducing services to northern Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak.<br/>
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United announced Wednesday it is cutting domestic, Canadian and international flying and implementing a series of cost-cutting measures, some of the most drastic actions by a US airline to date as the spreading coronavirus has depressed air travel demand. In a letter to employees, United said it was reducing US and Canadian flights by 10% and international flying by 20% in the month of April and eyeing similar cuts in May. In addition to a hiring freeze, the airline is delaying merit-based salary increases and offering employees the option of taking a voluntary unpaid leave of absence. Until now, United had reduced flying only to areas most hit by the coronavirus. "The experience of these and other foreign carriers is a further sign that the impact of COVID-19 on our industry - both internationally and here in the U.S. - continues to evolve rapidly," United said in the letter, signed by CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby.<br/>
The head of Ethiopian Airlines Group said the carrier is on decent terms with Boeing, yet remains cautious about flying the 737 Max almost one year after the fatal crash that led to the jet’s global grounding. “We both discussed and agreed that the relationship should continue and we have a good relationship,” CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said. “But at the same time, the Max has a problem. We have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that this airplane is good to fly.” The crash on March 10 last year killed 157 people less than five months after a similarly deadly incident involving the same model in Indonesia. “It has taken a very long toll on the airline, on all of us,” Tewolde said. “It has consumed a lot of emotions and energy. It was very shocking but we were very strong.” Ethiopian has seen a 20% decline in passenger traffic due to fears surrounding the spread of the coronavirus, the CEO said. <br/>