American Airlines Group is set to sharply increase the number of jets it is planning to retire beyond its announced plans as it accelerates a fleet transformation to respond to the coronavirus crisis, people familiar with the matter said. Some 4,700 jets have been parked globally as airlines slash operations due to travel restrictions, according to Ascend by Cirium fleet data, and American’s decision confirms industry speculation that many of those older jets will not fly again. In addition to the retirement of 34 Boeing Co (BA.N) 757s and 17 Boeing 767s announced just two weeks ago, American now plans to also sunset a batch of 76 Boeing 737s it acquired between 1999 and 2001, nine Airbus A330-300s and 20 Embraer E190s, the people said. The plans were announced by President Robert Isom in a video Q&A with employees on Sunday, where he said the arrival of new Boeing 737 MAX jets, expected later this year after a prolonged global grounding, could help facilitate the retirement of older jets that would be in need of heavy maintenance. American is also considering retiring some of its 50-seat regional jets, he said.<br/>
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BA suspended operations at its second London hub at Gatwick airport as the airline industry enters deep hibernation to weather the impact of the coronavirus. With just over a week to go until the Easter holidays, the carrier is contacting customers with the news that flights are off, a spokesperson said by email. Gatwick largely serves BA’s leisure travellers, and some flights are still operating from its larger Heathrow hub. The Gatwick halt mirrors moves by rivals to preserve cash. EasyJet announced Monday that it had parked all its planes, while Ryanair last week announced plans to ground over 90% of its fleet in coming weeks.<br/>
Qatar Airways said there was a temporary reduction of 40% of staff at Hamad International Airport due to the coronavirus pandemic, a company spokesman said. Reductions occurred across various areas including food and beverage, retail and ground staff, the spokesman said. The move is being made as a short-term response in light of the reduction in passenger numbers through the airport. Affected staff will either be working at home, on leave or taking unpaid leave, just not physically in the airport, the spokesman said.<br/>
Russia-based airline S7 has launched a new “Fly At Home“ promotion that gifts its customers 100 air miles for free just for staying at home. The airline said (in Russian): “The best that each of us can do in the fight against the pandemic today is to limit our movements and stay at home.” It added that while it believes ”travel will return to our lives again”, now is the time for people to stay put. To that end, it is supporting the effort by giving away up to 3,000 loyalty points per customer between 30 March and 30 April. In order to get the miles, you will have to be a member of the airline’s S7 Priority loyalty programme, and click the dedicated “I’m home” button every day. S7 is a member of the airline network Oneworld, which means you could use the points towards discounts against flights on any of the member airlines once travel restrictions have been lifted. S7 has promised that the miles accrued in your account from the promotion will be valid until the end of 2021.<br/>
A Qantas flight was forced to make a mid-air U-turn on 31 March after baggage handlers working for the airline tested positive for coronavirus. Flight QF741 left Sydney at 3.34pm local time, and was due to reach Adelaide at 5.15pm. However, about an hour into the flight, news broke that six Qantas baggage handlers based in Adelaide had tested positive for Covid-19. There were no other Qantas staff available to service incoming flights which prompted the flight to be diverted back to Sydney, where it landed just after 6pm. A number of flights due to depart Adelaide were also cancelled at short notice.<br/>