JetBlue appears to be the first US airline to use new rules finalised Tuesday that allow airlines to cut back on flights. The DoT rules allow airlines serving multiple airports in the same geographical area to consolidate service at a single airport. That allows them to cut back on duplicative ground operations (such as customer service agents and ground crews) while remaining eligible for federal stimulus funds, which require an airline to provide at least one flight each week to the areas they currently serve<br/>To receive those funds, JetBlue will use that approach in five of its markets, including Washington and New York City. In the nation's capital, JetBlue will suspend operations at the Baltimore-Washington International, and fly only to and from Reagan National. JetBlue will use two New York-area airports -- Newark and JFK -- and suspend operations at LaGuardia, Westchester County, and Stewart. The airline said it is applying for waivers that would allow it to stop flying into other airports where there is little passenger traffic.<br/>
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As the coronavirus continues to spread across the world, flydubai said it is seeing “strong global demand” for cargo and is working on expanding its freight operations. The budget carrier, whose passenger operations are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has operated 44 cargo flights, carrying 146 tonnes of cargo. Among those cargo operations are relief flights to countries including Egypt, India, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Azerbaijan, and Montenegro. “We recognise that air cargo has an important role to play in supporting the continuity of the supply chain and the efforts at a government and a private sector level to ensure the movement of essential supplies especially during these unprecedented times,” said Hamad Obaidalla, CCO at flydubai. The airline is deploying six Next Generation 737-800 jets to operate its cargo flights, and is even utilizing cargo hold capacity on some passenger aircraft. It said has also been working with authorities to increase its cargo capabilities by allowing cargo in the cabin to a number of destinations. Mohamed Hassan, VP of cargo operations at flydubai, said the carrier is “working towards expanding our operations beyond the flydubai network to enable more goods to be transported.”<br/>
Norwegian Air plans to convert up to $4.3b of its debt into equity and to issue new shares as it seeks to stay in business following the COVID-19 outbreak that has grounded almost all of its fleet, the carrier said Wednesday. The move would allow the airline to tap government guarantees of up to 3b Norwegian crowns ($292m), which are dependent on the company reducing its ratio of debt to equity. Growing rapidly in the last decade to become Europe’s third-largest low-cost airline and the biggest foreign carrier serving New York and other major US cities, Norwegian had accumulated debts and liabilities of close to $8b by the end of 2019. On March 16, the company announced temporary layoffs of 7,300 employees, about 90% of its workforce, and the following day called on Norway’s government for help, saying it needed cash “within weeks, not months”. “The proposed measures are necessary in securing the next tranches of the Norwegian government state guarantee program,” CE Jacob Schram said Wednesday, announcing the measures on the eve of Norway’s Easter break.<br/>