general

The largest US pilot union said flight crews need more protections to keep the aviation system functioning amid the coronavirus pandemic that has decimated demand for air travel. Some 600 flight crew members have tested positive for the virus, according to their unions, which add federal regulators aren’t doing enough to protect airline workers. The head of the Air Line Pilots Association wrote in a letter to transportation secretary Elaine Chao saying the FAA must mandate the voluntary cockpit-cleaning guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The FAA has the authority—and the moral responsibility—to act,” Joe DePete, the ALPA president, wrote to Chao, whose department oversees the FAA. <br/>

The US$2t stimulus package passed last month included everything airlines requested, and some restrictions they find difficult to swallow. The aid offer includes $50b, half in direct payroll assistance and half in loans and loan guarantees. But the $25b to pay salaries and benefits this summer comes with more strings than the largest airlines were hoping for. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin told CEs of the largest airlines Friday that 30% of that money is to be repaid and that they will need to offer stock warrants on about 10% of the loan amount, which the govt could convert to shares later. That surprised some airline industry officials who had believed the money would be in the form of grants. Airline executives spent the weekend discussing concerns with an industry trade group and seeking to negotiate adjustments. <br/>

The US govt won’t take a stake in small airlines seeking federal aid as part of a US$2.2t economic-stimulus package passed amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Treasury Department said Friday. The department said airlines requesting less than $100m in payroll-assistance grants won’t be required to provide financial stakes in exchange for the aid “as a result of benefits to the public,” including requirements that the companies maintain needed air service and refrain from involuntary furloughs or layoffs. “Small and medium-sized passenger aviation businesses are particularly vulnerable to the disruption from Covid‑19,’’ said treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin. “This determination will provide significant support to workers and businesses across the country, while also appropriately compensating taxpayers.” <br/>

Airbus has shelved plans to create a new assembly line for its A321 airliner, in the latest example of how the coronavirus crisis is crippling the aviation industry. The aircraft maker had announced plans for the line at its Toulouse base in January, when its chief concern was meeting record demand for the jet, which can carry more than 200 passengers on short- and medium-haul routes. The move comes just a day after EasyJet said it was deferring delivery of 24 Airbus planes. It also follows Airbus stating Wednesday that it would slash the number of planes it builds by a third, amid expectations that the coronavirus pandemic will continue wreaking havoc on global aviation long after travel restrictions are eased. <br/>

Aeroplane emissions fell by almost a third last month as the coronavirus lockdown grounded flights around the world, a drop in emissions equivalent of taking about 6m cars off the road. An FT analysis of more than 6m flights found that as much as 28m fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted in March as nearly 1m flights were cancelled globally. This is equivalent to a month of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions and constitutes a drop of 31% from the comparable period last year. The number of scheduled flights in the last week of March was almost half that of the same period a year ago, according to OAG as govts around the world grounded air travel in an effort to contain the pandemic. Globally, flight numbers are down 70% so far this month, according to IATA. <br/>

Travel companies must radically rethink their business models after the coronavirus crisis as they face paying out billions in refunds to customers due to the near-total shutdown in global travel, the CE of On the Beach has said. Simon Cooper, head of the online travel agent, warned that tour operators and airlines would have to stop using cash deposits for future bookings to support their operations after the pandemic prompted mass refund claims. “It’s painful enough being in an environment of zero revenue without being in an environment of zero revenue and having to pay money out,” he said. Most airlines and tour operators, including cruise companies, have been refunding customers for cancelled holidays using vouchers and credit notes in order to preserve cash — something that is not strictly permitted under EU law. <br/>

The EC approved measures from Belgium and Sweden to help the airline industry as it struggles to weather the economic fallout from the coronavirus. It gave antitrust clearance to Sweden’s E455m (US$497m) loan-guarantee scheme to support airlines that hold the nation’s commercial aviation license at least as of Jan 1. It also welcomed a Belgian plan to defer payment of concession fees by airports in the Walloon region. “The coronavirus outbreak is having an unprecedented impact on the aviation sector in Europe and worldwide,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, said. The loan guarantee “aims at providing airlines operating in Sweden with liquidity in these difficult times.” Earlier, the EU approved a E50b Belgian loan-support plan for companies. <br/>

More than half of the coronavirus infections reported by China Sunday stemmed from a Russian flight to Shanghai April 10, underscoring the possible severity of the outbreak in Russia. Shanghai’s Municipal Health Commission said 51 of 52 imported cases Saturday were of Chinese nationals who were diagnosed to have Covid-19 after they landed in the city. The travellers accounted for more than half of 97 imported infections China disclosed Sunday morning. No other information was provided about the flight. China has grounded all but 1 inbound flight per week for foreign airlines in a bid to limit imported cases, but new infections have also found their way back to the country through land borders, especially the one with Russia. <br/>