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South Africa’s govt is pressing unions to avert a collapse of South African Airways and ensure that the business rescue strategy results in the emergence of a more competitive carrier. It has asked unions to submit proposals on restructuring the carrier and, in particular, details on the future of jobs. The unions have conceded that some jobs must be lost, says the department for public enterprises, if SAA is to become a stronger operation. With the future of the airline looking particularly bleak, the department held a April 21 meeting with unions and other govt representatives to outline the situation. The govt stressed that all parties needed to “commit to a creative solution” in order to “avoid a scenario where the business rescue is deemed to have failed”. <br/>

United Airlines will begin blocking middle seats in all aircraft cabins, joining an industry move to keep the spot empty for the sake of social distancing in the pandemic era. The airline will also change its boarding process to give passengers more space as they walk onto a plane, and process all seating upgrades at the airport to better control crowding. The new procedures will apply through May 30, United said Wednesday. The carrier follows peers in revamping routine practices in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and reassure customers they can travel safely. Some of United’s 777-200s have a 2-4-2 seat layout in the premium cabin. The importance of in-flight social distancing is likely to rise in May and June as deeper schedule reductions take effect. <br/>

United Airlines has raised US$1.04b by selling new common stock, days after finalising a deal with the US govt for an aid package. The carrier said Tuesday that it had hired Morgan Stanley and Barclays to sell 39.25m new shares to investors, or roughly 14% of the airline’s expanded share capital. The shares priced at $26.50 each — a 5% discount from United’s closing price of $27.88, but at the top of a pricing range that started at $25.95 — according to a person briefed on the matter. Underwriters also have the option of offering another 3.9m shares based on investor demand, which could lift the overall capital raised to as much as $1.14b. United said it would use the capital for “general corporate purposes”. Shares in the company fell 2% in after-hours trading to $27.45. <br/>

Air NZ has not given up on its non-stop New York flights but says they look "very, very challenging" at the moment, amid the devastating effects of coronavirus on aviation around the world. The airline was due to start flying Auckland to New York Oct 29, a journey expected to take between 15 and 17 hours. The route would be serviced by Air NZ Boeing 787-9s. Air NZ was going to take the crown from Qantas, which was not expected to start regular commercial non-stop flights to New York until 2023. However, with most of its fleet now grounded and the demand for international air travel now a trickle, with borders closed and people unable or unwilling to fly, Air NZ has had to make huge changes. <br/>

Austrian Airlines is to halve its Boeing 767 fleet and withdraw all 7 of its Airbus A319s as part of a strategy to adjust to reduced demand in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Austrian had already been planning to remove 18 Bombardier Q400 turboprops by 2021, and increase the number of A320s by 10 – measures which would have taken the airline’s overall fleet down to around 70 aircraft. But it has revised its strategy following the coronavirus outbreak and instead envisions a more conservative fleet of 60, amounting to an overall capacity reduction of 20%. CE Alexis von Hoensbroech said: “We want to retain our long-haul hub, even if we have no other choice for the time being but to adapt to the somewhat smaller market.” Austrian is forecasting a 25-50% fall in demand in 2020. <br/>