general

The ongoing US travel crisis is causing thousands of job cuts as the aviation sector waits for passengers to return to the skies but braces for years of lower demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. US airlines are slashing hundreds of thousands of flights, cutting schedules by 80% or more through at least June and parking thousands of jets as demand for tickets has plunged by about 95%. Airlines are requiring facial coverings and implementing new cleaning procedures to try to convince passengers it is safe to fly again, but also fear the weakened economy may further drag down demand. Late Friday, Spirit AeroSystems said that in response to lower production rates from Boeing and Airbus it would layoff 1,450 workers in Kansas. On Wednesday, Boeing announced it would cut some production rates and eliminate about 16,000 jobs worldwide, or 10% of its workforce by year end. Delta said last week it does not expect air travel to recover for two or three years. More than 37,000 Delta employees have volunteered to take unpaid leave lasting from one month to a year. Labor union SEIU said Thursday at least 13,000 union members at airports have been laid off and another 1,000 layoffs are planned. US airlines last month collectively were awarded $25b in Treasury cash grants but as a condition must not fire workers or reduce through Sept. 30. JPMorgan Chase said Friday that “October 1st is likely to emerge as one of the darkest days in history for airline labor”.<br/>

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says his company Berkshire Hathaway has sold all of its shares in the four largest US airlines. Speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting, Buffett said "the world has changed" because of the coronavirus. He then said he had been wrong to invest in the airline industry. The conglomerate had an 11% stake in Delta, 10% of American Airlines, 10% of Southwest, and 9% of United, according to its annual report and company filings. The firm began investing in the four airlines in 2016, after avoiding the aviation industry for years. Buffett told the meeting: "We made that decision in terms of the airline business. We took money out of the business basically even at a substantial loss. We will not fund a company that... where we think that it is going to chew up money in the future." Buffett said he had been considering investing in additional airlines before the pandemic hit. "It is a blow to have, essentially, your demand dry up," he said. "It is basically that we shut off air travel in this country."<br/>

Airlines have reacted angrily to government suggestions that the UK could implement a 14-day quarantine for anyone arriving in the country. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said he was "actively looking at these issues so that when we have infection rates within the country under control we're not importing". But Airlines UK said such a measure "would effectively kill air travel". It warned that the UK risked shutting itself from the rest of the world. Shapps said that as the coronavirus infection rate in the UK decreases, it was important "that we do ensure that the sacrifices...that we're asking the British people to make are matched by anyone who comes to this country". However, Airlines UK said a quarantine would "completely shut off the UK from the rest of the world when other countries are opening up their economies". CE Tim Alderslade said: "The danger is it would be a blunt tool measure when what the UK should be doing is leading internationally with health and aviation authorities on common standards, including health screening, which will enable our sector to restart and give people assurances that it's safe to travel."<br/>

India's aviation regulator Saturday extended the suspension of domestic and international commercial flight operations till May 17 following the extension of the nationwide lockdown for another two weeks beginning Monday. However, the restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA). The DGCA further said, “It is reiterated that foreign and domestic airlines shall be suitably informed about the opening of their operations, whether international to/from India or domestic, in due course.” The regulator did not indicate whether the airlines could resume forward booking of air tickets beyond May 17.<br/>

All commercial flights in and out of the Philippines will be suspended beginning May 3 to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, airport authorities said. Cargo and maintenance flights, as well as those carrying medical supplies and other necessities, will be allowed to continue, the Manila International Airport Authority said on its Facebook account, citing a memo from the government’s Covid-19 task force. Philippine Airlines and Cebu Air have cancelled flights until May 15, while some foreign airlines continued to fly passengers to and from the nation’s capital as of Saturday. <br/>

Heathrow’s plans for a third runway face at least another two-year delay, its management admitted on Friday, amid calls for the GBP14b project to be shelved. John Holland-Kaye, CE, signalled that the airport would have to take a decision at a later date on whether it went ahead with the runway in light of the turbulence in the aviation market. If it did go ahead, the runway would not be completed until the beginning of the 2030s because of the coronavirus crisis and an appeal in court. “If we are successful in protecting and building the UK economy we will need that third runway, whether it’s in 10 or 15 years’ time I don’t know,” he said. “We’re privately funding it ourselves so we will have to make a rational decision about making that investment. But I think the UK will need it.” Heathrow expected passenger numbers to have plunged by 97% in April. It warned the UK government needed to signal within the next week how flying could restart, or there would be mass redundancies across the industry. “We’re at a critical point, a knife-edge, where those decisions are going to be made in the next month or two. If the government wants to save jobs it needs to be out there committing to working on this common international standard [for safe air travel to encourage passengers to fly],” said Holland-Kaye. These internationally agreed standards would include temperature checks at all airports and mandatory face mask-wearing but Holland-Kaye warned that social distancing would not work at airports.<br/>

Heathrow airport has warned that it may soon follow BA in announcing mass redundancies unless the government restores confidence by planning for how flying could restart. The CE, John Holland-Kaye, said physical distancing measures could not work in airports and common international standards for health controls were needed, such as temperature screening at the entrance to airports and the wearing of face masks throughout the process to ensure a low risk of transmission. Passenger numbers at the UK’s largest airport fell by 97% in April, and Holland-Kaye urged the government to take a lead in developing a global agreement for new measures. He said while forward bookings implied there was still “massive demand for travel”, it was vital to plan ahead. “If we don’t do that work now, the UK economy will not get back on its feet as quickly as it should. We must have a package of measures that does not involve social distancing … It is impossible for transport, let alone aviation … You need a queue a kilometre long for one plane with 450 people, if you need social distancing – the problem isn’t the plane it’s the airport,” he said. “We want to make sure that only people with a low risk of infection are travelling. That’s likely to include some form of temperature screening when you come into the airport.” Holland-Kaye said it would become normal for people to wear face masks and more parts of the airport process could be automated to reduce contact between passengers and staff. But he warned that without government planning, to ensure confidence that flying would restart, there would be widespread layoffs.<br/>

Vienna Airport will offer onsite coronavirus testing from Monday to enable passengers entering Austria to avoid having to be quarantined for 14 days. Passengers arriving at the airport have been required to present a health certificate showing a negative COVID-19 result which is no older than four days, or go into quarantine. From Monday passengers can have a molecular biological (polymerise chain reaction or PCR) COVID-19 test at the airport, and get the result in two to three hours, the airport said. “Air travel, whether business journeys or urgent trips...will thus become safer and easier,” it added on Sunday. Last month Emirates, in coordination with Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said it was the first airline to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 tests for passengers. Austrian quarantines that have already begun can be ended if the person is found to be clear of COVID-19, Vienna Airport said. The airport tests, which cost 190 euros ($209), can also be taken by passengers leaving Vienna to demonstrate their virus-free status at their destination.<br/>

Just after 7.30 on Friday morning, the arrivals hall at London Luton Airport burst into life following a 10-day shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 100 passengers arrived on Wizz Air flight W6 4301 from the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, on the airline’s first scheduled commercial flight since the crisis. Most of those arriving were seasonal farm workers on their way to fruit and vegetable farms across the UK. There were also members of British-Bulgarian families, who had found themselves trapped in Bulgaria when the coronavirus struck and borders closed. While the airport is open, it is missing the noise, queues and shopping opportunities we have come to expect when travelling. Just two flights are scheduled to arrive at Luton on Friday (both Wizz Air flights from Sofia) bringing in a few hundred passengers, which compares with a pre-pandemic average of 49,000 passengers.<br/>

Commercial passenger flights at Delhi airport will initially operate from Terminal 3 after the lockdown ends, said a senior official of its operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) Sunday, adding that entry gates, self check-in machines and check-in bays will be allocated to airlines to avoid overcrowding by air travellers. The airport will keep all food, beverage and retail shops open to avoid overcrowding at one place and use "ultraviolet disinfection tunnels" for all incoming baggage, according to a plan prepared by the Delhi International Airport. The plan said the passengers of Vistara and IndiGo would enter the airport through gates 1 and 2 only. These two airlines will have check-in rows A, B and C among them, it said. AirAsia India and Air India passengers will use entry gates 3 and 4. These passengers will then go to rows D, E and F where the staff of these two airlines would assist them check-in, according to the plan. SpiceJet and GoAir passengers would enter through gate 5 towards the staff of these two airlines at rows G and H for check-in. Passengers of all other domestic airlines will enter through gate 5 and will head to row H, the plan said. All international airlines' passengers would be entering the airport using gates 6, 7 and 8. The staff of these airlines would be sitting at rows J, K, L and M for check-in at Terminal 3.<br/>