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Passengers will have to adapt to a different travel experience when air travel picks up again, as regulators and airlines look into how to make flying safer, said SIA. While the specifics of how the aviation sector will evolve post-COVID-19 are still unclear, SIA has created four working groups to prepare for potential scenarios, it said during a briefing on its financial results on Friday. Mak Swee Wah, executive VP of operations, said: "Obviously, the concern now is on safety and health. There are a few themes out there, for example, wearing masks, social distancing and contactless services. All these issues are now being examined to see how practical they are both on the ground and in the air... so safe to say, it will not be the same as the pre-COVID situation." In response to a question on fares and whether they will increase because of social distancing measures implemented on planes, Lee Lik Hsin, executive VP of SIA's commercial department, said: "The price of the air ticket is really a function of demand and supply, and we will adapt these curves accordingly as we get back out in the market and restart our services. And to the question of social distancing in particular on planes, it is still not determined at this time the efficacy of such measures. There are many discussions ongoing between the various authorities and airlines... but it is too early to make an announcement on this."<br/>

Air Canada said Friday it has decided to reduce its workforce by up to 60 per cent as the airline tries to save cash amid the COVID-19 pandemic and right size its operations to the level of traffic expected in the mid-to-longer term. The airline was working with unions to implement these measures, it said. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said it is in the final process of negotiating mitigations and other matters with Air Canada and has no further comment at this time. The union, which represents Air Canada flight attendants, said the airline is set to ask employees to reduce their hours, go on leave for up to two years or resign with travel privileges, the Canadian Press reported.<br/>

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said Saturday he would look at possible ways to help airlines further, but laid out no new measures after the country’s biggest airline announced mass layoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic. Air Canada said on Friday it would cut its workforce by up to 60% as the airline tries to save cash amid the COVID-19 pandemic and adjust to a lower level of traffic. “This pandemic has hit extremely hard on travel industries and on the airlines particularly,” Trudeau said. “That’s why we’re going to keep working with airlines, including Air Canada, to see how we can help even more.” Canada has already put in place a wage subsidy to try to keep more Canadian workers on payrolls, and recently announced loans for large employers. Trudeau sidestepped questions about whether his government may take an equity stake in Air Canada to help it survive, and whether its layoffs suggest the wage subsidy is not working. Restoring demand for flights is likely to take years, John Gradek, lecturer at McGill University’s Global Aviation Leadership Program, told CBC News. “My interpretation is that Air Canada is playing hardball with the government, indicating that ... the industry is going to need billions.”<br/>

Lufthansa Cargo is expanding in China, surpassing 100 weekly flights for the first time, and adding new flights to Shenzhen. Peter Gerber, CEO of Europe’s largest cargo airline, said there had been heavy demand for its services, though this might cool by the peak of summer. “At the moment, cargo demand is very, very strong,” he said. “It started to get strong in April, when Chinese industries got back to work, and after that we have seen a constant, heavy demand, a real peak." Global air freight capacity has been squeezed as two-thirds of the world’s aircraft have been grounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. The collapse of air travel has practically put a stop to passenger flights, which typically carry half of all air cargo. Since the pandemic, cargo flights have been critical in moving protective health equipment across the globe. From sending masks and other supplies to China in February, the German carrier is now taking urgent supplies from the mainland back to Europe. “We have a high responsibility in maintaining supply chains in these unprecedented times for both global health and world trade,” Gerber said. With the addition of Shenzhen, Lufthansa Cargo will fly to five destinations in China. It serves more than 300 destinations in 100 countries.<br/>

The clock is ticking for loss-ridden THAI as it seeks a much-needed lifeline from the government or risks becoming another chapter in the history of national flag carriers to go bust, with the lives of about 21,000 employees hanging in the balance. The outcome for Thailand's financially beleaguered flag carrier is set to be unveiled by the end of this month, as Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said THAI must submit a rehabilitation plan within May if it wants the government to consider a rescue package. THAI plans to seek short-term loans worth 54b baht to finance operating expenses as it undertakes a rehabilitation plan. In exchange for the loans, the carrier is obliged to follow through on a rehabilitation plan to be approved by the cabinet. The obligations include cost management such as an early retirement scheme. But the amount is not the full bailout sum, as a further 80b baht capital increase is needed afterward for the rescue plan. The government is ready to back a rescue package for THAI, but it will entail a full restructuring and there will be no second chance, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has said. The State Enterprise Policy Committee has already submitted the restructuring proposal, which would be forwarded to the Transport Ministry for consideration. It will have to be scrunitised further before being forwarded to the cabinet for approval. Suwat Wattanapornprom, an analyst at Asia Plus Securities, said the company's equity base, registered at 11.7b baht as of year-end 2019, is not enough to cover operating losses this year.<br/>

Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s minister for public enterprises, is staking his own credibility and that of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government on the creation of a new airline out of the ashes of the bankrupt national carrier. Hit by the loss of the country’s last investment-grade rating on its sovereign debt and the Covid-19 pandemic, Ramaphosa has said hard choices will need to be made as the country restructures its economy. What the state decides to do with SAA could be a litmus test for that resolve. SAA hasn’t made a profit since 2011 and was surviving on state bailouts and government-guaranteed debt even before the coronavirus forced the grounding of almost all its planes. Both Gordhan and the team of business-rescue experts currently running the airline have suggested a strategic investment partner could help restore the airline, but with carriers worldwide expected to burn through $61b in Q2 alone the list of potential buyers looks thin. And while South Africa’s National Treasury has found money for SAA in the past, the state’s finances have been severely stretched by efforts to contain Covid-19. “We’ve got our backs totally against the wall,” said Cas Coovadia, CE of Business Unity South Africa. With regard to Gordhan, “we have the greatest respect for him, we just can’t see, given the facts of the matter, how SAA can be saved,” he said. Story has more.<br/>

Ethiopian Airlines Group sees African air traffic returning to pre-coronavirus crisis levels quicker than the rest of the world, boosted by a temporary spike in demand from stranded citizens returning home. Governments of countries including Uganda, Kenya and Madagascar closed their borders before or almost immediately after confirming their first Covid-19 cases, leaving thousands of business, student and health travelers unable to move. The continent’s aviation industry could start to recover next year even after losing an estimated $6b in ticket sales in 2020, CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said Friday. While global flights are forecast to take up to two years to return to 2019 levels, “here in Africa we expect to be slightly faster in recovery,” Tewolde said. Demand for flights to Asian markets like China and India will particularly pick up faster than to Europe and North America, he said. African carriers face an arduous journey to stay in operation until the crisis eases, the CEO said. Some of the continent’s biggest airlines, including South African Airways and Kenya Airways, were dependent on government funding even before measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic forced the grounding of almost all planes. “African governments will not be in a position to bail out airlines as much as in Europe and America,” said Tewolde. “Airlines are not flying or generating revenue and governments do not have the resources to bail them out. It is going to be very, very tough for most African airlines.”<br/>