The CE of British Airways’ owner IAG has written a scathing response to a parliamentary committee that branded the carrier a “national disgrace” over moves to cut jobs and change terms and conditions for its workforce. Willie Walsh on Monday said that BA was in “full compliance with the law” with regard to redundancies, because it was “only proposing changes that it wishes to consult over” with trade unions. “British Airways is mired in the deepest crisis the company has ever faced and is acting in a perfectly lawful manner,” Walsh said in a letter to Huw Merriman, who heads the Commons transport select committee, adding that the company was “fighting for its survival”. The select committee on Saturday singled out BA in a report on the impact of coronavirus on aviation, following weeks of animosity between the carrier and MPs. BA announced in April that it would cut up to 12,000 jobs, nearly 30% of its workforce, as a result of the coronavirus crisis and the depleted passenger levels that it said could continue for several years. In his letter, Walsh said Merriman had made clear the report would be based on impassioned messages from BA employees “rather than the facts”. The facts, he said, were clear and to the contrary: that BA had been unsupported by the government policy of 14-day quarantine, and employees had been “betrayed” by trade union leaders who had refused to engage in consultations. “The truth is, indeed, rarely pure and never simple,” he said. “British Airways is fighting for its survival in the face of overwhelming and unprecedented challenges while respecting the fundamental British value of the rule of law.”<br/>
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A 32-year-old nurse - among at least nine others - died from the coronavirus in April after a retired New York surgeon with the illness was admitted to a high end dementia care facility in Los Angeles. The nurse, Brittany Bruner-Ringo, died on 20 April. Since then, more information on the surgeon and the trail of infected individuals left in the wake of his travels have emerged. A month before Bruner-Ringo's death, the surgeon boarded an American Airlines flight in New York City bound for Los Angeles. Just before his flight, the man was discharged from a hospital that had seen a spike in coronavirus cases. The other 499 passengers on the flight were not informed by health officials that the former surgeon had previously been exposed to Covid-19. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he was taken to Silverado Beverly Place, a luxury dementia care facility, where Bruner-Ringo was employed. Employees at the facility said the surgeon was allowed to mingle and even eat with other individuals before his symptoms were identified. Bruner-Ringo warned at the time that the surgeon had a fever and a cough when he arrived. The facility denies that the nurse made those claims, while her family and friends claim she spoke with them about the man's symptoms following his arrival. The surgeon did recover from his bout, but the individuals who flew with him to Los Angeles were never notified that they may have been exposed.<br/>
Qatar Airways will slash some pilots' salaries and make others redundant to offset the revenue collapse caused by the novel coronavirus travel crisis, it said in a memo Monday. The Gulf airline, which flew to more than 170 destinations with 234 aircraft as of March, has been hit by airport closures and travel bans imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Qatar Airways' most senior pilots "will be subjected to a 25% reduction" in salaries, chief flight operations officer Jassim al-Haroon wrote to pilots in a memo dated Jun 4. "In the upcoming weeks many of our captains, senior first officers, first officers and cadet pilots will be made redundant," Haroon wrote, without specifying how many would be let go. More junior pilots will face an immediate 15% cut to their salaries, although the measures will not be applied to the airline's Qatari pilots, the memo added. The airline warned cabin crew at the start of May that they faced "substantial" job losses. "It's very gloomy. Communication hasn't been clear - we don't know if this will be the last reduction or if there will be more," said one pilot, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "Without a union, they can do what they want to our contracts."<br/>
Qantas said Monday that it is leaving its joint venture with Vietnam Airlines amid growing headwinds from the coronavirus outbreak. Qantas currently owns 30% of Vietnamese budget carrier Jetstar Pacific Airlines. Sources say the Australian carrier is in talks to sell the entire stake to Vietnam Airlines, which owns roughly 69% of the venture. Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam's second-largest budget carrier with a 15% share in domestic flights, is to be renamed Pacific Airlines. Qantas entered the Vietnamese market in 2007, when it jointly invested with Vietnam Airlines in Jetstar Pacific's state-run predecessor. It has since been increasing its stake in the low-cost carrier, but demand for domestic flights plunged here amid the coronavirus pandemic. Vietnam lifted lockdown measures on April 23, with the economy showing signs of returning to normal. Domestic flights have returned to pre-pandemic levels. <br/>
Japan Airlines said Monday it will resume at full capacity boarding and security operations for domestic flights at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in July, with traffic expected to increase as coronavirus restrictions are gradually lifted. JAL will restart the services in the North Wing as the government plans to roll back its directive that people refrain from crossing prefectural borders on Friday. The airline had been using four of six security checkpoints in Terminal 1 of the airport before the virus outbreak but suspended two on April 17 when it scaled back domestic flights due to a sharp drop in passenger numbers amid the pandemic.<br/>
American Airlines is in talks to raise new financing to help it weather the collapse in travel demand during the pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company is working with Citigroup on a potential junk bond offering that may be secured by collateral including airport slots and gates, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Several air carriers have tapped debt investors to boost liquidity as the coronavirus nearly wiped out travel demand. American Airlines has yet to do so, but it has received $5.8b in federal payroll support as well as a $1b 364-day term loan from banks, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. American has $11.3b in unencumbered assets, according to the filing. Of that, $7.45b is estimated to be composed of slots, gates and routes. American’s existing term loans are trading between 71c and 81c on the dollar, according to loan sources.<br/>