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United will mortgage its frequent-flier program to secure a $5b loan from three banks as it seeks to build a cash cushion to see it through the coronavirus pandemic. The scramble for cash has been one of the biggest challenges for airlines in recent months, as the pandemic and the travel restrictions put in place in response caused travel demand to dry up. United said it expects to have $17b in total liquidity by the end of the third quarter, compared with about $10b at the beginning of May. American said Friday it expects to have $11b on hand by June 30 including a government loan. United’s war chest also includes a $4.5b government loan the airline is eligible for as part of another piece of airline aid that was included in the Cares Act. It has until the end of September to decide whether to draw that loan, and the company said Monday that it believes it will be able to use slots, gates and routes as collateral. United said it expects to slow its cash burn rate to $40m a day in Q2 and $30m a day in Q3, as demand for travel has started to show signs of improvement. Still, the airline expects June revenue to be down 90% from a year ago and July revenue to be down as much as 88%.<br/>

Major US airlines in Airlines for America, the carriers' industry group, announced Monday that they intended to more strictly enforce mask wearing aboard their planes, including potentially banning passengers who refuse to wear a mask. The announcement comes in lieu of a federal regulation requiring all passengers to wear masks -- the sort of enforceable measure that governs requirements to wear seatbelts and not smoke. United came out Monday with its own separate announcement that has more teeth than what it's been doing so far. If you refuse to wear a face mask starting June 18, you could find yourself on a restricted travel list. Here's how United laid out the process for at least the next 60 days for people who eschew a mask: First, flight attendants will inform you of the mandatory mask requirements if you're not wearing a face covering, and you do not fall within a small group of exceptions. If you don't have a face covering, United flight attendants will offer you one. If some fliers still refuse to wear a mask, the attendants "will do their best to de-escalate the situation [and] again inform the customer of United's policy." United's policy does not include forcibly removing a passenger who still refuses to comply, but the attendants will file an incident report. The airline says that "any final decision or actions regarding a customer's future flight benefits will not occur onboard but instead take place after the flight has reached its destination, and the security team has investigated the incident." Six other major US airlines pledged to roll out new policies requiring masks, also enforced with a penalty as severe as a ban on flying with that particular airline.<br/>

Passenger revenue at Avianca Holdings has fallen 51% for the year as of early June compared with a year ago, the carrier said, in a look into the dire financial toll that the coronavirus has taken on the company. Avianca was the first airline in the region to file for bankruptcy protection, after the coronavirus added financial strain to the already weak carrier. The revenue figure shows just how bad Q2 results are likely to be for Latin America's airlines. Results published so far only accounted for about two weeks worth of coronavirus lockdowns in late March. For example, Avianca's top rival, LATAM Airlines Group, had a drop in revenue of only 7% during the first three months of the year. Avianca has not flown any regularly scheduled passenger flights since late March, when its main hubs in Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador and Peru all shut down at the same time. Those countries remain closed and it is unclear when Avianca will be able to fly again. Avianca has not yet published its Q1 results, which the airline said it would release by June 15. <br/>

SAS needs about 12.5b Swedish crowns in new funding to survive the coronavirus pandemic, the airline said Monday as it presented a recapitalisation plan. "The aim of the plan is to ensure that SAS is fully funded and that shareholders' equity will be at levels reported before the COVID-19 pandemic when anticipated business volumes return to pre-corona levels in 2022," SAS said. Sweden, which has a 14.8% stake in the carrier, said it would ask parliament for an injection of up to 5b crowns and to increase its stake by an unspecified amount. Denmark, which has a 14.2% stake, said it would support the recapitalisation but declined to say how much money it would invest. It said the amount "must be matched by a fair share of ownership". SAS said in May it was in talks with shareholders to raise funds. Sweden and Denmark have already guaranteed a 3.3b Swedish crown credit facility for the carrier. The airline said it was also seeking support from the government of Norway, which sold its last shares in the company in 2018. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she had rebuffed an approach from Sweden and Denmark regarding ownership. "They would like to share the bill with someone, but we've sold out of SAS," Solberg told public broadcaster NRK.<br/>

Asiana Airlines held an extraordinary shareholders meeting on June 15, and voted to raise capital by increasing shares and issuing convertible bonds. The carrier put to a vote its decision to revise its articles of association, calling for an increase in the total number of issued shares and a higher limit on CBs. The amendment was passed with the approval of all shareholders present. With the shareholders’ approval, Asiana will increase the total number of its shares to 1.3b from 800m, while also raising its limit on CBs from 700b won ($578m) to 1.6t won. Asiana CEO Han Chang-soo said at the meeting, “The airline industry as a whole is having a difficult time from the first quarter of this year to the present due to COVID-19. This revision is to prepare for the need to increase capital in the aftermath of the pandemic.” Han added, “Based on the experience and capabilities accumulated by Asiana Airlines over the past 32 years, all executives and employees will do their best to maximize the interests of shareholders and company stakeholders by overcoming the crisis and enhancing corporate value. <br/>Market analysts were split on whether the move is a positive sign for the ongoing negotiations for Asiana’s sale to the HDC Hyundai Development Company.<br/>

Air NZ will resume passenger flights between Auckland and Shanghai next week. Because of strict border restrictions, the flights are aimed at Chinese nationals in New Zealand wanting to return to China, or Kiwis in China seeking to return home. Pre-Covid-19, Air NZ operated seven return flights a week on its Auckland-Shanghai route. However the route has been suspended since early February due to the outbreak. The airline's general manager networks Scott Carr says the airline will operate one return service per week on its Auckland-Shanghai route with the first flight departing Auckland on June 22. "Shanghai was the first route to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and government travel restrictions, so it's pleasing to be able to resume operating passenger services on this route from Monday." <br/>