VP Mike Pence has told major airlines to move forward with an industry-led solution for the contact tracing of passengers during the coronavirus pandemic. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN that Pence gave his blessing to a "compromise solution" for contact tracing during a Friday meeting with airline executives. Airlines had initially balked at the government's demand that they collect detailed contact information on all passengers and distribute it to public health officials if requested. The airlines said it would be impossible to quickly overhaul the massive legacy computer systems that handle the industry's vast booking networks. The source said that Pence now supports the airlines' proposal for a third-party app and website that would require passengers to input five points of data. The industry group, Airlines for America, said after the meeting that it looked forward to implementing some initiatives to help relaunch the industry. "We appreciate the collaboration and interest of the Administration since the onset of the pandemic," it said. "We had a constructive conversation today with the Vice President and remain grateful for his leadership through this health crisis. We look forward to working with the Administration to identify and implement initiatives that help relaunch the US airline industry, get people moving again and rebuild the American economy." The 45-minute closed-door meeting also covered temperature checks and expected EU restrictions on Americans travelling abroad, but the source underscored that the most substantive talks centered on contact tracing.<br/>
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Consumers filed nearly 20,000 complaints about airline service in April 2020 — an increase of more than 1,500% over the same period last year, according to new data released by the US DoT Friday. The dramatic increase may seem counterintuitive, because it comes at a time when so few people are flying. But a closer look at the data reveals why consumers are so unhappy with US airlines: refunds. Or in many cases, the inability of consumers to get refunds for trips they cancelled because of the novel coronavirus. Of the nearly 20,000 complaints filed in April, nearly 90% concerned refunds. By comparison, consumers filed just over 1,200 complaints in April of last year. The vast majority of those were about flight problems, including cancellations and delays. Only 98 concerned refunds. United recorded the highest number of complaints. American Airlines ranked second. Airlines for America said: “US airlines comply with all federal laws and regulations. Accordingly, refunds are issued to passengers when flights are cancelled by the airline. Throughout the pandemic, US airlines have updated travel policies to offer increased flexibility for customers, and the Department of Transportation’s website offers clarity for consumers with questions.” The dramatic increase in complaints has also prompted warnings from the DoT. <br/>
Britain will ditch a 14-day quarantine period for people arriving from countries it deems to be lower risk for COVID-19 , the government said on Friday. Official travel advice against all but essential travel outside Britain will also be eased for some countries and regions. Taken together, these changes will make it easier for Britons to travel abroad for summer holidays. The relaxations are the latest taken by the government to unwind emergency measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, as ministers look to limit the economic damage caused by the virus. An expert panel will put nations into three categories: green, amber and red. Passengers arriving from green and amber countries will no longer have to quarantine themselves for 14 days after their arrival. “Our new risk-assessment system will enable us to carefully open a number of safe travel routes around the world,” a government spokeswoman said. “But we will not hesitate to put on the brakes if any risks re-emerge.” The rules for red-category countries will not change.<br/>
All talk and very little action are dashing hopes of travel bubbles that can allow a controlled flow of people between places, experts have said amid lockdowns and closed borders over the coronavirus pandemic. “People are talking a lot about travel bubbles, but I only see one in existence: in the European Union, which has removed all cross-border travel restrictions,” said Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA). “The other bubbles are yet to come to fruition. The trans-Tasman bubble has not been implemented either.” In general, many borders are opening up on a bilateral level, but governments are not yet ready for a true travel bubble. Though some travel restrictions are easing, the 14-day mandatory quarantine imposed by administrations remains in place for foreigners. Hong Kong’s first concrete attempt at creating a travel bubble with neighbouring Macau and Guangdong – planned on May 16 – has stalled, the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said last week. The problems centred on quarantine restrictions that would hamper the movement of people. The weeks of talks highlight the problem of negotiating travel bubbles from scratch, as various authorities approach the issue differently to address their own concerns in tackling Covid-19. Frequent flare-ups of the public health crisis are further complicating the matter. Sharon Dai from CAPA Centre for Aviation said travel bubbles in the region would have a positive effect on aviation demand but authorities had been slow in coming up with agreements. “Conversations have been ongoing for quite some time, but in Asia it has been slow to materialise due to the many complexities and politics,” she said.<br/>
Delhi government on Saturday put South and West districts on high alert after swarms of desert locusts entered Delhi border. The government has issued an advisory to contain and control the menace of desert locusts in the national capital. As per the advisory, District Magistrates are advised to deploy adequate staff to make all possible arrangement for guiding people to distract locusts by making high decibel sound through beating of drums/utensils, playing high volume music on DJs, burning firecrackers and neem leaves. Delhi Air Traffic Control on Saturday directed pilots of all airlines to take necessary precautions during landing and take-off of aircraft in view of locust swarms seen near the airport in areas along Gurugram-Dwarka Expressway. "Pilots of all airlines have been warned about the locust has near the airport, we have set up a team to monitor the situation," a senior ATC official said.<br/>
US air-safety regulators are set to begin key flight tests of Boeing’s 737 MAX as early as Monday, amid growing expectations by industry and government officials that the planes are likely to return to service around the end of the year. The airborne checks, slated to be conducted in conjunction with Boeing and scheduled to last three days, mark a preliminary validation and long-awaited milestone for Boeing’s technical fixes aimed at getting the MAX fleet back in the air. The planes have been grounded for 15 months following two accidents that killed 346 people, roiled the airline industry long before the coronavirus pandemic and dealt the biggest blow to the plane maker’s reputation in its 103-year history. In an email the FAA sent to congressional staffers Sunday, the agency said the effort “will include an array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to enable the agency to assess” whether a series of software and hardware changes complies with safety certification standards. But as expected, the FAA stressed agency officials haven’t even tentatively completed those evaluations yet, while the message laid out a handful of additional steps anticipated to take at least several months—some involving outside experts, foreign authorities and requests for public comment. Still, after more than a year of delays, persistent new engineering challenges and friction between senior FAA officials and Boeing’s management, Sunday’s message laid out the clearest path yet for resurrecting the MAX.<br/>
India is maintaining its suspension of international passenger flights until mid-July but will consider allowing certain routes to resume on an individual basis. The country’s civil aviation authority says in a statement posted on Twitter that scheduled commercial international passenger flights to and from India will remain suspended until 23:59 local time on 15 July. However, it adds that international flights “may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis”, raising the possibility that air bridges with certain countries are under consideration. India suspended all scheduled passenger flights at the end of March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Domestic flights in the country resumed on 25 May but airlines are restricted to operating at less than 30% capacity.<br/>