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United is planning to add about 25,000 flights in August compared with this month, hoping to capitalize on an uptick in air travel demand, particularly to leisure destinations ranging from Bozeman, Montana, to Bangor, Maine. The airline said it wants to stay nimble to cater to the ebbs and flows of demand as spikes in coronavirus cases shift around the US and that demand has started to level off. “The demand did flatten out over the past week or so,” Ankit Gupta, United’s VP of domestic network planning said Wednesday. With the increase in flights next month, United will still be flying about half of its August 2019 domestic capacity and a quarter of the international service it operated last year. In comparison, this month it plans to fly about 30% of its domestic service as the same month last year, and just 16% of international service, the airline said. Among the international service United plans to add in August are flights to Lima, Peru, Shanghai and Frankfurt, Germany. While the European Union continues to bar Americans from travel amid the pandemic and vice versa, the new United schedule is based on current demand trends, said Patrick Quayle, the airline’s VP of international network and alliances. Much of the recent demand has been one-way tickets, indicating customers repatriating, he said.<br/>

There’s rarely an easy time to become CE of an airline, in an industry with near-constant turbulence. Try doing it during a pandemic. United promoted Scott Kirby to CEO six weeks ago in a long-planned transition. He had already slashed schedules 88%—far more aggressively than competitors. He took on a lot more debt, mortgaging its frequent-flier program and selling new shares of stock to raise $10.65b in cash in addition to a $5b federal bailout. He never promised an empty middle seat, instead filling up the few planes United was flying, but was among the first to require mask-wearing onboard. United shares, up 38% through Wednesday since he took over May 20, have outperformed rivals Delta, American and Southwest. “You play the cards you are dealt,” says Kirby, 52. He succeeds Oscar Munoz, who is now United’s executive chairman. Kirby is known more for quick, data-driven decisions than for nuance. But he also angered customers when United, which had pledged to be more customer-friendly after dragging a passenger off a plane in 2017, changed policies this spring to deny refunds and force vouchers for cancelled flights. United’s rules changes violated DoT regulations and left millions of customers with significant dollars locked up at United for cancelled trips they might never reschedule. The changes were ultimately rolled back under pressure from customers, Congress and the DOT. Does he regret the unfriendly customer change? Kirby says he is committed to doing the right thing for customers. Story has more.<br/>

Turkey’s national carrier plans to cut pilot wages by half and reduce salaries for other employees, a labor union said, to help shore up finances after most of its fleet was grounded during the coronavirus pandemic. Turkish Airlines plans to “undo” the more than 50% wage boost for pilots in 2018, when the local currency depreciated 28% against the dollar, according to Ali Kemal Tatlibal, chairman of the Hava-Is union. “We’re ready to talk, but we won’t sign anything that our members don’t approve,” he said by phone. In an internal email to staff, Turkish Airlines said stakeholders and workers will have to take “permanent measures” to cut costs. The company told the union that protecting jobs may be possible only through a new wage arrangement. Turkish Airlines didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment on Wednesday. Hava-Is represents almost 75% of the airline’s nearly 30,000 workers. “We’ve received no formal proposal yet, but what we understand is that management basically wants to scrap collective-agreement terms on wages and social rights,” Tatlibal said. “We don’t want the company to go bankrupt, but savings from staff should be the final resort.”<br/>

Portugal expects to announce a “stable solution” for flag carrier TAP soon, PM Antonio Costa said on Wednesday, a day after another government minister did not rule out nationalisation of the airline. Weekly newspaper Expresso reported Tuesday that the government would submit a decree to the country’s president to nationalise TAP after failing to agree with TAP’s private shareholders Atlantic Gateway on a E1.2b state rescue loan. “I’m sure that, if not today, in the coming days, we will have a solution,” Costa told a news conference. “If I had to make a bet, I would say today.” He did not provide further details.<br/>

THAI has appointed Chansin Treenuchagron, a former president of the state-owned oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc, as acting president. THAI on Wednesday informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand of Mr Chansin's appointment, which was approved by a special board meeting. The appointment takes effect Thursday. The former president of PTT Plc joined the THAI board last month. He replaces Chakkrit Parapuntakul, who resigned as acting president but remains the company's second vice chairman. Chansin's appointment as acting president effectively ended his position as THAI's independent executive. The top-level change comes after the airline filed for debt rehabilitation with the Central Bankruptcy Court, which is scheduled to decide whether to admit the case on Aug 18.<br/>