United and its pilots' union said Thursday they had reached an agreement on two different packages aimed at reducing involuntary furloughs in the fall and keeping pilots at the ready once coronavirus-hit demand starts to pick up. US airlines, grappling with a dramatic industry downturn, have warned that tens of thousands of jobs are on the line in October when a US government bailout runs out. To minimize the number of forced cuts, large airlines have been offering a variety of early departure packages. United's agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) includes an early retirement deal for pilots 62 and older, as well as a slew of different options for pilots to voluntarily reduce their hours or take a leave of absence during which they would potentially receive health benefits as long as they keep up their training, covered by United. Bryan Quigley, United's senior VP of flight operations, sent the terms to pilots in a memo late Thursday. ALPA Chairman Todd Insler said the deal had "groundbreaking provisions that provide the option (for pilots) to remain qualified, allowing a faster recall once passenger demand returns."<br/>
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India’s civil aviation authority has signed agreements with Air France and United to operate a limited number of flights to India in an interim arrangement during the coronavirus pandemic until international commercial flights are fully resumed, an official said Thursday. Air France will operate 28 flights linking Paris with New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore between July 18 and Aug. 1, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said. United will operate 18 flights connecting New Delhi with Newark and San Francisco between July 17 and 31, he said. Lufthansa is also eager to operate flights, he said. Similar arrangements are in place with airlines in the United Arab Emirates until Aug. 26, Civil Aviation Ministry spokesman Rajiv Jain said. “Unless the international civil aviation space reclaims its pre-COVID space, air bubbles (limited, regulated air movements) are the only answer to international flights,” Puri said.<br/>
South Africa’s Treasury will help source the funding needed to save the country’s national airline, the Department of Public Enterprises said. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni Wednesday signed a letter of support for a funding plan proposed by the administrators of SAA, the department said Thursday. The letter commits the government “to mobilise funding for the short, medium and long term requirements to create a viable and sustainable national airline,” it said. SAA was placed in administration in December after surviving on bailouts and government debt guarantees for several years. Initial work on a recovery plan was torpedoed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which grounded all the carrier’s commercial passenger planes from late March. The business-rescue plan projects that 10.1b rand ($606m) will be needed to pay for the severance packages of 2,700 employees, restructure the airline’s subsidiaries and clean up its balance sheet, while providing working capital to restart a newly formed carrier. South Africa is looking to appoint a transaction adviser to sell part of the restructured airline to an equity partner. Creditors and labor unions approved the rescue plan earlier this week.<br/>
Two of Taiwan’s largest carriers — China Airlines and EVA Air — posted operating losses for the quarter ended 31 March, as they felt the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. While operating costs and expenses fell, both carriers reported a big drop in revenue, in part due to global pandemic-related travel restrictions and falling travel demand. EVA Air reported a 32% year-on-year drop in revenue to NT$30.2b. Expenses for the period fell nearly 25% to NT$30.7b. It made a net loss of NT$1.22b, reversing the net profit of NT$1.91b it made last year. The carrier ended the period with reduced cash and cash equivalents, at NT$40.4b, compared to NT$51.5b at the start. EVA Air did not include a discussion in its earnings report. Story has China Airines details too.<br/>
Air India said Thursday it was working to contain costs by reducing debt, aircraft lease rentals, as well as staffing and operating expenses. Air India wants to reduce its dependence on the exchequer for funds, chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal added, speaking at a press conference held on Thursday by India's civil aviation ministry. The Indian government in January renewed its push to sell its entire interest in the loss-making airline, which has been kept aloft by a $4.2b 10-year bailout in 2012. Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India would persist with the privatisation of Air India. The Economic Times newspaper last month reported the government had extended the deadline to bid for the carrier until Aug 31. Following coronavirus-related restrictions, India allowed airlines to resume flights in May, but on domestic routes only and at one-third capacity. The country's aviation regulator earlier this month extended restrictions for international passenger services until July 31. Puri said India was in talks with at least three countries on operating flights in a bilateral "air bubble". The ministry said in a statement later on Thursday it had already established such agreements with the United States, France and Germany and was in advanced talks with the United Kingdom.<br/>