Effective immediately, United will permanently eliminate change fees for all standard economy and premium tickets for travel within the US, the carrier announced Sunday. In making the announcement, the airline joins rival Southwest Airlines, which also does not charge change fees. During the pandemic, other carriers also have waived change fees, but only on a temporary basis. Beginning Jan. 1, United also will allow customers to fly standby free on flights leaving the day of their scheduled travel, regardless of the type of ticket or class of service. The announcements come as the industry faces an unprecedented drop in air travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and carriers around the world are struggling to stay afloat. US carriers have reported billions of dollars in losses, and hopes for a quick recovery have been thwarted by a resurgence of the virus. Come Oct. 1, thousands of airline employees face the possibility that they could lose their jobs when the payroll support program created as part of the Cares Act expires. “Change is inevitable these days — but it’s how we respond to it that matters most,” United CE Scott Kirby said. “When we hear from customers about where we can improve, getting rid of fees is often the top request. Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service. United Airlines won’t be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we’re taking a completely different approach — and looking at new ways to serve our customers better.”<br/>
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Colombia’s disaster fund will lend as much as $370m to Avianca Holdings to help with its restructuring after a halt in travel during the Covid-19 pandemic forced the company into bankruptcy, the country’s finance ministry said. The emergency mitigation fund’s committee approved the government-backed loan, due November 2021, under the framework of debtor-in-possession financing the company is seeking in its US bankruptcy court case, the ministry said Friday. Avianca filed for Chapter 11 protection in New York in May after travel bans forced the airline to ground its fleet. It reached an agreement with lenders this month for a substantial part of the $2b it’s trying to raise as it restructures. The company is offering one of the highest premiums yet seen on a $1.3b debtor-in-possession loan. “We are pleased that the Government of the Republic of Colombia will participate in the company’s DIP financing and express our gratitude for the confidence and support this commitment demonstrates,” Avianca said Sunday. The airline’s DIP loan structure has been well-received by third-party institutional investors, it said.<br/>
Lufthansa is working on further belt-tightening measures that could result in the elimination of 20,000 more jobs, according to newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. The steps are currently being hammered out by the management of the German carrier and could be communicated in September, the Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday, citing two people it didn’t identify. The cuts under consideration for September would be on top of measures already publicly announced, NZZ am Sonntag said. A spokesman for Lufthansa, which employed more than 138,000 people as of Dec. 31, denied the report. The newspaper also cited a spokesman as saying there were no new job reduction plans. Lufthansa’s goal is to cut costs equaling 22,000 full-time positions and to trim its fleet by 100 planes to bring down expenses. Of the 22,000 excess positions, about half are in Germany and the other half abroad, where it slashed more than 8,000 jobs already. It also signed an agreement with its cabin crew union that will safeguard jobs of 3,000 flight attendants in exchange for cuts to wages and benefits, and struck a stopgap deal with pilots to avoid firings in the cockpit for now. “The way this crisis is developing is alarming, and so is how Lufthansa’s management is treating its employees at this time,” Daniel Flohr, who heads the UFO cabin crew union, told Bloomberg News. “Luckily, cabin crews at Lufthansa’s main line are protected from layoffs, but whoever does not have such protection unfortunately has major worries.”<br/>
EgyptAir will operate a daily flight between Cairo and Sharjah starting from September 1, the airline said Sunday. This will “accommodate the growth in demand for travel from destinations in the Republic of Egypt” and will further increase travel opportunities for residents of Sharjah and the UAE, the carrier said. “We continue to bolster our relationship with EgyptAir and its new schedule will further enhance the tourist and commercial flow to the emirate … the route will also provide travel opportunities for those wishing to travel through Sharjah and Cairo, linking them to further destinations across the world,” said Ali Salim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Airport Authority.<br/>
Thailand is finalizing a plan that would make it possible for retired, sun-seeking Europeans to spend the upcoming winter months in the country in an effort to save its ailing tourism industry. Although the Asian nation’s borders have been closed to most foreigners since late March to fight the pandemic, the government is now planning to grant visas to foreigners who want to stay in Thailand for up to nine months, said Boon Vanasin, chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl, the nation’s third largest private hospital firm, which runs hospitals and retirement homes. These long-term visitors will begin their stay with a mandatory 14-day quarantine and several virus tests in the tourist hotspot of Phuket. After three weeks on the island and negative test results, they’d be free to travel to other Thai regions, according to Boon, who said he has direct knowledge of the government’s plan and expects the arrivals to begin before winter. While the government has approved the plan in principle, it’s still finalizing measures to reduce the risk of virus infections, government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul said. Thailand’s new plan will make it possible for millions of seniors from European countries like Germany and Sweden, who usually spend their winter months in warmer Mediterranean countries, to consider the Asian nation instead as it’s safe from infection risk, said Boon. He plans to partner with hotels to provide quarantine facilities and long-term accommodation for senior citizens and other long-stay visitors, who could arrive via chartered flights before winter begins. THAI said it’d operate at least two such flights a month starting late November to connect Phuket with countries like Denmark, Germany and the UK.<br/>