Some airlines are introducing passes that offer unlimited flights to tempt back passengers and combat the coronavirus slump. Even as travel restrictions have started to ease, quarantine rules and other public health measures have prevented a significant increase in passenger numbers. One potential solution being floated is to sell passes for unlimited air travel. Air Canada is the latest airline to launch the concept, offering its Infinite Canada Flight Pass starting from $2,260 per month. The pass, which can be purchased to cover a one, two or three-month period, allows passengers to take as many flights as they like within Canada for a flat fee. Travellers can also change or cancel their flight up to an hour before its departure at no additional cost. However, customers will have to get in there quick – the pass is only available to purchase until 23 September. The airline follows in the footsteps of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia, which earlier this year introduced a year-long unlimited pass for residents to travel to domestic destinations for 499 ringgit (GBP94). China Eastern also launched a weekend-only unlimited flight pass to stimulate growth following the Covid-19 outbreak. However, the pass was so popular the airline subsequently changed the deal to only cover weekday flights instead.<br/>
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Republican Senators on Monday introduced a bill that would give the ailing airline industry more than $28b in additional aid as carriers get ready to cut more than 30,000 jobs as early as next month. Airlines have struggled throughout the coronavirus pandemic, racking up billions in losses, while a significant rebound in travel demand has yet to materialize. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees transportation introduced the legislation 10 days before airlines can cut jobs under an aid package that protected workers through the end of this month. Congress approved $32b for passenger airlines, cargo carriers and contractors in March on the condition that a set level of air service is maintained during the pandemic and that neither jobs nor pay rates are cut through Sept. 30. The new bill would protect jobs until the end of next March. Airline CEOs and labor unions have been urging lawmakers and Trump administration officials to include additional aid in a new, national coronavirus relief bill, a provision that has won bipartisan support. But Congress and the White House have repeatedly failed to reach a deal and industry workers and executives are fretting about the lack of additional relief as air travel demand remains at less than a third of last year’s levels. “We’re grateful for the continued show of broad, bipartisan support in Congress for our team members and our industry, and we appreciate the willingness of these senators to take action to avoid imminent furloughs and air service cuts when the Payroll Support Program expires next week,” said American Airlines. <br/>
For some of the world’s biggest airlines, the sweetest sound will be the roar of jet engines returning over the north Atlantic. Six months into the coronavirus crisis, the skies remain quiet as the threat grows to the large carriers that depend on the transatlantic airways — among the busiest and most lucrative in the world. BA and Virgin Atlantic and US groups such as American Airlines and United rely heavily on the income from the London to New York route as well as to other US destinations. They have been hit hard by the closure of the US border and the introduction of UK quarantine rules, forcing passengers to self-isolate for two weeks on arrival, and are only running skeleton services between the two countries. “Quarantine effectively cuts us off from the United States, our most important economic partner,” Virgin Atlantic’s CE Shai Weiss said. “Over 500,000 jobs in the UK are supported by our industry and at risk without air travel at scale to key markets like the United States.” The transatlantic routes are worth an estimated $9b in revenue to US and UK carriers — vital for an aviation industry that is heading for global losses of more than $80b this year. But the prospects for recovery are grim with a full revival in aviation not expected until the middle of the decade, with long-haul travel expected to be the last part of the market to return to pre-pandemic levels. Up until this year the number of transatlantic flights had grown steadily over the past decade, with airlines competing to carry business travellers in highly profitable premium seats.<br/>
Business leaders today ramped up pressure on the Government to create an air bridge between the UK and US amid fears the lack of a plane route is preventing deals. Chief executives want ministers to run trials of a coronavirus testing system on long-haul routes from London to New York to reduce the damage from travel restrictions. Airlines are calling for a system which tests passengers on departure or arrival, and again five days later. If they test negative twice, they would not be required to quarantine for two weeks. A report today estimates the collapse in air travel between the UK and the world’s largest economy will cost GBP11b this year. The Airlines UK report, commissioned by Heathrow airport and IAG, claims GBP3.5b could be lost from a lack of US tourists and business travellers alone. Advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell, who runs S4 Capital, said an air bridge with New York is a “good idea”, and Los Angeles and San Francisco should also be included. He said: “It would be very useful, particularly for bankers with so much M&A and IPOs taking place. I think people will understand that business needs to carry on and business people need to travel.” Sorrell said smaller deals could be agree over video calls. “But for the big deals with so much at stake I think you have to meet and look people in the eye,” he said.<br/>
The government is mulling an extension of excise tax reductions for jet fuel for another six months, claiming the impact of the pandemic on low-cost airlines remains unabated. Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the Excise Department, said the extension of the excise tax reductions for jet fuel will help alleviate the plight of the low-cost airlines, whose passenger numbers stand at 20% of capacity. The cabinet approved lowering the excise tax on jet fuel to 0.2 baht per litre from 4.726 baht in February as part of urgent aid measures for domestic airline operators during the outbreak. The reduction is scheduled to expire at the end of this month. "Low-cost airlines are considered vital to promoting domestic tourism, which contributes up to 12% of the country's GDP," said Patchara. "Extended aid measures, if given, could help shore up the country's domestic tourism." He said any extension period will be based on the degree of the impact, while the consideration of another six months. Patchara said the extension of the jet fuel tax cut is unlikely to affect the department's tax revenue collection as the jet fuel tax contributes a mere 1b baht per year. He said state-owned Government Savings Bank (GSB) is also preparing soft loans carrying an interest rate of 2% a year for 60 months to help ease the financial liquidity of aviation firms next month. The loans will be channelled through the Export-Import Bank of Thailand. The GSB's soft loan scheme will be submitted for cabinet approval soon, said Patchara.<br/>
The US aviation regulator should require new cockpit procedures for Boeing's 737 MAX to help pilots disable an erroneous stall alert that could be a serious distraction during mid-flight emergencies, major pilots unions said Monday. The proposal about an erroneous “stick shaker” alert is among recommendations the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the Allied Pilots Association submitted during a 45-day public comment period for proposed 737 MAX design and operating changes laid out last month by the US FAA. Monday was the deadline for comments. The 737 MAX changes could pave the way for the FAA to lift a ban on the jet, potentially before year-end. The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide 18 months ago after crashes killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia. In both crashes, pilots grappled with Boeing’s flawed MCAS flight control system, which repeatedly forced down the jet’s nose, and multiple audio and visual warnings that included the rapid and noisy rattling of their control column known as “stick shaker” and excess speed. The proposals, which include recommendations for pilots during emergency situations, came during a US-led gathering of regulators in the UK for a training review of the MAX. <br/>
The union representing the FAA engineers overseeing Boeing’s redesign of the grounded 737 Max says the government’s proposed fixes to the plane don’t go far enough. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents FAA engineers who review and sign off on aircraft certification, said in comments filed on Monday that the Max should have to adhere to tougher standards on cockpit alerts. Because the plane was adapted from earlier versions, portions of its design weren’t required to meet the latest safety requirements. The union said that the proposed fixes to the jetliner are extensive and the most current regulations should apply. The comments are significant because they suggest that at least some of the FAA’s own technical staff don’t agree on the extensive proposed revisions to the plane. A whistle-blower at Boeing separately urged regulators to add additional protections to the plane. The FAA has proposed multiple changes to the aircraft following the crashes that killed 346 people before allowing it to carry passengers again. Among the changes: The system that was driving the jet’s nose down in both accidents would no longer activate repeatedly and various steps were taken to minimize the chances it would malfunction. The agency is also proposing to require extensive additional revisions to the plane, such as an improved flight-computer system to improve the system’s redundancy. Before the FAA can mandate the fixes, it must sift through the comments, which totaled more than 200 as of Monday afternoon. The deadline for comments is the end of the day.<br/>
Airbus is forecasting the first zero-emission commercial aircraft will take to the skies by 2035 as it unveiled computer-generated images of hydrogen-powered planes that could pave the way for a carbon-free future. The European aerospace manufacturer on Monday released images of three zero-emission concepts, which rely on hydrogen as their primary power source. “The concepts offer the world a glimpse of our ambition to drive a bold vision for the future of zero-emission flight,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus CE. “I strongly believe that the use of hydrogen — both in synthetic fuels and as a primary power source for commercial aircraft — has the potential to significantly reduce aviation's climate impact.” Airbus said one of the concepts, which blend the wings into the main body, would be powered by a “modified gas-turbine engine running on hydrogen, rather than jet fuel, through combustion”. The company added that replacing traditional jet fuel with hydrogen could reduce CO2 emissions from the aviation industry by up to 50%. Airbus vice-president for zero-emission aircraft Glenn Llewellyn said government support would be needed to design and manufacture the aircraft, although he declined to give a figure for costs. The company is hoping demonstration models will be in operation before 2025, with a full-scale concept ready some time later this decade.<br/>
When Megyn Thompson landed her dream job as a commercial pilot last year, she was one of thousands being recruited globally to boost the number of women in the cockpit and meet record pilot demand. Now an industry-wide campaign to recruit more female aviators is under threat, dealing a blow to efforts to overhaul the male-dominated airline sector as the coronavirus crisis transforms a shortage into a pilot surplus. In the US alone, the top two airlines are set to furlough more than 3,000 pilots when government stimulus expires this month, and a disproportionate number of those are women. Under layoff agreements between airlines and unions, junior pilots lose their jobs before senior ones, regardless of gender, race or age. These "Last In, First Out" labour deals at many Western airlines mean the most recent hires are the first to go. And those new hires include a higher percentage of women than in the past, the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISWAP) said. Thompson, who flies with a regional carrier owned by American Airlines, is among at least 600 female pilots in the US who will be furloughed on Oct. 1 unless there is more government payroll aid or last-minute union deals. Thompson, 32, said her low seniority ranking puts her "smack-dab in the middle" of a furlough at American's PSA affiliate, which expects to cut about 35% of its pilots. "If you go back 40 years ago it was a man's world through and through, so there are not a lot of women at the top who are protected from this furlough," said Thompson, who decided not to have biological children as she built flying hours for her license. "PSA is not letting (me) Megyn go because they don't like her. It's zero to do with that and 100% to do with, if you're the last in, you're the first out."<br/>
Finnish airport operator Finavia has announced that Helsinki Airport is set to launch a pilot project that involves using trained dogs to identify coronavirus-infected passengers. The pilot is scheduled to commence this week and seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of using canines to identify and restrict the spread of the novel coronavirus. The move follows a study at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Helsinki, where preliminary tests showed that trained dogs can smell the virus with nearly 100% certainty. In addition, the dogs are able to identify the disease with a much smaller sample compared to the ones taken for PCR test. Finavia said that a dog needs between ten and 100 molecules to identify the virus, whereas test equipment requires 1.8m. The dogs to be deployed at Helsinki Airport are trained by Wise Nose.<br/>