United has agreed to delay the effective date of pilot furloughs until Oct. 30 while union members vote on a broader deal that would protect some 2,850 jobs for months longer. However, pilots will not be paid during the month of October if that deal does not pass, according to a memorandum of understanding between United and the union representing its 13,000 pilots that was seen by Reuters. "Our pilots are voting right now on a tentative agreement that, if approved, would avoid all pilot furloughs for at least nine months," United spokesman Frank Benenati said on Wednesday. He noted that the company continues to push for an extension of federal payroll support. If lawmakers fail to agree to extend $25b in payroll aid for airlines this month, tens of thousands of employees are set to be furloughed on Oct. 1.<br/>
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United is turning to a Google-powered interactive map to help still-scarce travelers find destinations that fit the coronavirus era. The map, which launched on United’s website Wednesday, allows travelers to punch in the most they want to spend on a ticket and filter airports by their destination activities or descriptions: beaches, beer and breweries, culture, food and drink, hiking, national parks, outdoors, romantic, skiing and snowboarding, and snorkeling and scuba. For example, a search for a return trip from Newark, New Jersey, the first week in November with a preference for national parks and hiking yielded a $117 flight to Denver, a $97 flight to Las Vegas, a $207 flight to Portland, Oregon, all in basic economy, among other destinations. Air travel demand is stuck at less than a third of the same levels a year ago and airlines are scrambling to come up with ways to encourage travelers to book. Executives have noted that travelers are waiting much longer to book than last year, a result of so much uncertainty surrounding the virus as well as work, school and child care. United’s new booking tool, which uses Google’s flight search engine, also allows travelers to browse flights without set dates. “Where in the past, more people would look for flights to specific destinations on specific dates, we’re seeing that today, travelers are often more open about the destinations that they would like to visit,” United spokeswoman Christine Salamone said in an email. “They know they’d like to get away, but they’re not exactly sure where they want to go.” <br/>
South African National Treasury officials are reluctantly complying with orders to find funds to bail out the state airline, fearing they may erode the nation’s fiscal credibility, according to two people familiar with the matter. The National Treasury is trying to re-prioritize funds in the medium-term expenditure framework due next month to fill the funding hole at SAA, said the people. The money will have to come from other government departments and programs, and may undermine efforts to revive an economy that’s been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, they said. SAA, which last made a profit almost a decade ago and has been reliant on state bailouts to survive, has been in administration since December. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has long argued that the government can’t continue funding the national carrier, putting him at odds with the top leadership of the ruling African National Congress and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who insist it must keep flying. Mboweni lost the battle, with SAA’s administrators assuring its creditors last week that the cabinet had committed to providing more than 10b rand ($591m) needed to effect a reorganization of the carrier and avoid its liquidation. Mboweni won’t resign over the decision, one of the people said.<br/>
Airline Avianca Holdings came under broad criticism in Colombia for paying its top two executives $6m in bonuses in May, at a time when the carrier had furloughed most of its employees without pay and was preparing a bankruptcy filing. According to bankruptcy court documents submitted by Avianca itself, the airline paid CE Anco van der Werff $3.7m and paid CFO Adrian Neuhauser $2.8m on May 6. Five days later, the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US. "Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history," van der Werff said at the time. On Wednesday, Avianca defended the bonuses, saying they were necessary "as an incentive for the company's management team to continue to provide services to Avianca." In court filings, it also said its key executives would have sought employment elsewhere without the extra pay. During the pandemic, Avianca took more radical payroll cutting measures than its rivals, asking the majority of its 20,000 employees to take unpaid leaves. Avianca and most Latin American airlines have not received government bailouts like their peers. Colombia's government has, however, proposed a loan of more than $300m to help get Avianca out of bankruptcy. The May bonuses were at least the second round of bonuses paid that year, documents show, although Avianca said some of that money was in reality tied to 2019 performance.<br/>
The arrival of coronavirus-infected passengers on flights from India remains a concern for other countries at a time when the Indian government is attempting to augment international air passenger traffic through bilateral travel bubbles. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia, a key destination for Indian migrant workers, suspended air travel to and from India amid concerns of potential imported cases. This development comes after two airlines - Air India and Air India Express - were handed temporary bans last week by the authorities in Hong Kong and Dubai for flying in Covid-19 positive passengers to these two cities. Hong Kong barred Air India for a fortnight until Oct 3, after one of its flights to the city on Sept 18 carried six infected passengers. The Hong Kong government strengthened regulations this month stipulating that any airline that carries five or more Covid-19 passengers on a flight would be banned from flying to the city. Such a ban would also apply if it operates two consecutive flights with three or more diagnosed passengers. This is the second time the authorities in Hong Kong have banned Air India. A similar two-week suspension order was handed out to the airline last month, after it flew 14 Covid-19 positive passengers to the city on Aug 11. An Air India spokesman told The Straits Times that the airline has been "strictly adhering" to all passenger screening requirements for flights to international destinations and that, wherever applicable, only passengers with Covid-negative reports are allowed on board.<br/>