Malaysia Airlines will have to shut down if its lessors decide not to back its latest restructuring plan, the CE of the airline’s parent group was quoted as saying on Saturday. A group of leasing companies has rejected the restructuring plan, bringing the state carrier closer to a showdown over its future. Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) CEO Izham Ismail said the group would have “no choice but to shut it down” if lessors decide against backing the restructuring plan. “There are creditors who have agreed already. There are others still resisting, and another group still 50:50,” Izham said. “I need to get the 50:50 ones (on board) with those who have agreed. I understand quite a sizeable amount of creditors have agreed.” Izham said the plan was to restructure the airline’s balance sheet over five years, achieving break-even in 2023 on the assumption that demand in the domestic and Southeast Asian markets returns to 2019 levels by the second and third quarters of 2022. The plan will also require a fresh cash injection from the airline’s shareholder, state fund Khazanah Nasional, to help the company over the next 18 months. MAG declined to comment. Lessors claiming to represent 70% of the airplanes and engines leased to the airline group have called the plan “inappropriate and fatally flawed” and pledged to challenge it, according to people familiar with the matter and a letter from a London law firm seen by Reuters. MAG had earlier warned lessors that Khazanah would stop funding the group and force it into a winding down process if the restructuring plans fail. Izham said the lessors would need to make a decision by Oct. 11, so the airline can decide whether to proceed with its restructuring plan or “execute Plan B”.<br/>
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American Airlines will relocate to Beijing Daxing International airport its flights from Dallas/Fort Worth when the Beijing route resumes on 27 March 2021. The carrier will use Boeing 787-8 aircraft for the flights. American operated in January, before the coronavirus-related suspension of flights, routes to Shanghai Pudong and Beijing Capital airports from Dallas/Fort Worth. The carrier also in January operated routes to Shanghai Pudong and Beijing Capital from Los Angeles, and routes to Hong Kong from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles. Daxing airport opened in September 2019. “While there is so much uncertainty in travel right now, we want to be well positioned to serve our customers, shareholders and team members with the best service, convenience and products all over the world when they’re ready,” American’s chief revenue officer Vasu Raja states. ”Daxing is very much a part of that bright future.”<br/>
A union representing Cathay Pacificcrew called on members to sign a petition to prise out more information about a restructuring plan amid concerns that the carrier is set to cut jobs. “The whole crew community is shrouded in anxiety with numerous unverified news about redundancy circulating among social media groups,” Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Union said in the petition, adding that it has been “constantly communicating” with management to reveal details of the plan and when it will be announced. “It is very disappointing that the company refuses to disclose any details of its proposal to the board,” said the union, which represents over 7,400 cabin crew, or a quarter of the Hong Kong-based airline’s local employees. Passenger numbers are down about 99% from usual and the airline has said it won’t survive unless it restructures.<br/>
Qantas launched a sight-seeing flight across Australia in the airline’s latest effort to contend with the impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector. The “full-day outing” from Sydney took off on Saturday morning with 150 passengers and was scheduled to pass over some of the country’s key landmarks, including Uluru, the famed red sandstone monolith in the Northern Territory, the carrier said in a statement. The airline didn’t specify the duration of the flight or when it is scheduled to return to the same airport. The aircraft will drop to 4,000 feet at some points during the trip for a better view, compared with 35,000 feet normally. The flight on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, will use offsets to account for its carbon emissions, Qantas said.<br/>