JetBlue Airways is adding flights from the New York area during Thanksgiving week in a bid to tap an uptick in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, just as Governor Andrew Cuomo is beefing up enforcement of quarantine restrictions. The 25 nonstop flights will operate between Nov. 20 and Nov. 30 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International as well as airports in White Plains, New York, and Newark, New Jersey, JetBlue said in a statement Friday. The extra service is based on “signs of strong demand” in specific markets around the holiday, said Scott Laurence, the airline’s head of revenue and planning. The temporary Thanksgiving flights build on JetBlue’s strategy of adding 60 new routes this year to take advantage of pockets of demand while overall travel, measured by passengers screened at domestic airports, remains stuck at about 65% below 2019 levels. Travel that has returned amid the pandemic has largely involved leisure passengers, who make up most of JetBlue’s business. While the company is looking to take advantage of Thanksgiving travel, Cuomo said he would increase enforcement of virus-related restrictions at the state’s airports over the holiday. “You should not land if you do not have proof of a negative test upon landing,” Cuomo said Friday. “I want people to know we’re serious.” Travelers from most states have to quarantine for 14 days after getting to New York, although people can test out of those requirements after three days.<br/>
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Southwest Airlines issued notices for what could be the first involuntary furloughs in its 49-year history, saying a union declined to discuss concessions aimed at cutting payroll costs. Forty-two workers who manage parts inventory and are represented by the Teamsters union received federally required notices that they could be laid off as of Jan. 11, the airline said Friday. The full work group, which Southwest said voted not to engage in talks, includes 322 employees. The carrier remains in negotiations with other unions. The action could foreshadow additional furloughs if Southwest doesn’t secure givebacks with groups such as pilots, mechanics and flight attendants. The airline has asked employees for a one-year, 10% reduction in labor expense after other cost cuts failed to stem millions of dollars in daily losses caused when the coronavirus pandemic eviscerated travel demand. “We are not closing the door to further discussions,” said Russell McCrady, Southwest’s VP of labor relations. “We hope to continue seeing progress that will protect our employees, while simultaneously responding to one of the greatest challenges ever faced by our airline.” Furloughed employees would be expected eventually to return to work. While the workers, known as material specialists, declined to negotiate contract concessions, the union told Southwest it was willing to discuss other measures that would produce the cost savings, the Teamsters said in a letter to members. The employees “have already sacrificed much” through members who left the company voluntarily or took extended leave, the union said.<br/>
Two Venezuelan businessmen once convicted in the US as unregistered agents of the late Hugo Chavez have scored a major victory in a Miami courtroom in a bitter fight for control of the South American country’s largest private airline. While Avior Airlines has largely been grounded by US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, the investors hope to recover at least some of its assets, including a regional airline in neighboring Colombia. A Miami circuit judge this week rejected a suit by Jorge Añez that alleged his Florida-based partners had overcharged Avior for parts and services. Judge Michael Hanzman found that Añez had no authority to represent Avior, saying there was overwhelming evidence he cooked the company’s books and formed an “illegitimate board of friendlies” to seize the struggling airline. Ruling on the previously unreported lawsuit, he found that Añez had lied in testimony and tried to use the US legal system to perpetrate “fraud.” “Mr. Añez’s claim of 100% ownership of Avior is a complete fabrication, which reeks of afterthought and was concocted only after ......a dispute over the operations of Avior,” the judge wrote. The partner Añez tried to force out is an investment group that includes Carlos Kauffmann and Moises Maionica. Both men were sentenced in 2008 to more than a year in US federal prison for their role in a political scandal involving a suitcase full of $800,000 in cash sent to Argentina aboard a Venezuelan government plane. Story has more.<br/>
EasyJet is cutting its flight schedule further after the introduction of new lockdown measures in the UK and mainland Europe, saying it will only run a maximum of 20% of planned flights for the rest of the year. The airline said it was scaling back days after the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced fresh Covid-19 restrictions that ban residents in England from holidaying abroad or within the UK until 2 December. EasyJet said similar lockdown measures in Germany and France were also affecting flight plans. The airline’s financial year begins in October and it said: “EasyJet now expects to fly no more than 20% of planned capacity for Q1. “We remain focused on cash generative flying over the winter season in order to minimise losses during the first half and retain the flexibility to ramp capacity back up quickly when we see demand return.” The announcement comes only weeks after easyJet said it would be cutting capacity to 25% for the rest of 2020. The airline has taken more drastic measures than the rival budget airline Ryanair, which recently said it would run about 40% of its planned capacity from November to March. EasyJet also announced it had raised almost GBP131m through the sale and leaseback of 11 of its A320 planes. After the latest deal, easyJet now owns only 41%, or 141 planes, of its fleet. The airline has been trying to raise extra cash as a second wave of coronavirus cases and resulting lockdowns threaten to put extra strain on its finances. The airline said last month it was likely to report a loss in the range of GBP815m to GBP845m for the year to September – its first annual loss in the 25-year history of the airline. “EasyJet will continue to review its liquidity position on a regular basis and will continue to assess further funding options, including those that exist in the robust sale and leaseback market,” the company said.<br/>
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said the Government should not give airlines a bailout to survive the lockdown – despite rivals' pleas for further state aid. Last week, the industry body that represents Britain's major airlines asked the Chancellor for a 'comprehensive' support package, including grants or loans. But O'Leary said that airlines should 'rely on their own cash reserves and their shareholders to get through the pandemic. Ryanair doesn't believe there should be any further financial support, other than the furlough scheme, for airlines and airports.' O'Leary said BA owner IAG and easyJet had shown they could draw on their own reserves to survive. But easyJet said direct financial support for the sector is 'urgently needed', and that it is in 'regular contact with the Government'. Crawley MP Henry Smith – chairman of the Future of Aviation Group which is backed by airport operators and airlines – said he will meet Ministers on November 19 to push for further financial support and a pre-departure testing programme. <br/>
Emerald Airlines, a new carrier backed by aviation entrepreneur Conor McCarthy which is bidding for the Aer Lingus Regional contract, is seeking a licence from regulators in the Republic. Aer Lingus put the contract to operate regional services in Britain and Ireland out for tender earlier this year. Bidders include its current partner Stobart Air, Emerald and others. Aer Lingus is now weighing bids, and could decide later this month on whether to retain the services of Stobart Air or choose a new partner. The current deal ends in December 2022. It is understood that Emerald has applied to the Republic’s Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) for an Air Carrier Operating Licence, which entitles the holder to sell flights to the public. Applicants have to show they have the necessary finance and resources to operate a commercial airline in order to get a licence. Also, a majority of their owners, 51% or more, must be based in the EU. McCarthy, the biggest shareholder in aircraft maintenance specialist Dublin Aerospace, set up Emerald Airlines in May. He did not comment on Thursday.<br/>
India’s Supreme Court stayed an order directing SpiceJet to deposit 2.4b rupees ($32.5m) with a lower court, a relief for the cash-strapped low-cost carrier. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde agreed to SpiceJet’s request to put on hold a Delhi High Court order to deposit the money, saying there was no precedent for such a directive to be given. The bench will hear the case again after another four weeks. SpiceJet and its chairman Ajay Singh are in a legal dispute with the carrier’s former owner, billionaire Kalanithi Maran, who claimed damages over a share transfer in 2014. The company was ordered to pay Maran the 2.4 billion rupees as part of a ruling in July 2018. SpiceJet disputes that figure, which is based on interest Maran claimed he was owed.<br/>
Regional Express Holdings, a carrier which operates small turboprop planes to outlying towns in Australia, on Friday took delivery of its first jet as it gears up to operate between the country's major cities in direct competition with Qantas and Virgin, which itself is attempting a revival under new ownership. "The thought of going into the [big city] domestic market has been bouncing around in our heads for a long time," Deputy Chairman John Sharp said. "The COVID pandemic, accompanied by the collapse of Virgin, created for us the perfect opportunity." With Qantas and Virgin together cutting more than 11,000 jobs and grounding hundreds of flights, Regional Express, known as Rex, hopes to step into the gap. "There are plenty of pilots, cabin crew, engineers and support staff that we could engage in the business," Sharp said. "Normally, we are desperately short of pilots. So [this has] presented a unique opportunity to acquire the people and the planes to commence a domestic service. Normally the airports are congested [and] slots are unavailable." But now, he said, "there's oodles of space at airports, plenty of slots for landing and taking off." Rex, backed by an AU$150m investment from Hong Kong private equity group PAG, has leased six former Virgin Boeing 737-800 NG jets with an eye toward starting flights between Sydney and Melbourne on March 1. The route was the world's fifth-busiest passenger route last year according to data provider OAG Aviation Worldwide. Other routes connecting state capitals would follow, along with up to four other planes by the end of 2021.<br/>