United announced Wednesday a program to collect customer contact data on all flights to assist health officials in contact tracing in the effort to contain Covid-19. The program, which will cover both domestic and international flights, follows a similar announcement earlier this month by rival Delta, but the Delta program only pertains to international flights. The program, which is supported by the US CDC, will be voluntary for passengers. Consumers who opt in will be asked at check-in for contact details such as an email address, phone number and address where they can be reached once they arrive. Such details "were previously difficult for the CDC to obtain in real-time," United said. "Contact tracing is a fundamental component of the nation's public health response strategy for controlling the spread of communicable diseases of public health concern," said CDC Director Robert Redfield. "Collection of contact information from air travelers will greatly improve the timeliness and completeness of information for COVID-19 public health follow-up and contact tracing." <br/>
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Administrators at struggling South African Airways said Wednesday they have issued a 48-hour notice to prevent nearly 400 pilots from accessing the company’s premises until they agree to new employment terms and conditions. SAA entered a local form of bankruptcy protection in December of 2019 after roughly a decade of financial losses, and its fortunes worsened after it grounded flights because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to rescue the state airline face resistance from trade unions, who are at loggerheads with the government over wages. The administrators, who argue that pilots had “very extensive and lavish benefits” said the lockout will affect 383 pilots who are members of the SAA Pilots’ Association. The administrators want the pilots to accept new terms and conditions, which include new salary scales.<br/>
After consecutive months of steady recovery, China’s three largest carriers reported their first domestic traffic slump in November — the first in more than half a year, with at least one carrier blaming a resurgence in domestic coronavirus cases for the decline. The ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern and China Southern — all saw domestic passenger numbers and capacity shrink month on month, with some falling below pre-pandemic numbers. Though it claims to have kept the pandemic under control, China has in recent weeks seen a slight uptick in cases, the bulk of them imported cases, though there have been instances of locally-transmitted cases in a number of provinces. Air China carried 7.47m domestic passengers for the month, a 10.8% decline month on month, and a 1.5% drop year on year. Domestic RPKs for the month saw a 9.9% month-on-month decline, while ASKs fell 6.6% compared to October. Year on year, it represented a 1.6% decline, and a 8.5% uptick, respectively. Domestic passenger load factor for the month shrank 2.7 percentage points from October, to 73.4%. November’s month-on-month slump in passenger traffic is the first since April, when Beijing, where Air China is based, experienced a surge in coronavirus cases. Story has details of other carriers.<br/>
India’s government says it has received “multiple expressions of interest” in buying its 100% stake in debt-laden national carrier Air India to shore up falling government revenues after an initial attempt in 2018 failed to attract any bidders. The deadline for submission of formal bids was Monday and the government is expected to announce qualified bidders on Jan. 5. It did not reveal the identity of the bidders or the number of bids received. “Multiple expressions of interest have been received for strategic disinvestment of Air India. The transaction will now move to the second stage,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. Indian media reports said Indian conglomerate Tata Group and a group of 219 Air India employees along with Interups, a US-based fund, filed expressions of interest. In January, the government invited initial expressions of interest in the airline, which operates both domestic and international routes and has accumulated huge losses in the past decade. It said the bidders would have to absorb 232b rupees ($3.26b) of the airline’s 580b rupee ($8b) debt burden.<br/>
Ghana, represented by its Ministry for Aviation claims to have reached a firm agreement with Egypt’s national airline Egypt Air, to establish a joint venture national flag carrier airline for the country. Last week, Ghana’s aviation minister revealed that negotiations between the two counterparties towards a mutually agreed structure for he proposed airline have been concluded. This means that the stage is almost set for commencement of processes to register the proposed new airline, capitalize it, establish the organizational structures and move to acquire or lease initial aircraft. "We have indeed completed negotiations that we need to conclude with our partner, Egypt Air, in this case, Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi Adda announced last week. All the issues that were outstanding in the past have been resolved. We have compiled all we need to compile, which includes the shareholders agreement, the business plan, to ensure that we get the approval of the key agencies from Ghana. Parliament is the only step left for us to have a national airline.”<br/>
Air NZ will recall all of its A320 cabin crew who are currently on furlough, as the airline begins preparations for quarantine-free travel to Australia and Rarotonga early next year. It says the 175 cabin crew members have been on furlough since June, having chosen to stay connected to the airline rather than take redundancy. Air NZ general manager of cabin crew Leeanne Langridge said it was exciting to be able to offer these cabin crew a position back with the airline. Union for cabin crew, E tū, says the airline has the chance to repair some damage done earlier this year if it gets the re-hiring process right. Langridge said: "We know these crew are really keen to get back on board, so it's been heartwarming to make these phone calls before Christmas." It is hoped two-way quarantine-free travel bubbles can be established with Australia and Rarotonga by the end of March. Although the Government has not fixed a firm date for the establishment of a bubble, airlines have started loading much more capacity into their booking systems from March 28.<br/>
Air Canada has named Amos Kazzaz as its new CFO, replacing Michael Rousseau, who will become Montreal-based Air Canada’s CE next year. Kazzaz will take the post on 15 February 2021, the same day Rousseau succeeds outgoing CEO Calin Rovinescu, who is retiring. “Amos has been a key member of our highly skilled executive team for over a decade,” says Rovinescu. “His financial acumen, proven track record and deep knowledge of Air Canada’s business position him well for the CFO role and to help guide Air Canada as the industry recovers.” Kazzaz is a 10-year Air Canada veteran, following a 24-year career at United. He has held roles in finance, planning and cost management, Air Canada said.<br/>