general

For a year expected to mark a turning point for pandemic-stricken European airlines, 2021 is off to a rough start. A resurgence of COVID-19 lockdowns has killed off a fragile bookings upturn, executives and analysts said, as insolvent Norwegian Air finally axed its long-haul operations on Thursday. The setbacks deal a blow to airline hopes that the promise of vaccines would put the worst of the crisis behind them, and set the stage for a summer rebound. New outbreaks and travel restrictions - some designed to curb the spread of a highly infectious virus variant detected in Britain - have hit forward bookings that are usually relied upon to bring in vital cash during the thin winter months. Global airline industry body IATA believes a return to positive cash flow “might not arrive before the end of the year,” Chief Economist Brian Pearce said. “Meanwhile the cash burn is going to continue” and may even in increase in Europe, Pearce told an online conference on Wednesday. Some carriers may yet run out of cash, he added. For bailed-out airlines like Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, a longer slump increases both debt and the likelihood more support will be needed. Europe faces the worst relapse - although hitherto buoyant Chinese and Russian domestic bookings have also been weakened by new restrictions.<br/>

A group representing major US airlines Thursday backed President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to mandate face coverings for all air passengers, but asked him to give them flexibility in enforcing it. Airlines for America asked Biden in a letter seen by Reuters to “allow air carriers to maintain their existing policies and practices which are aimed at de-escalating conflict in-flight and allowing the aircraft to continue while providing a consequential enforcement backstop on the ground.” The airline group noted airlines have been enforcing the requirements and prohibiting passengers that do not comply from flying for the duration of the pandemic. “Thousands of passengers have been barred to date,” the letter to Biden read, saying it hopes the Democrat applies the legal requirement to airports as well. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which has demanded a federal face covering mandate since early in the pandemic, said the mandate would provide one standard across US aviation and back up flight attendants and other airline workers who must enforce compliance. Republican President Donald Trump opposed legally requiring airline, train and public transit passengers and workers to wear masks amid the pandemic, and the White House rejected efforts by the CDC to require face coverings.<br/>

Most major US airlines Thursday said they will prohibit passengers flying to major airports serving the Washington, DC, to check firearms, further tightening security ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Delta, Alaska Airlines, United, American Airlines, Frontier and Southwest said the new policy, which starts this weekend and runs through next week, comes after last week’s deadly riot at the US Capitol and a spate of politically motivated disturbances on flights and at airports. Law enforcement authorized to carry firearms will be exempt. Airlines, airports and hotels are ramping up security ahead of Wednesday’s inauguration. Several airports said they will add more police, while airlines are increasing staffing at airports and booking overnighting crews at airport hotels instead of the city center. American Airlines said late Wednesday it will suspend alcohol sales for DC flights and provide private transportation for crews to and from the airport instead of usual shared vans. “We’re all on high alert based on the events over the last couple of weeks in Washington,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. A spokeswoman for the TSA, which scans checked and carry-on bags, said it can detect improperly checked or undeclared firearms. The FAA Thursday said it implemented a “zero tolerance” policy for travelers who are unruly or interfere with flight crew duties, fining them up to $35,000.<br/>

The head of the FAA said Thursday there has been an unsettling rise in disruptions on commercial flights in recent days, prompting the regulatory agency to issue a stricter enforcement policy. “Really over the last few days, we have seen a distributing increase in onboard incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with their behavior,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said. He said the episodes have stemmed partly from flyers failing to comply with face-mask policies, which have been implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, and also in the wake of the deadly, pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol last week. The FAA’s new enforcement policy comes as airlines and airports are enhancing security ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week. Dickson said his new FAA order will temporarily bolster its long-standing approach to flight disruptions. Instead of issuing warnings or counseling, the FAA intends to pursue legal action “against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates, or interferes with airline crew members,” according to a press release. The order is in place through March 30.<br/>

Flights were delayed when an air traffic control center near Jacksonville, Florida, had to close down for several hours for extensive cleaning after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Jacksonville International Airport tweeted Wednesday afternoon that the center would be closed “into the evening which may cause extensive delays and/or cancellations.” It advised passengers to check with their airlines regarding delayed flights. It was the second time this year that the FAA’s flight-control center in Hilliard has been closed for cleaning due to the coronavirus. Overall, the Hilliard facility has had 12 personnel testing positive since June, and the nearby Jacksonville International Airport tower also has had a dozen infections, according to data provided by the FAA. The FAA data show hundreds of coronavirus infections among air traffic control workers since the pandemic began, a challenge the agency says it has met by scheduling most cleanings for overnight hours and with other ways of reducing the impact on air travel. The FAA said that the agency has a “robust contingency plan” for every air traffic control center, including backup plans in case of a temporary closing due to COVID or any other reason. “The agency continually monitors controller staffing and traffic demand, and remains in close contact with airports, airlines and other stakeholders so we can prioritize our resources to meet the greatest demand,” the statement said.<br/>

A proposal to grant special privileges to those who have been vaccinated is gaining traction in Europe ahead of a crunch call of the region’s leaders, as a rise in coronavirus infections damps hopes of a swift exit from the economy-crippling lockdowns. Over a video conference on Jan. 21, EU leaders will discuss the introduction of a “vaccination certificate” that would allow holders to travel freely, several diplomats familiar with the preparations of the virtual meeting said. The proposal enjoys growing support, one EU official said, while another diplomat cautioned that there’s pushback by other governments, and any limits to the freedom of movement on such grounds could be illegal. The proposal to introduce such a certificate gained momentum after Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis formally requested it with a letter to the chief of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, earlier this week. With inoculation campaigns moving at a snail’s pace, a decision to extend EU-wide privileges for vaccines that are not yet available to everyone in the bloc, due to limited supplies, may not come imminently. Still, countries desperate to at least partially restore travel could go it alone, since border control is a national competence, and EU coordination, while sought, isn’t compulsory. The commission, the EU’s executive arm in Brussels, said it’s deliberating with the bloc’s national capitals about the idea of vaccination certificates as part of efforts to keep internal borders open. “We are in active discussions with member states on recognition of vaccination certificates, just like we are working on the recognition of tests,” Stefan De Keersmaecker, the commission’s transport and health spokesman, said on Thursday. “This is an important issue for free movement in the EU.”<br/>

Caribbean tourism officials are rushing to increase COVID-19 testing capacity after the United States became the latest country to require nearly all arriving passengers to present a negative test within 72 hours of departure. Some tropical vacation spots, which attract US tourists banned from traveling to other regions, face a strain on their COVID-19 testing resources as more governments take additional steps to curb a second wave of the pandemic. Jamaica, which has created a task force to boost COVID-19 testing capacity, is working to meet demand from the United States, Canada and other countries by the end of the month, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said on Thursday. The new US order goes into effect on Jan. 26. “We have no choice,” Bartlett said. “We have to get there or else our industry will die and the impact will be dire for our economy.” Vanessa Ledesma, acting CEO and director general of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, called new COVID-19 testing rules “a tremendous challenge” for the region due to a lack of testing equipment and lab facilities that can meet large demand in short turnaround times. US infectious disease specialist Dr. David Freedman warned of the risk of straining resources in poor countries that are struggling to test their own residents. While analysts and some airline executives expect the new order will disrupt demand in the short term, US carriers back the testing rules with the long-term goal of reopening international markets.<br/>

Europe’s safety authority is aiming to reduce training dependency on full-flight simulators by implementing a classification system that enables selection of other flight-training devices that provide the appropriate level of capability. The matter is the subject of a European Union Aviation Safety Agency proposal which, it says, contains an “innovative” matrix-based approach to categorising the capabilities of future flight-training equipment. EASA says the proposal requires training providers to identify a “capability signature” based on assessing training task objectives against the features and fidelity levels of flight-simulation devices. This is then matched with training devices available on the market having at least the same signature. Such matching allows training providers to use the “most appropriate” devices, says EASA. Through the filtering of criteria relating to features and fidelity level, it states, the system will allow more flexibility to obtain training credits by using devices other than a full-flight simulator. “The need to change the rules arises from regulatory discrepancies and barriers that currently limit the possibility to obtain training credits by using other types of training devices,” says the proposal. “Without this rule change, [full-flight simulators] will continue to dominate the training industry.”<br/>

UK air traffic manager NATS is pressing ahead with plans to reorganise the country’s airspace to reduce congestion and improve capacity. NATS CE Martin Rolfe explained Thursday that the organisation’s key focus was on reforming network-level airspace, in particular the UK’s congested lower level airspace, in order to reduce delays and aircraft holding. This will involve making changes to the organisation of upper-level airspace, which “means we can allow pilots to plan their own routes and constrain them when we absolutely have to, and that’s good from an efficiency perspective and a fuel and CO2 perspective”. He foresees reduced intervention between air traffic controllers and pilots. Changes will arrive first in the form of NATS programmes for high-level free-route airspace, and then its systemised lower-level network changes. “In due course this will deliver the best balance between environmental efficiency and capacity – and by capacity, what I mean is minimising air traffic delays to the passengers,” says Rolfe. NATS is also looking to build on progress it has made in reducing congestion in other areas.<br/>