Tensions are rising in air travel, prompting safety concerns as airlines continue to reel from the coronavirus pandemic’s impact. In the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and a spate of disruptions on board, airlines and the FAA promised zero tolerance for bad behavior. Airlines, airports and the TSA are adding staff and increasing security measures ahead of President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. “As if aviation needs any more kicks to the head right now,” Jeff Price, an aviation safety specialist and professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said of the trend. Delta banned six travelers from a Jan. 5 flight from Salt Lake City to Washington, DC. Several passengers shouted “traitor” at Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney for not challenging the results of the November presidential election, according to a video of the incident that was shared on social media. On Jan. 8, Alaska Airlines said it banned 14 travelers who were “non-mask compliant, rowdy, argumentative and harassed our crew members” from a Washington, D.C.-Seattle flight, spokesman Ray Lane said, apologizing to other passengers who were uncomfortable on the flight. Delta CEO Ed Bastian last week said such incidents are extremely rare and that most of its customers don’t pose a problem, but the carrier warned it won’t accept disruptive behavior. “Those who refuse to display basic civility to our people or their fellow travelers are not welcome on Delta,” Bastian said in an employee memo Friday. “Their actions will not be tolerated, and they will not have the privilege of flying our airline ever again.”<br/>
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The average price for a one-way domestic flight dropped to $135 last summer, its lowest level in at least two decades, according to an analysis of new federal data by Cirium, an aviation data firm. Normally, personal travel picks up during the summer and drops in the fall. That decline is usually offset by corporate travel, but with few people boarding planes and businesses having paused most employee travel during the pandemic, airlines cut fares to fill the reduced number of seats they were still selling. “Summer was their last best chance to generate revenue,” said Jon Jager, a Cirium analyst. The firm came up with its estimates by analyzing Transportation Department data on airfares from July to September, which was released on Tuesday. The $135 average price for a one-way ticket last summer included taxes and fees and is the lowest quarterly average airfare, before adjusting for inflation, since at least 2000, according to Cirium. The price also represents a 32% decline from the $198 average in summer 2019. Airline travel has recovered somewhat since falling more than 95% in April, but it remains subdued. <br/>
Airlines have for months been looking toward a rush of Covid vaccine introductions in early 2021 to rescue their battered industry. But European carriers counting on a bumper summer season to restore revenue and rebuild balance sheets are becoming fearful that a recovery will arrive too late for the vital travel period. While vaccine rollouts were stoking forecasts for a 90% rebound in Europe’s leisure market just a month ago, fast-spreading new viral strains are prompting people to shelve vacation plans at what should be the busiest time for bookings. European carriers are already among the worst affected by Covid‑19. With profits heavily dependent on April through September, another lost summer could reach beyond industry stragglers and strike at leading low-cost carriers and tour operators. It could also delay a rebound in the lucrative business markets on which the biggest network airlines depend. “The problem with Europe is that there are so many borders and each country has its own requirements,” says Mark Manduca, an analyst at Citigroup in London. “Passengers don’t know what the restrictions are or what sort of tests are required, so it’s much harder to fill up planes compared with large countries such as the US or China, where there are no borders to cross.” The latest blow came when Britain in January responded to its detection of a mutant viral strain and the emergence of another in South Africa by imposing mandatory testing on top of quarantines, even for those few people still allowed to travel under a new national lockdown. Seat capacity at UK-based airlines plunged 27% in a week, compared with declines of 10% in North America and 5% in the Asia-Pacific region over the same period, according to London-based aviation consulting firm Ishka Ltd. Alexandre de Juniac, DG of the IATA, said on Jan. 12 that the measures threaten to “shut down flying” and scuttle any recovery in demand by Easter, the traditional start of Europe’s prime travel season. <br/>
EU competition regulators plan to extend looser state aid rules until the end of 2021 to help European companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic, including allowing EU governments to grant more funding, the EC said Tuesday. The EU executive eased the rules in March last year to help the 27-country bloc protect jobs in sectors such as airlines, tourism, restaurants and entertainment, and support the economy. Economists said the resurgence in coronavirus cases is the biggest threat to the recovering euro zone economy. The Commission said it has asked EU countries for feedback before making a final decision. “As the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak continues to deeply affect our lives, businesses across Europe are in need of further support to weather the crisis,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. The Commission also wants to increase the caps for government aids.<br/>
European airports have called on the EU to loosen state aid rules as the outlook for travel darkens amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases. The demand came as the airports industry warned it saw “no realistic prospect” of an improvement in travel in the coming months and cut its forecast for passenger numbers this year. In a letter to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, airport lobby group ACI Europe said its members were facing a “worsening situation” that needed to be “urgently” addressed through a “more effective and flexible” framework for state aid. The letter, which was also signed by the tourism association the European Travel Commission, said: “The root cause of the slump in air traffic and of the financial distress of airports is a direct result of the array of travel restrictions imposed by governments . . . we thus urge the [European] Commission to adopt a more pragmatic and realistic stance on this matter.” Brussels last year relaxed state aid rules to allow member countries to offer companies some support to help them through the pandemic. But ACI Europe said new action was needed as the crisis continues. Among the proposals are the loosening of rules to allow governments to pay direct passenger subsidies to help stimulate demand to reopen routes, airports to be able to recover their fixed costs while travel bans are in place, and the extension of a scheme to allow compensation for revenue losses past this summer. Vestager Tuesday announced that the commission would consult with member states on draft proposals to boost state-aid measures across the economy given the continuing crisis. The commission said it had sent draft proposals to member states to extend the state aid framework until the end of the year and also to increase the ceilings for limited amounts of aid granted, “taking into account the continued economic uncertainty and the needs of businesses affected by the crisis”.<br/>
Boeing’s 737 Max will be recertified to fly in Europe next week, according to the bloc’s aviation safety watchdog, but in future US-built aircraft will be subject to closer scrutiny from the EASA. Patrick Ky, executive director of Easa, said the relationship between the European regulator and its US peer, the FAA, had changed for good after revelations of lax oversight in the development of Boeing’s newest single-aisle aircraft. Easa would now assess independently which elements were safety-critical on US aircraft and components. “We were not doing that . . . enough on US projects,”Ky said at a press conference at a joint event held by Easa and the German Aviation Press Club. “We will do that more from now. We will make our own assessment and increase our level of involvement on those systems.” The globally recognised system for aircraft certification has allowed manufacturers to self-certify certain elements of their programmes under the eye of local safety regulators. However, the FAA has come under heavy fire at home and abroad for its weak scrutiny of Boeing during the development of the 737 Max, which was grounded for almost two years after two accidents in which 346 people died. A US congressional subcommittee report into the accidents published last year found “grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA — the pernicious result of regulatory capture”. The lesson had been taken on by global regulators. “The way we are doing things, especially in the certification world, will never be completely the same,” he said. Ky said the certification of Boeing’s next new aircraft, the 777X wide-body had raised “a number of questions on the relationship between the FAA and Easa and the way we conduct our own certification projects”. The more stringent scrutiny could result in longer delays to certification, he suggested, at least while “a new way of working” bedded in. However, he insisted that since the accidents there had been “full transparency from Boeing and the FAA. We worked very well together”.<br/>