oneworld

American Airlines authorized the sale of another $1b in stock, the carrier said in a filing Friday, an effort to shore up cash as Covid-19 continues to depress travel demand. American authorized a $1b stock sale in October and sold $882.4m at $12.87 a share. Under the new agreement, it would sell up to $1.12b. American’s decision comes on the heels of a sharp rally in its stock price earlier this week after it was mentioned in the popular WallStreetBets Reddit forum. The airline declined to comment on whether the stock move factored into its decision. The carrier is the most-shorted US airline. American’s shares fell more than 5% on Friday to $17.17, but ended the week up 8.5%. Other airline stocks fell this week.<br/>

British Airways said it would trial a mobile health app on flights between London and the United States, as airlines line up technology to help overcome barriers to travel thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic. BA said Friday it would trial the use of a mobile travel health passport, VeriFLY, following American Airlines, which is already using it. VeriFLY combines travel verification documents and Covid-19 test results on a phone app to ensure passengers are compliant with destination entry requirements. Certified customers can then be fast-tracked through the airport. Flying is currently at minimal levels, with flight volumes in Britain down more than 80 per cent due to lockdowns and restrictions which ban most people from travelling. <br/>