The French government and the EC have reached an agreement in principle on fresh financial support for Air France, which has been hurt by a drop in air travel since the start of the pandemic, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Sunday. “It’s very good news for Air France, it’s very good news for the whole French aviation sector,” Le Maire said. “It was a long and difficult negotiation, but I think we’ve reached a good agreement” with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The accord is “fair and proportionate,” he said, adding that the carrier would have to give up fewer than the 24 airport takeoff and landing slots at Paris-Orly airport wanted by the Commission in return for state support due to competition concerns. France and the Netherlands own a combined 28% stake in Air France-KLM. The countries have been in talks for months on a funding plan after granting the carrier E10.4b in direct loans and state-backed guarantees last year. The carrier, whose net debt ballooned to E11b at the end of 2020, has said it’s planning to raise equity and quasi-equity. The airline’s board will meet on Monday to validate the principle of the accord, Le Maire said. He declined to give details of the amount of support or number of slots to be given up ahead of the meeting. The French government is coming to Air France’s aid as it considers the carrier to be strategic for the country, with tens of thousands of jobs at stake, Le Maire said. However, the airline must improve competitiveness, reduce carbon emissions and return to profit, he added.<br/>
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Citing several contributing factors, Delta canceled approximately 100 flights Sunday. "Delta teams have been working through various factors, including staffing, large numbers of employee vaccinations and pilots returning to active status. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and the majority have been rebooked for the same travel day," a Delta spokesperson said. An airline source says that Delta addressed capacity issues they're facing Sunday and Monday by opening up some middle seats on flights to get customers routed quicker and more efficiently, something the airliner wasn't planning to do across its fleet until May 1. In April 2020, shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began to spread in the United States, Delta reduced the number of passengers it allowed to board each flight and blocked the sale of middle seats. Other airlines followed suit, and a year later, Delta was the last remaining airline to keep middle seats unbooked.<br/>But in response to expanded vaccine ability, the company announced Wednesday that it would lift its ban on middle seat booking starting May 1. And Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the company's research shows that 64% of its pre-pandemic passenger base anticipate having at least dose of the vaccine by that date.<br/>