American Airlines confirmed yesterday that, amid delays trying to keep up with surging demand, it would cut nearly 1,000 flights in the first half of July. Fewer flights, especially if other airlines follow its lead, would drive up ticket prices and force passengers to delay travel plans, which means less money flowing to travelers’ desired destinations. The airline’s move adds fuel to the debate about labor shortages. American said it had cut flights because of a shortage of pilots and airport workers. Critics said the airline should raise wages to attract more workers, especially since it received billions in government aid during the pandemic. Companies that took bailout money could now face a backlash. Back in March, Andrew wrote that airlines — which received tens of billions in emergency assistance — would likely face criticism after the pandemic similar to what banks faced after the financial crisis. One example: Lawmakers in Philadelphia recently proposed a bill that would require airlines to pay for new health benefits for thousands of airport workers. American Airlines has tried to block the bill, saying the increased costs would force the airline to cut the number of international flights it offers from the city. As Representative Conor Lamb, Democrat of Pennsylvania, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “We just got done bailing out this industry. When you do that, I think it gives us a say in how their workers should be treated.” Bailouts are unpopular, because they typically end up pricier and less productive than expected. Andrew estimated that the government’s initial pandemic grant to airlines cost $300,000 per job saved. Given these costs, airlines should brace themselves for similar requests like those in Philadelphia from lawmakers elsewhere.<br/>
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Airports around the country will share $8b in federal grants to help them recover from the pandemic, which caused a steep drop in air travel and a loss of revenue that airports expect from airlines and passengers. Most of the money will go to big airports with commercial airline service. They will share $6.5b based on the number of passenger boardings, plus another $800m to offer rent relief to companies that operate concessions such as food and retail outlets in terminals. Airports must keep at least 90% of the workers they had before the pandemic to receive one of the grants, which will handled by the FAA. Congress approved the money as part of a pandemic-relief measure that President Joe Biden signed in March. The Biden administration said the grants would protect airport jobs and construction projects as travel recovers. The FAA said several hundred airports will get grant money, including $175.7m for Seattle-Tacoma International, $115m for Philadelphia International, $74.3m for Daniel K. Inouye International in Honolulu, $56.2m for St. Louis Lambert International, and $50.6m for Raleigh-Durham International in North Carolina.<br/>
A $500m US fund to compensate relatives of 346 people killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes has opened, the claim administrators said Tuesday. The fund, which opened on Monday, is part of a settlement with the US Justice Department. Boeing in January agreed to pay $500m to compensate the heirs, relatives and beneficiaries of the passengers who died in Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2018 and 2019. Each eligible family will receive nearly $1.45m and money will be paid on a rolling basis as claim forms are submitted and completed, said administrators Ken Feinberg and Camille Biros in a joint statement. Families have until October 15 to complete claim forms. The Justice Department and Boeing declined to comment. The fund is part of a $2.5b Justice Department settlement reached in January with Boeing after prosecutors charged the company with fraud over the certification of the 737 MAX following a Lion Air crash on Oct. 29, 2019 and an Ethiopian Airlines disaster on March 10, 2019.<br/>
The wave of air rage as US airlines attempt to return to normalcy while the pandemic subsides has reached unprecedented levels, according to data released Tuesday. So far this year, the FAA has proposed $563,800 in fines against at least 60 people for violations ranging from striking flight attendants to repeatedly refusing to don protective face masks, the agency said. That includes $124,500 in penalties against eight people announced Tuesday. “The FAA is strictly enforcing a zero-tolerance policy toward passengers who cause disturbances on flights or fail to obey flight crew instructions in violation of the FAA’s regulations or engage in conduct proscribed by federal law,” the agency said. The FAA has initiated 487 enforcement cases this year through Sunday, far exceeding the previous high for an entire year, 305 in 2004, the agency said. Of the 3,082 reports of unruly passengers in 2021 received by the FAA, 2,350 or 76% were related to face masks.<br/>
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday are introducing legislation to prevent the furloughing of FAA safety employees during government shutdowns. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman and other senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers are unveiling legislation to prevent furloughs and ensure air traffic controllers continue to be paid during shutdowns, according to a fact sheet. During the 2018-2019 federal government shutdown, more than 17,000 FAA employees -- 40% of the entire agency—were furloughed -- including the majority of the agency’s aviation safety inspectors. <br/>
The number of aircraft parked for more than seven days at Europe’s airports has dropped to the lowest level since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, in what Eurocontrol describes as “a good sign for the summer ahead”. More than 800 aircraft have been brought back into service since the start of May, the European air traffic manager says in its latest data snapshot. In mid-June, this left just under 3,400 aircraft inactive for more than seven days – the lowest level since numbers soared in mid-March 2020 and reached a crisis peak of 7,168 in April. The previous pandemic low was in late August 2020, when just under 3,600 aircraft were parked at Europe’s airports, Eurocontrol data shows. As travel restrictions were reimposed, numbers trended upwards again, reaching nearly 5,000 in early 2021. The aviation body notes that pre-pandemic, it was common for around 2,000 aircraft to be parked at the region’s airports each week, but that levels would fluctuate due to seasonality. Eurocontrol also notes that business aviation and private aircraft do not necessarily fly every week, and that aircraft under maintenance or repair, and recently retired aircraft, are included in the inactive total.<br/>
British pilots on Wednesday urged politicians to save the summer holiday season through clearer travel guidance and provide direct financial support to rescue jobs as the industry grapples with an existential crisis brought on by COVID restrictions. England is re-opening from a third national COVID-19 lockdown but the travel sector is essentially closed for business, with the government advising against travel for all bar a small handful of destinations. British government ministers are examining ways to re-open travel more broadly, and are considering plans to ditch quarantine requirements for vaccinated adults and their children to some destinations. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that whatever happens, it will be a difficult year for travel. “The government has to decide if this summer it will make or break the UK travel industry,” said Brian Strutton, acting General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA). “Pilots are meeting politicians across the UK today to urge them to put pressure on the government to act now and save not only the summer but the future of UK aviation and travel. ” BALPA said that a more transparent and open system to make restrictions more proportionate and re-open larger scale travel to the United States and Europe.<br/>
The UK aviation industry has announced carbon targets that allow emissions from planes to increase into the mid-2030s. It says buying carbon offsets will result in overall emissions falling compared with 2019 levels. The move was welcomed by government ministers. But environmental groups said the industry was “trying to have its cake and eat it” and said only reducing flights would guarantee the carbon cuts needed to tackle the climate crisis. Aviation caused 7% of the UK’s emissions in 2018. The UK’s climate change laws use 1990 as a reference year and, compared with this, the aviation industry is planning for emissions to be about double by 2030. The sector’s peak year for emissions was 2019, which is the year it has chosen to use. The industry said sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), electric and hydrogen aircraft, and changes to flight routes to make them shorter would reduce the emissions from flying in the future. But under the sector’s plan, emissions would rise in the mid-2030s because of increasing numbers of flights. Paying other sectors to remove CO2 from the air cuts emissions by 15% by 2030 and 40% by 2040, compared with the peak year of 2019. But compared with the 1990 baseline, when aviation emissions were much smaller, the level of future emissions targeted by the aviation industry equates to an increase of approximately 45% in 2030 and 105% in 2040, according to Simon Evans at the Carbon Brief thinktank.<br/>
After a tough 2020, Asia-Pacific airline executives caution that challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic have yet to be left behind. Mandy Ng, CE of Hong Kong low-cost carrier HK Express, says that while the airline had to shut down for a period in 2020, work continued to integrate the carrier into the Cathay Pacific Group, which acquired it in 2019. “My team has been able to focus on transformation projects, which actually cover almost every single aspect of the business, from strategy planning to operations to customer service- basically everything,” she says. “It was a tough time and it is still tough time for us in Hong Kong without any domestic travel, but we have kept the team intact, kept the team focused on the future, and invested for the future.” Ng made the remarks during a panel discussion during the Aviation Festival Asia virtual event. She was joined on the panel by Sourav Sinha, chief information officer of IndiGo and Siew Shan Sim, chief financial officer of AirAsia Berhad. AirAsia’s Sim says that 2021 will remained subdued for the industry because regional vaccine rollouts are lagging those in countries such as the USA and United Kingdom. IndiGo’s Sinha stressed how unpredictable things are. In February, India’s domestic traffic was recovering strongly, but then the second wave of Covid-19 hit, hammering demand. Still, IndiGo is already back to 30-35% of pre-pandemic capacity, with loads improving.<br/>
China plans to keep pandemic border restrictions in place for at least another year amid fears over the emergence of new variants and a calendar of sensitive events, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The provisional timeline for the second half of 2022 was set during a meeting of China's cabinet, or State Council, in mid-May, the WSJ said. China sharply reduced transport links with other countries as the coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, spread around the world last year. The capital, Beijing, is due to host the Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics in February 2022, bringing thousands of participating athletes to the country. Travellers to mainland China, regardless of nationality, face tough requirements prior to travel including multiple medical tests and stringent quarantine rules upon entry. Airlines, both Chinese and non-Chinese, also face the risk of their flight routes being suspended temporarily if a certain number of infected passengers are detected on arrival in China.<br/>
The transport ministry will require airlines to submit business improvement plans by late August in anticipation of a recovery in travel demand, which has been devastated by the coronavirus crisis, informed sources said Tuesday. The step is part of the ministry's efforts to help pandemic-hit airlines maintain their flight routes. While cutting a total of Y120b in costs that the industry pays partly by reducing airport usage fees, the ministry will oblige airlines to come up with growth strategy plans so that they will not lag behind their rivals in capitalizing on the anticipated recovery in demand for flight services, according to the sources. A new ministry ordinance was drawn up to mandate the submission of such plans. The ministry will also ask airlines to pursue carbon neutrality, or reduce carbon dioxide emissions to virtually zero, by introducing fuel-efficient equipment and using alternative fuels, for example. Carriers will also be asked to report to the ministry every six months on how they are trying to maintain employment, the sources said. These moves come after the Diet enacted earlier this month the revised aviation law, under which the government compiles basic guidelines on supporting airlines when they face difficulty maintaining their route networks due to a pandemic or other forms of emergency.<br/>
Thai authorities expect international passenger numbers to hit pre-pandemic levels “before 2025”, as the country inches towards welcoming back visitors in the tourist hotspot of Phuket. Detailing measures that will be undertaken in the advent of the ‘Phuket Sandbox’ pilot, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) notes that the target takes into account a successful full reopening of borders. Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has set a target of opening up by mid-October, following more than a year of shut international borders. The move, announced by Chan-Ocha on 16 June, will allow fully-vaccinated visitors to enter the country without the need for quarantine, and is aimed at rebooting the country’s tourism-dependent economy. The Thai tourism sector has taken a hard hit as borders remain shut. CAAT statistics showed that for 2020, the country received just 16 million international passengers. This represented a staggering 82% decrease year on year. For Phuket, which will allow vaccinated travellers in without quarantine from July 1, the CAAT discloses that the July-October summer scheduling period will see about 134 flights a day. This represents just over a quarter of the Phuket airport’s maximum capacity of 480 flights a day. By the winter scheduling period, which runs from 31 October until 26 March 2022, CAAT expects about 320 flights a day. <br/>
Cash-strapped UK aerospace manufacturers need the government to step up the funding available for research into green technologies or risk losing out to overseas competitors, a senior industry leader has warned. Although the UK government continues to contribute through the Aerospace Technology Institute, the Covid-19 crisis has left many in the supply chain unable to fund R&D activities adequately, says Tony Wood, Meggitt CE and president of the ADS trade body. Wood, speaking Tuesday during a webinar to unveil interim decarbonisation goals for UK aviation, said that projects were currently “only funded to about 50%” of the level necessary and called for a “doubling of fnding” from the government. Pointing out that for every GBP1 of funding, another GBP10 is spent by the industry on R&D activities, he says there is a “phenomenal opportunity for government to invest”, particularly “when even finding the pound will be quite a challenge for those companies with weak balance sheets”. Although thanking the government for the implementation of general coronavirus support initiatives such as Job Retention Scheme and the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, Wood points out that “eventually those schemes fall away and the industry still has its day of reckoning”. Companies with the biggest exposure to civil aerospace were facing “very difficult questions on investment”, he says.<br/>
New Zealand will pause the trans-Tasman bubble to NSW for the second time on Tuesday night for three days. The decision follows the Australian state recording 10 new local cases of COVID, though significantly eight of those were already isolating and nine were close contacts to previously identified cases. New Zealand’s COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that while the risk to health remains low, there were still “several unknowns” that led to the country taking a “precautionary approach”. Quarantine-free travel between the two countries only started in April, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had warned the agreement would be temporarily halted in the event of a lockdown. The deal has been twice paused to WA when cases were identified there, and once previously to NSW and Victoria. When New Zealand announced it was starting quarantine-free travel, it said it was doing so under the guidance of what PM Ardern called “flyer beware”. In the event of a COVID cluster, the country will reserve the right to continue, pause or suspend the arrangement.<br/>