United wants the federal government to step in to address congestion problems at Newark Liberty International Airport as a runway repair project that began July 6 causes headaches for many summer travelers. United CE Scott Kirby asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA chief Steve Dickson "to temporarily and proportionally reduce the number of operations per hour at Newark while airport capacity is constrained by runway construction." Newark, which was the 15th busiest US airport in 2020 by total passengers, has seen lengthy flight delays, long taxi delays and numerous cancellations in recent weeks. United, which has a hub at the northern New Jersey airport, flies about 65% of all Newark flights. In the July 15 letter, which has not been previously reported, Kirby said that during a six-day period in July "the average number of (Newark) flight cancellations by all airlines was more than 100 flights per day" which placed a "severe strain on employees and operations." Kirby told regulators that United, which plans to resume a full schedule at Newark this fall, wants the FAA to step in to ensure that flight reductions are shared equitably among the airlines who fly in and out of the airport. He did not advocate returning to slot controls like those at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports, however. Kirby asked FAA to "bring together all relevant parties to reduce the number of flights per hour temporarily and proportionally during July, August, and September."<br/>
star
More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, many airlines have returned to operating bolstered schedules with flights filled with passengers once again. Airports have been busy and airlines have ramped up flight schedules and opened up recruitment drives as air travel returns to a new, yet familiar normal. The return of air travel might have been slower than initially predicted, but it has brought back much-needed earnings for several airlines as their numbers begin to improve quarter over quarter. Air Canada reported its Q2 financial results on July 23, showcasing better earnings than in recent quarters amidst big losses, as restrictions began to ease and demand for air travel is slowly returning. In the report, the airline announced improved operating revenues of $837m, which is an increase of 59% from Q2 2020. However, operating losses were still at a massive $1.13b, but considered an improvement when compared to $1.56b in Q2 2020. “The Covid-19 pandemic continued to weigh on Air Canada and the Canadian airline industry in the second quarter, with its impact on travel reflected in our results,” Air Canada President and CEO Michael Rousseau said. Despite passenger bookings being lower than pre-pandemic levels, the national carrier is anticipating demand for air travel to rise again in the next few months.<br/>
One of the few women leading a top airline says parents can do more to encourage girls into aviation-related professions, as she laments a lack of progress on gender diversity in the industry during her career. Recently appointed TAP Air Portugal CE Christine Ourmieres-Widener says that “if the industry was doing enough” on gender diversity among its staff, “the outcome would be different”. Instead, Ourmieres-Widener is one of just six women among the chief executives of the world’s top 100 airlines, according to FlightGlobal data, with similarly low female representation being seen among pilots and engineers. At TAP, some 4% of pilots are women, the former Flybe chief says, while female engineers account for 20% of the airline’s total. “I think there are many things, many initiatives to be done,” Ourmierers-Widener states of ways to address the imbalance, while highlighting the mentoring and coaching of women that she continues undertake. Noting that in some countries gender diversity is “not always a priority because of cultural backgrounds”, in Europe she has hopes that “we will see some evolution, because we have so many smart women [already employed in the industry]…. who have the calibre and the talent to access senior positions”. Of the next generation of airline employees, Ourmieres-Widener says it is important that young children are not swayed by outdated views on gender-specific jobs. “You need to talk to parents first” to increase their awareness of the career options open to their children, she suggests.<br/>
Japan is set to start issuing paper certificates for coronavirus vaccination -- a slow rollout typical for a country struggling with digitization. And the lack of digital options has raised concerns among airlines eager to revive international travel. "Other countries are making strides in digital certificates, and quickly," said All Nippon Airways Executive VP Juichi Hirasawa. "Japan must not fall behind." The EU began offering digital vaccine certificates in July, allowing recipients to skip quarantines and other coronavirus travel restrictions within the bloc. While Japan will open applications for official proofs of vaccination on Monday, it will initially offer only physical copies. With global travel expected to begin recovering from a coronavirus-induced lull, airlines like ANA are now testing apps like the IATA Travel Pass as a way to verify if passengers are vaccinated. But they need government approval to officially accept these apps. Uploading vaccine records managed by a multitude of national and local authorities across the world will also pose a major challenge, especially when the documents are only available in paper as in Japan. Ideally, passengers would be able to show their vaccination status on these apps at check-in so they can skip COVID-19 restrictions at their destination. Doing so would require airlines and governments to sync up their records. ANA expects it will take at least a year to put the necessary frameworks in place. Paper certificates would complicate the effort because they are harder to adapt to different languages and easier to fake. To bring the Japanese government around, the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan is currently lobbying authorities for an early rollout of digital passports. During a visit to Tokyo's Haneda Airport on June 4, Kazuyoshi Akaba, the minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, observed a demonstration of the digital certificate app touted by ANA.<br/>
Nine in 10 Singapore Airlines Group pilots and eight in 10 cabin crew are back in the skies, flying at least once a month. This is a far cry from the hours they were clocking before Covid-19 brought the aviation sector to its knees, but the fact that many are back in their uniforms offers some hope things are slowly but surely recovering. Analysts, however, stressed that the immediate future will remain gloomy. About 2,200 pilots - about 90% of the total number - are now flying at least once a month. This comprises pilots from SIA and the group's budget arm Scoot. About 6,500 cabin crew, or eight in 10, are also doing at least one flight a month. The SIA Group disclosed the figures to The Straits Times, but did not say what the lowest point was, in terms of active flight crew, citing commercial sensitivities. In SIA Group's previous update on crew numbers last August, it said then it had more than 3,200 pilots and almost 11,000 cabin crew. Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia, Singapore's other local airline, said about 50% of its pilots and cabin crew are back at work. The budget carrier had grounded its entire fleet of 18 Airbus 320s at its lowest point of the pandemic in March last year. A spokesman for the SIA Group said: "In general, the average number of flying hours for our pilots and cabin crew has been increasing in tandem with the calibrated growth in the SIA Group's passenger capacity." He added that the frequency of flights for the crew vary from month to month. The crew members' return to work comes as SIA and Scoot continue to make gradual steps towards recovery. For example, SIA has resumed its Tokyo-Los Angeles service and started a new Copenhagen-Rome service.<br/>
Air New Zealand has released more than 300,000 airfares for under $100 each across its domestic network. The timing of the sale is ideal for those wanting to get away around the country while the quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia is closed. The airfares are for flights between September and November and are on sale until Thursday. Air NZ has also added more than 250,000 additional domestic seats from mid-August to October to support domestic tourism and encourage Kiwis to travel to the regions. The move will also keep their trans-Tasman aircraft in the air rather than on the ground. Queenstown in particular will see an increase of over 45,000 seats, Nelson will get an extra 16,000 and Napier 17,000. Air NZ Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says it's great to see demand for domestic travel above pre-COVID-19 levels.<br/>