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The wings of a Boeing 737 MAX airliner swept over green fields populated by colorful small planes, lending a rare corporate touch to the world's largest grassroots air show this past week. EAA AirVenture brought together more than half a million aviation enthusiasts and thousands of vintage or homebuilt aircraft and aerobatic showstoppers to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for a celebration dubbed the Woodstock of aviation. For one week, the annual summer event becomes the world's busiest airspace with well over 100 takeoffs or landings every hour. With marquee events like the Paris Airshow cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oshkosh provided a tempting showcase this year for corporate industry leaders like Boeing and United - a reminder of what's at stake for an industry still overcoming its worst crisis. A year ago US airlines were grappling with a pilot surplus. Now as travel demand snaps back more quickly than expected, they are rushing to fill hiring pipelines and woo youth to the industry, a change from the slow pace of recovery from previous crises. "If you had told me last year that I'd be in this event, that I'd have an avenue to get to United Airlines, I would have told you, you were crazy," said John Pama, a 21-year old graduate of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University. Pama was among 30 prospective young pilots United flew into Oshkosh on a brand-new 737 MAX brandishing the "Aviate" logo for its pilot recruitment program. The airline plans to hire 350 pilots this year, 1,500 by 2022 and 3,000 by 2023. The Boeing 737, dwarfed by its larger 777 cousin at airports like United's Chicago O'Hare, stood out against the sea of small planes dotted about the Wisconsin countryside, many with pitched tents under their wings where spectators stay for the week-long event.<br/>

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest carrier in Africa, on Sunday denied it was transporting weapons and soldiers to the war-torn Tigray region. Calls to boycott the state-owned airline appeared on social media over allegations it was involved in the nine-month-old conflict. "Ethiopian Airlines strongly refutes all the recent baseless and unfounded allegations that are running on social media regarding the airline's involvement in transporting war armament and soldiers to the Tigray region," it said in a statement on Twitter. The war pitting government forces and their allies against Tigray rebels has cost thousands of lives and pushed hundreds of thousands into famine, with claims of rights abuses on both sides. The allegations about the national carrier appeared in numerous Twitter posts, some accompanied by pictures of soldiers boarding one of its planes. But Ethiopian Airlines said the reports "used various photoshopped, old and unrelated pictures to tarnish our brand". Flights to and from Tigray, the northernmost region of Ethiopia, were suspended after the conflict erupted in November and after being reopened for a period, the airspace was shut again a month ago. "We have had no flight to the region since then, and none of our aircraft landed in the conflict area," Ethiopian Airlines said.<br/>

ANA Holdings on Friday posted a net loss of Y51.1b ($466m) for the April to June quarter, more than halving its Y108.8b net loss for the same period in 2020, thanks to cost-cutting measures amid lingering COVID-19 woes. The airline, referring to the swift recovery of its counterparts in the U.S., said the rollout of vaccines is key to attracting passengers, adding that as more people in Japan are vaccinated, people will fly more. "Although nearly 90% of the [earnings] period was under states of emergency, the number of domestic passengers far exceeded [the same period last year]. Everyone is taking thorough infection-prevention measures," Executive VP Ichiro Fukuzawa said. "It is appropriate to say that we are nearly over the worst." The operator of ANA sees signs of recovery. While it posted a sixth consecutive quarter of losses, the April to June loss was the smallest since January to March 2020, when the coronavirus first spread worldwide. Fukuzawa said the company's quarterly operating loss of Y64.6b was around Y15b better than expected. The airline kept its full-year forecast through March 2022 with Y3.5b of net profit. ANA Holdings boosted its bottom line by operating fewer flights and smaller planes, and by temporarily sending employees to outside companies, as outlined in its restructuring plan last October. The company also retired larger planes ahead of schedule last fiscal year, which lowered depreciation expenses. Record quarterly revenue for cargo also helped the carrier. ANA Executive VP Ichiro Fukuzawa believes his company is "nearly over the worst" when it comes to the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the company had 906.2b yen of cash, deposits and securities as of end of June. "We continue to have an adequate level for the operation," said Fukuzawa.<br/>