unaligned

Hawaiian Airlines is the latest carrier to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, joining a growing number of big corporations that are responding to a surge in coronavirus cases. The Honolulu-based company will require all US-based staff to be vaccinated by Nov. 1, according to a memo sent by President and CEO Peter Ingram to employees on Monday. "There is no greater demonstration of our values than ensuring the safety of others," Ingram's memo reads. "Safety is the foundation of air travel, and it is ingrained throughout our operation and service. This is no different. By getting vaccinated, we protect ourselves and those around us.” The company plans to develop a program for its international staff that aligns with the vaccine accessibility in their countries. Employees can apply for medical and religious exemptions if eligible but will be tested for COVID-19 regularly. Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Alex Da Silva said the company will be collaborating with unions and other stakeholders to figure out how to address employees who decline to get vaccinated and do not have medical and religious exemptions.<br/>

Spirit Airlines canceled just 16 flights on Tuesday, down from hundreds a day last week as the low-cost carrier struggled with storms, staffing shortages and other issues that stranded tens and thousands of customers. The Miramar, Florida-based carrier canceled more than 2,000 flights since July 31, causing chaos at several airports and infuriating customers. CEO Ted Christie last week apologized for the disruptions and said management should have canceled more flights earlier to stop the issues from dragging out. Spirit’s Tuesday cancellations were just 2% of the day’s schedule. On several days last week it canceled more than half of its flights.<br/>

JetBlue has said the Covid pandemic will not stop the airline from launching its long-awaited New York to London service on Wednesday. CE Robin Hayes said there was "strong demand" for the route in the US where, he said, JetBlue had returned to 2019 levels. The move comes as the global travel industry continues to recover. Holiday Inn-owner Intercontinental Hotels said holiday demand was "returning strongly". JetBlue's first transatlantic flight will leave New York's JFK airport on Wednesday evening and will land at London's Heathrow. Flights to London Gatwick will begin on 29 September. However, travelling on the route does not come cheap, at least to start with. JetBlue's website no longer has seats available for that inaugural flight, but prices for the next few days start at $941 one-way.<br/>

Regional carrier Mesa Air Group struggled to meet the summer surge in travel demand in the US, thanks to supply-chain shortages and maintenance delays, affecting the flights it operated for American Airlines. The maintenance bottleneck was the primary cause of Mesa’s operational woes during the summer, leaving it with fewer spare aircraft in its fleet and ill prepared to handle disruptions caused by summer weather, CEO Jonathan Ornstein said during the company’s most recent quarterly call on August 9. Unlike other airlines that are facing staffing problems, Mesa has enough flight attendants on its roster and more than 250 pilots in its training pipeline. “I mean our flight attendant numbers have been really good, [and] our pilot situation, especially on the American side is healthy, so the weather impact to us, yes, it causes all those related issues on crews timing out and all of that issue,” COO Bradford Rich said. “Our primary issue has been that when we have the weather-related operational interruption, the inability to reset the system with adequate spare ratio has really been the core of our problem.” Mesa deferred maintenance during the early days of the pandemic to save cash. But that bill has now come due, and aircraft — particularly the fleet of CRJ900s that it operates for American, which are getting cabin refurbishments — are undergoing heavy-maintenance C-checks that take twice as long as they did before the pandemic. The regional carrier said in anticipation of this, it lined up additional maintenance providers. But the crux of the problem is those providers have been unable to source enough spare parts.<br/>

Norse Atlantic, a recently formed Norwegian airline that aims to begin flights between Europe and the US next year, is in talks about cooperation with local carriers on both sides of the Atlantic, it said on Tuesday. Taking on customers from airlines that do not offer transatlantic routes could boost Norse’s passenger numbers, founder and CEO Bjoern Tore Larsen told a news conference. He declined to name the companies Norse is in talks with or to specify what sort of cooperation might be achieved. Norse listed on Oslo’s stock market this year and seeks to fill the void left by Norwegian Air’s exit from transatlantic routes using 15 leased Boeing 787 Dreamliner plans. “Based on the current situation, we anticipate that all our 15 Dreamliners will be flying customers between Europe and the U.S. next summer,” Larsen said. “We do have to see travel restrictions being lifted before we launch however,” Larsen added. The airline plans to fly between US cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami to European destinations including London, Paris and Oslo. It has said it will seek to expand based on demand and profitability and could eventually fly to Asia. It plans to recruit 350 to 400 pilots and have around 1,600 employees by the time its full fleet is in the air, Larsen said. <br/>

Madrid’s Criminal Court Number 15 investigating the E53m Spanish government rescue of Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas has unlocked the second and final part of the loan, amounting to E34m, the Spanish news agency EFE reported. In an August 9 ruling the news agency had access to, judge Jaime Serret considered an appeal the airline had presented which argued that withholding the funds “may pose a risk of insolvency for Plus Ultra, forcing it to stop operating, and creating damage to passengers who have paid in advance.” Previously, the court had suspended the delivery of the sum, scheduled for July 28, as a precautionary measure pending an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of public funds. Now, however, it recognised that “it is true” that, for the moment, “there is not the slightest indication” of the accusations emanating from a number of Spanish opposition politicians who demanded such an investigation. Both the conservative People’s Party and the far-right party Vox had limited themselves “to transcribing articles of the Penal Code and its jurisprudence without linking them to the facts denounced.”<br/>

Nigerian startup Green Africa Airways has received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and plans to start commercial operations between Lagos and Abuja on Thursday. Certification was achieved on August 9 with the NCAA handing over the permit to Green Africa founder Babawande Afolabi at a ceremony in Abuja. Bookings for tickets opened on the same day. Green Africa has leased three ATR72-600s from ACIA Aero to start operations and plans to scale to up to 15 ATRs by 2022. This would position Green Africa to become the largest operator of ATR in the region, the airline said. Green Africa intends to launch services to seven domestic destinations, including Lagos; Akure; Ilorin; Abuja; Enugu; Owerri; and Port Harcourt Omagwa; with plans for two more bases outside of Lagos.<br/>

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has announced it is adding Bahrain to its flight roster. Set to commence on September 9, the route will strengthen connectivity within the GCC and will bring Wizz Air Abu Dhabi’s destinations to a total of 32 since launching in January 2021. The flight to Bahrain will operate three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and tickets are on sale on wizzair.com and the airline’s mobile app (also available in Arabic). <br/>

Embattled Chinese conglomerate HNA Group will delay the submission of a proposal for the restructuring of its heavily indebted airlines-to-property business, as China’s state-owned carriers have steered clear of bailing out the country’s biggest private-sector carrier, according to sources familiar with the matter. The restructuring of Hainan-based HNA will most probably involve consortiums comprising multiple companies. The government working group that seized control of HNA in late February 2020 will make sure Hainan Airlines remains a private company and will ring-fence it from the country’s three biggest state-owned carriers, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. HNA Group’s debt amounts to at least US$187b. HNA Group and Hainan Airlines did not respond to requests for comment. HNA, which used to own a global assets portfolio that ranged from the largest stake in Deutsche Bank to 25% of Hilton Hotels, entered bankruptcy restructuring in January, a year after its previous management was ousted in a state takeover. As a state ward, the company began looking for strategic investors publicly in March and has been shedding its international assets.<br/>