United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says he does not anticipate a vaccination requirement for travel within the United States, but he said it is possible for some international travel. When asked whether passengers will need to get vaccinated as a condition to fly, Kirby said Wednesday that "it's a government question, but I suspect that it won't happen domestically." Delta CEO Ed Bastian also does not foresee vaccinations as a requirement to fly in the US, according to a May interview. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with Kirby and other executives from companies that are mandating that workers get vaccinated. United announced Friday that all its 67,000 employees in the United States would need to get vaccinated by October 25 or face getting fired. Kirby says through increased employer mandates, he thinks that the United States could see an 80% to 90% vaccination rate. Biden "asked us to do everything we could with fellow CEOs or anyone we were in contact with to encourage others to do the same thing," Kirby said.<br/>
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Avianca has submitted a reorganisation plan to a US bankruptcy court. The Bogota-based airline’s plan, submitted to the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York on 10 August, outlines its obligations to creditors and the settlement of claims. It says a new strategy will help it simplify operations and position Avianca to thrive in the Latin American market. “Avianca expects to build on its core strengths, including its strong operational performance, increased capacity, brand recognition, its market leadership position in the vibrant Latin American airline market, optionality with more point-to-point routes, its membership in Star Alliance and the strength of its LifeMiles programme, while becoming a more cost-efficient airline, in order to emerge from these Chapter 11 cases as an elite competitor for years to come,” the airline says. Avianca and its Latin American peers Aeromexico and LATAM Airlines declared bankruptcy last year after the coronavirus decimated global air travel demand. Airlines shrunk networks, retired and stored aircraft, and laid off staff in an effort to preserve cash.<br/>
Soaring cargo revenue helped Turkish Airlines record an operating profit at group level for Q2 this year, amid signs that passenger traffic will soon begin a sustained recovery. Reporting its results for the April-June 2021 period on 10 August, the Star Alliance carrier said higher cargo income of $941m significantly compensated for depressed passenger revenue, which came in at $1.16b. Pre-crisis in 2019, cargo only accounted for $393m of the airline’s second-quarter revenue, versus passenger income of $2.7b. ”The group foresees positive cash flows and high unit revenues for cargo operations will continue in 2021,” Turkish Airlines says, noting that its cargo unit was serving 96 destinations with 26 freighters on 30 June this year, alongside 242 further destinations with its 346 passenger aircraft. Passenger capacity measured in available seat kilometres meanwhile hit 56% of pre-crisis levels during the second quarter – 62% on domestic routes and 55% on international services – and is expected to reach 75-80% of pre-crisis levels in the current quarter. “The group predicts passenger operations will be affected positively from the widespread use of Covid-19 vaccinations for the second half of 2021 and beyond,” Turkish Airlines states.<br/>