A United Airlines subsidiary has mandated coronavirus vaccines for employees, joining its parent company and a growing number of US corporations that are making them obligatory. United Ground Express (UGE), a wholly owned subsidiary of United that assists in airport operations, said in a memo to workers that management “has determined the best way to protect all of you and our traveling customers moving forward is to now mandate the Covid-19 vaccine.” UGE has seen an increase in employees who test positive for the virus, according to the Sept. 2 memo. The announcement follows a similar move by United in early August that didn’t cover employees at the subsidiary, which handles tasks such as wheelchair assistance and security-line management at more than five dozen airports for United and several other carriers, including Southwest and JetBlue. “While it’s a subsidiary of United, UGE makes its own decisions based on its own business needs, including the timing of its vaccine requirement,” United Airlines spokeswoman Leslie Scott said Tuesday. United employees have until Sept. 27 to offer proof of vaccination or face termination. UGE management employees have until Nov. 15 to get vaccinated, while the rest of the staff have until Dec. 1. The company’s Ground Express unit is offering eight hours of pay for employees who submit their proof by Nov. 15.<br/>
star
Lufthansa has abandoned a goal of repaying its state bailout before German elections this month, leaving the airline group at risk of losing control over its return to normal operations after the Covid-19 crisis. Europe’s largest carrier will seek to secure a deal on winding down the state’s 20% stake with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government before she leaves office, CEO Carsten Spohr said. Lufthansa had earlier sought to pay off the remainder of the E9b aid package before the Sept. 26 vote that will determine her successor. The new timetable threatens to put Lufthansa at the mercy of political developments and an unpredictable coronavirus outbreak as the airline tries to loosen constraints that came with last year’s bailout. Merkel’s conservatives have lost ground to Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, a party that would likely hold on to the Lufthansa stake for longer. Lufthansa has abandoned a goal of repaying its state bailout before German elections this month, leaving the airline group at risk of losing control over its return to normal operations after the Covid-19 crisis. Europe’s largest carrier will seek to secure a deal on winding down the state’s 20% stake with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government before she leaves office, Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr told reporters at a media event in Frankfurt. Lufthansa had earlier sought to pay off the remainder of the E9b aid package before the Sept. 26 vote that will determine her successor. The new timetable threatens to put Lufthansa at the mercy of political developments and an unpredictable coronavirus outbreak as the airline tries to loosen constraints that came with last year’s bailout. Merkel’s conservatives have lost ground to Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, a party that would likely hold on to the Lufthansa stake for longer. <br/>
SAS has deferred the deliveries of its last two A350-900s, originally due in 2022 and 2023, so as to better adapt to demand recovery. "[We] pushed the delivery of the next two A350s by one year and that is a significant change. And I think that's a positive, and I think that's aligned much better with the demand going forward," Executive VP and CFO Magnus Ornberg said during the carrier's quarterly investors call. The Scandinavian airline currently plans to take both A350s in financial year 2024, which extends from November 2023 to October 2024. It did not offer any further details. SAS already operates six A350-900s which were delivered between November 2019 and June 2021. Two of the six are owned by the airline, two are on finance leases, and two are dry-leased, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows. Ornberg clarified that one of the two outstanding A350s has already been sold to an undisclosed lessor and will be leased back by the carrier after delivery. SAS also has two A321-200NX(LR)s on order from Air Lease Corporation due before November 2021 and thirty-five A320-200Ns on direct order from Airbus. <br/>
A pilot travel scheme to allow travellers vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Singapore without quarantine will take off as planned on Wednesday. The first flight under the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), SQ325, is expected to depart Frankfurt in Germany at 10pm local time on Tuesday (4am on Wednesday, Singapore time), and land at Changi Airport at 4.25pm on Wednesday. Vaccinated travellers from these two countries will go through up to four Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests in lieu of quarantine, and have to adhere to other conditions such as taking designated VTL flights to Singapore. Singapore unilaterally opened the VTL to travellers from Brunei and Germany as a start. Brunei remains closed to leisure travel, but as Germany has been open to travellers from the Republic since October last year, it means Singapore residents can use the VTL scheme to travel without quarantine in either country. Singapore Airlines (SIA), which will operate three VTL flights weekly from Frankfurt and two VTL flights weekly from Munich, said that it has seen an increase in bookings. It declined to give further details, which it said were commercially sensitive.<br/>