United Airlines said Thursday 95% of its management was fully vaccinated and about 90% of all employees had uploaded proof of shots ahead of the company’s Sept. 27 deadline for staff vaccination. United has taken a tough stance on employees who decline to get vaccinated and became the first US carrier in early August to announce it would mandate vaccines for employees. Last week, United said employees who receive religious exemptions reut.rs/3En1P2i from the company for COVID-19 vaccinations will be placed on temporary, unpaid personal leave from Oct. 2. United said nearly 20,000 employees have uploaded their records since the company announced its mandatory vaccination policy last month. Those uploading their vaccination card before Sept. 20 will be eligible for an additional day of pay.<br/>
star
United Airlines has achieved a high level of compliance with the strict vaccine mandate it set for its 67,000 US employees. But the airline's CEO doesn't believe expanding that requirement to passengers is a good idea. United CEO Scott Kirby said that about 90% of the company's employees have shown proof of their vaccination to the airline. He believes most of the rest have gotten the vaccine but just haven't gotten around to the uploading their verifications. And so far, very few employees have resigned rather than get vaccinated, he added. "In a large company, it's a handful," he said Thursday. "The ones I'm aware of are in the single digit number of people. We're going to have more by the time it finishes, but it's going to be a very low number of people." Concerns about losing vaccine hesitant employees in a very tight labor market is one of the factors keeping some employers from imposing a vaccine mandate. But last week President Joe Biden announced a federal mandate for companies with 100 or more employees to either require their workers get a vaccine or submit to weekly testing. Kirby said it's important to get as many people as possible vaccinated in order to end the pandemic and get the economy — and air travel — fully functioning again. But while travel between some countries requires proof of vaccination, Kirby isn't endorsing a vaccine mandate on domestic air travel or other forms of transportation. "I don't think [mandating vaccination for] air travel on its own will drive a huge increase in vaccination rates," he said. "I think this employer mandate will drive a really big increase."<br/>
The Lufthansa Group’s budget arm Eurowings is making a play for the Swedish market as the competitive landscape continues to shift in Europe. The move realizes the German group’s long-held aim to capture a larger share of the Scandinavian market but comes as other carriers also see opportunities in the region as Norwegian Air and SAS continue to struggle. From March, Eurowings will offer nonstop service from Stockholm’s Arlanda airport and 20 European destinations, including sun runs to Alicante, Faro and Nice, as well as more traditional destinations Berlin, Birmingham and Copenhagen. The airline will initially base 150 crew members and five Airbus A320s at Arlanda. “We have done our homework and responded quickly to new customer needs and requests,” said Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof on Thursday. “We are convinced we will soon also attract many Swedish vacationers and business travelers with our cutting-edge services.” The Lufthansa Group has long had its eye on the Scandinavian market. For years, those overtures took the form of a possible acquisition of SAS and, according to reports in 2016, its integration into Eurowings. Nothing came of those plans with SAS remaining an independent carrier and fellow Star Alliance member. Story has more.<br/>
Lufthansa has named Steffan Harbarth as the new chief executive of its Italian regional carrier Air Dolomiti, with effect from the start of next year. Harbath is currently one of two managing directors at regional unit Lufthansa CityLine, having previously held a number of management positions at Lufthansa Group. He succeeds Jorg Eberhart, who is moving to become Lufthansa Group’s head of strategy and organisational development, at the helm of Air Dolomiti. Lufthansa COO Ola Hansson says: ”As one of Lufthansa Group‘s strategically important markets, Italy and the further development of Air Dolomiti is of major importance. Steffen Harbarth is the perfect choice for this new challenge given his considerable experience in commercial airline management.”<br/>
Domestic traffic in August at China’s three largest airlines hit a new low in 2021 as parts of the Chinese mainland battled a surge in coronavirus infections caused by the more contagious Delta variant. In traffic results released for August, the ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines — all carried significantly fewer passengers compared to the same period in 2020, as well as in July. Capacity, too, was significantly cut during the month. The latest wave of infections originated from the eastern city of Nanjing in late-July, and its rapid spread across large swathes of the country forced Chinese authorities to tighten social distancing measures, including limiting non-essential domestic travel. While the latest wave of infections did little to hurt the carriers’ July traffic, it had a significant impact in August. Air China flew 3.16m domestic passengers during the month, nearly 57% lower year on year, and a 58.5% decline compared to July. Capacity was cut 42% compared to the same period in 2020, while traffic declined 54% year on year. On a month-on-month basis, the Beijing-based carrier reported a 46% and 58% reduction in capacity and traffic, respectively. The latest traffic results come as the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the wave of infections posed a “severe test” for Chinese carriers. <br/>
Indian carriers continue to see an increase in domestic traffic for August, reporting a third consecutive month of traffic improvement amid an easing of domestic travel restrictions. Data released by the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows that India’s carriers flew about 6.7m domestic passengers in August, 34% higher month on month. The number of domestic passengers is also more than double compared to the relatively low base in August 2020. However, when compared to pre-pandemic 2019, Indian carriers carried 43% fewer domestic passengers — an indication that full domestic recovery remains a distant goal. State-owned Air India carried around 890,000 domestic passengers in August, a 33% jump month on month, DGCA data shows. Story has details of other carriers.<br/>
Singapore Airlines Thursday said that it has exhausted the S$8.8b in gross proceeds raised from its rights issue in June last year, with the last $600m having been used for aircraft and aircraft-related payments between July 1 and Sept 1. In a filing to the Singapore Exchange, the flag carrier said that the net proceeds of $6.2b from the issuance of additional mandatory convertible bonds (MCBs) in June this year had yet to be utilised as at Thursday. SIA said it has also raised $21.6b in fresh liquidity since April 1 last year. The group added that, in addition to the cash on hand, it continues to retain access to $2.1b of committed lines of credit that are currently undrawn. As far as the 2020 rights issue goes, SIA spent the proceeds of $8.8b between June 8 last year and Sept 1 this year. SIA had used $2b of the proceeds for the repayment of the bridge loan from DBS Bank, which was set up in April last year to provide the liquidity required by SIA for the completion of the rights issue last year.<br/>
Alert level 3 or 4 travel restrictions across New Zealand cost Air NZ between $45m and $55m a month, the airline says. In an update to the New Zealand stock exchange on Friday morning the national carrier said the monthly impact of an Auckland-only level 3 or 4 travel restriction, with the rest of New Zealand operating at level 1 or 2 is about NZ$25m to $35m. The figures include the benefits of the any wage subsidy the airline received, it said. Air New Zealand received about $17m in wage subsidies for the Delta outbreak. The monthly impact of suspension of trans-Tasman travel is about $20m to $25m, it said. The company said it was providing the figures as an update on the impact of lockdown and of the ongoing suspension of trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel on the company’s short-term financial performance, as well as an update on liquidity. The company recently requested additional drawdowns on a government loan facility. Drawdowns, including the latest request, total $435m, with $1.065b remaining in the facility. The airline is operating about 50 cargo flights per week and there is strong demand for air travel across regions in New Zealand that are under level 2 restrictions.<br/>