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JetBlue Airways CEO Robin Hayes on Monday defended the airline’s alliance with American Airlines Group Inc., saying the U.S. Justice Department doesn’t have evidence to support allegations that it is anti-competitive. The so-called Northeast Alliance has increased competition in the New York area and Boston, Hayes said. He pointed to additional domestic flying by JetBlue and international route additions from American since the US DoT ended its review of the arrangement in the final weeks of the Trump administration. JetBlue is hiring 1,800 workers and delaying retirement of some aircraft to support the alliance, while fares have declined as the partners step up competition with United Airlinesand Delta, he said. Questions about the alliance have expanded since President Joe Biden’s July executive order to broadly increase competition. It called out the airline industry, among others, and said the Transportation and Justice departments must consult on how consolidation has affected passengers, as well as review the award of flying rights at congested airports. The Justice Department, along with attorneys general from New York and Massachusetts, earlier began investigations of the Northeast Alliance. Spirit Airlines and Southwest have filed complaints saying that it was approved without a full public review and have called for renewed scrutiny. “We don’t believe there is any case,” Hayes said of the DOJ review. “We believe the overwhelming evidence is already pointing to more JetBlue routes, more low fares, more choice. Rather than DOJ looking at that they should continue to monitor and make sure those benefits continue to be delivered.” <br/>

Spanish airline Iberia will seek to negotiate furlough deals directly with unions should Spain's force majeure government furlough scheme, set to expire at the end of September, not be extended for the aviation sector, the company said on Monday. The airline, which is owned by IAG and recently bought struggling Spanish rival Air Europa in a cut-price deal, said that it would propose a furlough to workers citing "organisational and productive causes". It did not give further details of what any possible deal could entail. "The slowdown of the economic recovery and the growing uncertainty as to whether, and under which conditions, the force majeure furloughs will apply to the aerial sector have spurred Iberia to begin negotiations with its labour unions," the company said. The airline added that it continued to operate 30-35% below pre-pandemic levels, largely due to the restrictions on tourism towards the United States, Latin America, Japan and China. Air travel to Spain has slowly begun to recover in recent months with 5 million international passengers arriving in August, according to official data released on Monday, soaring by 172% from a year ago, but less than half pre-pandemic levels.<br/>

Cathay Pacific aims to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for 10% of its total fuel consumption by 2030, as part of what it calls a “multi-pronged approach” towards decarbonising operations. The Hong Kong-based carrier says it expects to take delivery of SAF produced by Fulcrum BioEnergy — of which it is an investor of — and use it on flights from the US from 2024. Cathay invested in California-based Fulcrum in 2014, and has committed to purchasing 1.1m tonnes of SAF over a 10-year period. The carrier also partners European airframer Airbus to use SAF for new aircraft deliveries. Since 2016, Cathay has taken delivery of more than 40 new aircraft using blended SAF. Cathay, like other carriers in the region, has committed to attain net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “Apart from its increased usage of SAF, other key components of Cathay Pacific’s carbon reduction roadmap include fleet modernisation, operational efficiency improvements, aviation and carbon capture technology innovations, and carbon offsets through its Fly Greener programme – which has offset over 300,000t of carbon emissions since 2007,” the carrier states. <br/>

Cathay Pacific has reduced its capacity forecast for the year-end — amid ongoing travel restrictions — as the embattled carrier’s passenger numbers in August hit a new high for the year. The Hong Kong-based airline now only expects to operate at 13% pre-pandemic capacity — its current operating capacity — till the end of the year. This is compares to an earlier forecast of 30% capacity disclosed in July. “[Operational] and passenger travel restrictions remain in place, continuing to constrain our ability to operate more flights. As such, we now only expect to maintain similar passenger capacity levels to August 2021 for the remainder of the year, whilst remaining responsive to any unexpected changes in travel restrictions,” says Cathay chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam. In traffic results for August, Cathay saw passenger numbers surpass 100,000 for the first time in more than year, helped mainly by robust student traffic between China and the USA. For the month, the Oneworld carrier flew around 135,000 passengers — more than triple the number a year ago, and more than twice the number month on month. Still, August’s passenger numbers were a mere 4.7% of the levels reported in pre-pandemic 2019, underscoring Cathay’s long road to a full recovery. <br/>

Qantas has failed to delay court proceedings that could force it to reinstate some of the 2000 ground handlers it sacked last year after a judge ruled that it was illegal to outsource those jobs to third-party providers. The Federal Court ruled in July that the airline acted illegally when it laid off the baggage handlers, aircraft towing crews, cleaners and other ground workers in November 2020 because it was partly motivated by a desire to avoid future industrial disputes with the highly unionised workforce. The Transport Workers Union (TWU), which brought the claim to court, intended to push for its sacked workers to be given their jobs back or compensated in upcoming remediation. But Qantas applied for proceedings to be delayed until the court hears its appeal to the court’s original decision – scheduled in February next year – in part to avoid unnecessary legal costs. On Thursday, Justice Nye Perram ruled against Qantas’ application, saying that any delay risked making it impossible for the sacked employees to return to work.<br/>