Top airline executives from around the world will assemble next week for their first face-to-face gathering in more than two years even as a long-anticipated rebound in global corporate travel remains a distant prospect. The IATA’s annual general meeting, which was held virtually in 2020, will open on Sunday in Boston. Airline leaders are intent on showing up for in-person elbow bumps to demonstrate it’s safe to fly for business again. It’s part of an effort to revive a highly profitable segment of the industry beset by uncertainty over shifting return-to-office plans. Similar conferences in other industries have been canceled or relegated to webcasts. But not for a business that’s all about getting there. “We believe that it is vital to do all we can to meet as an industry face-to-face,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s former director general, said earlier this year in an announcement postponing the event to October from June. “Doing so will affirm that airlines can safely connect the world, demonstrate our industry’s resilience, and confirm the inestimable value of in-person meetings.” US airlines will be well represented, with CEOs from American Airlines, Delta and United joining JetBlue Airways’ Robin Hayes, who is chairman of IATA’s board of governors this year. Many European executives also will attend, including Luis Gallego, CEO of British Airways parent IAG, Carsten Spohr of Lufthansa and Pieter Elbers of KLM. Boeing and Airbus officials are scheduled as speakers. <br/>
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A private plane has crashed into an empty office block in the northern Italian city of Milan, killing all eight people on board. The plane, which was bound for the island of Sardinia, came down after taking off from Milan's Linate airport. The pilot was Romanian billionaire Dan Petrescu, 68. He died alongside his wife and their son, Italian media say. The crash set the office block and several parked cars on fire. No-one on the ground was injured. An investigation into the cause of the crash has been launched.<br/>
The White House is pressing major US airlines to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees by Dec. 8 - the deadline for federal contractors to do so - and is showing no signs of pushing back the date, four sources said Friday. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients spoke to the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta and Southwest Thursday to ensure they were working expeditiously to develop and enforce vaccine requirements ahead of that deadline, the sources said. Large US airlines have a number of federal contracts. President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month requiring federal contractors to mandate COVID-19 shots for employees, with the White House last week setting the Dec. 8 deadline for completing the vaccinations.<br/>
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will open up more countries for hotel quarantine-free travel later this week, The Sunday Telegraph reported, saying that the UK's "red list" of destinations would be slashed to nine from 54. Fully vaccinated arrivals from countries including South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia will no longer have to quarantine in a government-designated hotel for 10 days when they get to England from later in October, the newspaper said. The changes are set to be announced on Thursday, and will likely result in a surge of bookings, boosting airlines and travel companies that have been brought to their knees during the pandemic. The country's hotel quarantine policy for higher risk countries costs 2,285 pounds per adult, deterring global travel. Britain is already planning to relax its travel rules from Oct. 4 by scrapping its amber list for medium risk destinations and no longer requiring fully vaccinated passengers to take a COVID-19 test before they arrive in the country from places not on the red list. The government has said that from later in October, arrivals in England will no longer have to take a PCR test two days after arrival and can instead opt for the cheaper lateral flow test.<br/>
For decades, ferrying tourists to vacation destinations has helped major airlines cover basic costs, but the front of the plane is where they’ve racked up the bulk of their profits. So when the pandemic whacked business travel, carriers were left looking for another way to pad the bottom line. Increasingly they’re finding it in premium economy, where travelers can avoid the cattle-car aesthetics of coach without spending thousands of dollars for the expansive digs of business class. And with Covid-19, growing numbers of leisure travelers are willing to splash out for a bit of extra elbow room at fares that are frequently more than double the cheapest economy seats. “People are desperate to take charge of their lives now, and airlines can no longer force them into just one or two categories,” says Juha Jarvinen, CCO at Virgin Atlantic Airways, which pioneered the service in 1992. The trend was already on an upswing before the pandemic, with installations of premium economy seats—not including the “plus” sections of coach, which offer extra legroom—growing 5% annually in the three years before the coronavirus hit. Researcher Counterpoint Market Intelligence predicts that pace will accelerate as more carriers embrace the idea of a separate cabin on long-haul flights featuring slightly wider seats, several extra inches of legroom, a deeper recline, bigger screens, and marginally better food and drink. Story has more.<br/>
Private jet fliers are facing increasing delays, cancellations and lack of available flights as the industry struggles to serve a record number of new fliers, while facing supply chain troubles. July was the busiest month ever for private jet flights, with more than 300,000 flights, according to Argus International. While business usually cools in the fall, September saw nearly 300,000 flights and Argus projects October’s pace will break the July record. The flood of new private jet customers — driven by health concerns during the coronavirus pandemic and the rapid creation of wealth — is now taxing an industry geared for slower growth. A shortage of new and used planes, delays getting aircraft parts, crew and pilot shortages, catering snafus, and air traffic problems are combining to create a growing number of delays and cancellations, according to industry executives. Customers who paid five or six figures for their dream flights are now learning that even private jets encounter delays and logistics problems. “These are people who spent $200,000 and they want perfection,” said Doug Gollan, founder of Private Jet Card Comparisons, a website that reviews jet card programs. A Private Jet Card Comparisons survey of private jet fliers found that more than 20% had experienced a service issue in recent months.<br/>
A Chinese-made passenger jet set to compete with American and European rivals counts roughly 40% of its core component suppliers as overseas companies, exposing the risks posed by US trade frictions to a plane that has been under development for more than a decade. The C919 jetliner, being manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC, is due to be delivered to the first customer by the end of the year. However, with that deadline looming, the plane was a no-show at the Airshow China in Zhuhai on Thursday. COMAC instead exhibited a life-size model of the cabin. "Boeing and Airbus alone will not be enough to meet demand," a COMAC sales executive said. "The new option we'll provide will be in the interest of the airlines." The narrow-body jet will compete with bestselling models of its size: the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. Although state-owned COMAC has not performed demonstration flights or unveiled an actual plane at the Zhuhai air show, it is widely believed that the C919 is approaching the conclusion of its development, which began in 2008. But potential turbulence lays ahead for the C919's business prospects. Out of the 39 lead suppliers for the plane, more than 40% hail from the US or other countries outside China, according to documents from China-based brokerage Avic Securities and other sources. The remaining suppliers include joint venture firms backed by foreign companies. Chinese companies are supplying the fuselage and the wings. But a host of Western suppliers are providing the brains and heart of the plane -- the communication and flight control systems, among other core components.<br/>
US aerospace manufacturers are poised to strengthen a climate target by pledging to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, echoing a commitment to be discussed by global airlines on Monday, according to industry sources and a document seen by Reuters. The US Aerospace Industries Association will commit on Monday to work with airlines and governments to achieve the target, joining a growing aviation industry consensus that also includes airports, according to the sources. Global airlines are expected to vote on a similar proposal at the annual meeting of the IATA in Boston on Monday. A broader aviation industry lobby, the Air Transport Action Group, is also expected to sign up later this week. The target replaces a previous goal of halving net emissions by 2050 from 2005 levels, which was intended to mirror the Paris climate agreement to limit global temperature increases this century to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. <br/>