Southwest asked a federal court to reject a request from its pilots to temporarily block the carrier from carrying out federally mandated coronavirus vaccinations, saying such an order would put the company’s business, employees and customers at risk. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association is seeking to stop the airline from moving ahead with the Nov. 24 deadline for the shots until an existing a lawsuit it filed over alleged U.S. labor law violations is resolved. The union claims Southwest illegally changed work rules during the pandemic instead of negotiating them with pilots. The carrier set the vaccination deadline to comply with an executive order from President Joe Biden that mandates all employees of federal contractors to be fully vaccinated against Covld-19 by Dec. 8. Southwest holds contracts to carry federal employees and goods, and the U.S. government is its largest single customer, the Dallas-based airline said in a legal filing Saturday. “The injunction that SWAPA seeks is extraordinary,” Southwest said. If granted, it would prevent the airline from meeting Biden’s order and force the roll back of policies adopted to implement US CDC guidelines to help stop the spread of coronavirus in the workplace. The possible cancellation of Southwest’s government contracts would cause “substantial harm” to the company and all of its employees, including the pilots represented by group, the airline said. The union’s original lawsuit, filed in federal court in Dallas on Aug. 30, claimed Southwest has continued to make unilateral changes that violate terms of the Railway Labor Act, or RLA, which governs airline-union relations. <br/>
unaligned
Guernsey's States has voted to write off the debts of airline Aurigny. Members voted to spend more than GBP60m recapitalising the Guernsey States-owned carrier. Airline CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said he hoped the airline could become profitable again by 2023. During the debate, Deputy Peter Roffey said as part of the move to profitability there would be "exciting announcements" including code-sharing agreements with big airlines. Currently Aurigny has agreements with Blue Islands, Eastern Airways and Loganair. Deputy Roffey, who is president of the States' Trading Supervisory Board, said: "This effectively means States members have recognised the losses made in recent years since 2015, mostly due to Covid and the Alderney route before the PSO [Public Service Obligation duties]. Nobody saw Covid coming, so I think the plan to get back to breaking even is good."<br/>
Jordan announced Sunday the signing of an accord to launch an airline financed by investors in the kingdom and Saudi Arabia to serve the Red Sea resort area of Aqaba. The new airline, Fly Aqaba, was set up with $20m in private sector investment, said Nayef Bakhit, president of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, quoted by Jordan's Petra news agency. Bakhit said it would start operations with two aircraft to serve Aqaba, the ancient archaeological site of Petra and the protected desert wilderness Wadi Rum. Flights will connect Aqaba to Amman as well as European and other Arab cities "at competitive prices", he said, without giving a date for Air Aqaba's maiden flight.<br/>
Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation will offer an unlimited travel pass that will allow holders to take any of the airline's domestic flights for one month in an effort to revive the tourism industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The Osaka-based company will begin selling a total of 150 passes from noon on Tuesday with the price ranging from Y19,800 to Y39,800 depending on different options, after Japan eases travel restrictions following a decline in COVID-19 cases nationwide. Pass holders will be able to board all 33 domestic routes offered by the carrier in November, the airline said, adding that it hopes people will explore different parts of the country or even enjoy so-called workations, allowing people to take a trip while working online. While railway companies often sell all-you-can-ride passes, it is rare for a Japanese airline to offer such services, the company said. People age 12 and over with a valid photo ID are eligible for the passes.<br/>
AirAsia X is proposing to pay just 0.5% of debt owed to each of its creditors and to terminate all existing contracts so that it can restructure 33.65b ringgit (US$8.1b) of liabilities, a document shows. The Malaysian low-cost long-haul airline, a sister carrier to AirAsia Group, on Monday told the stock exchange it had set a date of Nov. 12 for creditor meetings to vote on the restructuring proposal. "To avoid a liquidation and to allow the airline to fly again, the only option is for AAX to undertake the proposed debt restructuring," the airline said in a 127-page explanatory statement for the meeting that is being sent to creditors. Half of the total liability is the cost of terminating airplane orders from its largest creditor Airbusfor 78 A330neo widebodies and 30 A321neo narrowbodies, the document said. AAX also proposed that if it were to garner more than 300m ringgit (US$72m) in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, lease rentals and restructuring costs during its 2023-2026 financial years, all creditors except Airbus would be entitled to 20% of those earnings.<br/>