United told a federal judge the company is spending millions on paid leave for unvaccinated pilots because their colleagues “refuse to risk their safety” by flying with them. The leave is costing United about $1.4 million every two weeks -- money it’s unlikely to recover even if it wins a lawsuit challenging the airline’s vaccine mandate for all US employees, United argued in a filing on Friday in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman was unmoved. On Monday, he extended until Nov. 8 a temporary restraining order he imposed earlier this month barring the airline from placing unvaccinated workers with a religious or medical objection to its mandate on unpaid leave. Pittman, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the TRO will maintain the status quo while he decides whether to block United’s vaccine mandate for the remainder of the litigation, as plaintiffs have requested. Without a restraining order in place, hundreds of workers might be “compelled to take a vaccination in violation of their religious beliefs or medical restrictions” or face “being placed on indefinite unpaid leave,” Pittman wrote. The plaintiffs had argued over the weekend that vaccinated pilots should “not know whether they are flying with an unvaccinated pilot” and that “United should be informing its pilots -- as they do the general public -- that the risk of contracting Covid-19 on a United airplane is almost zero.” United argues the order is unwarranted because pilots who sued would get “money damages and retroactive seniority if they ultimately prevail on the merits.” <br/>
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Avianca Holdings has selected B787-8s as its only widebody aircraft type going forward as it prepares to emerge from Chapter 11 a leaner carrier. "One of Avianca's strategic objectives is simplifying its fleet while increasing efficiency; selecting the B787-8 as the airline's single aircraft type for long-haul flights is an important step towards this goal. Thanks to open and constructive dialogues with Boeing, Rolls-Royce, lessors and financial institutions, we are proud to be able to confirm that we will continue to fly the Dreamliner, an exceptional aircraft that given its capabilities, features, efficiency, and comfort is the best solution for our company and our customers," CFO Rohit Philip said. Avianca Holdings operates thirteen B787-8s, all of them on the AOC of the group's main carrier, Avianca Airlines. Eight aircraft are owned by the holding (two of them through financial leases), while the remaining five are dry-leased, one each from Goshawk, SMBC Aviation Capital, ORIX Aviation, Seraph Aviation Group, and one undisclosed lessor. The aircraft are 5.7 years old on average and are outfitted for 250 passengers each, including 28 in business classes and 222 in economy. Avianca said it would reconfigure all of its B787s' economy classes over the next 18 months.<br/>
SAS has summoned its workers' largest unions to negotiations as part of the airline's efforts to cut costs and increase flexibility in its pandemic-hit business, Danish daily Jyllands-Posten reported on Monday. "The biggest problem for SAS is costs, so that's where we have to start," SAS CE Anko van der Werff told the paper. "Other airlines have cut costs and can fly more flexibly and efficiently. We need to be able to do that, too." The negotiations could last three months, Jyllands-Posten reported. Nordnet analyst Per Hansen said the negotiations could be tough. "After the strike in 2019, the pilots were able to negotiate large wage increases for which SAS had no finances at all," he said in a note. The airline, part-owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark, has noted a gradual increase in demand from leisure travellers during the summer but business travel has yet to bounce back from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are not going to make money in 2022 and we will also have challenges with 2023," Van der Werff told Jyllands-Posten. "The pandemic will have an effect for at least three to four years, and that underlines the importance of us changing."<br/>