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Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau Thursday apologized for remarks suggesting he did not need to speak French, Canada’s second language, even though the airline is officially bilingual. “In no way did I mean to show disrespect for Quebecers and francophones across the country. I apologize to those who were offended by my remarks,” Rousseau said. “I pledge today to improve my French”. Rousseau was backtracking from remarks to reporters in Montreal on Wednesday that triggered widespread criticism in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, where the airline is headquartered. Rousseau, who took over in February, stumbled after being grilled over his inability to speak French properly despite having lived in Montreal for 14 years. The comment that drew criticism was: “I’ve been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that’s a testament to the city of Montreal”. He also blamed his busy schedule. The issue is sensitive in Quebec, the second most populous province, where unhappiness over the dominance of English helped the rise of the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) in the 1970s. Quebec has had several PQ governments.<br/>

Turkish Airlines reported Q3 profit that beat expectations as cargo operations and reductions in staffing costs boosted earnings. The shares soared the most in eight months. Net income at Turkey’s flagship carrier was 6.3b liras ($563m), according to a statement on Thursday, 35% higher than the top of a range of analyst estimates. That compared with a loss of 946m liras in 2020, when much of global travel was grounded due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The results are the latest sign that the aviation industry is recovering quickly from the coronavirus crisis, with both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM reporting healthy figures and outlook in recent days. The dropping of border restrictions by most governments outside Asia has led to a surge in pent-up demand, while the opening of key transatlantic routes starting next week is expected to give another boost. Turkish Airlines is among carriers to have taken advantage of a booming freight business even while passenger travel has been subdued. The company is looking to spin off its cargo operations into a separate unit to unlock value for investors and to have a more efficient management. Cuts in staff expenses to below 2019 levels due to salary reductions and the depreciation of the Turkish lira also buoyed the earnings, the company said.<br/>

Chinese airlines will apply a fuel surcharge to domestic routes from Friday for the first time in more than two years as oil prices surge. The move comes as oil benchmarks trade close to their highest levels in years. Brent crude is now trading over $80 a barrel, up from about $20 a barrel hit during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fuel charge also comes with carriers facing already-poor domestic travel demand as China battles the latest COVID-19 outbreak, which has spread to a large swathe of the country. read more China's three biggest airlines last week posted wider quarterly losses than in the previous quarter as the resurgence of local COVID-19 cases drove the sharp decline in domestic travel, with international borders still closed. China Eastern said on Thursday that it would begin charging 10 yuan ($1.56) per passenger for shorter routes of less than 800 kilometres and 20 yuan for longer routes of more than 800 kilometres. Air China, China Southern Airlines and smaller counterparts, have announced similar surcharges in recent days.<br/>