oneworld

Hong Kong is losing its longest non-stop flight with American Airlines (AA) deciding to axe its Dallas route, as another carrier pulls services to a city that has some of the toughest border controls against Covid-19. The world’s largest airline revealed on Thursday that it planned to discontinue, delay or scale back several international flights ahead of the summer, blaming Boeing for being unable to deliver new aircraft and causing a shortfall in the availability of widebody jets. On top of AA withdrawing its Hong Kong route from March next year, which also ranks as the longest passenger flight on its schedule, services to Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney will also be “significantly” reduced, while the introduction of a new service from Seattle to Bangalore has been delayed. Vasu Raja, the airline’s chief revenue officer, told staff in a memo that the carrier would stop flying to Hong Kong, Scotland’s Edinburgh and Shannon in Ireland. “We’ll continue to evaluate these routes as more aircraft become available and would like to be able to serve them again in the future,” he wrote.<br/>

Japan Airlines hasn’t seen any impact on domestic travel due to the omicron variant of the coronavirus, but an anticipated recovery for international flights may be delayed, CEO Yuji Akasaka said. The spread of the omicron strain, which is said to be more transmissible than delta, has been disrupting overseas air travel. Although infection rates in Japan remain low, the government has been tightening entry restrictions due to concerns over the new variant. A recovery for Japanese carriers was slowing even before omicron emerged late last month. While domestic travel recovered to about 60% of normal levels in November, international traffic remained at around 10%, Akasaka said at a press briefing. The CEO called for the government to ease entry restrictions after assessing conditions. Asked whether disruptions to air cargo were causing some of the production halts disclosed by Toyota Motor Corp. this week, Akasaka said it was more likely due to shipping delays. Global auto production has been hit by multiple supply-chain issues as a result of the pandemic, from a shortage of chips as people buy more electronics, to Covid outbreaks shutting down parts makers in Southeast Asia. <br/>

A British minister has offered to mediate in a row between Airbus and Qatar Airways over costly flaws on the surface of the aircraft maker's A350 passenger jets, three people familiar with the matter said. Investment Minister Gerry Grimstone made the offer to host a meeting between the sparring groups before the row escalated on Thursday, with Airbus threatening to use a procedure in the English courts to seek an independent legal assessment. Asked about the prior offer of mediation, a UK official on Friday confirmed the proposal and said it reflected "the importance of Airbus and Qatari investment to the UK". Airbus and Qatar Airways both declined to comment. People familiar with the situation said there were few signs that the offer was being taken up as the two sides head towards a legal fight over the impact of paint and other skin flaws on the jets. Qatar Airways says it has been ordered by its regulator to ground 20 of its 53 A350 jets over damage to a layer of anti-lightning protection, arguing that absence of a root cause has left it unable to determine whether safety is affected. Airbus says that it does understand the cause and on Thursday accused the Gulf carrier of misrepresenting the problem as a safety issue and of refusing to accept a repair plan. Industry experts say the deteriorating dispute between two of aviation's key players is unprecedented in public.<br/>

Before the pandemic, Hong Kong was an aviation hub attracting pilots from around the world. Two years on, pilots at flagship airline Cathay Pacific are so exhausted and depressed from working under one of the world's strictest quarantine regimes that some are reaching a breaking point. Once known as a premier employer, the Hong Kong-based airline is now grappling with plummeting morale, a spike in resignations and mounting frustration as staff undergo arduous self-isolation measures, according to two Cathay pilots. "The morale is all gone. All gone," said the first Cathay pilot, who has worked at the airline for several years. "Everybody's angry." Like most airlines, Cathay Pacific was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic as travel collapsed around the world last year. The carrier was forced to dramatically slash its flight schedule, at one point seeing passenger levels tank 99%. But the challenges it faces as a Hong Kong-based business may be the toughest in the industry. The city, along with mainland China, is one of the last places in Asia still adopting a "zero Covid" strategy. While the insistence on stamping out any trace of the virus means the city is largely Covid-free, the policy also means Hong Kong is home to one of the longest quarantines on Earth. And the recent emergence of Omicron, the new coronavirus variant, threatens to further upend aviation and could lead to stricter controls. The existing rules have reignited debate on whether its approach to the pandemic is ultimately hurting the city — particularly as other places begin to adopt a "living with Covid" playbook. The first Cathay pilot said they recently spoke with four colleagues who quit on the same day, and that resignations were noticeably up compared to years prior. They said "a lot" of colleagues were seeking help to deal with mental health issues. Cathay said that "we fully acknowledge that these rules and the length of time they have been in force are placing a burden on our aircrew, all of whom have been exemplary in their conduct and professionalism throughout this difficult period."<br/>

A multibillion-dollar shopping spree is not what you might expect from a company left battered and bruised by COVID-19 as badly as Qantas. But fresh from clocking up a A$3.72b loss over the past two years and being stripped of around $20b in revenue, that’s exactly what the airline is doing. CE Alan Joyce and his executive team are closing in on a deal to overhaul its domestic aircraft fleet, preparing to order more than 100 new jets with an estimated price tag of around $5b in a decision that will reshape its operations for the next three decades. “It’s a huge decision… which has impacts far beyond the current management at Qantas,” says Matthew Findlay, a director of Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting. “It will commit Qantas to a path which once you start to take, is very difficult to backtrack or change.” Joyce expects to announce his preferred jets models by the end of this year and to place a firm order with manufacturers by the middle of 2022. The first new aircraft should arrive by the end of 2023 and gradually replace Qantas’ 75 workhorse Boeing 737s and 20 smaller Boeing 717s over the following decade. Airbus’ A220s and Embraer’s E-Jet E2 type jets are in contention to replace the 717s and the Airbus A330neo and Boeing’s 737 MAX variant are in line to replace the existing 737 fleet. The new 737 MAX aircraft is back in contention following its recertification to fly in Australia in February after Boeing fixed a flight control program which caused two crashes, killing 346 people and prompting an almost two-year grounding of the jet worldwide. Renewing Qantas’ current fleet has been on the cards for several years as many of its 737s approach their nominal retirement age of 20 – 15 of them have been flying for 19 years and another six for 17, according to FlightRadar24 – but the pandemic delayed the decision.<br/>