Even as Omicron ebbs, airlines — particularly in the US — face staffing shortages that range from entry-level positions like baggage handlers to highly qualified pilots and maintenance technicians that fly the regional jets that connect many smaller communities to major hubs, and on to the world. These issues are creating very real, and more difficult to mitigate, challenges to the broader recovery. “There’s a lot of pressure on hiring, and that may have the effect of creating a conservative capacity growth going forward,” said Kevin Healy, president and CEO of Campbell-Hill Aviation Group that works with airports to land new flights, on January 11. Airlines are already being forced to cut flights on account of staffing shortfalls. Delta Air Lines has reduced regional flying by 20-25% from planned levels during the first half of 2022 as a result, President Glen Hauenstein said during the carrier’s Q4 earnings call on January 13. United has been forced to park more than 100 small jets, end service to at least eight destinations, and suspend multiple routes due to the shortage with the airline informing many airports that it may not return until 2023. And American Airlines, while its schedule appears less impaired, CEO Doug Parker has confirmed that it too faces challenges hiring pilots at its wholly-owned regional affiliates.<br/>
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Two days before Verizon and AT&T plan to deploy more segments of their new 5G mobile internet technology, leaders of the nation’s largest air carriers warned again on Monday that thousands of flights could be grounded by interference from the technology and that “the nation’s commerce will grind to a halt.” In unusually sharp terms, the airline industry implied in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other top federal officials that Verizon’s and AT&T’s plans could add to the disruptions in the global shipping network that have fueled inflation. High-speed 5G internet uses so-called C-band frequencies close to those used by aircraft to measure their altitude. The airlines say the technology can interfere with the instruments and create a serious safety hazard. Verizon and AT&T have argued that the aviation industry had years to upgrade any equipment that might be affected. The protest by the CEs of Delta, American Airlines, United and seven other passenger and cargo carriers threw into question a deal reached this month between the FAA and the telecommunications companies. The FAA said it would not object to a rollout of the new technology after the companies promised to address safety concerns by reducing power at 5G transmitters near airports. The airline executives said in their letter on Monday that aircraft manufacturers had informed them in recent weeks that the measures promised by Verizon and AT&T were not enough to prevent interference with aircraft sensors. They asked that the 5G technology not be activated within two miles of 50 major airports. “Multiple modern safety systems on aircraft will be deemed unusable,” according to the letter, which carried the letterhead of Airlines for America, an industry group. “Airplane manufacturers have informed us that there are huge swaths of the operating fleet that may need to be indefinitely grounded,” stranding thousands of passengers and worsening turmoil in the supply chain, the airlines said. “Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies,” said the letter, which was also signed by the chief executives of FedEx Express and UPS Airlines.<br/>
The chairman of the House Transportation Committee and the head of an aviation subcommittee urged AT&T and Verizon Communications to delay some 5G deployments set for Wednesday around key US airport runways. Representative Peter DeFazio, the committee chair, and Representative Rick Larsen, who chairs an aviation subcommittee, said the Federal Aviation Administration and aviation industry must have "more time to thoroughly assess the risks of deployment in order to avoid potentially disastrous disruptions to our national airspace system." Major passenger and cargo airlines on Monday urged the delay, warning of an impending "catastrophic" aviation crisis.<br/>
The worst of the winter weather is winding down along the US East Coast after a quick-moving storm swept northeast, leaving thousands of customers without power and grounding flights. Rain started to taper off in Washington and in New York’s Central Park, where temperatures reached 5 Celsius Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The winter precipitation is “pretty much done in D.C. to New York to Boston,” said Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. “In general the storm will have some strong winds with it, but most of the bigger winter impacts will be in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, away from the coast.” More than 1,600 flights have been canceled Monday, with airports in Charlotte, North Carolina and Toronto being hardest hit, according to FlightAware. An additional 3,059 air trips had been scrubbed on Sunday.<br/>
Canada's largest airlines and the country's busiest airport are asking the federal government to drop its rule requiring mandatory arrivals testing for COVID-19. In a letter to the federal and Ontario governments, Air Canada, WestJet and Toronto Pearson are calling for a shift of the testing capacity from the airports to the community. As COVID-19 cases have surged in recent weeks, many provinces have decided to restrict molecular PCR testing to those at a higher risk of being hospitalized from COVID-19 or who are in settings where the virus could spread more quickly. Travellers coming to Canada need to have a pre-arrival negative molecular test result for COVID-19. Once they arrive, those coming from any country other than the US are tested again and must isolate until they get their results. Those coming from the United States are tested randomly. The airlines and airport say testing arriving travellers isn't the best use of Canada's limited testing resources. They say the percentage of positive tests for those checked at the Canada's airports in the most recent week reported is far lower than tests in the community. Air Canada, WestJet and Pearson want the government to revert to random arrival testing of international travellers and only require isolation for those arriving from an international location if they are exhibiting symptoms or test positive on a random test. They say those who do not have any symptoms after a negative pre-departure test before travel to Canada should not be required to isolate.<br/>
Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport has said that the outlook for passenger traffic remains uncertain for the year ahead in the face of COVID-19 variants and related travel restrictions. Fraport Group CEO Dr. Stefan Schulte said: “The situation for our business will remain highly volatile and dynamic in 2022. At this stage, no one can reliably predict how the pandemic will evolve over the coming months. The related – and often inconsistent – travel restrictions will continue to put a heavy strain on the aviation industry. Despite these uncertainties, we are taking an optimistic view of the year ahead. We are expecting air travel demand to rebound noticeably again in the Spring.” The group today revealed full-year traffic numbers, with Frankfurt Airport welcoming 24.8m passengers in 2021 – a +32.2% increase compared to 2020 but still down -64.8% on 2019.<br/>
Vietnam intends to have 28 airports, including 14 international ones, by 2030, according to a draft master plan on developing airports nationwide for 2021 to 2030 with a forward look to 2050. According to the Vietnam Government Portal, the plan has been submitted to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for approval. By the close of the expansion, the country’s airports will serve about 275.9m passengers and handle some 4.1m tons of cargo a year. The Ministry of Transport will prioritise investments in major airports such as Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City. It will also upgrade 22 existing airports and build six new ones, namely Long Thanh, Na San, Lai Chau, Sa Pa, Quang Ninh and Phan Thiet. By 2050, the number of airports nationwide will increase to 31, including 14 international ones. <br/>
Significant damage was reported along the western coast of Tonga's main island and outer islands on Tuesday following a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, but a closed airport and downed communications are hampering international relief efforts. The New Zealand High Commission reported the damage along the western coast of the main island of Tongatapu, where there are many vacation resorts, and the waterfront of the capital Nuku'alofa. The Ha’atafu Beach Resort on the Hihifo peninsula, 21 km (13 miles) west of Nuku’alofa, was "completely wiped out", the owners said on Facebook. Australia's Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja said Tongan officials were planning to evacuate people from outer islands where "they're doing it very tough, we understand, with many houses being destroyed in the tsunami". The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kms (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand. The South Pacific archipelago has remained largely cut off from the world since the eruption which cut its main undersea communications cable. The airport was now more likely to be open by Wednesday, he said.<br/>