United Airlines is exploring a potential sale of a minority stake in its frequent-flier program MileagePlus, according to people familiar with the matter. United is working with financial advisers who have begun contacting potential investors including private equity firms, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Any minority stake in the MileagePlus subsidiary is expected to represent less than 15% of the portfolio, one of the people said. Discussions are early and United could ultimately decide not to proceed with a sale. A representative for United declined to comment. United is the first major US airline to explore selling off a chunk of its frequent-flier program, a move that most airlines have resisted despite investor pressure going back more than a decade to capitalize on their latent value. Instead, most carriers have leveraged them by using the richly valued programs as collateral to issue debt. United, which like many airlines has been hard hit by the pandemic, is pursuing the sale to highlight the loyalty of its mileage portfolio, some of the people said. One key reason for the sale is to enhance the program’s financial performance by using the new partner’s expertise to help better monetize data from the business, according to one person familiar with the company’s thinking. A sale would bolster the company’s balance sheet without the issuance of new debt or equity. The Chicago-based company valued MileagePlus -- which has more than 100m members -- at nearly $22b in 2020 when it tapped the program for one of the largest debt sales in the history of the aviation industry. The loyalty scheme backstopped $6.8b in bonds and loans that United sold to help it weather the pandemic.<br/>
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“By far the biggest and most impactful question being debated is the question about business travel returning,” said United CEO Scott Kirby. “Put me firmly in the camp it is going to return in full.” Kirby made the comments as part of a panel of executives that included bosses at British Airways and Easyjet on a CarTrawler webinar Wednesday. They echoed comments Kirby has made on recent investor calls. The optimism impacts United’s thinking about its fleet. “A number of our competitors in the U.S. and internationally, as the pandemic deepened, particularly as the second wave hit, decided to retire a bunch of their airplanes,” Kirby said. “We didn’t retire any airplanes, and we viewed it as an opportunity to actually double down and turn right when everyone else was turning left.” The carrier even made a historic order for more. It has net added “more than 500 aircraft” to its fleet, including the orders, Kirby said. “That’s the right call,” Kirby said. “Demand is going to be robust, and we’re going to be able to grow. If we can do it at the same time everyone else is constrained and unable to grow, it just creates a unique opportunity for United Airlines. So we’re really quite bullish.” CEO of British Airways Sean Doyle echoed Kirby’s optimism. Doyle said the airline saw a bump once the UK reopened its borders recently.<br/>
On the back of the US lifting travel restrictions to SA, United has seen double-digit week-over-week booking increases on its direct flights between Newark - near New York City - and its SA destinations of Cape Town and Johannesburg. This is not a typical demand curve, according to Bob Schumacher, the US-based airline's regional director of sales. The US government imposed restrictions on people travelling from South Africa at the end of November last year, following the identification of the Omicron variant. The restrictions were lifted at the end of 2021. United currently operates daily flights between Newark and Johannesburg and offers a seasonal flight between Newark and Cape Town three times a week. "There is pent-up demand to fly. We have seen a significant increase in bookings. We have seen a lot of high-season traffic to Cape Town over the recent holiday period - especially in the visiting friends and family market," says Schumacher. The uptick is across all cabin classes. The latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global body which represents airlines, shows that bookings in SA have steadily increased as new Covid-19 cases started to decline.<br/>
Lufthansa Group carrier Swiss International Air Lines is to end the short-time working for all staff brought in to counter the pandemic and is to begin recruiting new cabin crew. Swiss embarked on a major restructuring under which staff levels were reduced by around one-fifth by the end of 2020 and its fleet cut by 15%. The carrier has over the winter been operating at a little over 50% of pre-crisis capacity, but plans to steadily increase its activities this year and expects to be operating around 80% of pre-crisis capacity by Q3. “Despite the financial ramifications, it has decided to end its present short-time working at the beginning of March for all its ground and cabin personnel,” Swiss says. The airline adds it is ”keen to offer its employees new perspectives” and will open up some training opportunities again. Swiss head of human resources Christina Trelle says: “Our short-time working has played a vital and substantial part in getting us through this unprecedented crisis. We’re hugely grateful for that. And we’re delighted that we can now offer exciting new prospects and perspectives again to our employees, in the air and on the ground.”<br/>
Air New Zealand says it is "thrilled" with today's announcement from the Government about allowing more people to enter Aotearoa as border restrictions are eased amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kiwis will be able to return to New Zealand from Australia from February 27, and from the rest of the world March 14. "Today's announcement is incredibly exciting news for New Zealanders overseas. Having the certainty they will be touching down on home soil and reuniting with friends and whānau in just over three weeks will come as a relief," said the airline's chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty. "We expect to have more than 300 flights available between New Zealand and Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast for the month of March alone. Once we have a clearer view as to the level of demand, we will adjust the schedule accordingly, but we're confident there will be seats available for those who need them." Air NZ said strong demand has seen its first flights on February 28 almost sold out already. All customers travelling on Air NZ's international network are required to show proof of full vaccination.<br/>
Air New Zealand is picking that managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) will be dropped from February 28 for travellers returning from Australia. When searching the airline’s website for available flights from Australia to New Zealand, a red message beside each flight currently notes that managed isolation is required, unless passengers are transiting. However, this note has been removed from all trans-Tasman flights from February 28. Flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland on February 28 are currently available for $409, while a flight from Brisbane to Auckland is available on March 1 for $404. But Air New Zealand insists this is not a new development, saying that it has had flights on sale from this date for “some time”. “On 21 December last year, the New Zealand Government announced a delay to the date New Zealanders in Australia could travel back to New Zealand without entering an MIQ facility until the end of February,” said Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty. ”The Government said at the time it was pushing out the start of non-MIQ travel until the end of February to help increase New Zealand’s overall protection and slow Omicron’s eventual spread. Based on that Air New Zealand amended its schedule and has had flights on sale from this date for some time.”<br/>