A pilot and a flight attendant for United Airlines will suffer “irreparable harm” under the airline’s COVID-19 policy that makes them choose between getting vaccinated in violation of their religious objections or going on unpaid leave, a divided federal appeals court panel in New Orleans ruled Thursday. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 ruling doesn’t block the airline’s mandate. But it says a lower court judge in Texas must consider temporarily blocking the requirement for the employees while they fight United’s vaccine policy. The decision to get vaccinated or go on leave “is an impossible choice for plaintiffs who want to remain faithful but must put food on the table,” said the majority opinion from Jennifer Walker Elrod and Andrew Oldham. They said the lower court judge erred by stating that the employees did not face irreparable harm, and sent the case back to him to consider other factors — including whether the two employees are likely to ultimately win their court battle. The third judge on the panel, Judge Jerry E. Smith, rejected the majority’s finding in a stinging, lengthy dissent. Smith said the lower court judge’s denial of an injunction last year should stand. “For every conceivable reason that the plaintiffs could lose this appeal, they should,” Smith wrote, saying his fellow panel members’ ruling went against laws and court precedents. He rejected the idea that the two faced irreparable harm, saying the federal Civil Rights Act provisions at play in the case provide them with the ability to sue for damages should they win. And, he said, the employees aren’t likely to win. Among the reasons: Smith said the religious discrimination complaint falls because United made efforts to accommodate religious objections of workers, including offering employees alternative jobs not involving the public and unpaid leave as an alternative to being fired.<br/>
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United Airlines’ pilot-training business has ordered 25 Cirrus TRAC SR20s and taken options to purchase a further 50, part of an effort by United to significantly ramp pilot training. The carrier’s in-house training subsidiary United Aviate Academy ordered the aircraft, which are pilot-training variants of Cirrus’ SR20, United says on 17 February. Aviate, which already operates 25 TRAC SR20s, expects to receive the first of the new batch in May. Expanding the fleet will help Chicago-based United meet its goal of training up to 5,000 new pilots by 2030, the airline says. United Aviate, based at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport, also recently purchased seven new flight simulators, the first of which it expects to receive in April. TRAC SR20s are “purpose built” for training and “developed specifically for flight-training institutions”, according to Cirrus. Powered by a single 215hp Lycoming IO-390 piston engine, TRAC SR20s have five seats and Garmin Perspective+ avionics. Baseline SR20s have maximum cruise speed of 155kt (287km/h) and maximum range of 1,021nm, according to Cirrus.<br/>
EasyJet would want more slots at Milan’s Linate airport should carrier ITA team up with Germany’s Lufthansa, the CE of the British carrier said, indicating the airline’s commitment to Italy. “We want to expand. If ITA goes (to Lufthansa) then Linate will increase the flights towards Frankfurt and Munich,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren was quoted as saying in daily Il Sole 24 Ore on Thursday. “ITA should give up some slots and it would be an opportunity for easyJet to have more in order to increase connections from Milan to Europe’s capitals, ” he added. EasyJet, the second largest airline in Italy by number of passengers, came through the pandemic by cutting costs, bolstering its balance sheet and switching capacity to its busiest routes. Last week the Italian government launched the process to find a partner for ITA Airways, the state-owned successor to Alitalia which started flying in October.<br/>
Japan’s All Nippon Airways has tapped GE Aviation’s digital services for fuel management and has extended a Boeing digital toolbox contract for another five years. The carrier will tap on GE’s Fuel Insight software to monitor fuel efficiency. “The Fuel Insight project is the latest in ANA and GE’s long-standing partnership and will focus on three fuel savings initiatives: engine out / taxi in, idle reverse thrust, and normal climb as a first step,” states GE. ANA VP of flight operations standards Takashi Kondo adds: “Our mission is not only to save fuel, but also to incorporate [environmental sustainability] perspectives, use the Fuel Insight for more accurate observations, and take data-driven policymaking and prioritised actions.” With Boeing, ANA has renewed the airframer’s Maintenance Performance Toolbox contract, which it has been utilising for the past eight years. It comes as the Star Alliance carrier works to streamline its maintenance processes through digitalisation. The digital toolbox “allows operators to simplify their maintenance operations by enabling them to manage, distribute, process and view intelligent maintenance documentation in a uniform digital format through a single interface, regardless of aircraft manufacturer or engine type”, says Boeing. There are over 350 operators and MRO providers that make use of Boeing’s Maintenance Performance Toolbox. <br/>