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Many airline and airport workers have been laid off or furloughed in the past couple of years, and for some that has meant coming back to work after a forced break -- an especially delicate proposition for pilots. Could long periods away from the cockpit affect a pilot's confidence or performance? In a report about an incident that occurred in September 2021 at Aberdeen Airport in Scotland, the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch suggests it's possible. A Boeing 737 on approach to the airport was told to perform a "go around" -- an aborted landing during which a plane climbs back up, circles around and tries again. It can happen for a number of reasons, such as bad weather or obstacles on the runway. The aircraft should have climbed to 3,000 feet before flying in a circle to approach the runway again, but instead it "deviated significantly from the expected flight path," the report says, descending rapidly and with an "undesirable" increase in airspeed that wasn't corrected soon enough. It took about a minute for the pilots to fix the mistake, before landing safely. The report notes that the crew had not always flown regularly in the previous 18 months, although flight simulators had been used to help maintain skills. "The real-world environment," it reads, "creates different demands on crews, and it is possible that this event illustrates that lack of recent exposure to the real-world environment can erode crews' capacity to deal effectively with those challenges." The report also states that "the safety benefits of simulator training are well established" and underlines that a link has not been established "between this event and a lack of line flying," but said that it is "clearly one possibility."<br/>

The largest union representing US flight attendants expects a federal order mandating face masks for air passengers and other travelers will be extended again, even as a growing number of states and businesses lift restrictions. The requirement is set to expire March 18 after being extended three times since it first was imposed in February 2021 as a way to stem the spread of Covid-19. Masks have been a political lightning rod and contributed to a surge in unruly airline passenger incidents over the past 12 months, according to the FAA. Of 5,981 onboard disputes last year, 72% were related to masks, FAA statistics show. “We have every expectation that the mask mandate will be extended for the near term,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in an emailed statement. “The conditions in aviation are the same. Our youngest passengers do not yet have access to the vaccine.” As infections decline, some states and businesses are opting to drop indoor mask requirements. California, New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois are among states ending such mandates, along with businesses including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Walt Disney Co. is also ditching a face-covering requirement for fully vaccinated guests at its US theme parks. It’s unclear when a decision about the federal mask requirement will be announced. The prior extensions were announced a few weeks ahead of the expiration date. The current deadline of March 18 falls during spring break for many schools and universities across the US, and a change in policy then could cause confusion or disruption during the historically busy travel period.<br/>

The requirement for fully-vaccinated UK tourists to take a coronavirus test before visiting the European Union is set to be scrapped before the Easter holidays. All fully-vaccinated travellers should be allowed to enter the bloc without any restrictions or conditions, under a recommendation from the EU Council. The council said in a statement that the move is in response to “the evolution of the pandemic” and “the increasing vaccination uptake and administration of booster doses”. Julia Simpson, president and CE of London-based World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), described it as a “sensible decision”. She said: “The patchwork of rules and regulations did nothing to prevent the spread of Covid but did cause immense damage to the economy of Europe causing the loss of jobs and businesses. Now is time to rebuild travel and tourism, and connect Europe to the world.” Italy and the Netherlands are among the EU countries which require UK arrivals to take a pre-departure coronavirus test even if they are fully vaccinated. The EU Council noted that its recommendation to end the rule, which applies from March 1, is “not a legally binding instrument”. It added: “The authorities of the member states remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation.”<br/>

Almost 15,000 “ghost flights” have departed from the UK, according to newly revealed official figures. The ghost flights, defined as those with no passengers or less than 10% of passenger capacity, operated from all 32 airports listed in the data. Heathrow was top, with 4,910 ghost flights between March 2020 and September 2021. Manchester and Gatwick were the next highest. There were an average of 760 ghost flights a month over the period, although the data covered only international departure and not domestic flights. Flying is one of the most carbon-intensive activities people can undertake and ghost flights have angered those campaigning for action on the climate crisis. The German airline Lufthansa recently warned it would have to fly 18,000 “unnecessary” flights by March in order to keep its landing slots at airports. Under current rules, airlines lose their valuable slots if they are not sufficiently used. However, during the pandemic-hit period covered by the new UK data, the rules that had required 80% of slots to be used were completely suspended. Airlines did not have to operate flights to retain the slots, but nonetheless flew 14,472 ghost flights. “Flights may operate with a low number of passengers for a range of reasons,” said the aviation minister Robert Courts, who produced the data in response to a parliamentary question. “Since the onset of the pandemic, the government has provided alleviation from the normal slot regulations. This means that airlines have not been required to operate empty or almost empty flights solely to retain their historic slots rights.” The Labour MP Alex Sobel, who asked the question and is chair of the net zero all-party parliamentary group, said: “To really tackle the climate emergency we need to ensure that our aviation sector is as efficient as it can be with its carbon output.”<br/>

Omicron cases hit their peak, Australian Aviation can reveal. According to new data released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), around 12 per cent of all scheduled flights in January were ultimately cancelled, just as airlines began to increase domestic capacity following eased border restrictions. According to BITRE, just over 35,000 flights were scheduled to take off in January, of which 4,150 were ultimately cancelled. Comparatively, a similar number of flights were also scheduled in December, with just 2,659 ultimately cancelled, or 7.6%. The report states that flight cancellations were highest on the Sydney-Melbourne route, with 24.5% of all flights on this route cancelled over the month, followed by the Melbourne-Sydney route at 24.4%. Brisbane-Sydney saw the third highest cancellation rate at 23.7%, then Sydney-Brisbane at 23.4% and the Canberra-Sydney route at 20.1%.<br/>

Airbus said Wednesday it would build a demonstrator to test propulsion technology for future hydrogen airplanes in co-operation with French-US engine maker CFM International. The planemaker plans to fit a specially adapted version of a current-generation engine near the back of an A380 superjumbo test plane. Airbus delivered its last A380 in December. CFM, jointly owned by General Electric and Safran, is the world's largest jet engine maker by number of units sold. Airbus has said it will produce a small "ZEROe" passenger aircraft powered by hydrogen to enter service in 2035. It told the European Union a year ago that most airliners will rely on traditional jet engines until at least 2050, according to a briefing made public last June. Even so, Airbus officials say the research will seed disruptive technology likely to play a role in the next generation of larger airplanes, as well as offering radically new technology for small planes holding some 50-100 people.<br/>

Travel-booking software provider Travelport is exploring a US IPO as pandemic restrictions start to lift globally, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The technology company, which was taken private in 2019 by Elliott Investment Management and Siris Capital Group, may go public as soon as the second half of this year, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A final decision on pursuing an IPO hasn’t been made and the company’s plans could still change, the people said. A spokesperson for Travelport didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Elliott and Siris declined to comment. Travelport’s customers have included American Airlines Group, Southwest, Singapore Airlines and Webjet, its website shows. The company has $3.8b in net debt, said a person familiar with the matter. Under the ownership of Elliott and Siris, Travelport made changes to its management team, including naming former Sabre Corp. executive Greg Webb as chief executive officer. The company has also cut costs and taken strategic steps such as rolling its offerings into a core platform known as Travelport+.<br/>