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Flying the friendly skies has been anything but friendly in the two plus years of the pandemic as passengers rail against mask requirements and feel the stress of quarantine life. Former United Airlines CEO Oscar Muñoz thinks travelers need to be more mindful of their surroundings on aircraft as to avoid any potential confrontations. "I think what you as an individual can do is look around yourself and try to smile and be caring," the former long-time CEO of United Airlines said. "It helps." While the number of unruly passengers appears to be on a downtrend from a year ago, travelers would agree that even one is too many. Year to date, there have been 1,150 reports of unruly passengers on airplanes, according to the latest data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A whopping 65% of the reports were related to face mask requirements. In total, 169 enforcement actions have been initiated against unruly passengers. "I don't understand why people do what they do, and it has been getting worse," Munoz said. "I think we have to monitor it ourselves and to check our troubles at the door to some degree. But also there needs to be intensive training of flight attendants to manage these things — it can never be enough when somebody is just a jerk." The angst on airlines related to face mask requirements is poised to carry on, at least through the end of April.<br/>

Former long-time United Airlines CEO Oscar Muñoz says consolidation in the airline industry makes sense, and there is a pathway for Spirit Airlines to be owned by JetBlue or Frontier Airlines. "If I was at United, I would be supportive of this," Muñoz said on Yahoo Finance Live. "Consolidation will help the level of service. There likely may be concessions. One of the two [carriers] should be able to pull it off." Last week, JetBlue shocked Wall Street by offering to buy Spirit for $3.6b for $33 a share. The bid counters one from Frontier in February, which put forth a $25 a share bid. Frontier has not upped its bid, and there hasn't been any indication it will. JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes has ramped up his pressure on Frontier Airlines, saying his company's surprise deal for low-fare rival Spirit Airlines makes much more sense. "A bigger JetBlue is profoundly good and better for competition than a Spirit and Frontier combination," Hayes said. Spirit Airlines said this week it will hold talks with JetBlue.<br/>

Austrian Airlines, the flag carrier of Austria, has started receiving deliveries of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from Vienna-based oil and gas company OMV. Under a supply contract that was signed at the end of 2021, SAF was delivered at the Vienna International Airport to fuel Austrian Airlines’ aircraft. The partnership between OMV and Austrian Airlines is expected to transform Austria into an innovation hub. OMV Marketing and Trading executive officer Elena Skvortsova said: “OMV is implementing numerous measures to achieve its ambitious strategic sustainability goals, and SAF plays a key role in our transformation. “We are planning to increase sales of SAF from our own production from approximately 2,000mt this year to more than 700,000mt per year by 2030. With this, we address the reduction of greenhouse gases. The first milestone is already achieved with the delivery of SAF to our longstanding partner, Austrian Airlines. Through this cooperation, we demonstrate the strength of two national champions, OMV and Austrian Airlines, which further solidifies Austria as an innovation hub.” The SAF supplied by OMV is produced at its Schwechat refinery, which is claimed to be the largest and most complex inland refinery in Europe.<br/>

Air New Zealand is dropping its vaccine requirements for both domestic and international passengers. From Thursday, domestic passengers will no longer have to show either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test, and international flights will be open to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated from May 1. The change in policy follows New Zealand’s move to the orange light setting of the traffic light system at 11:59pm on Wednesday. The airline will also bring back its food and beverage service on domestic flights from April 15. Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said easing restrictions made sense given the country’s highly vaccinated population and drop in transmission of the virus. “As Omicron took hold in the community, we put in place several temporary measures aimed at keeping our employees, customers and New Zealand safe. After a careful risk assessment, we feel now is the right time to step back some of those measures. New Zealand is moving back towards a sense of normality. We’re seeing customers return to our domestic network, and we’re welcoming back Australians. We’re aware that Covid is not behind us yet, and we have taken a considered approach and will continue to revise safety measures depending on what we’re seeing here in New Zealand and around the world.” Face masks are still mandatory on all domestic flights and at airports – no matter which airline you’re flying with. Air New Zealand also requires them to be worn on international services.<br/>

Air New Zealand has announced it has restarted flying direct to San Francisco on Thursday and will resume direct services to Honolulu on July 4 and to Houston on July 7. The ramping up of international services is happening as COVID-19 restrictions are eased, with the new dates announced just a day after quarantine-free trans-Tasman flights restarted and end dates for vaccination requirements were announced. The newly announced North American routes add to Air NZ's currently operating direct services to Los Angeles and Vancouver, while the new direct New York route launches in September. Other airlines are also increasing their services to and from Aotearoa. Air NZ will depart Auckland for San Francisco three times per week at 1:05pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The services will operate on Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The airline will fly both the Honolulu and Houston services three times per week as well. "Recommencing services across our North America routes as the border reopens is another step towards the gradual resumption of flights to destinations across our international network," said the Air NZ Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty. "San Francisco is a year-round destination for Kiwis and equally, an important departure point for Americans looking to visit New Zealand and Australia."<br/>