A top airline industry official called on Tuesday for calm surrounding recent travel chaos at some airports as people resume flying after the pandemic, blaming the gridlock on temporary delays in getting clearances for new staff. A snapback in air travel has triggered long queues at some British airports, as well as Amsterdam, Dublin, and Toronto, as airport managers struggle to fill jobs fast enough. The time needed to get security badges for newly hired staff has risen from three to four weeks in Britain, for example, to as long as three months, said Willie Walsh, DG of IATA. “The problem is, you can’t start the training until you’ve got the security clearance,” Walsh told a small group of reporters on the sidelines of a conference on ground operations. “You offer them a job, they accept it, and then you have to go through this period of three months to get security clearance -- they’re not going to hang around. They’ll go and find a job somewhere else.” The former British Airways and IAG boss said he did not expect the trend to spread to other regions, but he sounded the alarm on growing pilot shortages in the United States. “I think it needs to be put in perspective; there are issues in some airports, it’s not across the world,” Walsh said.<br/>
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Global airlines on Tuesday played down concerns that rising inflation could halt a rebound in air travel, saying some carriers could cut ticket prices if needed to stimulate demand. Willie Walsh, director general of the IATA, also told a group of journalists that recent travel chaos in Europe was caused mainly by delays in getting staff security clearances, which he expected to ease. <br/>
White House officials met Tuesday with travel industry leaders who pressed the Biden administration to end its requirements that vaccinated international travelers take a coronavirus test before flying to the United States. Airlines for America, representing major US air carriers, and the US Travel Association, representing the broad travel and tourism industry, said they argued the requirement does not match the current threat from Covid-19. They also say the requirement is harming the US economy. "Quite frankly, the only impact the pre-departure testing requirement is having is a chilling effect on an already fragile economy here in the US," Airlines for America chief Nick Calio said in a statement after the meeting. Roger Dow of the US Travel Association said in a separate statement that while restrictions on many other businesses have been lifted, "the travel industry remains disproportionately harmed by this requirement." "Other countries with whom we directly compete for global travelers have removed their pre-departure testing requirements and reopened their tourism economies, putting the US at a serious competitive disadvantage for export dollars," Dow said. Airlines for America said its members believe lifting the requirements would lead more foreigners to visit the United States. They said that in mid-May, domestic travel came within 7 percentage points of pre-pandemic levels, but international travel lagged at 14% below normal. The industry has criticized the policy as out of date for months.<br/>
The unofficial start of summer over the Memorial Day weekend offers a troubling glimpse of what lies ahead for travelers during the peak vacation season. US airlines canceled more than 2,800 flights from Thursday through Monday, or about 2% of their schedules, according to tracking service FlightAware. Delta, usually among the top performers, had the worst record among major carriers with more than 800 canceled flights over the five-day span. “This was a chance for airlines to show that last summer’s delays would not be repeated this summer, and yet, it was not to be,” said Helane Becker, an analyst for banking firm Cowen. She blamed the disruptions on bad weather, air traffic control delays, airline crew members calling in sick, and long security lines at some airports. “We expect a busy summer, and are concerned about the industry’s ability to handle the demand,” Becker said. When asked to comment Tuesday about its weekend troubles, Delta pointed to a statement it issued last week, when it said it faced challenges including rising COVID-19 cases among workers. Delta ran 13% more flights in May than it did a year ago, but it announced last week that it would trim its schedules for July and August by up to 3% to make the remaining flights more reliable. The pilots’ union said it has warned the airline for months about crew shortages. “We understand our customers’ frustration, especially over the weekend,” said Evan Baach, a Boeing 767 captain at Delta and an official with the Air Line Pilots Association. “Delta has just not properly staffed the airline with pilots for the number of flights they want to fly.” The good news was that flight cancellations were down sharply on Tuesday. FlightAware reported only about 80 by late afternoon on the East Coast. Various forecasts of high numbers of travelers over the weekend proved to be accurate. The TSA reported screening more than 11m people at airport checkpoints from Thursday through Monday. That was down 9% from the same days in 2019, but an increase of almost 25% over last year. Crowds of just under 2.4m on both Thursday and Friday nearly matched the pandemic high set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.<br/>
The FAA said Tuesday that it had issued Boeing a shorter extension than the company had sought to conduct some of its own regulatory checks, as the agency works to reform the practice of outsourcing regulatory authority. Under a program known as Organization Designation Authorization, corporate employees are allowed to determine regulatory compliance on some matters on the FAA’s behalf. Boeing had sought a five-year renewal of that authority, but the FAA agreed to only three years. The congressionally approved program drew sharp criticism after two crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people, leading to a ban of the plane globally for nearly two years. A federal law passed in 2020 made a number of aviation safety changes, including some focused on the Organization Designation Authorization program. The FAA said it had approved only a three-year renewal because it wanted to ensure that Boeing was carrying out certain changes to the program. “There are multiple in work improvements that the FAA would like to assess within the Boeing organization over the next three years,” Ian Won, an agency official, said in a letter to the company. The agency, for example, would like to see Boeing better shield employees in the program from interference by company officials, update the company’s manual for the program and conduct audits to make sure a safety management system is effectively in place. The FAA said it also planned to track Boeing’s progress. Boeing said it would cooperate with the changes. <br/>
It will be cheaper to fly from Montreal to some of Quebec’s northern regions than to Europe starting June 1. That’s when the Quebec government will start subsidizing the cost of in-province flights, Transport Minister François Bonnardel said as he announced the details of the plan Tuesday. The program, which is expected to cost $86m over two years, will allow people to return to regions they've previously visited or discover new parts of the province for a "reasonable price," Bonnardel told reporters in Quebec City. “It’s a significant step for the tourism industry; it’s a significant step for the regional aviation industry, and it’s also a significant step for all of Quebec,” he said. The program has two components. First, residents of remote regions, such as Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, the Gaspé peninsula, Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean and the James Bay Cree Territories, will be eligible for a rebate of between 30% and 60% after they buy tickets for in-province flights. Second, those living elsewhere, including visitors from outside Quebec, will be able to buy round-trip tickets directly from airlines to remote regions for $500 and one-way tickets for $250. The general public will be limited to a maximum of three round trips, or six one-way tickets, per year, and travellers must start or end their flights at airports in Quebec City or the Montreal region. Only flights for personal purposes will be eligible for the discounted fares. <br/>
Airlines fear that disruption at UK airports will continue into the summer as the travel industry struggles to deal with growing passenger numbers, and flight delays and cancellations accumulate. Airlines for Europe, Europe’s largest airline association, expects the problems plaguing the industry in the UK and Europe to persist “for a good chunk of the summer season”, according to a briefing document. The group, whose members include easyJet, British Airways owner IAG and Ryanair, blamed a combination of staff shortages across the industry, higher than normal sickness rates and long waits for new staff to pass background checks. The warning came as UK ministers criticised the travel industry for staffing shortages that have caused weeks of disruption to air travellers, with the pressure set to intensify during the busiest week for flying since the start of the pandemic, as the school half-term break coincides with a two-day bank holiday to commemorate the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Lord Stephen Parkinson, the arts minister, said on Tuesday that the government had “for many months” been urging the aviation industry to make sure it had enough staff to allow passengers to travel smoothly this summer as most coronavirus-related travel restrictions had been lifted across the UK and continental Europe. “We have been saying to the industry for quite some time they should have been prepared for this,” he told Sky News. “It is causing a lot of distress for people, particularly at half term, people with families and children with them. It is very distressing if you turn up at the airport and your flight isn’t ready.”<br/>
The travel industry should have been better prepared for a surge in post-pandemic holidays, a government minister has said, after scenes of travel chaos in airports before the half-term break. The arts minister, Stephen Parkinson, a former adviser to Theresa May, said the disruption was causing “a lot of distress” for people who had not been able to get away for several years because of the pandemic. Flight cancellations have led to many passengers facing long delays to their half-term breaks. EasyJet has cancelled more than 200 flights to and from Gatwick between 28 May and 6 June. The airline’s Twitter feed has been referring dozens of stranded Gatwick passengers to its disruption help webpage. Tui also made several last-minute cancellations including from Gatwick, Birmingham and Bristol, blaming “operational and supply chain issues”. Airports are under particular pressure because of the widespread use of travel vouchers from previously cancelled holidays, and this week will be the first school holidays in England and Wales since the lifting of all UK Covid travel restrictions.<br/>
The lobby group representing all airlines flying in and out of Hong Kong is pushing the government to cut the hotel quarantine period for travellers to three days and wants pre-flight Covid-19 tests scrapped, according to people with knowledge of the outreach. The Board of Airlines Representatives of Hong Kong also requested authorities abolish a rule that sees flights suspended if they bring in a certain number of Covid-positive passengers, said the people, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The push comes as Hong Kong moves to further ease its contentious pandemic border regime. From Wednesday, the city will stop banning airlines that fly in passengers that do not meet travel requirements on their first offence, instead levying a warning and HK$20,000 (S$3,500) fine. Hong Kong is also scaling back the potential infringements that lead to airline punishments. The airline industry expect the government to take a step-by-step approach in further reducing Covid restrictions on travel. The Board of Airlines Representatives' proposal on cutting quarantine from the current seven days would bring the rules for travellers more into line with aircrew on passenger flights, who only need to isolate for three days. While Hong Kong has eased some of its travel curbs in recent months, the ongoing need to quarantine on entry to the city remains a key point of contention for foreign companies and business groups, who say the approach - part of China's Covid Zero strategy - is isolating the Asian financial hub.<br/>
South Korea's transportation ministry is considering lifting the curfew for arrivals at Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to the country, from July at the earliest, as part of efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, sources said Tuesday. Currently, there are no arrival flights allowed at Incheon Airport from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in April that the pre-pandemic returns at Incheon International Airport may be considered after the coronavirus pandemic becomes endemic. With the normalized operating hours, Incheon International Airport will be able to accommodate about 40 arrival flights per hour, close to the pre-pandemic level. In April, the transportation ministry said it will help restore the number of inbound and outbound international flights to 50% of the 2019 level by the year's end to meet pent-up travel demand amid eased virus curbs. In April, the country allowed fully vaccinated travelers from all countries to enter without quarantine in line with eased virus restrictions.<br/>
Air service resumed on a route between Korea's Gimhae International Airport and Japan's Fukuoka, Tuesday, making Busan the first local airport to reopen an international route to Japan, excluding Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to Seoul, after the COVID-19 outbreak. Following a resumption ceremony at Gimhae, attended by Korean and Japanese officials, an Air Busan jet carrying about 60 passengers departed for Fukuoka, according to the Korea Airports Corporation (KAC). The resumption of the Busan-Fukuoka air route came following a two-year suspension due to the pandemic. Gimhae used to see about 3 million passengers travel annually to 13 cities in Japan before COVID-19. The Gimhae-Fukuoka route, the closest in terms of geography between the two countries, was previously used by about 770,000 people a year. KAC officials said they will try to normalize international flights at Gimhae and restore demand as soon as possible following the resumption of flights.<br/>
The head of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) head says that international passenger traffic continues to rebound strongly, but that there are headwinds – especially for the air cargo market. AAPA DG Subhas Menon says high vaccination rates in the Asia-Pacific have unleashed pent-up demand for air travel, which had been held in check by travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. He notes that key travel markets such as India and Indonesia have opened up, somewhat offsetting China’s continued closure amid Beijing’s zero-Covid stance. “In May flights are really chock-a-block – all the flights are so full that it is hard to get a seat,” he says. “Forward bookings indicate that it will be even more than what it was in May in terms of demand. People talk about revenge travel…pent-up demand is very strong. I think this will carry us through.” In addition to leisure travel, there are also signs that business travel is also doing well. AAPA’s April 2022 preliminary international traffic numbers underline Menon’s optimism. During the month, the 40 carriers covered in AAPA’s numbers carried 4.8 million international passengers, up nearly fourfold from April 2021, when the region was mired in travel restrictions. ASKs nearly doubled year on year and RPKs rose four-fold. Load factors during April were 64.9%, up 36.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Still, Menon is concerned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s continued lockdowns will continue feeding inflation, which will reduce the disposable income available for travel. <br/>
Embraer has accelerated an energy-purchase plan which will ensure that all the electricity it acquires in Brazil will be drawn from renewable sources. It has brought forward this plan by a year and will achieve it from 2024 rather than the original commitment of 2025. Two-thirds of the total electric power used by Embraer – around 170b Wh – is consumed in Brazil. But it will start buying all its electricity in the country from solar and wind sources. It says it will “zero” its carbon emissions classified as ‘Scope 2’ – the indirect emissions resulting from using electricity purchased from the national grid – through the acquisition of a renewable energy certificate for 2024. Environmental, social and governance practices are “one of the pillars” of the airframer’s strategic business plan, says Embraer’s vice-president of ESG, Carlos Alberto Griner. “We have a broad program with several fronts, and we are looking at every opportunity to accelerate the reduction of our carbon emissions,” he says. Along with the commitment to 100% renewable energy usage in Brazil by 2024, and globally by 2030, Embraer is aiming for carbon-neutral operations by 2040.<br/>