general

Airline and airport executives spent the past two years trying to convince everyone it’s safe to fly during a pandemic, touting reduced touch points and hospital-grade filters. Little did they know how overwhelmed they’d be once travel came roaring back. From Sydney, where passengers are waiting for hours to check in, to chaotic scenes in India and Europe, where the UK has seen weeks of disruption and Deutsche Lufthansa AG is canceling hundreds of flights, the aviation industry doesn’t have nearly enough people to run operations smoothly, even as post-summer demand for travel is still unclear. As countries reopen borders and Covid curbs fall away, travel has sprung back with such voracity that it’s resulted in an unprecedented labour crunch, made worse by the pandemic-induced layoffs of hundreds of thousands of workers, from pilots to cabin crew and ground-handling staff. Many are in no mood to come back but even if they were, scaling up at such pace is a risk for airlines and airports, with spiraling inflation and economic pressures putting a question mark over how sustainable the current demand really is. "All airports and airlines are short staffed at the moment,” said Geoff Culbert, the chief executive officer of Sydney Airport, where almost half the 33,000-strong workforce lost their jobs during Covid. The aerodrome is furiously trying to rebuild, but "we’re not as attractive a place to work as before,” he said. "There’s still an element of concern around job security.”<br/>

Airlines expect the end of COVID testing requirements in North America to accelerate a rebound in transatlantic traffic - but soaring fares due to surging fuel costs and staffing shortages may slam the brakes on rising demand in the world's largest international travel market. A US requirement that arriving air travelers test negative for COVID-19 had been blamed by carriers for dampening demand. But a week after the White House scrapped the rule, airlines are reporting a surge of interest in international travel. That's a bright spot as the industry prepares an annual meeting of the IATA in Qatar. IATA director general and former head of British Airways Willie Walsh expects airlines to prioritize key transatlantic routes that for years drove a big slice of industry profits.<br/>"I think they'll reduce capacity in other areas," Walsh told Reuters ahead of the June 19-21 Doha gathering. US airline executives have been advising customers not to delay their bookings if they are planning to go to Europe as the demand this summer is "on fire". The surge in demand, however, comes at a time when carriers on both sides of the Atlantic are grappling with staffing shortages, forcing them to cut capacity. In Europe, widespread labor strife, including short-term strikes by cabin crew over pay, has left passengers facing long-lines and flight cancellations. read more<br/>

Airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights in the US Thursday, one of the worst days yet for travel as the peak summer vacation season heats up. At LaGuardia Airport in New York, more than one-third of all flights were scrubbed, and more than one-fourth of flights were dropped at nearby Newark Liberty airport in New Jersey, according to tracking service FlightAware. The cancellations came less than three weeks after airlines kicked off the summer travel season by canceling about 2,800 flights in a five-day stretch around the Memorial Day holiday weekend. And they happened as airline CEOs held a virtual meeting with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — a sign of the Biden administration’s concern about the prospect of snarled airports and unhappy travelers this summer. “I let them know that this is a moment when we are really counting on them to deliver reliably for the traveling public,” Buttigieg said.<br/>

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged airline CEOs on Thursday to ensure they can fly their schedules reliably this summer after a rise in delays and cancellations this year, according to a person familiar with the call. The secretary asked airlines what steps they were taking to ensure that disruptions that occurred over Memorial Day weren’t repeated during July 4 weekend and the rest of the summer, the person said. Buttigieg also pushed airlines to improve customer service so that passengers can rebook quickly, the person said, describing the call as “productive and collaborative.” Airlines have struggled with routine disruptions such as weather alongside staffing shortfalls and a surge in travel demand. JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines have already scaled back their spring and summer travel schedules to give themselves more room to handle disruptions. More than 7,100 US flights were delayed and nearly 1,600 were canceled as multiple thunderstorms snarled travel to and from some of the country’s busiest airports, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. “We appreciated the opportunity to meet with Department of Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to discuss our shared commitment to prioritizing the safety and security of all travelers as they reunite with friends, family and colleagues this summer,” Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, which represents large US carriers, said in a statement. Airline executives have occasionally placed blame on air traffic control.<br/>

The US Commerce Department on Thursday broadened export controls on Belarus's national airline, Belavia, for providing flights on Boeing aircraft in violation of restrictions issued after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Companies around the world are now prohibited from maintaining, repairing and otherwise using US parts or equipment to service Belavia's fleet, according to a Commerce Department order issued against the airline. Belavia violated US regulationsby flying Boeing aircraft after April 8 into and out of Belarus to and from Russia, Turkey, Moscow, St. Petersberg, Georgia, the UAE and Egypt, the department said. On April 8, Washington restricted flights on Belarusian owned, controlled or operated aircraft manufactured in the United States or made in a foreign country with more than 25% controlled U.S. content from flying into Belarus or Russia. "Just as Belarus is lawlessly supporting Russia's unjust war in Ukraine, its national airline Belavia is failing to obey our export laws," Matthew Axelrod, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, said. The order "will prevent Belavia from leveraging any US technology to operate its fleet of airplanes, thus making it more difficult for the airline to keep flying." The order affects both the Boeing and Embraer aircraft in Belavia's fleet, if they need US parts or services, officials said. It also broadens the items restricted to Belavia. <br/>

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport will limit capacity this summer as long lines caused by a shortage of security staff are expected to persist through the busy holiday months. Hub operator Royal Schiphol Group NV said the maximum number of passengers it’s able to handle will vary, reaching 67,500 on the busiest days in July and 72,500 in August, with interventions required to avoid “unmanageable queues.” “Setting a limit now means that the large majority of travelers will be able to travel from Schiphol in a safe and responsible way,” CEO Dirk Benschop said Thursday. The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM said Schiphol’s mandatory reduction in passengers is “highly detrimental” and should be a one-off, short-term solution. The airline will comply with the measures by reducing the number of people boarding locally but does not expect to cancel existing bookings on a major scale, it said in a statement responding to the measures. Disruption isn’t limited to the Netherlands but Schiphol has been among the European airports hardest hit by recent chaos as the aviation industry grapples with the effects of the swingeing job cuts made at the height of the pandemic. KLM, which is the biggest airline at the hub, was forced to cap the sale of flights there last month in order to create spare capacity for customers who missed their booked departure amid an acute shortage of airport security staff. Schiphol pledged in May to recruit more workers and optimize passenger flows ahead of the summer months to help reduce waits that have extended to several hours. <br/>

UK airlines will be forced to cancel hundred of flights this summer after London’s Gatwick airport announced plans to limit its operations because of continuing staff shortages plaguing the transport sector. The UK’s second-busiest airport said on Friday it would cut the number of flights airlines can run to 825 per day in July and 850 in August, down from the 900 that Gatwick was planning to operate on peak days in August. “Airlines will have to trim back their schedules somewhat,” said Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s CE. He said the decision was down to a lack of staff at airlines and in particular ground handlers, subcontracted through third-party companies to perform tasks from check-in to baggage handling. Wingate said the decision would allow airlines and passengers to plan in advance and cut out last-minute flight cancellations. “Everybody gets more certainty. They can at least have confidence in July and August that flights will operate,” Wingate said. EasyJet, Gatwick’s biggest airline, will inevitably suffer the most disruption but said it supported the actions and “expected to be able to reaccommodate the majority of customers”. Gatwick’s decision to scale back its operations represented more evidence that the aviation industry would not be able to carry as many passengers as promised this summer, following widespread labour shortages across the industry supply chain. The move came after ministers told airports and airlines to get a grip on the short-notice cancellations that have hit thousands of flights this year, and to remove flights from their schedules in advance rather than hit passengers with on-the-day changes.<br/>

There were cupcakes, doughnuts and $500 petrol vouchers on offer, as well as promises of free training. On Thursday, thousands of job seekers descended on Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport for a jobs fair, to hear about vacancies that baggage handling, catering, retail and security companies – as well as major airlines and government departments such as Border Force and the federal police – were looking to fill. More than 30,000 people were employed at the airport before Covid, but 15,000 jobs are estimated to have been lost throughout the pandemic, said Geoff Culbert, the airport’s chief executive. Culbert said despite the promising turnout to the job fair, where more than 40 businesses had set up stalls, long queues and travel disruptions resulting from staff shortages will continue to plague the airport. “I think that every additional employee that we can add at the airport is going to help with congestion, but the reality is these shortages are going to be with us for a while longer,” he said. “This is the tightest labour market that we’ve seen in 40 years. We’ve got 5,000 jobs that we need to fill and that’s going to take time,” he said. While many of those who turned out on Thursday were school leavers and unemployed people looking to enter the industry, printed CVs in hand, a large proportion of those attending were people employed in other sectors hoping for a career change as well as former aviation workers let go during the pandemic.<br/>

Boeing is laying plans to restart 787 Dreamliner handovers that have been largely halted since late 2020, notifying customers of their place in the delivery queue as it works with US regulators to complete the final paperwork. The planemaker is “almost there” on returning the Dreamliner to service, said Stan Deal, head of Boeing’s commercial airplane division. The company has reviewed the carbon-composite frames for tiny structural imperfections with regulators and key suppliers. He didn’t offer specific details on timing. “There’s been steady progress,” Deal said Thursday on the sidelines of a UK Aviation Club event in London. “There’s a lot of paperwork you have to turn in so we’ve been focused on that and on the restoration of the airplane.” Resuming 787 handovers and speeding up 737 Max deliveries are key to Boeing’s efforts to finally start generating cash after years of losses and regulatory scrutiny following two airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019. Hundreds of undelivered aircraft are stashed around its factories and in storage yards, including around 330 Max and about 30 of the hulking 777X, which won’t enter the market until 2025, according to Ron Epstein, an analyst with Bank of America. Boeing is using the lessons learned from returning its 737 Max narrow-body jets to service following a lengthy grounding, Deal said at the UK event. The company will proceed in “modest steps” as it resumes Dreamliner production and deliveries. The planemaker has grappled with structural glitches since 2020 that have turned its popular wide-body jet into a drain on cash. As of mid-May, nearly 120 undelivered Dreamliners were in storage or undergoing inspections and repairs for gaps smaller than the width of a human hair in some instances, Epstein said in a June 13 note to clients.<br/>

Boeing has seen demand for widebody jets including for freighters recover, starting to follow the already strong demand for narrowbody planes, its head of Commercial Airplanes said. Stan Deal told the Aviation Club UK that while there were some negatives on the horizon, such as the war in Ukraine and surging rates of global inflation, the market as a whole was recovering strongly. "All of a sudden we've gone from a deep slowdown to a rapid acceleration," he said. "We're seeing now more demand for wide body."<br/>"Interestingly, it kind of started with the US and then the Middle East and even into Europe. Not having the widebody totally synchronised to the narrowbody demand return has been a bit of help." He added that the next major challenge for the industry was the resilience of the supply chain. "Bringing that back is proving to be a bigger task. But I think it's a momentary issue." On a tight jobs market he added that he expected staff shortages to correct itself in the airline sector over time.<br/>