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Less than four hours before departure, Ryan Farrell was surprised to learn his flight from Yellowknife to Calgary had been cancelled. Air Canada cited "crew constraints" and rebooked him on a plane leaving 48 hours after the June 17 flight's original takeoff time. Farrell was even more surprised six weeks later, when he learned his request for compensation had been denied on the basis of the staff shortage. "Since your Air Canada flight was delayed/cancelled due to crew constraints resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the delay/cancellation was caused by a safety-related issue," reads the email from customer relations dated July 29. The rejection "feels like a slap in the face," Farrell said. "If they don't have replacement crew to substitute in, then the flight [was] cancelled because they failed to assemble a crew, not because any other factor would have made it inherently unsafe to run the flight," he said in an email. "I think the airlines are trying to exploit a general emotional connection that people make between 'COVID-19' and 'safety,' when in reality if you put their logic to the test it doesn't stand up." Air Canada's response to Farrell's complaint was not an outlier. In a Dec. 29 memo, the company instructed employees to classify flight cancellations caused by staff shortages as a "safety" problem, which would exclude travellers from compensation under federal regulations. That policy remains in place. Canada's passenger rights charter, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), mandates airlines to pay up to $1,000 in compensation for cancellations or significant delays that stem from reasons within the carrier's control when the notification comes 14 days or less before departure. However, airlines do not have to pay if the change was required for safety purposes.<br/>

The worst is over for German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) after staff shortages caused flight chaos over the summer, but levels of sick leave remain challenging, board member Christina Foerster told newspapers in the Funke Media group. Airlines across Europe have struggled to cope with a strong rebound in holiday season demand after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped much travel. Many airports faced huge queues due to staff shortages, prompting last-minute cancellations. "The low point has passed. Flight operations are largely stabilized," Foerster was quoted as telling Funke in an interview published on Sunday. "Nevertheless, this summer we are dealing with a level of sick leave that is not easy to offset," said Foerster, adding the situation remained challenging. Most flight cancellations are affecting domestic routes where there are alternatives, she said. She added, however, that the situation would only improve significantly with the winter flight schedule at the end of October. Lufthansa said on Thursday it expected demand for short-haul flights in Europe to drive growth at its passenger airlines this year and forecast a return to group operating profit for the full year. <br/>

Swedish, Danish and Norwegian pilot union members have voted to adopt a collective bargaining agreement reached with airline SAS (SAS.ST) last month, and will thus not resume their strike, the labour unions said on Saturday. SAS grounded some 3,700 flights during a crippling 15-day strike in July. In Denmark, 93% of pilot union members voted in favour of the deal. "I am incredibly happy about the great support for the agreement, not least when we have been through such a long and tough conflict," said Henrik Thyregod, chairman of the Danish pilots union. "The members have clearly understood the gravity (of the situation) and this shows how strong the unity is among the pilots," he said. Unions in Norway and Sweden said a majority of their members also backed the deal, but did not immediately disclose how many had voted in favour. Long-struggling SAS, which filed for US bankruptcy protection on the second day of the strike, has estimated the industrial action cost it more than $145m during what is normally the profitable peak summer travel season.<br/>

Scandinavian airline SAS said Friday its total number of passengers decreased by 32% in July compared with June, and capacity by 23%, due to a 15-day pilot strike in July. SAS grounded some 3,700 flights during the crippling strike that left 380,000 passengers stranded.<br/>

Swiss will lease as many as six Airbus A220-300 aircraft from Air Baltic in order to “stabilise its schedules” in the coming months. “We’ve agreed a collaboration with Air Baltic for the coming winter timetable period to further stabilise our flight schedules and provide even more reliability for your travel plans,” the Basel-based airline posted on Twitter on 5 August. “The up to six planned aircraft will perform flights on our EU network.” The airlines did not respond to multiple requests for further information. In April, Latvian carrier Air Baltic said it would wet-lease a portion of its A220 fleet to other European airlines for a number of years, as its home markets recover from the pandemic and it adjusts its network in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Some 11 of Air Baltic’s 33 A220s are currently wet-leased between Eurowings, Eurowings Discover – both Lufthansa Group companies – and SAS, operating from bases including Dusseldorf, Munich and Stockholm. It is unclear whether or not the six aircraft due to be leased to Swiss in today’s announcement are in addition to these, or if the airframes will be shifted within Lufthansa Group. According to Cirium fleets data, Swiss already operates 30 of the type, split between the -100 and -300 variants. The A220-300 variant of the aircraft is outfitted with 145 seats and operates on inner-European routes. Swiss has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights in the past few weeks due to a lack of qualified flight crew, and is struggling to rebuild its staffing following the two-year Covid-19 crisis.<br/>

EgyptAir said it would operate exceptional flights between Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport and Libya’s Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli during summer starting Tuesday to promote tourism. The flights will continue until 11 October to transport groups of tourists from Libya to the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, said Chairman of EgyptAir Amr Abul-Enein. The flag carrier will operate a weekly flight between the two airports on board Boeing B737-800 aircraft, which is capable of carrying up to 154 passengers, to promote Libyan tourism flow to Egypt, added Abul-Enein. In September last year, Egypt and Libya resumed flights from Tripoli to Cairo after seven years of hiatus over turmoil in the Libyan territories. The two countries also reactivated the direct flight service between Cairo and Benghazi in April this year. Egypt, which counts on tourism revenues as a vital source of foreign currency for the country, has announced plans to explore alternative tourism markets in light of the Russia-Ukraine war ongoing since February.<br/>

Recently appointed Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Mesfin Tasew has embraced the ‘Vision 2035’ roadmap introduced by his predecessor Tewolde GebreMariam in 2019, as he aims to keep the carrier on an aggressive growth path. Tasew says the roadmap is “tailored around fast, profitable, sustainable growth” and will involve a near-doubling of the carrier’s current fleet – covering both passenger and cargo aircraft. “Today, Ethiopian Airlines operates around 135 aircraft and by 2035 we would like to expand this fleet to more than 250 aircraft,” he states. The Addis Ababa-based operator has 35 aircraft on order, meaning it will need to place significant orders for “more latest-technology, highly efficient aircraft” in the coming years, Tasew says. The currently on-order aircraft include 22 Boeing 737 Max jets – Ethiopian having finally brought its four examples back into service earlier this year. By early August, it had taken delivery of three further Max aircraft, bringing its fleet to seven, and it expects to receive the remaining 22 over the next four years, Tasew states. “When we reintroduced them, customers did not notice that they were flying on the 737 Max,” Tasew says of the passenger response to the type returning following the fatal crash of an Ethiopian example in 2019. The reliability of the aircraft has been very good,” he adds of the type’s few months back in service. Of Ethiopian’s other outstanding aircraft orders, four of six Airbus A350s have now been upgraded from the -900 to -1000 variant, while it also has two Boeing 787-9s to come, and five 777 freighters. Indeed, freighters are big part of Tasew’s thinking as he adopts a “grand cargo expansion” strategy as part of the 2035 roadmap.<br/>