unaligned

With US regional airlines struggling to fill cockpit seats, Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines are each offering $100,000 signing bonuses to attract qualified pilots. The three airlines – all subsidiaries of American Airlines – are offering the bonuses for pilots who accept conditional job offers between 15 November and the end of the year. Texas-based Envoy is offering $100,000 bonuses to qualified first officers with more than 950 flight hours and $75,000 bonuses for pilots who have between 500 hours and 950 hours flying under the FAA’s Part 121 rules, meaning, regularly scheduled commercial service. “As we continue to grow, Envoy places massive importance of recruiting and retaining the best pilots in the industry,” Ric Wilson, Envoy’s vice-president of flight operations, said on 15 November. “As a result, there has never been a more lucrative time to be an airline pilot.” The US airline industry is short some 8,000 pilots, resulting in losses of air service throughout the country, the Regional Airline Association (RAA) said on 10 November. The pilot shortage has resulted in diminished or lost air service at 76% of US airports since October 2019. “We now have more than 500 regional aircraft parked without pilots to fly them and an associated air service retraction at 324 communities,” says Faye Malarkey Black, RAA’s CE. “14 airports have lost all scheduled commercial air service – a number that is still rising. We are on the precipice of a wholesale collapse of small community air service.” In response, Maryland-based Piedmont is offering “$100,000 up front to pilots who can sit in the left seat of the flight deck and $75,000 to pilots who are close to upgrading to captain”, the airline says.<br/>

In one of the ultra-low-cost carrier’s largest-ever network expansions, Sun Country Airlines plans to roll out 15 new nonstop routes from its base in Minneapolis, Minnesota next year. With the new routes, Sun Country’s network would include 120 routes to 90 airports throughout the USA, the airline said 15 November. Starting in spring and summer 2023, the airline plans to begin flying from Minneapolis to Charlotte and Wilmington (North Carolina), Columbus (Ohio), Kansas City (Missouri), Richmond (Virginia), Louisville (Kentucky), Rapid City (South Dakota), Colorado Springs, Atlantic City (New Jersey), Omaha (Nebraska) and Detroit and Traverse City (Michigan). Most of the flights will operate twice weekly. The carrier will also resume nonstop flights from Minneapolis to Milwaukee Mitchell International and St Louis International airports, which had previously been cut by the airline. And, for the first time since 2019, Sun Country will fly four times weekly to John F Kennedy International airport in New York. “We are excited to continue our growth to top leisure destinations across the country,” says Grant Whitney, chief revenue officer of Sun Country. “Our newest destinations support our unique business model as we coordinate our scheduled service with important charter and cargo customers.” Flying a mix of scheduled service, charters and cargo operations, Sun Country operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737s, including 42 passenger jets and 12 freighters for Amazon.<br/>

Virgin Atlantic's gender-neutral uniform policy did not apply for crew on board the England team's flight to the World Cup in Qatar. The airline removed the requirement for its employees to wear gendered uniform options, it said in September, explaining they could "wear the clothing that expresses how they identify or present themselves". This, however, did not apply to the crew who attended coach Gareth Southgate's squad on Tuesday's flight to the World Cup. "Initially UK, US and Israel are the territories where the uniform policy is being rolled out for our people," a Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman told the BBC. "Those countries are more accepting of non-binary identities allowing more self-expression," she added. Some soccer players have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling to the tournament, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against. England flew to Doha on a plane named "Rain Bow", which featured an image of a man holding a union flag and wearing rainbow-coloured trainers. The Football Association said that it did not choose the aircraft, the BBC reported, but it was happy to fly on it.<br/>

UK start-up Hans Airways has completed a new round of financing which it says satisfies the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s requirements for it to secure an air operator certificate (AOC). Hans Airways, which is aiming to launch flights between Birmingham and Amritsar in India and in August took of its first Airbus A330-200, has also completed a related management restructure which sees chief operating officer Nathan Burkitt taking on the chief executive role. The Birmingham-based start-up had initially been hoping to secure its AOC in time to launch flights this summer. It today says that the fresh investment will take the airline ”to the next stage toward satisfying the CAA of its financial viability and subsequent operating licence to provide revenue air services”. Burkitt takes over as CEO from Satnam Saini, who will continue as a director of the airline, while another board member, Barry Humphreys, will become interim chairman succeeding Ruchir Verma. ”Establishing a new airline is never straight-forward and there will inevitably be hurdles along the way,” says Humphreys. ”Hans Airways is now well positioned to move forward. With growing evidence of strong demand for additional air services between the UK and India, supplemented by charter opportunities, we have every expectation of being able to launch.”<br/>

Wizz Air, a leading Europe-based airline, has signed an agreement with Vienna-headquartered OMV, a global oil, gas and chemicals company, for the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) between 2023 and 2030. The MoU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) gives Wizz Air the opportunity to purchase up to 185,000 metric tons of SAF from OMV. This co-operation guarantees Wizz Air can progress in accordance with its plan for reduction of CO2 intensity per passenger kilometre. The move builds on Wizz Air’s position as the most sustainable choice of air travel and is a key part of the airline’s environmental strategy to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 25% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. With the lowest CO2 intensity per passenger kilometre in Europe, one of the youngest fleets in the world, and numerous fuel efficiency initiatives, Wizz Air is already leading the aviation industry to a more sustainable future. OMV is implementing numerous measures to help deliver its ambitious strategic sustainability goals, and SAF is a key technology for the decarbonization of the aviation industry. The goal involves increasing SAF production to as much as 700,000 tons in 2030. This is in line with OMV's ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 at the latest (for Scopes 1, 2 and 3). To this end, clear medium-term and long-term emission reduction targets have been defined as part of the OMV Strategy 2030.<br/>

Emirates airline, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA), is now offering international travellers the opportunity to speed up their airport experience by consenting to the use of biometric data. An agreement in this regard was signed by Lieutenant General Mohamed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA in Dubai, and Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, in the presence of several senior officials from both sides. The first agreement of its kind globally, the strategic partnership between GDRFA and Emirates is a cooperative effort to further improve the innovative and digitally focused travel experience of Dubai visitors, said a statement. The agreement improves passenger traffic procedures inside Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 and ensures a faster and more efficient airport experience for travellers transferring to connecting flights, as well as those who arrive in Dubai as their final destination. By using biometric recognition technologies and the GDRFA pre-populated biometric database to identify travellers at multiple points in the airport, travellers will be able to breeze through Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 check-in, lounges, boarding and immigration at high-speed as the AI systems recognise their unique facial features and will link to their passport for instant identity verification. <br/>

Oman Air, the national airline of Oman, has officially inaugurated its highly anticipated route to Phuket, celebrating the first flight with a ceremony at its First and Business Class check-in counter at Muscat International Airport. The airline has introduced four direct flights a week to the popular resort island, which boasts many of Thailand’s most famous and beautiful locations. Guests can enjoy their holiday from the moment they fly with Oman Air’s award-winning on-board amenities, including in-flight entertainment, quality meal service and comfort touches, all designed to make every journey more comfortable, refreshing and seamless. Aboudy Nasser, CCO of Oman Air, said: “As part of our network expansion programme, our new flights will address the huge demand for passenger travel between Muscat and Phuket, especially during the peak winter season. With nature, culture and plenty of activities, Phuket is an ideal family destination and, just five hours away from Muscat, it offers a great option for a getaway. Meanwhile, we continue to stay attuned to our guests needs, connect them to destinations they want to go, and elevate their travel experience.”<br/>

Three South Korean low-cost airlines cut their red ink in their third-quarter earnings, as passenger traffic continues to recover with the country’s easing of entry restrictions. For the three months to 30 September, Jin Air, Jeju Air and T’way Air also reported a significant upswing in revenues – especially from international passenger travel. Jin Air reported a quarterly operating loss of W17.5b ($13.2m), narrowing the W44.5b loss in the year-ago period. The sister unit of Korean Air saw its revenue more than double year on year, to W175 billion, of which international passenger revenue made up about 34%, up from 6% in the year-ago period. The airline saw a 29% rise in passenger numbers for the quarter to 1.8m. Capacity more than doubled against 2021 levels. International traffic, in particular, saw the strongest growth, with RPKs seeing an increase of 37 times year on year. The increase in operations led to a 83% jump in costs to W192 billion. Like many other carriers, Jin Air saw a significant portion of costs go to fuel, at 32%. It is a higher proportion than in 2021, when fuel accounted for just 17% of expenses. As for Jeju Air, it was W60.6b in the red, an improvement on the W90.5b operating loss last year. Revenue rose nearly three-fold year on year to W194b, led by a significant uplift in international travel revenue. The airline carried about 2.2m passengers during the quarter, a 38% increase year on year. Like its compatriots, the largest increase came from international travel, with RPKs climbing nearly fifty-fold. Meanwhile, T’way Air reported a W32.6b operating loss, against a W39b loss in the year-ago period.<br/>

A Scoot passenger plane flying into Singapore from Bali had its landing delayed on Monday because a group of passengers refused to fasten their seatbelts during the aircraft's descent. CNA reported the budget airline saying in a media statement on Tuesday that the captain of flight TR285 had discontinued his first approach into Singapore for safety reasons. "The flight landed safely on the second approach at Changi Airport without further incident, and the involved passengers were escorted off the aircraft by airport authorities for further investigation," Scoot added. Disembarkation was delayed for about 30 minutes. Investigations are still ongoing, and Scoot said in its statement that the public should "refrain from undue speculations". The incident was captured in a TikTok video, where the voice of a man, presumably the pilot of the Scoot flight, is heard telling passengers that he is legally not able to land an aircraft if the cabin is not secured. The male voice continued, "We are now turning around again for another approach, and if we have to do another missed approach for the same reason, the airport police will be involved and they will take the necessary action."<br/> The video later shows auxiliary police boarding the plane after it landed to escort several passengers out. "The well-being of our customers and staff is our priority and we do not condone behaviour that compromises flight safety," Scoot said in its statement.<br/>