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American Airlines is tweaking its AAdvantage loyalty program, looking to make things more streamlined for its most frequent flyers and allow passengers to start unlocking perks even before they earn status. "It's a complicated loyalty space out there across different loyalty programs," AAdvantage managing director Heather Samp said. "Our focus was simplicity." Some of the big changes include a new array of rewards at different qualifying thresholds and an elimination of the mileage earning cap on flights. "We're creating a more meaningful travel rewards program for our AAdvantage members," American's CCO Vasu Raja said. "Only our members will have access to everything American has to offer." Story explains what American's customers can expect once the changes are implemented in March. <br/>

British Airways is unlikely to invest in zero-emission aircraft with fewer than 70 seats in order to prove their viability, preferring to wait until a solution is found for narrowbody-sized jets, according to the carrier’s sustainability chief. BA examined the fleet and network implications of introducing green aircraft into its operation as part of the induction of novel powertrain developer ZeroAvia into its Hangar 51 technology accelerator programme, says Carrie Harris, the airline’s director of sustainability. “The expectation at the moment is that we start with smaller aircraft and gradually scale up from the research perspective,” she told ZeroAvia’s hydrogen summit event on 30 November. “But when we looked at it for our operation it’s not really viable,” Harris says, with the carrier “remaining focused on the 70-plus-seater.” While such an aircraft “could operate from some of our smaller hubs like London City”, BA would still require an aircraft “with above 70 seats”, she says. In the interim, hydrogen propulsion may be introduced on short commuter or island-hopping routes, Harris says, adding: “But what I’m really hoping for is that we see a breakthrough and get the opportunity to potentially retrofit [the technology] onto existing airframes. “I’m open-minded, but I think for our operation we are definitely more interested in a like-for-like replacement of single-aisle, short-haul aircraft.” BA has previously invested in ZeroAvia. Val Miftakhov, CE of ZeroAvia, promises that its zero-emission powertrain for a 70-seat aircraft will be available from 2027.<br/>

British Airways has signed an agreement with the trustee of its New Airways Pension Scheme on the scheme’s triennial valuation, the airline’s owner IAG said on Thursday. The valuation, based on the scheme’s funding position as of March 31, 2021, shows an agreed technical provisions deficit of GBP1.65b, compared with a deficit of GBP2.4b as of March 31, 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, British Airways will not pay a dividend in 2022 and 2023, and there will be a 50% matching contribution to NAPS if any dividend is paid in 2024, IAG said. <br/>