United Airlines will begin using lower-carbon aviation fuels on flights from San Francisco International Airport and London Heathrow Airport beginning this year, the US carrier told Reuters on Thursday, as the travel industry pursues new efforts to cut climate warming emissions. Sustainable aviation fuel, which uses feedstocks including used cooking oil and soybean oil, is being embraced in some regions by airlines including Qantas Airways, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific. United now expects to consume about 10m gallons of SAF this year. "This is really about creating a market for sustainable fuels that just doesn't exist right now," Lauren Riley, United's chief sustainability officer, told Reuters. SAF accounted for less than 1% of aviation fuel consumed in 2022, but the industry's 2050 goal of "net zero" emissions currently relies on SAF accounting for 65% of fuel, according to International Air Transport Association statistics. The airline industry is responsible for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions and many airlines have a target of SAF accounting for 10% of fuel by 2030. United now uses SAF in its departing flights from Los Angeles International Airport and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. With the latest addition, United will fly more miles using SAF than any airline, the company said. United began receiving SAF deliveries at San Francisco International Airport in April and will receive deliveries at London Heathrow later in 2023. United and partners of its Eco-Skies Alliance will acquire the fuel for San Francisco International Airport from Finnish renewable fuels producer Neste. Members of the alliance include Deloitte, Microsoft and Nike.<br/>
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Air Canada has raised its earnings expectations for the full year as passenger demand remains strong and jet fuel prices fall. The Montreal-based carrier said on 4 May that its costs per available seat mile will come in at about 0.5% to 2.5% below 2022 levels. Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will rise to about C$3.5 to C$4b from a previous estimate of C$2.5 to C$3b. “The revised guidance for adjusted EBITDA reflects expected earnings resulting from an improvement in traffic and yield from a stronger-than-anticipated demand environment and lower-than expected fuel price,” the company says. Capacity guidance remains “substantially unchanged” at “about 23% increase versus 2022”. That’s approximately 90% of the company’s capacity in pre-pandemic 2019. “Air Canada is not updating its 2024 targets at this time and will continue evaluating them as it progresses towards its plans and executes on its strategic priorities,” the airline says. The company is due to report its first quarter 2023 earnings on 12 May.<br/>
Dozens of pilots, many from crisis-hit Go First, flocked to a Tata group hotel near Delhi on Thursday for walk-in interviews with the conglomerate's Air India airline. Go First's announcement on Tuesday that it had filed for bankruptcy as demand for post-pandemic air travel in the world's most populous country boomed came as a shock to many employees. "It is very disheartening, the airline was functioning as if everything was normal," said a pilot who joined Go First two years ago and was waiting in a long line at Tata's Taj Hotel. "We have to jump ship in order to keep our flying licences current." Reuters spoke with more than a dozen pilots and cabin crew at the Air India programme, which was first announced on Wednesday, and another run by sister company Vistara, all of whom declined to be named as they were still employed by Go First, the country's third-largest airline. While Air India, Vistara and the country's biggest airline IndiGo have conducted similar hiring drives in the past, the people Reuters spoke to said turnout was larger than normal. They attributed the numbers to the plight of Go First, formerly known as Go Airlines (India) Ltd, which has around 7,000 employees. Air India said on Twitter the hiring drive in Delhi and Mumbai would be extended by a day to Friday. The airline, bought back from the government last year by salt-to-software Tata group, plans to hire more than 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots this year as part of a major revamp which also includes orders for a record 470 jets. An Air India spokesperson told Reuters it had received more than 700 applications in response to an advert last week for pilots, which it is currently processing.<br/>