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The pilots’ union for American Airlines has directed its members to refuse to fly to Israel, citing the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Union President Ed Sicher said in an email to members that the company’s pilots should not fly to Israel until they “can be reasonably assured of the region’s safety and security.” The email cites the most recent advisory from the U.S. State Department, which warns that the current situation in Israel “continues to be unpredictable,” and that mortar and rocket fire can take place any time without warning, putting aircraft in danger. “It is not prudent or appropriate to knowingly put our flight crews and passengers in harm’s way by maintaining flights into a war zone,” Sicher said. Israel formally declared war Sunday as it bombarded the Gaza strip with airstrikes in retaliation for a major surprise attack by Hamas. The declaration came a day after an unprecedented incursion by Hamas fighters, who blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a major Jewish holiday.<br/>

Finnair said on Friday it was planning a rights issue to raise up to E600m ($632m) to shore up its finances and pay back a loan from the state, which is keeping its controlling stake. Finland's national carrier has been hit hard by the pandemic and then by the closure of Russian airspace following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine which challenged its Asia-focussed strategy. Its shares fell as much as 25% in morning trade. Despite the financial struggles, Finland intends to keep its 55.8% holding and is not considering options similar to consolidation happening around Scandinavian rival SAS, Prime Minister's senior adviser Maija Strandberg said. "Finnair is a company of strategic interest... (because) sufficient international flight connections are indispensable for Finland," she told Reuters, adding Finnair also plays a role in national security of supply due to its northern location. Long-struggling rival SAS, which is under bankruptcy protection, on Tuesday announced U.S. investment firm Castlelake and Air France-KLM would become new major shareholders alongside the Danish state as part of a rescue plan. Strandberg said the share issue would allow Finnair to fully pay back the E400m emergency loan the Finnish state granted to it in April 2022, after the Russian airspace closure slashed most of its Asian flights.<br/>

Finnair is gearing up for a lengthy closure of Russian airspace to western airline flights, a fact that has forced it to pivot and embrace new commercial strategies for survival. Those commercial changes include adjusting the Helsinki-based Oneworld alliance carrier’s route map to offer more flights to the Middle East and India rather than East Asia, cutting costs, and shrinking its fleet including by sub-leasing aircraft to other airlines. It is that latter strategy, which includes wet-leasing two Airbus A330s and the crews operating them to Qantas Airways, that shows just how long Finnair’s management expects the Russian airspace closure to persist. “The wet leases to Qantas are an example of us maintaining the option of Russian airspace at some point of time in next years be that five years or 10 years or something more, opening,” Finnair CEO Topi Manner said during an investor event Friday. “Then we would be having the possibility to call back those aircraft and start flying with those to Asia again.” What’s key in that statement is not that Finnair is keeping its strategic options open — one would expect no less from a major global airline — but that its leadership believes Russian airspace could stay closed for “five years or 10 years or something more.” A decade is more than the lifetime of some airlines. And it’s a period long enough to see sizable shifts in share and major players. As significant as it is to hear Finnair’s CEO say Russian airspace could be closed for a decade, it does not appear to be a fringe view. Air France-KLM in September ordered up to 90 Airbus A350-1000s for its future longhaul fleet in a deal that was reported to be driven in large part by additional range considerations owing to the closure of Russian airspace. Aircraft are typically a quarter-century investment for airlines.<br/>

IAG SA is in discussions with Airbus SE and Boeing Co. for a potential widebody aircraft order, according to people familiar with the matter, as the European airline group looks to modernize its long-haul fleet. As part of the talks, IAG is seeking to replace older 777s at its British Airways unit, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential negotiations. The group could order 20 or more aircraft, one of the people said. The contest could go either way with both manufacturers already present in the carrier’s widebody stable. BA operates almost 60 Boeing 777s, along with 37 of the more-modern 787 Dreamliner, and about 13 Airbus A350s, according to the airline’s website. The discussions are ongoing and no decision is imminent, the people cautioned. Representatives from IAG, Airbus and Boeing declined to comment. A growing number of airlines have been ordering planes to renew their widebody lineups as long-haul traffic recovers from the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic. BA, a major player on lucrative North Atlantic routes, is using older planes than some of its competitors. At 14 years, its aircraft average twice the age of those used by UK rival Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. BA’s 777-200s, which make up the bulk of its long-haul fleet, are even older, averaging almost 24 years of age, according to data from aviation tracker Planespotters.net. IAG has additional deliveries pending from previous orders, and holds unexercised options for about 30 Boeing widebodies, including the coming 777X and a handful of 787s. The airline group also has options to purchase some 50 more A350s. Airbus and Boeing have struggled to keep up with resurgent aircraft demand, putting pressure on airlines to lock in available production slots.<br/>

Qantas Airways, a storied airline that was once the pride of Australia, has been rocked by a spate of scandals, including sales of seats on thousands of canceled flights, leaving newly appointed CEO Vanessa Hudson scrambling to win back customer trust. The company's first female CE, who took office two months earlier than planned, will now try to put the nation's top carrier back on a growth track amid rising fuel costs and intensifying competition. "I know that we have let you down in many ways, and for that, I am sorry," said Hudson in a video released on Sep. 22. "We need to earn your trust back, not with what we say, but what we do and how we behave." Australian regulators took Qantas to court in August, accusing it of selling tickets for 8,000 flights between May and July 2022 that the airline had already canceled. Unknowing passengers who bought the tickets were forced to purchase more expensive ones after the cancellations were announced. The company could be fined up to around 2b Australian dollars ($1.3b), equivalent to 10% of annual sales. Its response to the pandemic also rankled customers. Rather than refunding tickets for flights canceled because of the pandemic, Qantas issued travel vouchers and credits with expiration dates. Its call centers could not handle a flood of inquiries, resulting in long waits. This has prompted customers to file a class-action suit against Qantas for refunds. Qantas finally relented in August this year, announcing that it would remove the expiration date on the travel vouchers and offer cash refunds. The week after Hudson's video apology, it announced an additional AU$80m investment to strengthen call centers. The carrier plans to spend AU$230m in total this fiscal year to improve customer service. The legal battles were a stunning fall from grace for the world's second-oldest airline, which was founded in 1920 as a state-owned company. <br/>