Your face may now be all you need to fly United Airlines out of Chicago or Los Angeles. No driver’s license or passport required. United is the latest airline to partner with the Transportation Security Administration’s “touchless” identity verification at airport checkpoints for PreCheck members. The program is part of a larger effort to improve the dreaded security screening process. Fliers can opt in to United’s new Touchless PreCheck ID program when they check in on the airline’s app. At the airport, they access a dedicated security queue where their faces are scanned and, if verified with their existing passport or visa photo in the system, are waved on by a TSA agent. They then proceed through the checkpoint the same as they do now, placing bags on the X-ray belt and passing through a metal detector. Travelers must be flying on United and members of both PreCheck and the airline’s loyalty program to use the facial recognition option. “It’s a much faster and better experience,” said Timothy Kuryak, a Southern California-based television executive and writer who has used the new service when flying United out of Los Angeles International Airport. Compared with Clear, the private and controversial expedited screening service that also uses fingerprints or eye scans — broadly known as biometrics — to verify travelers’ identities, Kuryak said he thinks the new touchless PreCheck option is faster and experiences fewer glitches. For those confused by all the TSA screening options, touchless PreCheck is an addition to the standard TSA line and PreCheck queue — both of which require you to either provide an ID to an agent or insert it in a machine for verification — and Clear queues. Story has more.<br/>
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United Airlines has added Rosalind Brewer, former CE of retail pharmacy and healthcare company Walgreens Boots Alliance, to its board of directors. “Roz’s strategic acumen and visionary leadership make her the right addition to our already strong board of directors as we plan for the long-term success of United Airlines,” CE Scott Kirby said on 28 February. “Her vast leadership experience, characterised by innovation and digital transformation, have made a lasting impact on some of the world’s leading companies and will be an asset to United.” Brewer holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Spelman College and continues to serve the college as chair emerita. As president and CEO of Walgreens, “she shaped the company’s strategic direction and navigated the complexities of the healthcare landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic”, United says. Prior, Brewer was COO of coffee giant Starbucks and CEO of membership warehouse club Sam’s Club, a division of retailer Walmart.<br/>
India’s top airlines, Air India Ltd. and IndiGo, said their short-term expansion plans remain on track as they sidestep the lingering supply-chain snarls that have rattled the global aviation industry. Both carriers have bet big on a travel boom in India, laying out ambitious fleet expansion plans over the past year. In June, IndiGo placed a record-breaking order with Airbus SE for 500 narrowbody aircraft, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035. And Air India has 470 aircraft on order with Airbus and Boeing Co. But like airlines around the world, they’re now grappling with a series of supply chain headaches that risk further delaying aircraft deliveries, paring back flight schedules and hindering the industry’s post-Covid recovery. Top executives at the Indian carriers say they’re able to plug potential capacity gaps with a raft of measures including taking delivery of aircraft initially destined for other firms and even flying rivals’ jets. “For the moment we are reasonably well insulated” from delivery delays, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said Wednesday. “Our short-term growth is very much on track.” Some of the planes it has on order were produced for other carriers that were then unable to take delivery, he said. The airline will continue to add a new aircraft every six days into next year and it’s not until toward the end of 2025 that there may be some “production risk” for aircraft, Wilson said. IndiGo, which has a backlog of almost 1,000 single-aisle Airbus jets, is predicting it will take one new plane each week and is implementing measures to mitigate disruptions. <br/>
The CEs of Air India and Riyadh Air have underlined their determination to take international long-haul traffic from big overseas hubs. Speaking at the Aviation Festival Asia event in Singapore, Air India’s Campbell Wilson and Riyadh Air’s Tony Douglas point out that a substantial amount of international traffic from India and Saudi Arabia flows through big hubs overseas. Wilson observes that for the Air India group’s international business to be successful, it is not necessary to grow the market significantly. “There is a huge volume of traffic to and from India but it’s not going non-stop,” says Wilson. “We only need to shift a couple of percentage points of that and we’re in a very good position.” He adds that for the time being “the cream” of India’s international traffic flows through overseas hubs, but that as Air India continues to improve its value proposition, it hopes to secure more traffic for its extensive non-stop, long-haul network. Indian officials have long bemoaned the “leakage” of international traffic to well-run hubs such as Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, and Singapore – all of which are home to large and efficient international carriers. On the pending merger of Air India and Vistara, Wilson says that Singapore has yet to approve the transaction, but that this is expected “reasonably soon.” The merger also requires legal approval in India. Wilson is overseeing the restructuring of the Tata Group’s airline holdings. This will see Air India merged with Vistara, and Air India Express merged with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India. The merger had been expected to be completed by March 2024.<br/>
Four low-cost carriers submitted their preliminary bids to acquire the cargo division of full-fledged carrier Asiana Airlines, according to industry sources Wednesday. According to the sources, financial services firm UBS, tasked with selling Asiana Airlines' cargo division, concluded the preliminary bidding process of the deal earlier in the day. The bidders were said to be Jeju Air, Eastar Jet, Air Premia and cargo-focused Air Incheon. Asiana Airlines plans to sell its cargo division as part of conditions recently set by the European Union over Korean Air's envisioned merger with Asiana due to competition concerns. The company's cargo business unit is known to generate revenue of over 1t won ($748.6m) annually. The cargo division deal is widely expected to be concluded at under 700b won. Many of Asiana Airlines' cargo aircraft are known to be over 30 years old, leading to observations that the acquiring company will need to invest significantly in large-scale maintenance costs. Among the bidders, Jeju Air, a subsidiary of the Aekyung Group, is widely seen as being the most advanced in terms of financial strength and other conditions.<br/>
Asiana Airlines is to retire its sole Boeing 747-400 by the end of March, marking the end of 747 operations for the South Korean carrier. Confirming the retirement, Asiana says the aircraft will be deployed on one flight a day between Seoul Incheon and Taipei until its retirement. Between 1 and 25 March, the aircraft will operate flight OZ711/OZ712, states Asiana. That flight is currently operated by 777-200s, according to the airline’s schedule. The 747 was delivered to Asiana in 1999 on lease from GECAS, with the Star Alliance carrier taking ownership in 2005. It is powered by four GE Aviation CF6 turbofans, and is configured to seat 398 passengers in three classes. The 747 was parked in Seoul in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, but briefly returned to service in the second half of 2020. In May 2022 it was parked again, but rejoined the operating fleet in July, where it was then deployed to operate flights to Changchun in northeastern China. According to Cirium fleets data, the remaining passenger -400 operator is Air China, which has one example operating a number of domestic flights. Some operators – including Air India, Qantas and Thai Airways International – retired the type at the height of the pandemic, when passenger travel demand plummeted amid border closures. <br/>