United Airlines is officially rolling out new accessibility features Thursday that it says will make flying easier for wheelchair users. The updates, which the airline previously announced, include the ability to find flights that are the best equipped to handle their mobility equipment by inputting the dimensions of their wheelchair in a filter on the booking page both on the airline’s app and website. The flight results will then prioritize the itineraries with planes that are best able to carry the mobility device. “The more we know about a customer’s device, the more likely their experience will be a good one – from booking and check-in to the flight itself,” Linda Jojo, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for United, said in a statement. “These new tools and policies also set our employees up for success, especially those working on the ramp or at the gate.” Jojo said that customers with disabilities will also be able to apply for partial refunds if the flights that are best able to accommodate their equipment are not the cheapest option on the route. “Often, there are certain types of aircraft that we have where the cargo doors are not conducive to loading the larger personal wheelchairs,” she said. The updates come out of an ongoing partnership United has with the United Spinal Association, a disability advocacy group. “We hope with this partnership to continue looking for opportunities to improve travel for wheelchair users,” Vincenzo Piscopo, CEO and President of United Spinal Association told USA TODAY. “My hope is that they’ll continue with us in that journey, taking our feedback as we continue reaching that goal that any wheelchair user has a travel experience as close as possible to the experience that the rest of the community.”<br/>
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG and German labor union Verdi agreed on the main features of a wage deal for ground staff, ending a series of strikes that disrupted travel in recent months, according to dpa-AFX. The deal comes after a mediation process and covers approximately 25,000 employees, according to the newswire report. Walkouts have cost the German airline some E250m since the start of 2024 as canceled flights drove away prospective passengers and put aircraft out of position. <br/>
The Turkish Airlines on Thursday resumed commercial flights to the Mitiga International Airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli, after a hiatus of 10 years, Mohamed al-Shohobi, the Libyan minister of transportation, announced in a press conference. "The arrival of the Turkish Airlines flight in the Mitiga International Airport today is a message of guarantee to all international aviation agencies. This step confirms the stabilization of the security situation (in Libya) and supports our commitment to applying standards of civil aviation safety and security," al-Shohobi told the press conference. "We also encourage other airlines that may not have sufficient information about the security situation in Libya (to resume flights from Libya)," the minister said. Al-Shohobi also praised the Turkish Airlines as a perfect partner for cooperation, training, maintenance services, and investments. In 2014, violent clashes erupted between rival armed factions in and around Tripoli, forcing many foreign companies and airlines to flee the country.<br/>
China’s three biggest airline companies reported annual losses for 2023 as international traffic remained well below pre-pandemic levels. China Southern Airlines, the country’s largest carrier by number of planes and passengers, lost 4.2b yuan ($581m) in 2023, while Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines reported a net loss of 8.17b yuan. Flagship carrier Air China also reported a 1.05b yuan net loss, according to stock exchange filings. Though losses significantly narrowed compared to 2022, China’s major carriers have continued to lose money since the start of the pandemic. The country has been among the slowest major aviation markets to recover from the pandemic with international travel well below 2019 levels and concerns about an oversupply in the domestic market. The three airlines didn’t provide detailed reasons for their losses. International travel for China’s three large carriers is due to grow to about 6,000 flights a week this year, 80% of pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.<br/>
When India's Tata Group bought the country's national airline, it was welcomed as something of a miracle. Air India had been mired in debt and under-funded state management for decades. No-one wanted even a piece of the iconic but loss-making carrier. But a deal was struck in 2021, just as the world was emerging from the pandemic - and airlines were betting big on revenge travel once borders reopened. They were right. The rebound is well and truly under way and air travel is off to a roaring start in 2024. There have been warnings of slower growth in the US, where spending is expected to plateau after a post-pandemic spike. But it is a different story on the other side of the world in Asia. "If we look at the size of the opportunity in India, it's already the world's most populous country," Air India's CE Campbell Wilson told the BBC at a recent aviation event in Singapore. "It has the geographic advantage... connecting regions of the world together. And it is a hugely underserved market." By 2042, India's domestic aviation market is expected to be five times the size it was in 2019, with Indians taking around 685m trips every year, according to plane maker Airbus. That would make the South Asian nation one of the world's fastest-growing civil aviation markets, and third after China and the United States. It is not just India. By the middle of the century, Indonesia, which now ranks 13th globally in passenger numbers, is predicted to jump to the fourth spot, analysts say. Air travel is also expected to boom in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in the coming decades. They are all emerging economies with young, growing populations that can afford to spend on travel. And it is showing: global air traffic jumped by 16% over the last year. But in Asia, the increase was almost twice as much, according to industry figures. Story has more.<br/>