United Airlines is asking its pilots to take voluntary unpaid leave in May because of delays in Boeing deliveries, according to a memo sent by the union representing pilots. Because of the delivery delay, “our forecasted block hours for 2024 have been reduced and we are offering our pilots voluntary programs for the month of May to reduce excess staffing,” United Airlines said in a statement Monday. It also comes as the industry warns of a mass pilot shortage, as the workforce begins to age out after widespread furloughs during Covid-19. The voluntary programs could possibly extend into summer and fall, the memo said. The offer means the company will still pay some benefits while the pilot is out. Monday’s development signals the fallout from Boeing’s production crisis is spilling over into airline operations, especially United, where 81% of its mainline operations use Boeing jets. The Federal Aviation Administration is taking a closer look at United after a series of almost a dozen incidents at the airline, United said in a March memo. United had already announced it halted the hiring of new pilots “due to continued new aircraft certification and manufacturing delays at Boeing.” Southwest, which flies nothing but Boeing 737 jets, also will hire about 50% fewer pilots and 60% fewer flight attendants than planned this year due to Boeing cutting deliveries to the airline by about 40%. It will also trim capacity from earlier plans, offering about 1 percentage point fewer seats than it had planned. United CEO Scott Kirby told investors in March that his company is looking at possibly buying more jets from Boeing competitor Airbus, and he said earlier this year that an Alaska Air incident — during which a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door plug mid-flight on January 5, leaving a hole in the side of the plane — was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” on its plans to get deliveries of the Max 10 any time in the foreseeable future. United uses far more Boeings than its rivals American Airlines and Delta which have only about half their fleets coming from Boeing. The union said Monday that the delivery issues pertain to the 787 and 737 fleets.<br/>
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Over the weekend, a United Airlines flight en route to San Francisco from Frankfurt, Germany, was forced to divert due to an overflow from one of the aircraft’s toilets into the cabin. The Boeing 777, operating as United Flight 59, had to return to Frankfurt approximately two hours into the flight Friday after spending some time circling over the North Sea. A United spokesperson attributed the incident to “a maintenance issue with one of the aircraft’s lavatories.” Passengers were accommodated in hotels in Frankfurt and rebooked on different flights the following day. The aircraft returned to service on Sunday, according to aviation records. This incident is the latest in a series of safety-related events involving United Airlines in recent weeks.<br/>
In December 2021, Latin America’s avianca Group emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and has since developed a risky yet successful growth strategy. The airline is now one of the largest in South America, having transported 32.3m passengers in 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic threw avianca into a financial crisis, forcing it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and close its Peruvian subsidiary, avianca Perú. Now, the airline is expanding, having just announced the launch of its new Bogotá to Paris route and additional expansion elsewhere. In May 2020, avianca was forced to file for bankruptcy in the US Southern District of New York after travel restrictions and the consequent financial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the carrier’s overall stability. At the time, the airline had said that 88% of the countries to which it operated were either under total or partial travel restrictions, causing a shock to its passenger numbers. Inevitably, avianca was not the only airline to suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines worldwide saw passenger numbers plummet and aircraft grounded as travel restrictions brought air travel to a relative halt. LATAM Airlines Group and Aeromexico also joined avianca in filing for bankruptcy the same year. In more recent news, Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in January. Avianca was forced to reevaluate its business strategy and shut down its Peruvian subsidiary to “renew its focus on core markets.” The group dissolved the division and deployed its other airlines to service flights to and from Peru. Story has more. <br/>
EgyptAir Holding Company has contracted to sell 12 Airbus A220-300 aircraft to Russia’s Azur Air, the Egyptian company’s chairman Yahya Zakaria told the Saudi Bloomberg Al-Sharq TV channel on Sunday. The sale deal is due to the aircraft’s unsuitability for weather conditions, Zakaria clarified. "We will utilize the proceeds from the deal to repay the loan for purchasing the aircraft," he explained. "We will deliver the first aircraft according to the deal with Russia’s charter airline Azur Air within the next month, and the remaining aircraft will be delivered in installments until March 2025," he added. In September 2019, EgyptAir bought 12 Airbus A220-300 planes. The purchase deal was signed with Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, to be delivered through June 2020.<br/>
ANA Holdings said on Tuesday it reached a multi-year deal to be the official Japanese airline for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the new team of baseball star Shohei Ohtani. Japan has been awash in Dodgers imagery and merchandise since national hero Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700m contract with the team in December after six years with the Los Angeles Angels. But Ohtani has an individual sponsorship deal with ANA competitor Japan Airlines (JAL). He gave a video address to new JAL employees on Monday. ANA, Japan's biggest airline, began non-stop service to Los Angeles in 1986 and now operates three round trips a day between Tokyo airports and the Californian metropolis, the company said. The carrier will also collaborate with the Dodgers in celebrating Japanese culture at heritage nights events, according to a statement.<br/>
Singapore Airlines will resume flights to three Chinese cities later this month following a three-week suspension due to “regulatory reasons”, CNA reported, citing a company spokesperson. The airline will restart services to Chongqing, Chengdu and Xiamen on April 22, according to the report. The SIA spokesperson didn’t elaborate on the reason for the suspension, said CNA. This is not the first time the airline had to pause flights, having halted services to four Chinese cities for regulatory reasons last year. <br/>
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has returned to pre-COVID capacity in Perth with a fourth daily service to Singapore (Changi) Airport. The A350-900 service, which commenced on Easter Sunday (31 March), adds 303 seats each way, divided into 40 business and 263 economy. In total, it will add 220,584 more seats to the Perth market per year, and comes a month after SIA opened a new SilverKris lounge at the airport. “We are excited to return to pre-pandemic flight schedules as travel demand to and from Perth continues to be robust,” said SIA’s regional vice president South West Pacific, Louis Arul. “We are also pleased to offer travellers from Perth our brand new SilverKris Lounge at Perth International Airport, which boasts additional space, enhanced facilities and a range of new dining options to enjoy.” Perth Airport’s chief commercial and aviation officer Kate Holsgrove said Perth Airport and Singapore Airlines have maintained a strong partnership for 57 years. “Singapore Airlines is Perth Airport’s number one international airline in terms of seat capacity, delivering more than 930,000 seats per year to the Perth market,” she said. “Singapore Airlines has been instrumental in growing WA’s business, education, trade, and tourism links with Singapore. Singapore has become Western Australia’s second largest international visitor market, injecting A$260m into the WA economy in visitor expenditure alone last year. The airline also has a long and proud record of linking the world with Western Australia and the additional flights will provide even more options for West Australians to travel to multiple cities in Asia, Europe and the USA via its Singapore hub.”<br/>