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It can be confusing when you’re looking up at a clear blue sky but your flight is delayed by weather. United Airlines knows that and will now send passengers real-time weather maps to explain those kinds of delays. Because flights usually cover large distances that overfly different regions of the country, the weather over the Great Plains, for example, can still cause significant headaches on transcontinental flights, even if the conditions are perfect on both coasts. “With more people traveling this summer than ever, we wanted to give our customers an easier way to stay connected to real-time information about their flight and texting was the simplest solution,” Jason Birnbaum, United’s Chief Information Officer said in a statement. “We know customers appreciate transparency and by combining innovative technology-enabled tools with people power, we can give more people, even more in-the-moment details about their flight.” According to United, specialized customer service representatives will sit alongside operations managers to get a better understanding of what’s causing delays across the network. They can then send texts or emails to affected travelers to explain what’s going on. When weather is behind the disruptions, those updates will include links to live, local weather maps that highlight the conditions affecting their flight. United said customers can also access weather maps in its app.<br/>

Short sellers are targeting Canada’s biggest publicly traded airline as investors expect rising operational costs and weaker post-pandemic consumer demand to weigh on growth. Air Canada’s short interest as a percentage of float — a metric that measures how many traders sold shares compared to the total amount of stock available to trade — stood at nearly 19% in early July, according to financial data firm S3 Partners. This is more than double the 7.4% rate a year earlier, signaling that investors expect shares to come under further pressure as Canadians allocate more of their pay to cover higher costs of living. It’s also the highest rate recorded since December 2021 when additional COVID-19 travel restrictions were imposed, sending the rate to nearly 21%. Shares of the Canadian airline operator are trading 4.7% lower this year as economic and industry headwinds have taken their toll. The stock is also trading far below its pre-pandemic range, hitting a high of around C$50.05 ($36.74) in November 2019. “Canadian investors are concerned about a slowing Canadian economy and a potential increase in pilot pay once they negotiate their contract,” TD Cowen analyst Helane Becker said in an email. Investors are forecasting a challenging travel season for airlines, with a lack of available aircraft and materials to make them as well as elevated inflation threatening to keep passengers away. While higher interest rates have brought inflation closer to its 2% target, headline inflation quickened to 2.9% in May, up from the 2.7% a month earlier. Preliminary economic data from Statistics Canada also points to flatter growth ahead as the agency predicts gross domestic product rose 0.1% in May, slower than the 0.3% expansion a month earlier. <br/>

Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s E325m investment in Italy’s ITA Airways won approval from the European Union, allowing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to offload responsibility for an airline whose predecessor has been a drain on state resources for decades. The EC said on Wednesday it approved the planned deal after accepting a slate of concessions aimed at preserving fair competition on key routes out of Italy to the rest of Europe and North America. “We needed to prevent that passengers end up paying more or end up with fewer and lower quality air transport services,” the EU’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement, adding that proposed remedies address the commission’s competition worries. The approval from EU watchdogs puts an end to months of uncertainty over the future of the deal — in which Lufthansa will initially buy 41% of the successor to failed flagship Alitalia from the Italian state, with an option to acquire the rest later. Lufthansa shares rose on the decision, which was swiftly welcome by Italy’s government. “As an Italian citizen, and as a minister, what makes me happiest is that Italian taxpayers won’t have to put additional billions to cover for ITA losses,” Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said during a press conference in Rome Wednesday.<br/>

A wing of an EVA Air Boeing 777 was damaged Wednesday after the Taipei-bound plane collided with a light pole while taxing to the runway at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s transport ministry publication reported. No passenger injuries were reported, it said. The plane was scheduled to depart at 4:34 p.m. A representative of EVA Air’s Ho Chi Minh City office wasn’t immediately available for comment.<br/>

Some 760,000 people are set to fly with Air New Zealand over the July school holidays, with 51,000 booked to travel on the busiest day of July 12. Nearly half a million customers are set to fly on the domestic network, and a further 274,000 are headed overseas, the airline said. Air New Zealand COO Alex Marren said the airline has made more seats available in response to strong demand for flights around Aotearoa over the school holidays. “To help get customers where they need to be, we’ve added 30,000 seats across 240 domestic flights. That means we have nearly half a million customers expected to travel with us from Friday 5 July until Sunday 21 July.” Queenstown is the most popular domestic destination for the airline these school holidays, with 31,000 customers set to travel there. Dunedin is also popular, with the All Blacks set to play England in the city on July 6. Air New Zealand has put on nine extra return flights, equal to 2250 additional seats, to cater for demand. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the most popular international destinations for customers, while Fiji and Singapore are also in high demand. Meanwhile, Jetstar expects to fly more than 120,000 people across its domestic and international networks over the July school holidays. Airports around the country are also gearing up for a busy two weeks. Some 55,000 people are set to fly into or out of Auckland Airport on the busiest days of the school holidays, with this weekend expected to be especially hectic for both international and domestic departures.<br/>