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Scott Kirby, United Airlines CEO, joins ‘CERAWeek’ to discuss the airline industry trends, flight demand and FAA shortages.<br/>

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Monday that he expects federal subsidies for sustainable aviation fuel under the Inflation Reduction Act, former President Joe Biden's landmark climate change law, to remain in place. "This is one area that has support on both sides of the aisle to be protected," he said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston. "You know, it's possible that everything in the IRA just get thrown out, but I think SAF is likely to get protected."<br/>

Star Alliance member United Airlines is planning a massive overhaul of its San Francisco lounge offering. As the airport sees several airlines swap terminals, this will create more space for a new and refreshed lounge selection for the most frequent travelers. United Airlines, the airline that undoubtedly is the largest at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), is investing heavily in a new United Club Lounge in Terminal 2. United expanded its operations into the airport's second terminal in 2022 and has continued to dominate the Golden Gate city since then. The airline currently operates three United Clubs and one Polaris lounge at the airport. In response to consumer demands, the airline invests heavily in its airport lounges to improve the overall passenger experience. United Club amenities include but are not limited to complimentary food and drinks, a snack bar, bar services, and an abundance of non-alcoholic beverages. For those wanting or needing to be connected, free WiFi is on offer, and with this being provided at high speed, there are no excuses for not sending that important email. The lounge also has thousands of free digital magazines, which United Club guests get complimentary access for 24 hours through Readily. One of America's busiest airports, San Francisco International, is seeing airlines swap terminals to create new and inviting spaces for travelers. Earlier last year, Alaska Airlines was one of these, moving from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1—Harvey Milk Terminal. United Airlines now focuses on moving more of its operations to Terminal 2. At the same time, the airport spends more than $2.5 billion on the Terminal 3 West modernization project.<br/>

Lufthansa is looking at a compromise by which it could this summer fly some of the Boeing 787s it is yet to receive because of delays in certification of its business-class seat. The group’s long-haul fleet renewal and roll-out of its new Allegris in-flight product has been hard hit by wide-ranging manufacturing and certification delays. “The fundamental bottlenecks of the manufacturers in our industry have stayed with us over the past year and they will probably continue to affect until the end of the decade,” said Lufthansa Group CE Carsten Spohr, speaking during a full-year results briefing on 6 March. Specifically, he points to 41 Boeing long-haul aircraft which were due to be operational at Lufthansa Group by 2024. That includes 15 787 Dreamliners which are still awaiting certification of business-class seats. However, Spohr says he is “carefully optimistic” that the airline will be able to deploy some of these 787s this summer. “If we now find a compromise that we can bring these airplanes into service and just need a few of the business class seats to be blocked as these are the only seats awaiting certification, it would make sense for us to fly these aircraft, train our pilots and ramp up to eventually get certification for all seats,” he says. “So there might be airplanes flying as early as this summer with some of the business-class seats blocked, but all other compartments and some of the business seats are certified.” He says overall the group expects to take delivery of 26 aircraft over the course of the year.<br/>

A passenger stuffing clothes down the toilet has been revealed as the reason a flight to Delhi turned back to the US. It caused nine of the 10 toilets on board the Air India flight 126 from Chicago O’Hare, US to Delhi on March 5 to stop working. The Boeing 777-300ER was 4.5 hours into the 14-hour flight when it turned around, landing back in Chicago nearly 10 hours after taking off. Photos shared online by Ajay Awtaney from travel blog Live From A Lounge showed what the airline’s engineers uncovered in dismantling parts of the sewage system. The pipes were clogged with stained clothing and an airline blanket The airline described the problem as a “technical issue” in a letter to passengers. In a statement, Air India said: “Upon landing at Chicago, all passengers and crew disembarked normally and have been provided with accommodation to minimise inconvenience. Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination.” However, one passenger told aviation blog View From The Wing there were issues sorting out new flights for her cousin, who had been travelling to India for a wedding. “She opted to turn around and come back to Seattle. We’re now in the midst of customer service hell with Avianca, Lifemiles and Air India to figure out how to get a refund for the miles ticket." Toilets blocked or overflowing have resulted in flights being turned around before. <br/>

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airport Terminal on Monday unveiled a new extension at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, part of a push to turn the gateway into a travel hub that rivals South Korea's Incheon International Airport. The extension connects the main Terminal 2 building, which is used primarily by ANA, to its North satellite wing starting on March 19. The two buildings are currently linked only by bus. "We will continue to challenge ourselves to become the No. 1 airport in the world," said Susumu Takahashi, an executive officer with Japan Airport Terminal, which handles management and operations of various facilities at Haneda and other airports. Haneda used to typically handle domestic flights at terminals 1 and 2, and international flights at Terminal 3. Because of Terminal 3's distance from the other two, transferring between domestic and international flights took at least 70 minutes. But ANA began operating some international flights out of Terminal 2 in March 2020, shortening transfer times to as little as 55 minutes. Currently 60% of international flights operate out of Terminal 2. The extension adds five new boarding gates for ANA domestic flights, which will let the airline move more international flights that are now at Terminal 3 to Terminal 2. Roughly 70% of ANA's international flights at Haneda will operate out of Terminal 2 following the change.<br/>