Air cargo operators may struggle to distribute new COVID-19 vaccines effectively unless pandemic travel restrictions are eased, global airlines cautioned on Monday. The warning came in vaccine transport guidelines issued by the IATA, which is pushing governments to replace travel curbs and quarantines with testing. “If borders remain closed, travel curtailed, fleets grounded and employees furloughed, the capacity to deliver life-saving vaccines will be very much compromised,” the IATA document said. Moderna said Monday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine had proved 94.5% effective in a clinical trial, a week after rival drugmaker Pfizer reported 90% efficacy findings for its vaccine. Once approved, both vaccines are likely to require transport and storage well below freezing, posing logistical hurdles. Widespread grounding of passenger flights that normally carry 45% of global cargo in their holds has taken out capacity, thinning the air freight network and driving up prices. Existing immunisation campaigns have struggled with the partial shutdown. The WHO and UNICEF “have already reported severe difficulties in maintaining their planned vaccine programmes during the COVID-19 crisis due, in part, to limited air connectivity,” IATA said.<br/>
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The US House of Representatives is set to vote Tuesday on bipartisan legislation to reform the FAA aircraft certification process after two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people. The 737 MAX has been grounded since March 2019 but the FAA is set on Wednesday to approve the plane’s return to service after a lengthy review, new software safeguards and training upgrades. The House bill requires an expert panel to evaluate Boeing’s safety culture and recommend improvements, and mandates that aircraft manufacturers adopt safety management systems and complete system safety assessments for significant design changes. It also requires that risk calculations be based on realistic assumptions of pilot response time, and that risk assessments are shared with regulators. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the measure unanimously on Sept. 30. Representative Peter DeFazio, the panel’s chairman, said that the measure is “a strong bill that has support from both sides of the aisle and addresses something we all agree on — keeping people safe. There’s no reason to wait until the next Congress to get this done.” DeFazio, a Democrat, said the FAA failed to properly ensure the safety of the 737 MAX, and called aircraft certification “a broken system that broke the public’s trust.”<br/>
Boeing is set to win approval for its grounded 737 MAX this week, but chinks are appearing in the brand as the most traumatic chapter in the jetmaker's history overshadows the planes' original billing of superlative performance. When it returns to the skies next month as expected after a nearly two-year safety review, the “MAX” name will still be officially in place. Some airlines, however, have begun to soft-pedal references to the aircraft following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. Industry sources familiar with the branding say the name will likely be phased out over time as a strategy unfolds among airlines to de-emphasize the “MAX” label in favor of the formal names assigned to each variant, like “737-7” or “737-8.” “You will see the MAX name used less frequently,” one of the sources told Reuters. Another person involved in discussions over the marketing predicted the MAX name would gradually fade in coming years. The wavering support for the brand could be a setback for the company, which had unusually advertised a name as well as a model number, and urged airlines to “Think MAX.” It also shows a potential sore point with airlines, who had invested promotional dollars in a name now seen as tarnished. Brand Finance last year estimated the MAX’s problems had wiped $7.5b off the value of Boeing’s corporate image. Anticipating this week's approval, American Airlines plans to relaunch commercial MAX flights on Dec. 29 from Miami to New York City. But while passengers will see the MAX name on booking systems, it will not appear on safety cards visible in seat pockets. “We changed the Boeing 737 safety cards to simplify the cards and ensure the correct card is placed on each aircraft,” an American spokeswoman said. “This approach is consistent with other fleet types where we do not have different safety cards for sub-fleets.” <br/>
European airlines can expect improving prospects towards the end of this year and next, bank HSBC has predicted, citing the progress being made on airport testing and vaccines. Describing this month as “the darkest moment” for the continent’s carriers, the bank highlights in a note to clients that October traffic was down 80% on last year “and looks likely to be notably worse in locked-down November”. Yet from this nadir, it expects trading conditions to improve. “The Pfizer vaccine news has dominated the headlines, but there is a swathe of other vaccines approaching,” the bank writes, adding that “there is far greater momentum than before to use testing as a tool to reopen global travel. The aviation industry’s lobbying for pre-flight testing is also gaining some traction.” This raises the prospect that travel corridors could be established, bolstering demand even before vaccines are rolled out. HSBC expects European governments to begin ease lockdown restrictions around Christmas, although travel is likely to pick up regardless over the holiday period, as has been seen in the US market. Demand for visiting friends and family and for leisure remains “strong”, writes the bank, while the levels of caution that have led to a dwindling of business travel are likely “overdone”. Combined, these factors point to an earlier recovery of the airline sector, a reopening of long-haul and corporate travel, “and earlier return to 2019 levels”, in the view of HSBC.<br/>
Thousands of workers at London Heathrow airport have voted to take strike action in December over the operator’s proposals to cut costs amid the coronavirus downturn. The Unite union describes the “targeted strike action” as a response to “plans to fire and rehire its 4,000 workers on vastly reduced pay”. The announcement follows months of discussions – initiated by the airport operator when the severity of the current crisis became clear – which culminated in Unite’s decision to ballot its members on strike action in mid-October, claiming that Heathrow had rejected its latest proposals. Unite states that the action ”will involve firefighters, engineers, campus security, baggage operations, operational and airside workers”. Two 24-hour strikes are due to take place on 1 December and 14 December respectively. A 48-hour stoppage will take place across 17-18 December, Unite says.<br/>
London's Gatwick airport is pushing UK and European regulators to reinstate rules that force airlines to use or lose their lucrative take-off and landing rights ahead of next year’s critical summer season. Stewart Wingate, CE of the UK’s second-busiest airport, said in an interview that it is “vital” airlines hand back slots they do not plan to use so that competition returns to the industry. European regulations dictating that carriers lose a slot if it is not used 80 per cent of the time were suspended for six months in March. The move was designed to stop airlines running empty flights to hold on to their landing rights as global air travel all but ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. The so-called “80/20” rules were then waived for another six months in September and the industry is now debating whether the waiver should be extended for a third time to run across all of next summer. Take-off and landing rights are among airlines' most valuable assets and can be traded for tens of millions of pounds. “It is vital that the industry reverts back to using the 80/20 slot rule for the start of the summer season,” said Mr Wingate. This would “ensure that the aviation market is competitive and airlines are incentivised to trade or hand back unused slots so that other airlines can fly them instead, including new market entrants”. <br/>
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) sees the establishment of travel bubble arrangements – such as the recently announced example between Singapore and Hong Kong – as a “big step in the right direction” to restarting cross-border travel amid the coronavirus outbreak. AAPA chief Subhas Menon says that the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble arrangement, which sees quarantine measures eased in place of testing, will “be a spark” for other countries to follow suit. “I think it will also be a spark…for other countries in the region to consider, you know, because this is an example of how risk assessment has been applied to restart travel,” Menon says. “What we want to see is more countries adopting a similar risk assessment [and] risk management approach, [an] ‘equal risk equal response’ strategy to start travel bubbles… at least it shows a way to move forward,” he adds. Still, Menon urged more governments to “move beyond” merely having essential travel arrangements, such as green lanes for business travel. While he believes that “we shouldn’t compartmentalise any portion of the travel market”, Menon says that indications of strong domestic travel rebound in various Asia-Pacific markets show that “the penchant for travel is no less among leisure travellers than it is among business travellers”.<br/>
A disgruntled passenger was arrested after he was heard saying "I think this airline should be bombed" as he was boarding a plane at Phuket international airport on Monday. The incident ocurred about 12.10pm as Mike Wims, 26, a Thai man from Ayutthaya, was boarding Thai Vietjet Flight VZ305 to Suvarnabhumi through Gate 4 on the 2nd floor of the domestic passenger terminal. Airline employee Jitpisut Prom-in was checking his boardingpass. As she was handing it back to him Mr Mike allegedly muttered, "I think this airline should be bombed." Jitpisut was frightened by the comment and asked her colleague Wallapa Bamroongrak to inform the airline's chief of staff and airport security. Mike was subsequently detained by airport security and charged with making a false remark which may cause panic a violation of Section 22 of the Air Transport Act. Mike admitted he had made a "slip of the tongue out" of anger. It was believed he was frustrated by a flight delay.<br/>
Freight carriers including container shippers and cargo airlines say global demand is building toward a seasonal peak that could outstrip last year’s as more consumers shop online to overcome coronavirus curbs. Overall, container volumes may dip just 2% in 2020 compared with industry experts’ early forecasts of a 15% slump, according to Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG, which is deploying more capacity now than it did during the build-up to year-end holidays in 2019. “Volume started really coming back from August,” Jansen said Friday. “From everything we see now, it looks like the market is going to remain pretty strong until at least Chinese New Year in mid-February.” Cargolux Airlines International, Europe’s biggest freight-only carrier, is experiencing a similar surge in demand and has 30 Boeing 747 freighters in continuous operation. While that’s partly because a drop in passenger flights has reduced hold space, CEO Richard Forson said consignments of protective gear that dominated earlier in the year are giving way to toys, fashion items and electronic goods. The upturn is unlikely to deliver a bumper festive period for high-street retailers battered by the coronavirus outbreak, with Internet-focused businesses the likely beneficiaries. <br/>