sky

Delta will keep blocking middle seats through the first quarter of next year, outlasting other US carriers because it wants to reassure customers about the safety of aircraft cabins. While Delta considers it “safe to sit in the middle seat” despite the coronavirus pandemic, the company wants to assuage any potential passenger anxiety, CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday. Delta will hold middle seats open through March 30 instead of Jan. 6, as previously planned. “The reason we’re keeping them open is about consumer confidence,” Bastian said. “In the face of surging virus, this is not the time to fill the empty seat.” Delta’s pledge bucks an industry trend as airlines seek to boost ticket sales and insist that studies show a low risk of transmission in jetliner cabins. Carriers began blocking some seats early on in the pandemic as a way to provide a measure of social distancing. Airlines have also required face masks. “It’s expensive, there’s no question about it,” Bastian said about limiting onboard capacity. “We’re in a good position that we can afford to do that.” Bastian said he gets tested for coronavirus three times a week and requires the same of people who work most closely with him. Delta, which has been testing its employees since June, offers a 15-minute rapid option at its headquarters, he said. Preflight virus testing won’t work in the US because of the sheer volume of daily travelers, Bastian said. But it will help open international markets by allowing passengers to avoid lengthy quarantines imposed by some countries.<br/>

Air France-KLM is among airlines gearing up for the challenge of transporting millions of doses of temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines in the midst of a travel slump. Breakthrough vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna have yet to win final approval, but the drugmakers, their logistics and cargo providers are not waiting for a green light to activate freight plans. Air France-KLM, which has decades of experience shipping medicines and vaccines in temperature-controlled conditions, is preparing a test run in coming days to fly out dummy vaccine shipments from KLM’s Amsterdam-Schiphol hub. The task is complicated by the conditions required by the Pfizer and Moderna shots - with respective storage temperatures of minus 80 Celsius and minus 20C. “It’s going to be a major logistics challenge,” said Air France cargo chief Christophe Boucher, citing the “massive” volume of vaccines to be distributed globally. “Another difficulty is the temperature control,” Boucher said at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport - where cargo specialists were preparing to load consignments of super-cooled rabies vaccines bound for Brazil. The COVID-19 airlift is being planned amid a partial shutdown of global air travel. Airlines have warned that travel curbs could hamper the effort, since around 45% of global cargo typically travels in passenger plane holds. Air France-KLM does not rule out bringing idled jets back into service for the vaccine shipments, pharma cargo manager Florent Gand said. “We have some planes currently grounded that we can use if necessary to transport the COVID-19 vaccines around the world.” Air France-KLM, which has decades of experience shipping medicines and vaccines in temperature-controlled conditions, is preparing a test run in coming days to fly out dummy vaccine shipments from KLM’s Amsterdam-Schiphol hub.<br/>

The French government will continue to support airline company Air France-KLM if necessary, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday. Attal was asked about a report that Air France-KLM was discussing plans to raise another E6b from its two government shareholders and other investors. The company received E10.4b euros in state-backed bailouts from France and the Netherlands earlier this year to help it cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “The state has always strongly supported Air France since the beginning of the crisis”, Attal said, adding the company had ongoing talks with France’s finance ministry.<br/>

Greenpeace on Wednesday asked a court to block the E3.4b of state aid granted to the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, arguing the government had failed to force the ailing airline to make its business more sustainable. “Climate change is dangerous and is happening now,” Greenpeace lawyer Frank Peters said at a summary hearing at the district court of The Hague. “The government has missed the chance to deal with pollution caused by aviation now.” After months of negotiations, the Dutch government in June agreed to offer KLM an aid package to keep it flying through the coronavirus crisis. The bailout terms include new environmental and noise pollution targets for KLM which were insisted upon by the Dutch parliament, as well as cost cuts. These order KLM to cut its greenhouse gas emissions per passenger in half by 2030 relative to their 2005 levels. But Greenpeace said this will not reduce total emissions, as long as the number of passengers continues to grow. “The state should take every opportunity to cut emissions”, Peters said. “Delaying this will lead to a subsidised increase of emissions.”<br/>

The Russian government said on Wednesday it had recommended Mikhail Poluboyarinov to become CEO of Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot. Two aviation industry sources had told Reuters last week that Poluboyarinov, CEO of Russia’s State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), was the main candidate to lead the airline after its head Vitaly Saveliev was named transport minister. The government, which is Aeroflot’s controlling shareholder, said it would send its recommendation to the airline in the near future and that it would be put to a vote. In a separate statement, the government said it had recommended Yevgeny Dietrich, the country’s former transport minister, as the new head of GTLK.<br/>