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Delta has cast doubt on hopes of opening an air “corridor” on the lucrative route between New York and London, saying it would be easier to relaunch transatlantic flights to “just about any” other European capital. The route has been among the busiest and most profitable for carriers including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and is a priority for US airlines working to open up such corridors, which could exempt passengers from quarantining on arrival.  But Ed Bastian, Delta’s CE, said that it would be easier to open such a corridor to almost any other European hub than London.  “I think you will find on the continent several countries that are more open,” he said, pointing to parts of southern Europe that rely more heavily on tourism revenues. As most domestic passengers flying into New York also face a 14-day quarantine “I think New York-London is complicated”, he said.  Testing passengers so governments felt safe to lift quarantine restrictions was critical to reviving demand for international flights, Bastian said, adding that some corridors to Europe would already be open had Covid-19 cases not climbed so steeply in recent months. Bastian cautioned that traffic could remain subdued throughout Christmas and New Year because of recent rises in coronavirus cases. “I’m not sure we’ll see as much of an increase as we were expecting a month ago,” he said. He struck a more optimistic note on business travel, where demand remains depressed and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has predicted that the post-pandemic era will see more than half of business trips “go away”.<br/>

Delta and Canada's WestJet said late on Friday they had scrapped a proposed US-Canada joint venture after the US government demanded changes the airlines insisted were "unreasonable and unacceptable". Last month, the US DoT as part of its tentative antitrust immunity approval said it would require the carriers to remove Swoop, an ultra low-cost carrier affiliate of WestJet, from the alliance, and divest 16 takeoff and landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The airlines said in a filing that the US demands were “arbitrary and capricious” especially the slot divestitures. They had argued the alliance would “optimize aircraft utilization, enhance schedules, and lower costs.” The airlines said they remain committed to developing a joint venture “but in the meantime will explore deepening the alliance.” The Delta-WestJet joint venture would have had a combined 27% share of scheduled air carrier transborder capacity, while Air Canada has 45%.<br/>

Delta and the US TSA have partnered to launch the first curb-to-gate facial recognition option using a digital ID for US domestic travellers. The carrier is testing the new option at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, where participation is entirely voluntary. Customers who wish to participate in the test will have to use their passport number and TSA PreCheck membership as digital ID. This will be verified by facial recognition technology to confirm a traveller’s identity at airport touchpoints. Starting next month, Delta customers moving through the Edward H McNamara Terminal’s dedicated TSA PreCheck domestic checkpoint can opt to use the digital ID. In early 2021, this facial recognition option will be expanded to the bag drop and boarding area. Delta chief customer experience officer Bill Lentsch said: “When it comes to pulling forward the future of Delta’s customer experience, we think big, start small and scale fast, letting innovation lead the way as we continuously listen to customer feedback.<br/>

Delta and Aeromexico plan to operate nearly the same amount of capacity for transborder flights in December as they did during the same month of 2019. The airlines, which launched a joint cooperation agreement (JCA) on transborder flights in 2017, will offer more than 4,300 flights between the two countries next month. This reflects a “95% recovery” in ASKs compared with December 2019, the airlines state. Together, the two carriers will offer more than 45 transborder routes in December. Delta will connect several Mexican destinations including Cancun, Mexico City and Los Cabos to US cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. It will also offer flights between Mexico and Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Aeromexico will fly to several US destinations such as Chicago and Los Angeles from Mexico City and Guadalajara. Mexico is one of the only countries in the Latin America region that did not implement a widespread shutdown of its aviation industry. IATA’s regional VP for the Americas Peter Cerdá recently commented that the country has seen a strong recovery in both domestic and international markets as a result. <br/>

New aviation taxes proposed in France would reduce the ability of Air France-KLM to address its impact on the environment through fleet renewal programmes, according to the group’s CE Ben Smith. Noting that “the number-one way for us to improve our [environmental] footprint is to buy new airplanes”, Smith states during a Paris Air Forum discussion that France’s proposed aviation taxes “could put our [local] industry two, three, four steps behind the industries in the markets and environments right next to us”. Referring directly to the Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat – or Citizen’s Convention on Climate – which was established in France to define a series of measures aimed at cutting 40% of the coutnry’s greenhouse gases by 2030, Smith questions why the imposition of taxes is necessary when the group is already using “every tool that’s available today” to address sustainability issues. The aviation measures proposed earlier this year by the CCC – but yet to be introduced into law – would be among the most draconian in the world, including E30-60 taxes on economy-class flights, and E180-400 taxes on business-class flights. They also call for domestic flights to be discontinued by 2025 where high-speed rail alternatives are available, and the banning of new airport projects and the expansaion of existing facilities. With Air France-KLM facing incredible financial pressure amid the coronavirus crisis, Smith welcomes “any incentive” that means it would “be able to buy newer airplanes as quickly as possible”, he says. That is why the group is “totally against taxes”, he states. “We’d like to go faster,” Smith continues. “We need to make money to be able to do that. And if you look at the profitability of the whole industry, but in particular Air France-KLM last year, it’s difficult to be able to make those kinds of investments.”<br/>

Garuda Indonesia’s shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the sale of convertible bonds — worth up to Rp8.5t ($602m) — giving the struggling carrier a much-needed financial lifeline to tide through the coronavirus crisis. At an extraordinary general meeting on 20 November, the move garnered 99.94% approval from shareholders, paving the way for the Indonesian government to purchase the bonds through investment arm Sarana Multi Infrastruktur. The Indonesian government currently owns 60.5% of the carrier. With the additional funding, it will see its shareholding increase to 84.8%. Garuda’s president director Irfan Setiaputra says the carrier is “optimistic” the move will strengthen liquidity and improve its financial situation. “Thus, Garuda Indonesia can continue to maximise its strategic role as a national flag carrier,” he adds.<br/>

Aeroflot’s board has elected Mikhail Poluboyarinov, the former head of state leasing firm GTLK, as its new CE. He will succeed Vitaly Saveliev who has been appointed as the new Russian transport minister – while the former transport minister, Yevgeny Ditrikh, is taking over as head of GTLK. Poluboyarinov led the lessor for eight months, since March this year. He was already a member of Aeroflot’s board and has previously served as the airline’s chief financial officer. Poluboyarinov had been the chief accountant and financial director at Autoimport before his term at Aeroflot. He subsequently joined state development corporation VEB – formerly known as Vnesheconombank – as deputy chairman until 2020.<br/>