United said Friday it was seeking shareholder approval for a rights offering as part of a plan to thwart any hostile takeover moves and preserve a $8.2b tax benefit. United said it had net federal operating loss carryforwards of about $8.2b as of the Sept. 30 that would be at risk if the company changed ownership. Shares in United have declined due to the sharp drop for air travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it vulnerable to takeovers. Under the plan, United will issue one preferred share purchase right in the form of a dividend for each outstanding share of common stock to certain shareholders.<br/>
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A deal to cut costs and save jobs at Lufthansa has won the support of a majority of the Verdi trade union members who work for the German airline as ground staff, according to the results of a ballot seen by Reuters on Friday. Lufthansa workers represented by Verdi, a service workers union, backed the deal struck a month ago to cut costs by E200m euros ($243m) in return for a promise of no forced redundancies in 2021, according to the document. Verdi represents 24,000 Lufthansa ground staff, who agreed as part of the deal to forgo Christmas and vacation bonuses through 2021. A formal announcement is expected on Monday.<br/>
Finland’s travel restrictions did not stop Lufthansa from adding new routes to Finnish Lapland for the upcoming holiday period, the German airline said Friday. Finland, which has one of Europe’s lowest COVID-19 infection rates, has maintained some of the region’s strictest travel restrictions throughout the pandemic and does not consider tourism a valid reason for entry from virus-hit countries. Lufthansa, which on Thursday advertised for “the snow-assured and spectacular ski resorts in Northern Finland” with a picture of Santa Claus attached, said it was travellers’ responsibility to verify if they met existing conditions to enter their travel destination. Finland’s travel restrictions permit work-related or other essential travel but do not allow tourists to arrive from any country where the 14-day infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants is above 25 cases. On Friday, Germany’s incidence rate stood at 301.9 and Finland’s own at 111.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data showed. “People have to take care of this themselves. They have to inform themselves,” a Lufthansa spokesman said, adding there were travellers with double citizenships or family ties which made them exempt from the restrictions. “We just see if there is demand for certain destinations and then we offer flights if there is demand,” he added.<br/>
Singapore has intensified preparations to transport, store and distribute Covid-19 vaccines, while securing a supply of vaccine doses for the country. SIA said Saturday it would prioritise the shipment of Covid-19 vaccines above other cargo once these become available. SIA senior VP of cargo Chin Yau Seng said: "We have been working hard to ensure that we are ready for one of the biggest and most important supply chain challenges of our generation - the transportation and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world." Ground handlers Sats and dnata said they are laying the groundwork to increase their cool storage capabilities to handle high volumes of vaccines. Singapore's aviation regulator and airport operator have also established a task force of key air cargo industry members to tackle the challenges of safely transporting Covid-19 vaccines, some of which - like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine - must be stored at ultra-low temperatures until a few days before they are used. The moves come with two leading vaccine candidates now waiting for broader regulatory approval after successful trials. SIA said on Saturday it will deploy its seven Boeing 747-400 freighter planes to transport vaccines, and activate passenger aircraft to boost shipping capacity if needed. Chin said: "We can roughly take about eight million doses of a normal vaccine (on a cargo plane), but for some of the ones that require a lot more dry ice... we will probably be able to carry less, maybe four million or so."<br/>
South Africa isn’t just in talks with potential buyers of a stake in the country’s insolvent state-owned airline, it’s also seeking partners for subsidiaries such as low-cost airline Mango and catering unit Air Chefs. The result will be a number of private-sector entities working with various parts of South African Airways whenever it resumes operations, according to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. The government had 31 expressions of interest in SAA and are currently whittling down the list, he said. “At the moment we are not actually looking to raise a specific amount from the strategic-equity partners but rather the viability of their proposals,” he said. “We will only discuss numbers in January.” The search for a partner for SAA is central to Gordhan’s plan to revive the airline a year after the company went into bankruptcy protection and nine months since it last operated a commercial flight. But the process has dragged on since at least the start of May, and the funds needed to resume flights and pay worker-severance packages remains elusive. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni allocated 10.5b rand ($692m) to the airline in October, but SAA’s administrators say only 1.5b rand has been transfered and with conditions attached that breached certain regulations. “It has been slow progress,” Gordhan said. “The challenge is that the money is coming in tranches and we have to ensure that all obligations in terms of the Companies Act are met.”<br/>
Staff at Africa's largest airline are being ethnically profiled and excluded from work because they come from a region embroiled in a civil war with the Ethiopian government, employees have told the Telegraph. Staff have claimed Ethiopian Airlines has moved to ban or place on leave those who are part of the ethnic Tigrayan minority after a brutal civil conflict broke out. The alleged move is said to be part of a pattern of harassment targeting Tigrayan civilians across Ethiopia, following the breakout of war between rebellious forces in the north and government controlled forces based in Addis Ababa. As fighting has intensified, so have reports of Tigrayans being fired from jobs and police searches of their properties. it is not known whether the alleged practices stem from official government advice. Ethiopian Airlines, which the government sees as the jewel in the crown of the country's economy, appears to be among the most prominent companies to have been accused of discrimination.<br/>
Air India’s pilots unions have advised their members not to take part in the employees bid to take over the airline via the divestment process. Accordingly, both the -- Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) and the Indian Pilots’ Guild -- have written to their member pilots not to participate in the plan proposed by the airline’s Commercial Director Meenakshi Mallik. As per a joint communication, the two unions said: “A letter by Ms. Meenakshi Mallik with regards to an Employee bid in the strategic sale of Air India has been brought to our notice... In this regard all pilots are advised ‘NOT TO’ acknowledge or participate in the process initiated by the management official till the disproportionate 70% pay cut for pilots vis-a-vis Air India’s top management officials is addressed. Also, there is no clarity on the payment of the illegally withheld 25 per cent arrears due to the pilots to date whilst we approach the deadline of December 14th for submission of bids for Air India.” The unions further said that while other major airlines in India have revised the pay cut for its pilots, Air India being a government-owned PSU is yet to address the ordeal faced by them. “We would like to once again re-iterate NOT TO take any part in the process of employee bids in the strategic sale initiated by the top management official till further communication from us,” the communication said.<br/>