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The US State Department said on Monday it has eased travel advisory ratings for the United Kingdom and Israel after raising both countries to its highest warning level last month amid COVID-19 concerns. The State Department lowered the UK to a “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” rating and lowered Israel to “Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution.” It was the second reduction in Israel’s rating in recent weeks. Last month, the State Department boosted the ratings of about 120 countries to “Level 4: Do Not Travel” to align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ratings. About 150 of 209 destinations rated by the State Department are listed at Level 4. A coalition of US and European travel, airline, union, business and airport groups called in a letter last week for a full reopening of the US-UK air travel market “as soon as safely possible.” The United States since March 2020 has barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in the UK from the United States.<br/>

Federal officials said Monday they are pursuing civil penalties against two more passengers for interfering with airline crews, the latest in a surge of such cases in recent months. The FAA said it is continuing to take a zero-tolerance stance against unruly passengers. The most recent cases involve a passenger who refused to wear a face mask, which is required by federal regulation, and another who cursed flight attendants and the captain after boarding a plane. The FAA says it has received 1,300 complaints from airlines about disruptive passengers this year and has announced proposed civil penalties — some topping $30,000 — against more than a dozen passengers in recent weeks. The passengers can protest the penalties. The agency said Monday it will seek a $10,500 fine against a passenger on a JetBlue Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles in December. The FAA said the man repeatedly ignored orders to wear a mask, then coughed and blew his nose into a blanket. The FAA proposed a $9,000 fine against a passenger who boarded a JetBlue flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in March. The man slammed overhead bins and shouted profanities at flight attendants and the captain before law enforcement escorted him out of the terminal, the FAA said. The new cases came just three days after the FAA announced potential fines against four other passengers. None of the individuals have been identified.<br/>

Would-be air travelers hold billions of dollars in credits for future flights, and two US senators want airlines to drop restrictions like expiration dates -- or to refund the customers in cash. Sens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats, are sending a letter to 10 US airlines Monday asking the carriers "commit to providing a cash refund for all tickets that are canceled during the coronavirus pandemic." "Americans need cash in their pockets to pay for food, housing, and prescriptions during this emergency," Markey of Massachusetts and Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote in the letter. Congress extended more than $50 billion in taxpayer dollars to the airlines over the past year to fund payroll expenses, and some airlines took government loans for other costs. But at the same time, customer complaints about refunds were skyrocketing. Refunds quickly became the most griped about part of air travel during the pandemic, according to the Department of Transportation. Passengers filed more than 107,000 official complaints since March 2020, and 95,000 of those -- 89% -- are about refunds, DOT data show. There is no precise dollar amount of outstanding and recently expired flight credits, but the figure is in the billions. Consumer Reports estimates the figure is between $12b and $15b. Markey and Blumenthal cited a $10b estimate in their letter.<br/>

European governments have gone retro. After the launch of privatisation in aviation two decades ago, the coronavirus crisis has caused a sharp policy reversal as countries across the continent have stumped up billions of euros in state aid to save their national flag carriers. Paris has increased its stake in Air France-KLM to nearly 30%, Berlin has taken a 20% stake in Lufthansa, while Rome owns 100% of Alitalia as more than E20b has been invested in companies considered too strategically important to fail. But a backlash against state support is growing as rival carriers fear an uneven playing field and warped competition. While governments defend investment as necessary to save airlines facing unprecedented short-term risks to their survival, critics say public money could allow propped up airlines to avoid tough decisions needed for long-term growth. The fiercest critic has been Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who has filed 16 cases to test the state aid rules in European courts, arguing that support made available to flag carriers only is discriminatory and undermines the EU’s single market in air travel. The CE said companies such as Air France will never be able to pay governments back, but will be able to “subsidise and suppress competition for the next decade.” “We, easyJet, [BA owner] IAG and the others have to compete with these state-aid, crack cocaine junkies.” Ryanair has lost all five cases decided so far, but O’Leary said he thinks there is a “very strong likelihood” his low-cost airline will overturn the verdicts on appeal. The pandemic has also highlighted differences between the continental Europeans, where state-aid rules were relaxed to help companies survive the crisis, and the US and UK.<br/>

Foreign citizens arriving in Saudi Arabia must quarantine for a week in government-approved accommodation starting May 20 to combat the spread of COVID-19, the Saudi civil aviation authority said Monday. As the kingdom reopens, exempted individuals such as Saudi citizens, flight crews and diplomats will have to quarantine at home unless they are vaccinated, state news agency SPA said, citing an interior ministry official. Airlines are required to contract accommodation approved by the tourism ministry to house people in quarantine. The cost will be added to airfare. Fully vaccinated people do not need to quarantine if they present a vaccination certificate. Non-Saudi travelers over 8 years old must show a negative PCR COVID-19 test result less than 72 hours old.<br/>

With the largest planes grounded and the richest passengers switching to private, the decline of first class is accelerating According to figures from aviation consultancy OAG, there were a total of 8.46m seats in first-class cabins on scheduled flights in 2019 (excluding US and Chinese domestic flights, where the term first applies to what would be called business elsewhere). That was a 45 per cent drop since 2010 while, over the same period, the number of business-class seats grew 42 per cent to 184.48m. Carriers such as Air New Zealand, KLM and Turkish Airlines had ditched first well before the pandemic, but the disruption of the past year has further reduced the number of first-class seats in the air. Currently first is unavailable on airlines including Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Qantas. Ever since BA introduced lie-flat seats in business class in 2000, first has increasingly come to seem like an expensive gimmick, often costing twice as much for what in effect amounts to better champagne and more caviar. Covid-induced hygiene changes, such as using disposable packaging instead of Wedgwood ceramics and crystal, are likely to further reduce the veneer of luxury, even if some passengers are likely to want the extra privacy. At the same time, airlines have been moving away from larger planes, the 747s and A380s, that house the really flash offerings. Etihad is just one of the airlines indefinitely parking its A380 fleet — in effect meaning the end of its much-hyped Residences, three-room suites with butler service that cost upwards of $30,000 for a round trip. Story has more.<br/>

Airbus has appointed a senior internal supply chain executive to run its Canadian operation, with responsibility for trimming losses on the A220 jetliner series, in the latest in a series of management changes at the European aerospace group. Benoit Schultz, 48, will take over on Sept. 1 from Philippe Balducchi, a former finance executive who became the first head of the Canadian venture when Airbus bought the CSeries jet programme from Bombardier in 2018 and renamed it A220. Schultz, who was part of the team that ran a ruler over Bombardier's supplier relationships when Airbus rescued it from cash shortages, is currently a senior vice president in the Airbus procurement office, which runs its global supply chain. He steps up as Balducchi plans to "pursue opportunities" outside the group after integrating the former Bombardier plants into Airbus and opening a new US assembly line, Airbus said. The Canadian-designed A220, with 110-130 seats and a modern lightweight design, has seen a boost in sales under Airbus after its development took a heavy financial toll that triggered Bombardier's near-total exit from the aerospace market. It has notched up more net orders so far this year than any other Airbus model as airlines seek to reduce fuel costs and favour smaller aircraft in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.<br/>