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United will allow workers who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 for religious or medical reasons to return at the end of this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The move permits staffers with exemptions from the carrier's vaccination requirement for its US employees to return from unpaid leave or from the non-customer-facing roles they were allowed to apply for as an alternative to their regular jobs, the report said. Last month, a US appeals court ordered a new review of a decision not to block United Airlines from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers. United was the first major air carrier to issue a vaccine requirement, and its Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby had defended the employee mandate, saying "we did this for safety. We believe it saved lives." Kirby said about 200 of the company's 67,000 employees refused to get vaccinated and were fired. The 200 employees won't be brought back and the newly hired workers will still have to be vaccinated, the WSJ report said.<br/>

Canadian carriers are seeing a bounce in spring travel after a slump due to the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, with the country's largest airport bracing for its busiest travel day since the onset of the pandemic this Friday. But just as COVID-19 shows signs of ebbing, surging oil prices due to the Russian-Ukraine crisis and high regulatory costs are casting shadows ahead of the busy summer vacation season. Canadian air traffic is recovering more slowly than in the United States due to tougher virus restrictions. But after rules eased in February, flights to some sun destinations rebounded in March to levels similar to those seen before Omicron hit winter travel, data from airline data company Cirium suggest. Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday said it is expecting March 11 to be the busiest travel day since the start of the pandemic, with about 85,000 passengers set to arrive or depart ahead of spring break next week in the country's most populous-province, Ontario. The country's two largest carriers, Air Canada (AC.TO) and privately-held WestJet Airlines are recalling and hiring flight attendants, said Hugh Pouliot, a spokesman for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) which represents them. Westjet is "hiring like mad right now." "We have seen an uptick in demand for both short-term (spring break) and long-term travel," said WestJet spokeswoman Denise Kenny.<br/>

Air Canada’s largest flight attendant union was not obligated to file a grievance on behalf of some members who opposed the airline’s enforcement of the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandate, the federal labour board has ruled. Last August, the Liberal government announced that it would require all employees of both the federal government and federally regulated industries — such as air, rail and marine transportation — to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of October in order to keep working. Air Canada quickly followed suit and announced that it would implement a mandatory vaccination policy for all its employees that required they receive at least two COVID-19 shots by Oct. 31, 2021. In the following weeks, and faced with concerns from some Air Canada employees, Canadian Union of Public Employees – Air Canada Component leadership obtained two separate legal opinions on the matter, according to a Canada Industrial Relations Board ruling published earlier this year. The ruling says both opinions confirmed that the airline’s new policy “would likely withstand a challenge through grievance arbitration.” So, union leadership said it would instead focus on supporting members through individual grievances should they face discipline as a result of their vaccine status. But a group of union members, including flight attendant Ingrid Watson who was unvaccinated at the time of the hearings, wanted CUPE to grieve the employer’s entire vaccination policy, the ruling explained. Story has more details.<br/>

Turkish Airlines has re-launched its service offering the opportunity of discovering world’s connection centre Istanbul and its unique wonders with stopover service for its passengers with lengthy transfer times. Starting on 2017, stopover service drew great interest of passengers who were using İstanbul as their transfer centre but the service was put on pause due to pandemic. With the effects of pandemic are lessening, flag carrier is starting to continue this service as of 2022. In order for passengers with long connection times to spend quality time in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines will provide a one-night stay in a 4-Star hotel for Economy Class and two-night stay in a 5-Star hotel for Business Class with the hotel voucher that is issued after the ticket purchase. In addition, passengers will also have the option of staying at contracted hotels with prices starting at $49. Turkish Airlines General Manager Bilal Ekşi said: “We aim to show the Turkish hospitality and unique wonders of Istanbul to our passengers opting for stopover accommodation service while contributing to tourism in Turkey and increase the number of transfer passengers of Turkish Airlines. Passengers can also increase the length of their initial free of charge accommodations with advantageous Turkish Airlines prices at contracted hotels and discover even more of Istanbul.”<br/>

Japanese airline operator ANA Holdings will only raise airfares as a last resort to cover European route changes, its incoming chief executive said on Wednesday, adding that it would focus on belt-tightening first. Koji Shibata, who takes the helm of the parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA) from April 1, also told Reuters in an interview that the crisis in Ukraine was so far having a limited impact on earnings, as the airline had already scaled back international flights due to COVID-19. His comments are the latest to illustrate corporate Japan’s drive to avoid price increases, despite the spiking cost of fuel and commodities. Years of deflation have made Japanese consumers ultra-sensitive to price hikes and forced companies to avoid increasing prices - prolonging the economic malaise. “We will do everything we can” to avoid price hikes as a result of the change of European routes, Shibata said. “But we may be in a situation where we will have to slightly increase air fares to make up for the amount we cannot cover by cost-cutting.” ANA, like other airlines around the world, changed its routes over Europe following Russia’s invasion. The political turmoil raised uncertainties and jacked up oil prices. Shibata, though, said the energy price’s surge has limited impact thanks to hedging for domestic and surcharges for international flights. <br/>