AIRLINE BRIEFS NEWS FROM AROUND
THE AIR INDUSTRY
Eastern is one of the airlines using Terminal One at JFK Airport. Eastern had been the leaseholder of this building until the new TOGA terminal was built in 1998. with AF as a prime shareholder.
AIRPORT VOICE, JANUARY 2022 25
Cathay Pacific woes
Cathay Pacific flights to Hong Kong
once again sidelined because of harsh
quarantines against travelers. So too are
the cargo flights since the pilots and crew
are subject to the same covid prevention
protocols.
The Hong Kong government has introduced
new rules to curb the spread of covid
19 beginning January 8. The amended
restrictions follow previous similar ones
that ended Jan. 6. One of the new rules
is the two-week suspension of passenger
flights from eight countries (USA, Canada,
U.K., Pakistan, Australia, Philippines,
France and India).
This 2-week suspension does not pertain
to cargo flights. Additional restrictions
including increased quarantine times
have been imposed on crews operating
flights to Hong Kong. The cargo crew
quarantines have increased form the previous
mandatory 3-night hotel quarantine
to a 7-night hotel quarantine. Passenger
crew quarantine remains unchanged at a
14-day hotel quarantine.
These new rules are in addition to the
previous 599H, Hong Kong’s legislative
rules to prevent and control disease, including
• Restricting travel to Hong Kong residents
who are fully vaccinated with a recognized
vaccine
• Signed history declaration
• Lab test report in English or Chinese
o Must include name of traveller (exact
name on travel document)
o Must be a PCR nucleic acid test for
covid-19
o Lab result must state negative or covid
19
o Specimen collected must be within
24 hours of Scheduled time of departure
flight to Hong Kong
• Separate document stating lab that
performed test is an accredited facility by
the government or ISO15189 accredited
• Proof of reservation for 21 nights at a
designated Hong Kong quarantine hotel.
Hong Kong has the toughest covid restrictions
in the world and compliance with
these restrictions is limiting passenger demand.
Although cargo demand remains
robust, the additional crew quarantine restrictions
will restrict capacity and ability
of airlines to service the demand.
Airlines Shuffle
The JFK Airline begins at JFK. As T4
expands and Delta takes more room, airlines
are moving out. Terminal 1 is beginning
to get some of these which include
Asiana and Swiss. BA will be moving to
AA’s T8. Where the T7 airlines will go is a
question before the new T6 is constructed.
Terminal One has new airlines which
recently added are Eastern and Sata
commenced operations out of T1 in Nov.
-Sata (Azores) is new to JFK market
and services the Azores 1x weekly on
Monday
-Sky Cana /Air Century new to the
U.S. services the Dominican Republic. 2x
weekly
-Cayman resumed flights in December
-Asiana moved to T1 in Dec with daily
flights to Manila.
-Condor commenced operations out of
T1 in Nov and concluded in currently has
no more flights scheduled for the remainder
of the winter season.
-Volaris will be adding flights for El Salvador
beginning March 14th.
-Norwegian was a T1 tenant then went
bankrupt and may yet reappear. Norse
Airlines has approval to fly. Will they fly intoT1
or return toe Stewart Airport in Newburgh
where Norwegian had flights?
At LaGuardia, Spirit is moving more
flights to the Iconic Marine Air Terminal or
Known at Terminal A
Qatar
Qatar Airways is seeking $600 million
in compensation from Airbus for alleged
flawed aircraft.
Qatar asserts that flaws in the construction
such as cracked window frames,
UV protection, peeling paint and some
erosion has mad more than close to a
dozen of A350 jets unusable due to a ruling
from the London’s High Court of Justice.
While Airbus admits there are some
flaws it adamantly states that the planes
are safe in the air.
PAL is back
Philippine Airlines, the flagship carrier
of the Philippines, has come out of bankruptcy.
The company’s Plan of Reorganization
was approved by the US restructuring
court in December. PAL has the option to
obtain up to $150m in additional financing
from new investors under the plan.
PAL states that it plans to increase
flight frequencies as well as to capitalize
on the world’s increase of air cargo
needs. While many airlines offer freight in
the belly of their planes, PAL is looking at
more freighter only flights in their plan to
grow.
Delta
For years airlines have said that there
is a shortage of commercial pilots. But the
pandemic has made things even worse.
Fewer students are graduating with credentials,
quarantines are limiting pilot
flights, and the virus and variants have
reduced a consistent number of qualified
Pilots.
To address this shortage, he Atlantabased
airline announced that pilot applicants
would no longer need a four-year
bachelor’s degree to be considered for
employment as a first officer. In a statement
Delta, said, “After a comprehensive
review of our pilot hiring requirements,
Delta has decided to make a four-year
college degree ‘preferred’ rather than required
for first officer candidates, effective
immediately,” the pilot recruitment
team stated in a release. “While we feel as
strongly as ever about the importance of
education, there are highly qualified candidates—
people who we would want to
welcome to our Delta family—who have
gained more than the equivalent of a college
education through years of life and
leadership experience.”
Delta delivers
As a way of thanking its workforce,
Delta Air Lines will give each employee
a US$1,250 bonus (or half of it, depending
on specific requirements) on February
14. The payment is part of a profit sharing
of more than US$100 million from the airline.
A similar bonus was given last year
as well.
LOT
LOT, the Polish carrier, has announced
that it will re-launch direct flights between
Budapest and New York from June 2022
threes time a week using the Boeing
Dreamliner.
AA Codeshare
American Airlines and Aer Lingus have
launched a codeshare agreement designed
to make it easier to travel between
the United States and Ireland. To increase
connectivity between the US and Europe
for customers, American will place its
code on Aer Lingus flights between London
Heathrow (LHR) and Dublin (DUB).
JetBlue has had a codeshare and a Terminal
5 relationship for years. AA& JetBlue
have a NEA agreement. So, more family
ties are seen.