AIRLINE BRIEFS NEWS FROM AROUND
AIRPORT V 10 OICE, FEBRUARY 2021
THE AIR INDUSTRY
Lysa Scully
Ferrovial Airports, headquarters
in the U.S. in Austin,
TX., has announced the
appointment of Lysa Scully,
Principal and President, LL
Aviation Advisors, LLC, former
NYNJ Port Authority
Executive and General Manager
of LaGuardia Airport as
an independent Senior Advisor
for its U.S. division. Ferrovial
currently manages
Heathrow, Glasgow, Southampton,
and Aberdeen airports.
Ferrovial Airports has
the lead in Great Hall Partners,
a partnership driving
the remodeling and commercial
operation of Denver International
Airport’s (DEN)
Jeppesen Terminal Great
Hall.
Digital passports
The worldwide spread of
Covid has given birth to the
idea of a digital Covid passport.
This is a way for travelers
to have their testing
and vaccine and perhaps additional
health information
stored in the cloud accessible
by authorized
Users. These users would
include Covid health care
providers, airlines, CBP, and
CDC and other entities that
can view status of an individual’s
Covid history.
There are many innovative
digital passports on the
market and each is trying to
carve out a travel or crowd
market like a stadium, large
venue gathering etc.
IATA’s call for cash
The world’s airlines need
another $70-$80bn of government
support to get through
the crisis caused by the coronavirus
pandemic.
That’s according to the
head of the International
Air Transport Association
(IATA), which is the trade association
for the world’s airlines.
Director-General Alexandre
de Juniac told the BBC
that sum was “on top of the
$170bn already granted”.
Extra funds would “bridge
the gap” between now and
June, he and American Airlines
said.
June is when he expects
the first significant easing of
travel restrictions, as the impact
of vaccines begins to be
felt.
Government travel restrictions
and a huge fall in
passenger confidence meant
global demand for flights fell
about 60% last year, according
to IATA figures.
That means 2020 saw
about 1.8 billion passengers
fly, instead of the 4.5 billion
in 2019. In an industry where
profit margins were already
thin it means airlines are
estimated to have already
lost $118bn, with worse set to
come.
United delay at JFK
According to United Airlines,
“Due to the continued
impact of COVID-19 on our
industry, we are delaying the
start of our service between
New York’s JFK Airport and
our hubs in San Francisco
and Los Angeles until March
28, 2021. Throughout the pandemic,
United has been a
leader in nimbly reshaping
our schedule to match customer
demand, and we look
forward to offering this convenient
service and a best-inclass
product from New York
City to the west coast.”
Adams Health
Services
Located at Terminal
One at JFK Airport, Adams
Health Services offers both a
3 hour Rapid PCR test and a
standard PCR test. The company
also offers disinfectant
cleaning services to JFK Airport
featuring a bioprotect
UV cleaning unlike anything
else offered. The company is
also in process of rolling out
a Medical Office in T1 as well
offering most of the services
that other walk in clinics provide.
XpressSpa xpansion
The company said that
construction had begun on a
COVID-19 testing facility in
Houston's George Bush Intercontinental
Airport and
it was also building out a second
facility at Newark Liberty
International Airport.
The announcement comes on
the heels of an opening last
week in Salt Lake City and
as Satzman said earlier this
month that the company had
expanded its partnerships
with airlines such as JetBlue
Airways, Hawaiian Airlines,
and United.
Mandatory Vaccines
United Airlines Chief Executive
Scott Kirby became
the first major industry executive
to advocate for a requirement
that all 60,00 of
the carrier's employees receive
the coronavirus vaccine
while also encouraging
his peers to follow suit.
Southwest Pilots
Southwest Airlines Pilots
Association (SWAPA)
strongly opposes the implementation
of a pre-departure
COVID-19 testing requirement
for domestic air travel.
Such a mandate would decimate
domestic air travel demand,
put aviation jobs at
risk, and create serious unintended
consequences. It cites
International travel demand
is down as much as 48% since
the implementation of a predeparture
testing requirement
as a reason for the objection.
Singapore Airlines
Group
All three passenger airlines
within the SIA Group
– Singapore Airlines (SIA),
SilkAir and Scoot – on February
11 became the first carriers
in the world to operate
flights with a full complement
of vaccinated pilots and
cabin crew. The first services
with a full set of vaccinated
crew are SIA flight SQ956,
which departed Singapore for
Jakarta, Indonesia on February
11, 2021. Operating crew
within the SIA Group have
responded very positively to
the exercise, with more than
90% of cabin crew and pilots
signing up for the vaccine to
date.
Delta, Ed Bastian
comments
-He is not in favor of federal
mandates for Covid testing
on all flights.
-Delta starting Covid vaccines
in Atlanta for those
over 65.
-He said there are no plans
for employee furloughs.
-The middle seat on Delta
flights will remain unsold for
the next 90 days
United MileagePlus
for life
United Airlines announced
that effective immediately;
MileagePlus award
miles never expire, giving
members a lifetime to use
miles on flights, experiences,
hotels and more.
"We want to demonstrate
to our members that we are
committing to them for the
long-haul and giving customers
a lifetime to use miles is
an exceptionally meaningful
benefit," said Luc Bondar,
vice president of loyalty
and president of MileagePlus
at United. "Our Mileage-
Plus program provides customers
more ways to earn
and use miles than any other
U.S. airline. More customers
used miles to book award
trips in 2018 than in any year
before, and we expect with
today's announcement that
even more will use miles to
travel the world in the years
to come."
Accommodations
Plus International
API has established a
strategic alliance with Boeing
to provide a critical integration
between API’s ACES
platform and the Jeppesen
Crew Tracking (JCT) system.
The bi-directional interface
automates airlines’ crew accommodation
process and
enables more efficient disruption
recovery. As crew plans
change and accommodation
requirements fluctuate accordingly,
real-time updates
are communicated between
ACES and JCT. All hotel and
transport reservations are
managed within ACES and
updated directly in the JCT
system. Crew members are
notified of changes and accurate
reservation details are
available at a glance.
Etihad SAF
Etihad Airways is expanding
its offset program in
collaboration with Shell Following
the purchase of 80,000
tons of Carbon Offsets in November
Separately, the airline
is also setting up a guest
program to allow guests to
purchase additional voluntary
offsets.
Through its participation
in Shell’s carbon credit program,
Etihad will expand its
offset program beyond the
original Makame Savannah
REDD project in Tanzania
to include Peru’s Cordillera
Azul National Park and Indonesia’s
Katingan Mentaya
Project, making Etihad’s efforts
geographically diverse
in the promotion of climate
action. Shell, which actively
collaborates across the industry
to deliver more sustainable
solutions for aviation.
In addition to being a
leading provider of carbon
offsets, Shell is a major supplier
of Sustainable Aviation
Fuel (SAF) and is active in
advancing the supply and use
of SAF globally.