AIRLINE BRIEFS NEWS FROM AROUND
22 AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2021
THE AIR INDUSTRY
AA bond offering
American Airlines (AAL)
said Monday that it would
sell $7.5 billion in bonds and
leveraged loans backed by its
frequent-flyer program, using
the funds to repay U.S.
government loans that helped
the carrier operate during
the pandemic. Early pricing
discussions are in the low-tomid
6% range for the five-year
notes, and the mid-to-high 6%
range for the eight-year portion
with assessed value of $18
billion to $30 billion Bloomberg
reported.
IATA health &
Travel Pass
The IATA digital wallet.pasport
Travel Pass is being trialed
by more airlines after its
recent introduction.
https://www.iata.org/en/
programs/passenger/travelpass/
Great interactive site for
health travel requirements
throughout the world.
https://www.iatatravelcentre.
com/passport-visa-healthtravel
document-requirements.
htm
EBOLA outbreak
Two outbreaks of Ebola virus
in Africa led the federal
Centers for Disease Control
in early March to take steps to
track passengers from those
nations arriving in the United
States.
All flights carrying passengers
who spent time in
Guinea or the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC)
within 21 days of their arrival
must land at one of six American
airports— including Newark
Liberty International
and JFK International —
starting Wednesday. https://
www.northjersey.com/story/
news/health/2021/03/02/
ebola-outbreak-prompts-u-strack
travelers-2-african-nations/
6891377002/
Boeing vs Airbus
The European Union Aviation
Safety Agency has submitted
a claim from Boeing
stating that the integrallylocated
fuel tanks of Airbus
A321XLR pose a fire hazard.
Boeing says that the fuel
tanks internal to the airframe
structure – such as those located
on A321XLR – offer less
redundancy than conventionally
located tanks, and can
lead to more hazardous results
in case of an emergency.
Fake Vaccines
A shipment of fake COVID
19 vaccines, the vials
had travelled over 6,000 miles
from China to South Africa,
the work of a smuggling ring
that has produced thousands
of counterfeit doses, according
to Interpol, the global police
agency that helped break
up the operation.
The trafficking case, involving
a shipment of at least
2,400 doses, is the first confirmed
instance of fake vaccines
being smuggled across
continents, an Interpol
spokesperson told Time—
though there are likely more
that have occurred, and more
still that may be uncovered in
the future.
Flybe
Flybe was another casualty
of the Covid pandemic
affecting airline business.
On March 5, 2021 at 2 a.m. all
flights were cancelled as passengers
waiting to board. The
chief executive, Mark Anderson,
said: “Europe’s largest
independent regional airline
has been unable to overcome
significant funding challenges
to its business and that
the Wuhan coronavirus was a
factor.
JFK KAAMCO
Interline
KAAMCO and Airway
have renegotiated the Interline
Contract with a Covid
based pricing with a 5 year
deferral on some fees. The
Kaamco said that Airway is
doing a great job and the airlines
will benefit from this
contract. All airlines are
asked to review the new contract
and vote on it ASAP. According
to KAAMCO, failure
to accept this will default to a
very high cost per bag.
Low flight volumes
U.S. airlines carried 63%
fewer scheduled service passengers
in January 2021 (preliminary)
than in January
2020, according to data filed
with the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) by 20
airlines that carry more than
90% of the passengers.
The large airlines carried
25.8 million passengers in
January 2021 (preliminary),
compared to 70.5 million passengers
in January 2020 and
up from 3.0 million in April
2020, which was the lowest
monthly total in BTS records
dating back to 1974. The previous
low was 14.6 million passengers
in February 1975.
New TA Connections
Travelliance and Hotel
Connections, both FLEETCOR
(NYSE: FLT) lodging division
companies specializing
in airline logistics, announced
today that the two companies
will come together to form TA
Connections. TA Connections
specializes in solutions for
scheduled and IROP pilots and
cabin crews, and emergency
relief for distressed passengers
with missed connections,
delays and flight cancellations.
API crew
Accommodations Plus International
(“API”), the worldwide
Eddie Murphy Coming 2America sequel at JFK
leader of crew accommodations
technology and
service solutions, is pleased
to announce they have been
selected by Wheels Up to manage
their network wide crew
accommodation needs. API’s
proprietary technology platform
and 24/7/365 global operations
centers will be leveraged
by Wheels Up to improve
efficiencies in the crew travel
process on a global scale.
Airport employers
overwhelmed
JFK, LGA airport contractors
face additional financial
burdens as minimum wages
increase in September 2021
and the $4.54health benefit is
mandated by the Health Terminals
Act both put pressure
on struggling airport companies.
Collective bargaining
and organizational reactions
to these increases are currently
in process to work out
equitable solutions.
Updates on
Resumed airline
flights
- United is back home at
JFK Airport with flights to
the West Coast beginning
March 28.
- Spirit out of LGA is also
starting a transcontinental
flight as well as using the
iconic Marine Air Terminal
for its flights to Florida.
- Alaska Airlines joins the
OneWorld world on March 31.
If flying our of JFK you will
see some celebratory activity
at the ticket counter.
- Austrian Airlines will resume
international flights to
New York’s John F. Kennedy
International Airport (JFK)
and Montreals Montréal-
Pierre Elliott Trudeau International
Airport (YUL) in
May 2021
- On March2, AA and Jet-
Blue teamed up to bring travelers
more options and seamless
travel, including the ability to
book select American flights
on our aa.com. More destinations,
codeshare flights and
loyalty benefits coming this
Spring.
- Sad News. Etihad has now
taken the strategic decision to
park the A380swith a spokesman
saying, “I’m sure it’s
very likely that we won’t see
them operating with Etihad
again.”
AvPorts’s Jorge
Roberts
Avports is pleased to announce
that our CEO Jorge
Roberts has been appointed
Advisor on the Airports Council
International–Latin America
and Caribbean–ACI LAC
Board of Directors. Jorge has
a diverse background and is
an industry thought leader
with development experience
in Latin America and the Caribbean.
His service as Advisor
will focus on small and regional
airports.
Branson bedding in
NYC
Virgin Hotels planning
to open anew hotel New York
City in later 2021 at the corner
of corner of 29th Street
and Broadway following one
in Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas
and Nashville.
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