The US Department of Transportation (DOT) will offer airlines increased flexibility under their CARES Act obligations. But rather than choosing individual airports that will be exempt the DOT is now going to let the airlines select which stations will see service suspended.
COVID-19
United raises ire in cutting hours for salaried employees
Last week United Airlines informed its Management & Administrative (M&A) work group of required unpaid time off this summer. This week the carrier shared some additional details related to the plans and the news for these employees is grim.
Avianca declares bankruptcy, seeks protection in restructuring
Colombia’s Avianca became the latest and largest carrier to seek financial protections as the coronavirus pandemic stretches on, grounding airlines and flummoxing their balance sheets
Fighting for the middle: A pandemic seating shift
Forget the fight over who gets the arm rests; middle seats on planes are now generating real fights over if they should be occupied at all. And airlines are fueling the flames with misleading marketing messaging.
Cape Air’s ugly April stats (and some possible good news for May)
Total flights down by 40%. Passenger count down by 90%. Load factor for the month of just 8%. Needless to say, Cape Air’s statistics for April 2020 are pretty awful, just like the rest of the aviation world. But the airline has some potential good news to consider as it looks to a slow summer and beyond.
Project Wingman USA Opens Lounges for Frontline Healthcare Heroes at Two Major New York City Hospitals
Project Wingman USA opened its two inaugural “First Class Lounges” this week, offering respite for frontline healthcare professionals. The program allows airline crew to offer peer support to medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JetBlue suspends six cities through June
With approval to reduce service to as many as 16 airports in its network JetBlue is taking a measured approach. The carrier will suspend service to six of these airports beginning next week through the end of June.
United plans to resume (cargo for now) Hong Kong-Singapore service
In 2017 United Airlines dropped its long-running service between Singapore and Hong Kong, choosing to fly passengers nonstop between Singapore and the US West Coast instead. That plan appears to be changing, as the carrier requested DOT permission for daily (cargo to start) service between the two cities as soon as this coming Sunday.
IATA recommends against blocked middle seats, favors "layered" protections
How can airlines best ensure the safety of their passengers on board? Airline trade group IATA used its weekly briefing to highlight several factors that play into the reduction of potential virus transmission with blocking middle seats seen as a wholly unnecessary measure, so long as other practices are followed.
JetBlue, Spirit score exemptions to drop service at major US airports
JetBlue and Spirit Airlines received permission to remove as many as 16 destinations from their route US networks and still maintain compliance with the CARES Act. This lets the airlines reduce their service while still remaining eligible for the Payroll Support Program grants that help fund employee costs through 30 September 2020. Both airlines are permitted to halt service to their approved destinations immediately.