United Airlines is adding a new sort of pre-flight check to one of its routes: COVID-19 testing. All passengers (over the age of 2) on one of the company’s Newark-London flights will be required to take a test at the airport prior to departure. The test will be free of charge to travelers, with results returned before departure.
United Airlines
United launches contactless payments for buy-on-board
Buy-on-board snacks are coming back to United Airlines next month. But the company wants to ease customer concerns over payments, with a new contactless option being added.
A fleet of salvage-priced planes
Does it matter that airlines are flying planes worth more in the scrap yard than they are to a new owner? Probably not, but United’s latest effort to secure a $3bn loan is an interesting insight into the world of aircraft valuation considerations.
United Airlines introduces at-airport COVID testing for SFO-Hawaii flights
As the largest carrier between the mainland and Hawaii United Airlines has a lot to gain by increasing passenger numbers to the islands. Quarantine restrictions limited the viability for most visitors over the summer but a new policy allowing passengers with a negative COVID test to skip the quarantine could help boost traffic. United will soon offer testing at San Francisco International Airport to help meet that requirement.
United announces new long-haul routes for 2021
Airline route networks must adapt to shifting demand and long-haul operations are no exception. United Airlines is the latest player to make a move on that front, announcing seven routes today with service slated to launch between December and Summer 2021. The carrier will be reopening some destinations, expanding others and inaugurating a couple of markets never before served.
A stalled recovery: Airline traffic retreating
The commecial aviation industry as we once knew it faces a dire situation. And none of the recent data offers much of the way in optimism for the coming months.
United drops change fees. Forever.
United Airlines is ready to change. Or, perhaps more accurately, the company is ready for passengers to change their plans more often. In a major policy shift the carrier will no longer charge travelers a fee to change their booking on most domestic tickets. And, unlike the temporary waiver of this fee in place over recent months, this change is set to last forever.
Spirit Airlines avoids pilot furloughs in October
Spirit Airlines will not involuntarily furlough any pilots in October when the CARES Act Payroll Support Program funding expires. The news comes just days after the company and the Air Line Pilots Association representing its pilots indicated that 117 positions were at risk.
Alaska pushes for renewed role as global passenger hub
Sure, the aviation industry is hurting right now. But the airports of Alaska are thinking big about the future. The state wants to see its airport infrastructure eligible to serve as hubs for foreign airlines, boosting local tourism while also allowing for broader connections into the lower 48.
Damn the hubs; nonstop flights ahead for United
United Airlines is reinventing its domestic route map for the coming winter season, with plans to add nearly two dozen new domestic routes that bypass the carrier’s hub airports. It is a gamble in many ways, but with all the historical models essentially useless today the company is ready to try something different and see if it can generate a bit of revenue.