AW Daily

737 MAX Accidents ‘Horrific Culmination’ of Boeing, FAA Missteps, House Says

September 16, 2020

A scathing report from the House of Representatives said Boeing's "faulty technical assumptions" and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) "grossly insufficient oversight" were responsible for the B737 MAX operating with flawed flight control software, resulting in the Lion Air and...

Rereading British Airways’ 2020 Resolutions Reminds Us of All That We Have Lost

September 15, 2020

On Dec. 30, 2019, British Airways put out a press release on the company's "20 Resolutions for 2020." Reading it now, on Sept. 15, 2020, is like reading an artifact from some distant era, evoking an emotion probably akin to...

Airlines Feeling a Lift From Rocky Mountain Hubs

September 14, 2020

In this week's Feature Story, we examine why U.S. airlines have been paying a lot of attention to two Mountain States markets: Salt Lake City and Denver. Although the two cities had been growing in importance for the industry before...

Why American Eliminated Change Fees

September 11, 2020

American Airlines' decision to eliminate ticket-change fees for domestic and near-international flights was aimed to adapt to the changing demographics of its passengers. Although the airline announced its new policy the same week as United and Delta, Chief Customer Officer...

Singapore Airlines Cuts 4,300 Jobs

September 10, 2020

Singapore Airlines, hobbled by the near disappearance of international and business travel, bowed to reality and said it would eliminate 4,300 jobs. Of these 2,400 will be lay offs and furloughs, with the balance accounted for through attrition, retirements, and...

Are Airlines Ready to Transport Vaccines?

September 9, 2020

The answer is "maybe." The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says the airline industry could be ready to air ship billions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines, when they're ready to be administered, but only if governments around the world coordinate...

Will Airlines be Hamstrung by a Great Depression Mindset Post-Covid?

September 8, 2020

In this week's Airline Weekly Feature Story, Senior Analyst Jay Shabat asks the question: What could come next after this pandemic? The Covid pandemic is the worst crisis in commercial air transport's century of history -- that much is known....

Court Approves Virgin Atlantic Restructuring Plan

September 4, 2020

A U.K. court has signed off on Virgin Atlantic's restructuring plan, paving the way for the troubled carrier to "emerge from the Covid-19 crisis a sustainably profitable airline." The £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) plan gives Virgin Atlantic breathing room for...

Airlines Finalize Furlough Numbers for When Federal Aid Expires

September 3, 2020

United Airlines warned staff that more than 16,000 employees could face involuntary furloughs on Oct. 1 when federal CARES Act payroll support expires. The good news? This is down from the 36,000 involuntary furloughs the carrier warned about in July....

At Least One Airline Reports Its Demand Grew

September 2, 2020

In this time, for any airline to report traffic growth is news. But Pobeda, Aeroflot's low-cost carrier, did in July. Traffic rose 2%, compared with the 72% decline for the mainline carrier. This tracks with IATA's passenger report for the...

IATA: Demand Starts to Return

September 1, 2020

But it's not time to break out the champagne. IATA reported that air travel demand in July rose by seven percentage points from June but still is historically bad. How bad? July demand was down 80% from 2019, but that's...

American Airlines Slashes October Schedule

August 31, 2020

American Airlines said it will cut its October flight schedule by 55%, compared with October last year as demand for air travel remains depressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. American's domestic schedule will be 48% smaller in October compared with...