Table of Contents

Issue No. 841

Special Video Edition: Skift Aviation Forum Highlights

Airline Leaders Are Bullish on The Recovery But Warn It Could Be Bumpy

Pushing Back: Inside The Issue

What did we hear from airline leaders at the second annual Skift Aviation Forum on November 17? We heard mainly cautious optimism, although some warned that the road to full recovery will be bumpy. In this special video edition, we're bringing you highlights from the conference, so you can see for yourselves. The entire agenda and on-demand sessions are available to Airline Weekly subscribers here.

But the news marches on. South African and Kenya Airways are planning a new pan-African partnership to create a regional behemoth, but will this be enough to save the two loss-making state-owned airlines? Ethiopian Airlines is not sitting still, nor is RwandAir. Delta Air Lines is keeping its Boeing 757 and 767 fleets until it gets more clarity from the airframers on a clean-sheet mid-market airplane. And AirAsia's transformation into a digital business that happens to run some airlines is almost complete.

The U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November. The roads and skies were more crowded than any time since the pandemic began, as a population eager to see loved ones after two bleak years rushed to reconnect. To those of you who celebrated, we hope you had a safe and happy holiday. And in the spirt of gratitude that is the holiday's hallmark, we want to thank all our readers for following us for another crazy year in this industry we love.

Weekly Skies

Delta Air Lines has yet to make a full decision on the future of its middle-of-the-market fleet. The carrier will continue flying its Boeing 757s and 767s through the decade with a willingness to “flex” either types numbers up or…

How Domestic Networks Are Adapting and Evolving

Three domestic U.S. network planners — United's Ankit Gupta, Southwest's Adam Decaire, and JetBlue's Scott Laurence — discuss the challenges and opportunities of planning routes during a pandemic with Airlines Reporter Edward Russell.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Competing on Quality

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says the carrier will compete with its rivals on quality. This is a bold claim, as he acknowledged, but one the airline is prepared to fulfill. Kirby discussed the new United and his love of…

KLM CEO Pieter Elbers on The Longhaul Recovery

KLM CEO Pieter Elbers told Airlines Reporter Edward Russell he was encouraged by high load factors on November 8, the day the U.S. reopened to vaccinated travelers, but thinks the recovery will be "bumpy."

Jobs, Technology, and the Changing Face of Airline Labor

Air Line Pilots Association President Joe DePete and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson tell Editor at Large Brian Sumers that airline labor still is a force to be reckoned with as the industry emerges from the pandemic.

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