AirlinesDelta To Cap 50% Of First Class Seat Sales Delta Air Lines is taking extra steps to provide safe flying experiences for customers and employees amid the global health crisis. Today, the Atlanta-based carrier announced that it is capping seating at 50 percent in its first class. There will also be a capping of 60 percent in its main cabin, Delta Comfort +, and Delta Premium Select offerings.
LinkCould Social Distancing Drive Latin American Airlines Out Of Business? Latin American carriers would not be able to maintain their operating costs if they have to remove the middle seat, said the Latin American and the Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) CEO, Luis Felipe de Oliveira. In an interview with Simple Flying, he subscribed to the phrase that the era of cheap travel may be over. Let’s investigate further.
LinkAlaska Airlines Capacity Drops 80% As $100 Million Loss Revealed Today, US operator Alaska Airlines released its first-quarter 2020 earnings report, which appears to be fairly in line with what we’ve been expecting from the carrier. The airline announced a net loss (excluding impairment charges, merger-related costs, and other adjustments) of $102 million.
LinkUnited Is Donating Miles To Good Causes For Essential Travel United Airlines will match all donations up to 500,000 miles through its Miles on a Mission campaign. The Chicago-based carrier made the announcement this week as part of the Giving Tuesday Now initiative. It hopes to help charities that rely on travel during the global health crisis.
LinkUS Boeing 747 Startup Airline Receives Fifth DOT Rejection The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has rejected Avatar Airlines’ application for an Air Operator’s Certificate on April 28th for the fifth time. In the order for the dismissal, the DOT highlighted deficiencies in the application leading to the AOC rejection.
LinkThai Airways Given One Final Government Lifeline Struggling national carrier Thai Airways has been given a reason to hope today as it appears the government will support a bailout package for the airline. Although the plan has yet to be officially approved, the aim is to secure the airline’s future by cutting costs, restructuring, and eliminating debt.
LinkRyanair Launches Legal Action Against Swedish Airline Aid On Friday last week, Ryanair asked EU judges to cancel the Commission’s approval of a Swedish €455 million ($494 million) loan guarantee for airlines. This move could potentially slow down European governments’ efforts in providing relief to their struggling national carriers.
LinkAll Of Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 747s To Be Retired Immediately Virgin Atlantic is to retire its fleet of seven Boeing 747 aircraft immediately. The retirement of the 747s was already planned. However, it was announced today that it will be brought forward due to the current crisis.
LinkVirgin Atlantic To Close Gatwick Base Prompting 3,000 Job Cuts British airline Virgin Atlantic has revealed plans to ax up to a third of its workforce and shut down its London Gatwick operations in a bid to survive the coronavirus crisis. The announcement made moments ago, could see the loss of more than 3,000 jobs from the 10,000 strong workforce.
LinkQantas May Reduce Its Airbus A380 Fleet The newly refurbished fleet of Qantas A380s were expected to fly until the end of this decade, when the airline intended to have fully-fledged Project Sunrise operations up and running. Now, it is unclear how many of the airline’s 12 superjumbos will return to service, the airline’s CEO said today, as Qantas recalibrates the size and composition of its long-haul fleet for a post-lockdown world.
LinkChina Eastern Airlines Beats Southwest As World's Largest Carrier For the first time in history, a Chinese airline is the largest in the world by seat availability. China Eastern has unseated Southwest Airlines as the biggest in the world, according to analysis from aviation consultancy OAG, as Asia begins to add flights and Southwest cuts a million seats from its schedule.
LinkFrontier Will Sell You An Extra Middle Seat For $39 Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is selling some peace of mind to anxious passengers. From 8 May, prospective passengers can buy the middle seat next to them, ensuring some pandemic free friendly space around them. Prices for that middle seat start at USD$39. Frontier Airlines is calling the initiative ‘More Room Seats.’ It is part of a range of measures designed to maximize passenger health and wellbeing.
LinkUnited Closes Long-Haul LAX Base For Foreseeable Future Chicago based United Airlines is closing its long-haul pilot base at Los Angeles International Airport. It is a significant move by the U.S. mega carrier. LAX is usually the second busiest airport in the United States and a jumping-off point for long-haul flights across the Pacific and elsewhere. But United Airlines is slashing its pilot workforce, and indicators are there won’t be any long-haul flying out of LAX for at least a year.
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