Delta Delays Pilot Furloughs At Least a Month
1 Delta Air Lines and its pilots will avoid furloughs for at least a month with the two parties kicking the can down the taxiway road to November 1.
Delta had planned to furlough between 1,900 and 2,000 pilots when the CARES Act expires next week, but Delta and its pilots union are working on further buyouts, voluntary leave options, and reduced hours in lieu of job losses.
Delta and its union reached a tentative agreement last week to reduce the furloughs by 220 pilots — dropping the number to 1,721 — but is still has a long way to go.
Two senators introduced a bill that would extend payroll protection for airlines for another six months. It’s possible that Delta and the ALPA are trying to stall to see if the bill is passed, as unlikely as that is.
Lufthansa Plans for Preflight Virus Tests as Soon as October
2 Lufthansa plans to be first to market with a pre-flight virus test that could potentially — dare we dream? — clear passengers to avoid a quarantine at their destination, kick-starting international travel.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has come out in favor of pre-flight rapid testing as a way to encourage air travel to return and make quarantine-on-arrival a thing of the past. Lufthansa is onboard and plans to have the tests available and its two main German hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, then expanding to U.S. and Canadian gateways.
At first, Lufthansa may only offer testing to its first and business class passengers due to the limit of available tests. The airline, we assume, is also less concerned about the health and safety of economy passengers because they represent a much smaller percentage of Lufthansa’s bottom line and are far more replaceable than higher-paying premium cabin customers.
Don’t Stop Retrieving: Helsinki Airport Welcomes Virus Sniffing Dogs
3 As if we weren’t already completely indebted to dogs as a society, Helsinki Airport (HEL) is introducing the first program whereby dogs will be used to sniff out COVID in travelers.
The dogs scored with near 100% accuracy during a trial program, and those who made a rare mistake were said to have remained pawsitive throughout the process.
Nasal swab tests need approximately 18 million molecules to identify the virus, while a dog needs just 10-100 molecules, I shih tzu not. This results in more accurate results from the dogs and the ability to identify the virus days before symptoms start.
At first, the dogs will not be used in the terminal or at check-in but will be used to screen incoming international passengers. Airports and airlines around the world will be watching to see if the trial program yields useful data and infurmation.
British Airways Announces Same-Day Business Travel Schedule
4 British Airways announced a focus on a return to business travel in the UK and western Europe with a schedule designed for pre-9 a.m. departures and post-5 p.m. returns. This permits same-day travel and avoids hotel stays. Marriott officials had no comment.
The schedule is designed to shuttle passengers to and from its London hub, with flights heading in both directions early in the morning and in the evening. Cities served include main business centers in Germany, Italy, and the rest of western Europe & Scandinavia. BA has also put together a domestic schedule for the same purpose — serving seven destinations around the U.K. — for those who prefer their journey from home to the airport to be longer than the flight.
Duty-Free Isn’t Free: Incheon Strikes Out Looking for New Vendor
5 Seoul/Incheon airport failed to garner enough bidders in its duty-free auction earlier this week, preventing it from awarding vendor contracts for the airport’s Terminal 1.
Duty-free is a big deal in Korea, so much so that Korean Air put a duty-free shop onboard its A380s. This failure is the equivalent of Seattle Airport not getting enough bids to sell coffee in the terminal. Or bath salts for any airport in Florida.
The auction was in six parts — one for each of the main categories of duty-free: cosmetics, perfume, liquor, tobacco, fashion, and miscellaneous goods. Presumably, these $100 pens that supposedly teach you a new language would fall under miscellaneous items.
The airport has proposed a reduction in lease fees and other givebacks to operators when it tries again with a second auction next month.
Airline Potpourri
- American is returning to La Paz, Mexico (LAP) for the first time since 1980 with 1x-weekly service from Dallas/Ft. Worth and 3x-weekly from Phoenix. It is also beginning service to Loreto (LTO) from both cities.
- FastJet resumed operations this week after six months of inactivity with 12 weekly flights from its Harare (HRE) hub.
- Fiji Airways has retired its final B737-700.
- flydubai is resuming flights to Male (MLE) for the first time since 2018 with 4x-weekly service from Dubai.
- Garuda Indonesia is in talks for $156 in funding to help keep the airline operating for the foreseeable future.
- Qantas is upping its flights between Canberra and Queensland after the lifting of travel restrictions. 4x-weekly service from Gold Coast (OOL) to Canberra will begin on Friday.
- Rex is close to securing a $107 million investment from an Asian investor to help it compete in the Australian domestic market in 2021.
- Ryanair will open a new base at Paris/Beauvais (BVA) on December 3.
- Transavia France has built up its domestic France schedule for November.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
I put an ad on Craigslist for my car, but no one has responded yet. It’s a used Delorean — in great condition and has very low mileage. I really only drove it from time to time.