Current Airline Capacity Cuts COVID19

[Guest1]

Transat suspending flights out of Toronto Jan. 28 through April 30, offering refunds

Transat suspending flights out of Toronto Jan. 28 through April 30, offering refunds - Travelweek

[Guest1]

Air Transat to suspend all flights from Toronto, some Montreal routes until April 30

27 January 2021Canadian Aviation News

From The Globe and Mail – link to source story

JON VICTOR, MONTREAL, THE CANADIAN PRESS | JANUARY 27, 202

[Turbofan]

Full shutdown now
 

[Kip Powick]

Better late than never...but still a damned shame

[Guest1]

Air Transat announces temporary layoffs after federal travel restrictions

 

Air Transat announces temporary layoffs after federal travel restrictions | CTV News

[dagger]

It looks like the European carriers are moving in the same direction as Canada, some more, some less. As a general practice, if an airline is still flying from Canada to the EU, you will need a Covid test done within 72 hours of departure and quarantine (generally at ones own hotel or residence, not at a government-mandated location).

 

Air France and TAP are cancelling all non-EU flights, as of Feb 1. It looks like LH is still flying to Canada because passengers from Canada are still on the list of admissible countries.

 

 

[Guest1]

AeroMexico Suspends Flights to Canada

3 February 2021Canadian Aviation News

From Travel off Path – link to source story

AAISHA ALI FEBRUARY 2, 2021

In a statement given last week, Aeromexico has announced it will be suspending all flights to Canada this month. 

The Mexican carrier noted that it would cease flights to Toronto as of February 8th, and those to Montreal and Vancouver as of February 10th, to provide accommodations for current travelers to have a way to return.

AeroMexico Suspends Flights to Canada – Canadian Aviation News (wordpress.com)

[moeman]

CUPE memo today:

"Dear Members,

We were advised moments ago that Air Canada Rouge will be suspending operation effective February 8, 2021. This will result in the remaining active membership that is currently working at Rouge being placed on layoff status."

[Guest1]

Staffing Update – February 3, 2021 – AC Component

Air Canada temporarily grounding all Rouge flights starting Monday

3 February 2021Canadian Aviation News

From City News Toronto – link to source story

BY NEWS STAFF | POSTED FEB 3, 2021 6:09 PM EST

[Turbofan]

More route suspensions and layoffs coming at AC as the new rules curtail demand.

[dagger]

57 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

More route suspensions and layoffs coming at AC as the new rules curtail demand.

Lots of intercon, US station closings for passenger ops, like GRU, DUB, SEA, DCA, LGA. YVR-LHR suspended, deferral of restarts for YYZ-DXB, YYZ-HKG. Much more. 

[Guest1]

Air Canada cuts 1,500 more jobs, and cancels 17 more routes

CBC/Radio-Canada  17 mins ago 

Air Canada cuts 1,500 more jobs, and cancels 17 more routes 

Canada's biggest airline has informed 1,500 of its workers that they'll soon be out of jobs as a result of new travel restrictions and a dramatic reduction in demand for flying.

The airline will "temporarily reduce its unionized workforce by 1,500 people and by an as-yet-undetermined number of management positions," Air Canada told CBC News. The move comes on the heels of a decision last week to temporarily shut down all Rouge flights, which resulted in the loss of 80 jobs.

"This is a due to the federal government's introduction of a mandatory quarantine on arrival as well at the continued suspension of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean," the airline's largest union CUPE said.

At least 900 of the jobs lost will come from CUPE members.

Route suspensions

The airline is also shutting down service on 17 more routes starting next week including:

• Toronto to Fort Myers, Florida.
• Toronto to Boston.
• Toronto to Washington, D.C. (Reagan)
• Toronto to Denver
• Toronto to New York City (Laguardia)
• Montreal to Boston.
• Montreal to LaGuardia.
• Vancouver to Seattle.
• Toronto to Bogotá, Colombia.
• Toronto to Dubai.
• Toronto to São Paulo, Brazil.
• Toronto to Hong Kong.
• Toronto to Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Montreal to Bogotá, Colombia.
• Vancouver to London, UK.
• Vancouver to Tokyo (Narita).
• Toronto to Dublin, Ireland.

Additional story: About 1,500 new layoffs at Air Canada, as service is reduced | CTV News

[rudder]

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5906896

Canada's biggest airline has informed 1,500 of its workers that they'll soon be out of jobs as a result of new travel restrictions and a dramatic reduction in demand for flying.

The airline will "temporarily reduce its unionized workforce by 1,500 people and by an as-yet-undetermined number of management positions," Air Canada told CBC News.

The move comes on the heels of a decision last week to temporarily shut down all Rouge flights, which resulted in the loss of 80 jobs.

"This is a due to the federal government's introduction of a mandatory quarantine on arrival as well at the continued suspension of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean," the airline's largest union CUPE said.

At least 900 of the jobs lost will come from CUPE members.

Route suspensions

The airline is also shutting down service on 17 more routes starting next week including:

• Toronto to Fort Myers, Florida.
• Toronto to Boston.
• Toronto to Washington, D.C. (Reagan)
• Toronto to Denver
• Toronto to New York City (Laguardia)
• Montreal to Boston.
• Montreal to LaGuardia.
• Vancouver to Seattle.
• Toronto to Bogotá, Colombia.
• Toronto to Dubai.
• Toronto to São Paulo, Brazil.
• Toronto to Hong Kong.
• Toronto to Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Montreal to Bogotá, Colombia.
• Vancouver to London, UK.
• Vancouver to Tokyo (Narita).
• Toronto to Dublin, Ireland.

 

 

 

[dagger]

It should be noted that all-cargo flights, even on some of the affected routes, continue. 

 

I don't know if I have said this here, but if I were Prime Minister, I'd work out a deal with the airlines to shut down as much as possible - even domestically. And suspend passenger traffic rights generally to as many markets as possible, so foreign airlines in those markets can't fly passengers to Canada (the US and EU would be the toughest issues to deal with). I'd tell them to cut staff accordingly, since we have enhanced EI currently. Then I'd focus a short-term bailout on the airlines and airports' fixed costs. For the airlines, that would cover fleet leasing, aircraft storage costs, airport rental agreements, interest costs, and I'd subsidize operations of a skeleton domestic mainline net by AC, WJ and Flair (but not Swoop, Rouge). I'd put off all other issues, including refunds of vouchers, for a future recovery package to be negotiated once the pandemic situation stabilizes. For the government, the added benefit of shutting down most passenger traffic is fewer passengers to test for Covid and quarantine. It can focus on the land border, which is arguably the bigger issue now in terms of travel.

Edited February 9, 2021 by dagger

[st27]

Meanwhile, south of the border, ACs competition gets more support from its government:

Quote

On February 10, 2021, the United States House Committee will meet to discuss a $14 billion plan to extend payroll assistance to airlines.

The US lawmakers will be considering extending the support to the airlines so they can keep paying their workers until September 30, 2021. If the plan is confirmed, the airlines would receive $14 billion for payroll support.

The news comes after American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) said on February 3, 2021, it will send furlough notices to about 13,000 employees as a second round of government’s payroll aid is set to expire in March 2021. “Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation similar to much of 2020,” said American Airlines CEO Doug Parker. “We fully believed that we would be looking at a summer schedule where we’d fly all of our airplanes and need the full strength of our team. Regrettably, that is no longer the case.”

On January 29, 2021, United Airlines also sent furlough warnings to 14,000 staff members.

On January 28, 2021, the head of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), representing 20 airlines’ workers, also urged Congress to extend the financial support program for airlines in the United States as passenger demand remains low due to the COVID-19 crisis. 

“Congress has to act fast for real relief. The emergency relief that came late in December was critical, but it was just ‘a down payment,’ a ‘bridge to real relief”,” said the president of AFA, Sara Nelson.

In December 2020, the US airlines received a $15 billion state aid that helped the carriers to recall furloughed workers and pay the employee wages and benefits, avoiding layoffs until March 31, 2021. After receiving the aid, the airlines called back more than 32,000 workers who were furloughed in October 2020.

 

[runaway]

10 hours ago, dagger said:

It should be noted that all-cargo flights, even on some of the affected routes, continue. 

 

I don't know if I have said this here, but if I were Prime Minister, I'd work out a deal with the airlines to shut down as much as possible - even domestically. And suspend passenger traffic rights generally to as many markets as possible, so foreign airlines in those markets can't fly passengers to Canada (the US and EU would be the toughest issues to deal with). I'd tell them to cut staff accordingly, since we have enhanced EI currently. Then I'd focus a short-term bailout on the airlines and airports' fixed costs. For the airlines, that would cover fleet leasing, aircraft storage costs, airport rental agreements, interest costs, and I'd subsidize operations of a skeleton domestic mainline net by AC, WJ and Flair (but not Swoop, Rouge). I'd put off all other issues, including refunds of vouchers, for a future recovery package to be negotiated once the pandemic situation stabilizes. For the government, the added benefit of shutting down most passenger traffic is fewer passengers to test for Covid and quarantine. It can focus on the land border, which is arguably the bigger issue now in terms of travel.

Ask the airlines to shut down as much as possible - even domestically? Pretty much already there as far as Canadian airlines are concerned! Then wait for the Feds to cover aircraft storage, etc? Short term bailout to resurrect a near totally collapsed Canadian airline industry? Enhanced EI? Pardon the pun but that sounds like a Dagger right to the heart of the airline industry as we know it!

Based on what I've seen from JT and company that's the furthest thing from his mind. He's more concerned about carbon initiatives than airlines right now!

[Guest1]

Japan Limits Foreign Aircraft Arrivals To 100 Passengers

• byChris Loh
• March 12, 2021
• 12 shares
  12

   

   
• 3 minute read

 

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In an effort to control the spread of new coronavirus variants and stay within the capacity of quarantine facilities, the Japanese government is restricting the number of passengers arriving at 100 per flight. This limit applies to foreign airlines, while domestic carriers have a limit of 3,400 arrivals per week across all flights.

Japanese carriers have restrictions separate from the 100-passengers-per-flight policy imposed on foreign airlines. Photo: Japan Airlines

Tighter restrictions than April 2020

According to Japanese outlet Nikkei, the Japanese government is asking airlines to reduce the number of passengers arriving in the country. In order to control the spread of new COVID-19 variants, foreign airlines are restricted to 100 passengers arriving per flight. Meanwhile, domestic (Japanese) carriers are limited to 3,400 arrivals per week.

With measures to be even tighter than when the pandemic emerged a year ago, it looks like Japan has realized the risk that international transportation poses. Indeed, last April saw a limit of 3,000 arrivals per day for domestic carriers and 300 passengers per flight for foreign airlines.

United Airlines currently operates a San Francisco to Tokyo Narita service. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

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Quarantine facilities reaching capacity

Regarding “countries/regions with community transmission of coronavirus variants of concern,” the government has stated (among other things) the following:

All Japanese nationals and foreign nationals[…]are required to self-quarantine for 3 days at a location designated by the quarantine station chief (only at the accommodations booked by the quarantine office) until further notice.

With this requirement, designated sites are reaching their capacity and thus justifying the new arrival limits.

 

Nikkei notes that on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato stated that the updated policy will “ensure that quarantine measures are properly carried out.”  

Air Canada has been operating a service from Toronto to Tokyo. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Japan’s current and steadily-growing list of countries and regions of concern include:

 

 

• The United Kingdom
• South Africa
• Ireland
• Israel
• Brazil
• The United Arab Emirates
• Italy
• Austria
• The Netherlands
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Slovakia
• Denmark
• Germany
• Nigeria
• France
• Belgium

The impact on airlines

The Japan Times notes that, in response to a request from the government, ANA (All Nippon Airways) and JAL (Japan Airlines) have stopped accepting new reservations for some of their international flights.

For ANA, this has meant all international flights to Japan, while for JAL, this change applies to Japan-bound flights from the UK, Germany, and France. The booking suspension will be in place until at least March 21st for ANA flights. For JAL, booking suspensions will run until at least the end of March.

ANA has stopped taking new reservations for all international flights. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | JFKJets.com

The full impact on foreign carriers has yet to be made clear. However, as we’ve been with similar cases in Australia, we can expect to see affected foreign airlines halting new reservations at the very least.

It’s difficult to say if any carriers will reduce service since faraway airlines like Finnair, Air Canada, American Airlines, and others are already operating at fairly low frequencies. With smaller long-distance jets like the 787-8 configured to fly over 220 passengers, the cabins of some long-haul flights to Japan will be less than 50% full.

As has been the case over the last year, it’s quite likely that cargo transportation is one big factor that will keep some of these flights going.

[Guest1]

Cathay Pacific to close its Canadian pilot base, proposes shutting Australia, New Zealand
22 April 2021Canadian Aviation News
From The Globe and Mail – link to source story

Reuters | 22 April 2021

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will close its Canadian pilot base and has proposed to also shut its pilot bases in Australia and New Zealand, the airline said on Thursday.

No decisions have been made on the fate of its pilots based in Europe and the United States, the airline said in a statement that noted all passenger fleet pilots on overseas bases had been stood down since May 2020.

The decision to close the Canadian base is final, while Australia and New Zealand is a proposal at this stage and will involve a good-faith consultation process with employees, Cathay said.

In Australia and New Zealand, employers must consult with staff before redundancies as part of union agreements but it is rare for publicly announced decisions to be reversed.

Qantas Airways Ltd and Air New Zealand Ltd made similar announcements last year about consultations before proceeding with their planned staff cuts.

Cathay’s proposed closures were first reported by the South China Morning Post.

Cathay had already closed overseas cabin crew bases and shut its regional airline Cathay Dragon to help it conserve cash during the pandemic, resulting in the loss of more than 5,900 jobs.

The remaining Hong Kong-based pilots and cabin crew had to agree to permanent pay cuts to keep their jobs.

Cathay, which lacks a domestic market at a time when international borders are largely shut, last month reported a record annual loss of HK$21.65 billion ($2.8 billion).

It has been burning through as much as HK$1.9 billion of cash a month, though the carrier said last week that figure would begin to reduce slightly due to an easing of cargo crew quarantine requirements.

Related
 

[Guest1]

Qantas cancels international flights through to December

Qantas now doesn't expect to see the bulk of overseas travel return until 2022.

By David Flynn, May 12 2021

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Qantas has scrapped the planned October 31 2021 restart of its whole international network following the government's declaration that Australia's border will remain closed to most countries until the middle of next year.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg mapped out the revised timeline after last night's 2021 budget, saying it was "quite a conservative, cautious assumption that international borders will gradually reopen from the middle of next year."

With Qantas' international reboot tied to the government's vaccination rollout and border controls, the airline has been forced to push back its restart date for the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic saw the country's international borders locked down in March 2020.

The airline today announced it would cancel most international flights scheduled from October 31 through to late December, with a spokesman advising "we will keep reviewing these plans as we move towards December and circumstances evolve."

Services to New Zealand under the trans-Tasman bubble will remain in place, and the airline is now pinning its hopes on the opening of similar quarantine-free travel bubbles to the likes of the Pacific Islands and Singapore.

"We remain optimistic that additional bubbles will open once Australia's vaccine rollout is complete to countries who, by then, are in a similar position, but it's difficult to predict which ones at this stage," the spokesman said, adding that Qantas would remain "ready to take advantage of pockets of tourism and trade opportunity as they emerge in a post-COVID world."

Qantas says it will directly contact any would-be travellers with bookings "between 31 October 2021 and 19 December 2021."

"A high number of calls to our contact centre is resulting in long wait times. We continue to add more resources in response but encourage customers who are not travelling in the next 24 hours to please wait for us to contact you directly regarding these latest changes."

 

A moving target

Qantas put most of its international flights back on sale earlier this year, saying the revised October 31 reboot – which had already been deferred from an early and more ambitious target of July 1 – aligned "with the expected timeframe for Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to be effectively complete."

But with the government's vaccination plan well behind schedule, while new and more virulent strains of COVID continue to spread around the world, the airline has once again pressed pause on the return of overseas flights.

Qantas has always stressed that its international schedule would track against the government's own border controls, with CEO Alan Joyce remarking earlier this month "we know that date [when international travel will resume] may change [and] we're completely flexible on this."

"We are getting our aircraft and people ready for the end of October, but we have complete flexibility. If we need to open bubbles before, we can and that may happen. If we need to push things out because the vaccine rollout isn't as fast as we would expect, we can do that."

Focus on travel bubbles 

Qantas' focus for international travel will now turn to quarantine-free travel bubbles.

"It all depends on what level of COVID is in an individual country, and what level of restrictions and testing will be put in place," Joyce remarked ahead of the opening of the Australia-New Zealand bubble.

"There are clearly a lot of countries in the region, especially in the Asia-Pacific, that have had a tight control on COVID. They give us market opportunities for Singapore, like Japan, markets like Taiwan for us to potentially open up."

[Guest1]

Philippine Airlines looks to hand back Airbus A350s, Boeing 777s

The airline, considering a Chapter 11 restructure, could return at least two Airbus A350s and four Boeing 777s to leasing firms.

By Bloomberg News, May 15 2021

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Philippine Airlines is in talks with plane lessors about reducing its fleet size and has told them it’s considering a Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. to carry out a restructuring, according to people familiar with the plan.

The airline could return at least two Airbus A350s to lessors and four of the 10 Boeing 777s in its fleet, some of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Two A350s are in the process of being taken back by aircraft lessors and will be redeployed to other carriers, one person said. Prior to the negotiations, Philippine Airlines had six A350s.

One lessor reached an agreement with the airline for it to keep a 777 and an A330, a person involved in the discussions said, asking not to be identified. Work on restructuring lease contracts and reaffirming commitments is ongoing, another person said.

Philippine Airlines is working on documentation for a pre-packaged bankruptcy, people familiar said, with Seabury Capital advising on the restructuring. Cirium had previously reported that Seabury was an adviser on the Chapter 11 plan. Seabury didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Founded in 1941, the airline said in a statement it is working with stakeholders “on a comprehensive restructuring plan” that will enable it to emerge from the global crisis financially stronger. Flights and operations won’t be affected in any restructuring, it said.

Representatives for Airbus said the company doesn’t comment on fleet planning at individual airlines. Boeing declined to comment. Philippine Airlines’ lessors include GE Capital Aviation Services and Goshawk Aviation, according to Cirium. Calls to GE Capital Aviation’s Singapore office and an email to Ireland-based Goshawk seeking comment weren’t immediately returned during Asia hours.

Philippine Airlines would join dozens of carriers and other aviation businesses, including Latam Airlines Group and lessor AeroCentury, in being felled or forced to restructure after global travel was decimated by the pandemic.

 

The tourism industry accounted for nearly 13% of the Philippines’ gross domestic product in 2019 and employed 13.5% of its labor force. Then Covid-19 came, and international arrivals slumped 82% last year to less than 1.5 million.

While air travel within some countries is recovering as vaccination rollouts gather pace, a return to pre-pandemic levels of traffic could still take years as the virus mutates and governments take different approaches to opening borders.

The International Air Transport Association has warned carriers globally will lose about $48 billion in 2021 amid setbacks in restarting travel.

PAL Holdings, the holding company of Philippine Airlines, has reported losses since the first quarter of 2017, including nearly 29 billion pesos (US$607 million) in the first nine months of 2020, its latest published figures show.

The airline said in November it was working on a recovery and restructuring plan, without providing details. In February, it said that it would cut 2,300 jobs or about a third of its workforce by mid-March.

Philippines Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez has told private banks to take the lead in assisting airlines, saying the government didn’t want to take ownership.