Aviation Industry Updates: October 19, 2021

International Travelers Can Enter U.S. | Starts November 8

• International travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus who have been barred from entering the United States during the pandemic will be able to enter the country on Nov. 8, according to a White House official, marking an end to restrictions that had walled off tourists and relatives seeking to visit their families.

• The C.D.C. also updated its guidelines on vaccine mixing, which is particularly relevant to Canada. At least 3.88 million Canadians have received mixed vaccine doses, according to media reports — and that number does not account for mixed doses administered in Quebec. The agency now considers full vaccination possible with mixed doses, so long as they are approved either by the F.D.A. or the W.H.O.
  The new travel system also comes with stringent requirements.

• Unvaccinated foreigners will be broadly barred from entering the United States, although the White House official said there will be limited exemptions, including for young children.

• Those who were never banned from traveling across the land borders, including commercial drivers and students, will also need to show proof of vaccination when crossing starting in January, giving them some time to adjust to the new rules, officials said. Those crossing land borders will not need to show a coronavirus test.

• Foreigners hoping to fly to the United States will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative coronavirus test within three days of entering.

New York Times

Delta Turns Impressive Profit | Faces Fuel-Cost Pressure

KEY POINTS:

• Delta on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of $1.2 billion. It was the airline’s second quarterly profit since the pandemic began and the first time that it earned money without including government aid. Excluding that and other items, Delta posted an adjusted profit of $194 million.

• Mr. Bastian said bookings have been growing in the past five weeks and corporate travel bookings have reached a fresh pandemic high. Domestic business volumes are close to 50% recovered as of last week, he said, albeit not as strong as the airline had been hoping for before companies started to delay returning to offices.

• Delta started the year with business levels languishing at a quarter of 2019 levels. By the end of the year, the airline expects to be bringing in 75% of what it did before the pandemic decimated travel.

• Still, airlines will face new challenges keeping a lid on their costs, with fuel prices and other costs set to rise, analysts say. Delta said it expects higher fuel prices to undercut its profit in the fourth quarter. The airline expects jet-fuel prices between $2.25 and $2.40 a gallon in the quarter, up from $1.94 in the third quarter.

• In the past, airlines have been able to pass on higher fuel costs to customers by increasing fares, but there is generally a lag and it is unclear if customers will be more price sensitive as they return to travel.

• Delta expects corporate travel, a mainstay of the airline’s business, to climb to 80% to 100% of 2019 levels by the end of next year. While Mr. Bastian said he expects some erosion of demand coming out of the pandemic, hybrid work and video conferencing could present new opportunities for travel, he said.

• As Southwest Airlines Co. ’s operation stabilizes after days of mass cancellations that the airline’s executives linked to staffing shortfalls, Delta executives said they are mindful of not spooling the airline up again too quickly and sacrificing reliability.

• The airline cannot grow much bigger “without risking the operational performance issues like you’ve seen at some of our other carriers,” Mr. Hauenstein said. “We want to stay where we’re confident that we can actually fly the schedules that we put out there.”

Wall Street Journal

United Launching 10 New Flights In Spring | Some Are Even International

KEY POINTS:

• United Airlines announced plans to add 10 new flights to its roster, all part of the U.S. flag carrier’s largest transatlantic expansion and just in time for anyone planning to travel abroad in spring or summer 2022.

• Beginning in May 2022, United Airlines will offer service from the U.S. to five new international destinations, all cities and locales that have yet to be served by another major U.S. carrier. The new routes will operate three times per week.

• Washington, D.C. (IAD) to Amman, Jordan (AMM) abroad the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner beginning May 5, 2022.

• Newark (EWR) to Ponta Delgado in the Azores, Portugal (PDL) aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8 beginning May 13, 2022, with seasonal daily service from June to August, 2022.

• Newark (EWR) to Bergen, Norway (BGO) aboard the Boeing 757–200 beginning May 20, 2022.

• Newark (EWR) to Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands (TFS) aboard the Boeing 757–200 beginning June 2, 2022.

• Newark (EWR) to Palma de Mallorca, Spain (PMI) aboard the 767–300E beginning June 9, 2022.

• “Given our big expectations for a rebound in travel to Europe for summer, this is the right time to leverage our leading global network in new, exciting ways,” said United Airlines’ Senior Vice President of International Network and Alliances, Patrick Quayle, in a press release. “Our expansion offers the widest range of destinations to discover—introducing new, trendy locales that our customers will love, as well as adding more flights to iconic, popular cities.”

Forbes

Aviation Supply Chain Faces Mounting Strain

KEY POINTS:

• Global shipping and supply chain disruptions are making it harder for corporate planemakers and suppliers to meet resurgent demand for parts, according to industry executives and analysts.

• Disruptions, which are also hitting commercial aviation, are beginning to drive up costs and risk slowing down the aerospace industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• With private aviation traffic surpassing 2019 levels this year, some corporate planemakers and suppliers at a flagship business jet show in Las Vegas this week flagged warning signs about supply chain and labor hiccups.

• Aerospace has, so far, avoided the scale of supply woes faced by auto makers and machinery companies as planemakers Boeing Co (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) are producing fewer jets than before the pandemic.

• But supply chain strains are increasingly becoming visible for the production of narrow-body jets, which have seen a pick-up in demand due to a recovery in short-haul trips, said Eric Bernardini, global co-head of aerospace, defense and aviation at consultants AlixPartners.

• "We're in a healthier position compared to what it could be, but we are starting to see some issues," said Ron Draper, chief executive of Textron Aviation.

• Draper said Textron is managing the hiccups, but is still "seeing some suppliers pop up with capacity constraints."

• Stirling Macfarlane, a segment manager in aerospace with PPG Industries (PPG.N), said at the show that the maker of aircraft coatings and transparencies has faced some delays in receiving needed components.

Reuters

Weekly TSA Numbers

[image_with_animation image_url="2959" animation="None" hover_animation="none" alignment="center" border_radius="none" box_shadow="none" image_loading="default" max_width="100%" max_width_mobile="default"]