Source: ICAO At a meeting of its 224th Session this week, the ICAO Council approved new Sustainability Criteria for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) eligible under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), together with the compliance assessment guidance. By making use of aviation fuels which meet the new Sustainability Criteria for SAF life-cycle CO2 reduction benefits and other environmental and socio-economic themes, aircraft operators engaged in international flights can claim associated reductions in their CORSIA CO2 offsetting requirements. “This approval should incentivize the production of SAF so that they can fulfil their important role in aviation’s green transition, and it also emphasizes the continuing importance of pursuing a globally harmonized approach to mitigating emissions from international aviation [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the commitments towards strengthening climate action made at COP26, and called on the global efforts to decarbonize aviation to be supported with practical, effective government policies. Management of international aviation’s climate commitments sits outside of the COP process and is the responsibility of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Nevertheless, airlines at the 77th IATA AGM in Boston, October, agreed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the stretch Paris agreement target to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. “Airlines are on the pathway to net-zero carbon emissions, in line with the Paris agreement. We all want the freedom to fly sustainably. Reaching net-zero emissions will be a [...]

Source: US DOT U.S. airlines employed 718,111 workers in September 2021, which is 814 (0.1%) fewer workers than in August 2021 and 24,289 (3.3%) fewer than in pre-pandemic September 2019. The September industry-wide numbers include 615,352 full-time and 103,459 part-time workers, an increase from August of 753 full-time workers and a decrease of 1,567 part-time workers. As of September, the U.S. airline industry is operating with 34,571 fewer employees (4.6%) than at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total employment (full-time + part-time) by U.S. airlines (passenger + cargo carriers): September 2019: 743,100 February 2020 (COVID-19 onset): 753,382 September 2020: 701,054 August 2021: 719,625 (revised) September 2021: 718,811 Major passenger airlines added 2,448 employees in September, fewer than the 4,320 [...]

Source: IATA Key points: Initial Q3 financial results indicate that pressure on airlines’ profitability eased further compared with Q2 as passenger traffic restarted on some domestic and short-haul routes with the reopening of markets. Global airline share price index ticked down in October, reflecting investors’ concerns about the impact of rising jet fuel prices on airlines’ financial recovery. The performance gap between wider equity markets and airline stocks widened. The jet fuel price continued to trend upwards in recent weeks as economic activity restarts around the world and supply remains tight. As of early November, jet fuel price was 70% higher vs. the start of the year. View full report 

Source: US DOT The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced that it will offer an additional $184 million in funding provided by the American Rescue Plan to 158 more aviation manufacturing businesses. The Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program (AMJP) is helping protect nearly 30,000 American manufacturing jobs across 41 states and Puerto Rico. These new awards, combined with the first round of funding in September, brings the total to $626* million to help protect aviation manufacturing jobs. At the same time, DOT has announced that it will reopen the application process one last time. Final applications will be due on Monday, December 13, 2021. The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) program is no longer a constraint on AMJP awards. [...]