Source: European Commission Today, the Commission has taken two decisions concerning the aviation sector in Italy. In the first, we have found that two loans that Italy granted to Alitalia in 2017, for a total of 900 million euros, are illegal under State aid rules. Italy must now recover this amount from Alitalia. In the second decision, the Commission has reached two important conclusions: First, we have found that the new state-owned airline, called Italia Trasporto Aereo – or ITA, is not the economic successor of Alitalia and is therefore not liable to repay the illegal State aid received by Alitalia. Second, the Commission has found that Italy's capital injections of 1.35 billion euros into ITA are in line with [...]

Source: US FAA The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded more than $100 million for companies to help develop technologies that reduce fuel use, emissions and noise. The award is part of a series of steps President Biden is taking to coordinate leadership and innovation across the federal government, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, fuel producers and more to position American aviation to soar towards net zero emissions by 2050. This FAA announcement is part of those efforts. “Across the country, communities have been devastated by the effects of climate change – but, if we act now, we can ensure that aviation plays a central role in the solution,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These awards will help [...]

Source: ALPA Just days before the United States marks the 20thanniversary of 9/11, the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), the world’s largest non-governmental aviation safety organization, is once again calling on Federal regulators to address a glaring aviation security vulnerability and prevent another, similar attack on our homeland. Last month, ALPA called on Transportation Security Buttigieg to urge the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a final secondary flight deck barrier regulation which was mandated by Congress nearly three years ago. “The greatest way to honor the memories of the nearly 3,000 people who died is to use our voices, expertise and resolve to ensure that 9/11 is in America’s past—and not a prelude to another terrorist attack in which [...]

Source: A4A Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization representing the leading U.S. airlines, announced that our member carriers have pledged to work with government leaders and other stakeholders to make 3 billion gallons of cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) available to U.S. aircraft operators in 2030. In March, as part of a commitment to work across the aviation industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, A4A members pledged to work toward a rapid expansion of the production and deployment of commercially viable SAF to make 2 billion gallons available in 2030. “We are proud of our record on climate change, but we know the climate change challenge has only continued to intensify. Accordingly, A4A member carriers have [...]

Source: US DOT Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is releasing a report on its work to address failures of airlines to provide timely refunds for flights cancelled or significantly changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report was mandated by President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy that he issued in July. Airlines and ticket agents have a legal obligation to provide refunds to consumers if the airline cancels or significantly changes a consumer’s flight. However, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines had difficulty processing the significant volume of refund requests that they received. Many airlines were also initially reluctant to provide the required refunds. This resulted in USDOT [...]

Source: US DOT U.S. airlines employed 715,312 workers in July 2021, which is 0.8% (5,634) more workers than in June 2021, but 3.7% (27,728) fewer than in pre-pandemic July 2019. The July industry numbers consist of 607,805 full-time and 107,507 part-time workers, an increase from June of 8,755 full-time and a decrease of 3,121 part-time workers. As of July, the largest passenger airlines are operating with 67,661 fewer employees than at the March 2020 onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. United Airlines has dropped 21,278 workers, Delta Air Lines 16,476, and American Airlines 9,955. Major cargo airlines are operating with 23,049 more employees, with Federal Express having added 21,961. Regulations require airlines to report employment numbers to the Bureau of Transportation [...]