Source: US DOT   U.S. airlines carried 304% more scheduled service passengers in June 2021 than in June 2020 (preliminary), according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 21 airlines that carry more than 90% of passengers.   The 21 airlines carried 66.4 million passengers in June 2021 (preliminary), compared to 16.4 million passengers in June 2020 and the low of 3.0 million in April 2020, which was the lowest monthly total in BTS records dating back to 1974.  Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous low was 14.6 million passengers in February 1975.   In June 2021, the airlines carried 21% fewer total passengers, 17% fewer domestic passengers and 45% fewer international passengers than in pre-pandemic [...]

Source: US DOT U.S. Scheduled Passenger Airlines employed 1.3K more employees in June 2021 than in May 2021     The 24 U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 0.3% more full-time equivalents (FTEs) in June 2021 than in May 2021: June’s total number of FTEs (394,298) was up 1,314 from May (392,984) and down 62,962 from the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 (457,260), a 13.8% drop. May 2021 was the lowest FTE total for the month of May since 2015 (396,973). The increase from May resulted largely from American Airlines adding 1,039 FTEs and United Airlines adding 296 FTEs. Only three reporting airlines reduced FTEs (Southwest, Skywest, and Horizon) from May to June. In June 2021, scheduled passenger airlines [...]

Source: Transport Canada As Canada works towards recovery and travel re-start, investments in our airport infrastructure continue to be crucial to maintain safety, security, and connectivity for travellers, workers and communities. Government of Canada investments will also help to rebuild the public’s confidence in domestic and international travel, and ensure that Canada’s aviation industry is well positioned to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, launched a new contribution funding stream under Transport Canada’s Airport Critical Infrastructure Program. This new Biosecurity Funding Stream will provide $81.6 million to support Canada’s major airports with investments in COVID-19 testing and screening infrastructure. This funding will help facilitate the safe restart of air travel [...]

Source: FAA On Aug. 12, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) went live with the second phase of new air traffic routes and procedures that improve the safety and efficiency of airspace in South-Central Florida. The project, often referred to as the South-Central Florida Metroplex initiative, will optimize aircraft arrival and departure procedures to and from 21 airports. New routes include changes in aircraft flight paths and altitudes in certain areas, but would not increase the number of aircraft operations at any of the airports. It is one of 11 Metroplex projects nationwide to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in major metropolitan areas across the country. Community involvement was a critical part of the project. The FAA conducted extensive outreach [...]

Source: IATA The two organizations will leverage their leadership in their respective fields to boost e-commerce in developing countries through improved exchanges of trade data Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and UNCTAD have extended their collaboration to facilitate international trade, particularly e-commerce. The extended partnership will enrich their history of working together. This includes the successful integration of air cargo messaging standards (Cargo-XML) into UNCTAD’s automated customs management system, ASYCUDAWorld. For the 100 counties choosing to deploy the latest version of ASYCUDAWorld, this enables more efficient processing of air cargo shipments. “Through this extended partnership, we look forward to leveraging the leadership of UNCTAD and IATA in their respective fields to boost e-commerce in developing countries through improved [...]

Source: A4A We applaud the Senate for working in a bipartisan spirit to advance an infrastructure package rooted in compromise. Their support of our nation’s infrastructure demonstrates a deep understanding of the critical role transportation plays in the economy, commerce and our daily lives – whether it’s getting employees to their jobs, connecting people with loved ones or delivering products to consumers. We are hopeful the government will work in a similar way to successfully enact sustainability initiatives including investments that will help the U.S. airline industry achieve our aggressive and ambitious goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A4A carriers have pledged to work with the government and other stakeholders on aircraft technology, air traffic control efficiencies and other advances toward [...]

Source: IATA SYNLAB to securely share certified COVID-19 test results with passengers directly through IATA Travel Pass, providing reliable digital proof on health status as international travel increases. Through SYNLAB’s international laboratory network travellers will have access to up to 450 testing labs and more than 1,600 sample collection points across 36 countries, making travel even more hassle-free SYNLAB, Europe’s leading medical diagnostic services provider, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a partnership to facilitate safe and easy travel. Today, the two partners signed an agreement to incorporate SYNLAB’s extensive lab network into IATA Travel Pass. This will enable airline passengers to access SYNLAB’s broad and secure COVID-19 testing services, benefiting from its international capabilities. SYNLAB and IATA build [...]

Source: ACI NA Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, today released the following statement from President and CEO Kevin M. Burke in support of the bipartisan infrastructure package that just passed the Senate. The package includes $25 billion for American airports and air traffic towers – with $20 billion allocated for U.S. airports – as the industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to invest in measures to limit the spread of the virus. “Airports across the United States are grateful to senators from both parties for supporting an infrastructure bill that makes a much-needed down payment to upgrade their aging facilities,” Burke said. “Chronically [...]