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 [...]

Source: FAA The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $339,716 civil penalty against Slice of the 406 LLC, 82 and Sunny LLC, and other associated parties for allegedly conducting illegal charter flights. The FAA alleges that between July 2017 and November 2018, these parties conducted approximately 26 paid passenger-carrying flights in a Cessna Citation II C550. The agency alleges the parties did not have the required FAA operating or air carrier certificate. The parties also conducted flights without appropriate operations specifications, which outline what a company is authorized to do. The FAA further alleges the parties conducted operations with unqualified pilots who did not complete FAA-required training, testing, and competency checks. The parties have 30 days [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that both international and domestic travel demand showed significant momentum in July 2021 compared to June, but demand remained far below pre-pandemic levels. Extensive government-imposed travel restrictions continue to delay recovery in international markets. Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to July 2019, which followed a normal demand pattern. Total demand for air travel in July 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 53.1% compared to July 2019. This is a significant improvement from June when demand was 60% below June 2019 levels. International passenger demand in July was 73.6% below July [...]

Source: US FAA Using the Tableau software platform, the tool identifies trends that include geographic area, per capita data, time of day and year. The FAA is sharing the information in the new format to draw attention to the dangerously high rate of laser strikes on airplanes. “Pointing a laser at an aircraft can temporarily blind a pilot and not only affects the crew but endangers passengers and the communities they fly over every night,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. Laser strikes increased in 2020 despite the decrease in flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pilots reported 6,852 laser strikes to the FAA last year, up from 6,136 in 2019. The number of incidents reported in 2020 incidents was the [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released July 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued its strong growth trend. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons below are to July 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 8.6% compared to July 2019. Overall growth remains strong compared to the long-term average growth trend of around 4.7%. The pace of growth slowed slightly compared to June which saw demand increase 9.2% (against pre-COVID-19 levels). Capacity continues to recover but is still 10.3% down compared to July 2019. Economic conditions continue to support [...]

Source: IATA Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, gave the following comments in response to EU travel restrictions for US visitors: "While this is a disappointing development for businesses and people who rely on travel, the data from the US and Israel supports the value and benefit of vaccination. As governments rightly urge their populations to be vaccinated, governments need to be confident in the benefits they bring—including the freedom to travel. At a minimum, those who are fully vaccinated should be free to move without restriction."

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released July 2021 data for global air cargo markets showing that demand continued its strong growth trend. As comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted, all comparisons below are to July 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was up 8.6% compared to July 2019. Overall growth remains strong compared to the long-term average growth trend of around 4.7%. The pace of growth slowed slightly compared to June which saw demand increase 9.2% (against pre-COVID-19 levels). Capacity continues to recover but is still 10.3% down compared to July 2019. Economic conditions continue to support [...]

Source: European Council Following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, the Council updated the list of countries, special administrative regions and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel restrictions should be lifted. In particular, Israel, Kosovo[1], Lebanon, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the United States of America were removed from the list. Non-essential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed in Annex I is subject to temporary travel restriction. This is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travellers. As stipulated in the Council recommendation, this list [...]