Scandinavian airline SAS has reached an agreement with four pilots unions through mediation, ending a 15-day strike that it says caused around 3,700 flight cancellations. The airline says the parties have agreed on new 5.5-year collective bargaining agreements that include increased productivity for the pilots and flexibility in seasonal production. The deal will also see the withdrawal of a number of pending litigation previously initiated by the pilots’ unions and individual pilots against SAS. The agreement includes cost savings in line with the set targets in the SAS’ business transformation plan, SAS Forward, relating to the pilots’ terms and conditions, and is part of the airline’s target to achieve SKr7.5 billion ($720 million) in annual cost savings. SAS has also committed to the rehire, and subsequent full-time employment, of 450 pilots in tandem with the ramp-up of flight operations until 2024. Additionally, in accordance with a restructuring support agreement to be entered into between the parties in the chapter 11 process, it has granted the unions a general unsecured pre-petition claim for the pilots in the amount of SKr1 billion in SAS voluntary financial restructuring process. Distributions under that unsecured claim will be capped at SKr100 million and made over 5.5 years. The agreements are subject to approval by the members of all four unions and a US federal court. The carrier says it expects to receive the necessary approvals within the next few weeks. “I am pleased to report that we now have come to an agreement with all four pilot unions for SAS Scandinavia and the strike has ended,” chief executive Anko van der Werff says. “Finally, we can resume normal operations and fly our customers on their much longed-for summer holidays.”

As the UK government announced further details of its "Jet Zero" strategy to decarbonise the country's aviation industry during the Farnborough air show, it came in for criticism from environmental campaigners for relying on immature technologies while allowing the sector to continue its rapid expansion. UK transport secretary Grant Shapps claims the plan, which includes a mandate for 10% of jet fuel to be sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 and calls for the country's domestic aviation market to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 without "clipping the sector's wings", enables passengers to "fly guilt free". But the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) has accused the government of "not being honest with the public about the need to adapt our lifestyles to travel differently and fly less in order to deal with aviation emissions". In a Twitter post responding to the Jet Zero announcement, the AEF says: "Grant Shapps says we can pollute the skies 'guilt free' because in future we'll have the tech for zero-carbon flights. Isn't that like saying there's no need to stop sewage going into our rivers because government has a strategy to clean the waterways by 2050?" It notes that commercial electric and hydrogen aircraft "will not be seen before 2035", SAFs are "currently only available in tiny amounts", and argues that, in the meantime, "plans are needed to curb demand, including a halt on any net increase in airport capacity". In addition to the SAF mandate, the government's plan includes an "aspiration of having zero-emission routes connecting places across the UK by 2030". It also calls for a 2% annual fuel-efficiency improvement, the development of carbon markets and greenhouse gas-removal technologies, and better information to enable passengers to "make sustainable aviation choices". There will also be a £165 million ($198 million) "Advanced Fuels Fund" to kick-start the UK's SAF industry. "Rather than clipping the sector's wings, our pathway recognises that decarbonisation offers huge economic benefits, creating the jobs and industries of the future and making sure UK businesses are at the forefront of this green revolution," says Shapps. But AEF policy director Cait Hewitt argues that "the government is relying on technological breakthroughs from industry while allowing for continued growth".

Delta Air Lines has placed an order for 100 Boeing 737 Max 10 narrowbodies and taken options on a further 30. The US major says deliveries are set to begin in 2025, and that the Max 10's will be 20-30% more efficient than the retiring aircraft they replace. "The Boeing 737-10 will be an important addition to Delta's fleet as we shape a more sustainable future for air travel, with an elevated customer experience, improved fuel efficiency and best-in-class performance," states chief executive Ed Bastian. "These new aircraft provide superior operating economics and network flexibility, and the agreement reflects our prudent approach to deploying our capital." Atlanta-based Delta says the 737-10 aligns with "four key pillars" of its long-term strategy: size, being larger than the aircraft it replaces; simplification, given commonality across the airline's 737 fleet; scale, as it will bring that fleet to more than 300 jets by the end of the decade; and sustainability, joining the Airbus A321neo among Delta's most fuel-efficient aircraft. The SkyTeam member adds that the order is within the capex guidance it provided in December 2021. Of the 182 seats installed in Delta's Max 10's, 20 will be in first class, 33 in "Comfort+" and 129 in "Main Cabin". The airline intends to deploy the narrowbodies in core hubs including New York, Boston, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St Paul, Seattle and Los Angeles. In growing to more than 300 aircraft, the 737 fleet will become Delta's second largest after the Airbus A320 family. Noting that the 737-10 is set to receive final certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2023, Delta adds: "In the event of a delay, the agreement has adequate protection in place, including allowing Delta to shift to another model of the Max family if necessary."