Finnair is consulting on a wave of cabin-crew job cuts as it seeks to subcontract roles on some long-haul services. The plan involves transferring cabin crewing to "partners" for services to Thailand and the USA, resulting in the loss of 450 jobs within Finnair's in-flight services, out of a total of 1,750 across its network, the Oneworld member indicates in a statement. Subcontractors already provide cabin services for the airline's operations to Singapore, Hong Kong and India as well as the Qatari capital Doha from Stockholm and Copenhagen. Finnair has in recent months made a number of changes to its practices in a bid to decrease unit costs. This has included discussions of altered employment terms across all staff. For crews, it has proposed changes to crew utilisation efficiency, to layover hotel rules and to additional pay per hour rules for long flights. "A negotiation result was reached with some employee groups, but unfortunately, a solution was not found with the cabin crew in Finland," says the airline. "In this situation, Finnair must seek savings through alternative measures." Negotiations will start on 23 November and are set to last at least six weeks. Any resulting changes would be implemented by the end of next year. "The plan is a part of the efforts to restore Finnair's profitability by reducing unit costs and strengthening unit revenues," it adds. "Finnair made considerable losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the closure of Russian airspace significantly impacts Finnair's ability to generate profit."

The spot price of jet kerosene is continuing to sink globally as crude oil values decline, with the European price approaching the lowest level since the first quarter. Data from energy information provider ICIS, which is RELX-owned, shows that the price of jet kerosene for barge delivery to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp import region fell to $990 per tonne on 15 November, from $1,127 four weeks earlier and $1,500 in June. The decline means that spot jet fuel for delivery to western Europe is now only a few dollars above lows hit in September and October. Should it break down further it will be the cheapest since late March, when it hit lows of around $900 per tonne. "The jet market has shown high volatility over the week," writes ICIS, noting "healthy" trading levels. "Spot prices have fallen on the previous week." Leading the declines have been falling crude oil values, slipping on demand concerns coming out of China. A firmer US dollar has also "kept a lid on prices", adds ICIS. Jet fuel prices nevertheless remain extremely elevated. In December last year, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they were below $700 per tonne in the region. In the USA, jet kerosene prices for delivery to New York Harbor slipped by a more modest $1.75 per US gallon to $392, down from $420 four weeks ago, with inventories and production, alongside consumption, rising. And in Asia, prices for delivery to Singapore slipped by $5 per barrel to $122, down from $127.50 four weeks ago. ICIS notes that jet prices have been supported by tight supply, with sanctions on Russian gasoil exports having restricted the market and buoyed refining margins. "A significant increase in jet-kerosene exports from China has alleviated some of the supply constraint. Chinese exports are expected to hit 2 million tonnes in November, up from 1.23 million tonnes in September (approximately 319,800 barrels per day)."

European and US regulators are jointly studying how aeronautical communication between aircraft and ground stations should be modernised by 2035. The US Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency have published a white-paper proposal for the “modernisation and harmonisation of the aviation data communication landscape”, based on the work of a task force comprising Airbus and Boeing specialists in addition to staff from the two regulators, EASA states. EASA highlights the study does not cover broadband provision for passengers. It concentrates on data exchanges for air traffic management and to optimise airline operations and aircraft maintenance. Such exchanges are mainly being handled by very high frequency (VHF) radio transmission and first-generation aviation satellite communication – technologies that have been used for decades. “Systems as currently deployed are fragmented and not always interoperable,” EASA observes, adding: "There is a need to look to the future and bring the system up to modern-day standards making use of technologies such as broadband.” The regulator sees a “pressing need for the aviation community to converge on what should be the common solutions of tomorrow due to increasing demand on these systems”. In addition to providing required levels for safety, security, performance and capacity, EASA says future communication systems should make “efficient usage of the bandwidth spectrum already assigned to aviation, without needing to request additional dedicated bandwidth”. The regulators propose a combination of aviation-specific VHF digital link mode 2 and performance class B Satcom transmissions and commercial broadband services to provide “high capacity and efficiency at a manageable cost”. A roadmap included in the white paper – aimed at facilitating a “smooth and safe transition to the new approach” – will take into account “existing or already planned infrastructures to the maximum extent possible, so as to optimise the share of complexity between air and ground”, EASA says. As a next step, EASA and the FAA will support research to enable the proposed transition. “For the first time, we have a common vision from all four organisations in the task force, to establish modern air-ground communications that will meet tomorrow’s requirements,” EASA executive director Patrick Ky states. “This is the first step toward achieving this, and a major one. We look forward now to working with the many other stakeholders to make this vision a reality.” EASA and the FAA cite ICAO, other regulators, standards organisations, additional manufacturers, operators, and air navigation and communication service providers among stakeholders the two authorities want to engage with to realise the new approach. FAA acting associate administrator aviation safety David Boulter says: “Data and connectivity are driving aerospace advances, and they are crucial to safety and efficiency worldwide. We look forward to working together to make the transition to a more modern, harmonized and connected global aviation community.”