Boeing has recruited Virgin Atlantic, Corendon Dutch Airlines and Albawings as new customers for its Jeppesen FliteDeck Advisor digital solution. The airlines will use the software to optimise operational efficiency and reduce fuel consumption across their fleets of Boeing aircraft, the US airframer says. FliteDeck Advisor enables flightcrew to make small, real-time adjustments to their course, altitude and speed to optimise fuel use and thereby reduce emissions, adds Boeing. Virgin Atlantic selected the software after conducting a three-month trial on 787s. Boeing says the UK airline found that the solution delivered cruise fuel savings of 1.7%, reducing per-flight CO2 emissions by 1,900kg. Corendon and Albawings have signed for additional digital solutions beyond FliteDeck Advisor. The Dutch carrier will use the airframer's Fuel Dashboard application, offering a fleet view of operational fuel consumption, while Albanian low-cost carrier Albawings is to expand its use of Boeing Maintenance Performance Toolbox. "We know that our customers are committed to achieving sustainability targets for their aircraft, and our suite of digital solutions are ready to deliver fuel reductions and track emissions," states Boeing Global Services' vice-president of digital aviation solutions Duane Wehking. "Together, our partnership will make a difference in meeting our industry’s shared commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050."

New Italian flag carrier ITA Airways is developing plans to resurrect the brand of its defunct predecessor Alitalia in some form, as it ramps up following its October 2021 launch. Speaking at the Farnborough air show on 19 July, chief executive Fabio Maria Lazzerini said ITA had "a couple of ideas" on how to use the Alitalia brand, which ITA purchased in order to seamlessly take over the former airline's operations "We have a couple of really nice and creative ideas," he says, raising the prospect that the Alitalia livery will reappear at some point or in some way. Although he would not be drawn on how this would look, and with the caveat that it would depend on the acquiescence of its forthcoming new owner, he observes that Alitalia "is a brand which has value". ITA was launched by the Italian government in October 2021 as a replacement for Alitalia, which had required multiple state bailouts in recent years to keep its aircraft operating. The new airline is currently in the process of being privatised. Two pairs of joint bidders – shipping company MSC with Lufthansa Group, and US fund Certares in co-operation with Delta Air Lines – are seeking to take over the company. Lazzerini refused to be drawn on how the sale was progressing or who the likely owner would be, commenting that the process was in the hands of the government. "Both parties have been evaluating our business plan and building on it. The process will reinforce what we propose," he says. He did indicate, however, that the company was its future embedded with the SkyTeam alliance. ITA signed an initial one-year agreement with SkyTeam on joining in October, an unusual move as alliances normally insist on long-term agreements. "We need a stable alliance," says Lazzerini, adding that membership of SkyTeam featured prominently in its business plan. "ITA cannot stand alone." ITA is positioning itself as the main provider of connectivity for business and premium leisure to Italy, leveraging the country's position as a tourism centre, particularly through its hub at Rome Fiumicino but also at Milan Linate. Membership of SkyTeam is therefore a route to boosting outside Italy, where ITA is less well-known, and integrating passengers into its systems and facilities. However, further membership of the alliance will be decided upon by the carrier's future owners. So far, ITA appears to have experienced a relatively smooth start to operations, despite the problems that have plagued the rest of the industry as it emerges from the pandemic. Declaring itself prepared for the restart, ITA says 99.9% of its flights have taken place and that on-time performance is in the mid-90s percentage range. This has helped to reinforce financial performance. ITA recorded its first profit in June and is generally cash-generative. Last month, for example, ITA created three times the cash that it projected in its initial forecasts, despite the price increases affecting its largest cost item, fuel. Lazzerini also updated the market on the progression of ITA's fleet, 75% of which will be latest-generation aircraft by 2025. The carrier's eight A330ceos will be removed by that point, replaced by A330neos and A350s – six of which will have arrived by the end of this month. Meanwhile, the first Airbus A220 will arrive in October. ITA foresees having 25 by 2025/26. These will replace its A319s.

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.”