IATA is prepared to suspend the membership of Russian carriers where they no longer hold the required operational safety certification, but is stopping short of automatically removing them entirely from the association, director general Willie Walsh has indicated. "We have not kicked the Russian carriers out of the association," Walsh said during a webcasted Eurocontrol conference on 4 October, but he clarified that any carrier that no longer held IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification would have their membership suspended, as that is "what we do". "So, where somebody no longer holds the IOSA registration they are suspended from membership. If it is clear that they are not going to even try to get recertification, well then typically they are excluded from membership of the association," he says, but he stresses that suspension "does not necessarily mean they are kicked out of the association". The IATA website shows that Aeroflot, UTair, Smartavia, AirBridgeCargo, Ural Airlines, RusLine, Nordwind, Rossiya, S7, Pegas Fly and NordStar are members. Walsh also alluded to the removal of Aeroflot chief executive Mikhail Poluboyarinov from IATA's board after the Russian national carrier was sanctioned by the USA, EU and UK. The IATA director general says Russian airspace represents a "critical path" for Europe-Asia traffic, but notes that passenger numbers on these routes are still at only around 40% of 2019 levels, primarily because China is still closed as a result of Covid-related restrictions. "So it's not having a big impact on the industry today. For some airlines, it's having a huge impact: Finnair, for example, who have had to restructure their network completely," he says. Walsh disclosed that IATA has been speaking to a number of "very large" low-cost carriers about potential membership of the association. He notes that while some low-cost carriers have joined, large players such as Ryanair, EasyJet or Wizz Air are not members. "The bottom line is: there's not a lot we can offer them. Their business model doesn't really fit with the services that we offer. I think that they benefit from the advocacy work that we do – they may or may not recognise that. But that doesn't mean that IATA isn't relevant. I think it is, and will continue to be, and if they want to join us, great," he says. Walsh would not identify the airlines to which IATA had been speaking.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on 4 October finalised a rule requiring airlines to grant flight attendants at least 10 hours of rest between shifts of 14 hours or longer, handing a long-sought victory to labour unions. The rule first mandated by Congress in 2018 “will make it easier for flight attendants to do their jobs, which in turn will keep all of us safe in the air”, US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg states. Previous rules already guaranteed minimum of 10-hour rest periods to pilots while airlines were only required to give flight attendants nine hours of rest between shifts and were permitted in some cases to reduce that period to eight hours. The Association of Flight Attendants applauded the new rule as its 100,000 union members face exhausting work conditions amid high rates of unruly passenger incidents. Labour unions for flight crews have also complained of being overextended on schedules as airlines work to rebuild their work force amid recovering travel demand. The FAA investigated 1,099 incidents of unruly passengers during 2021, the highest tally ever recorded by the agency. There have been 721 incidents reported so far during 2022, while that rate hovered between 100-150 incidents annually during the previous decade.

United Airlines is suspending its operations at New York JFK, citing its inability to successfully compete with airlines that have more slots than it does at that airport, particularly during the winter travel season. The Chicago-based carrier's inbound flights on 29 October will be its last at JFK before it begins what it says is a temporary suspension of operations. "Given our current, too-small-to-be-competitive schedule out of JFK – coupled with the start of the winter season where more airlines will operate their slots as they resume JFK flying – United has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend service at JFK," the US major stated on 30 September. United, which operates a New York City-area hub at Newark Liberty, had resumed flights at JFK in March 2021 after having ceased operations at the airport in November 2015. The carrier in October has 230 inbound and outbound flights scheduled at JFK. The US major has recently been seeking additional slots at JFK, and has asked the US Federal Aviation Administration to reassess the capacity distribution among airlines operating flights at the airport. "Our discussions with FAA have been constructive," United says. "It’s clear they are serious about operational improvements in the New York/New Jersey region, including JFK and EWR (Newark), which is important for all our customers. "However, it’s also clear that process to add additional capacity at JFK will take some time."