Finnair has reported sharply lower profits for the second quarter, after rolling strikes hiked costs and ate into demand. Operating profit of €19.2 million ($22.3 million) was 56% below the €43.6 million that it reported last year, though revenue grew slightly to €788 million. Finnair was forced to slash over 1,300 flights in the period as a result of industrial action by pilots in April and ground staff in May and June, raising expenses from customer rerouting and care, as well as compensation for delays. The strikes cost the airline around €41 million in lost revenue and reduced operating profit by around €10 million, it estimates. Meanwhile, Finnair's comparable operating result took a hit of around €29 million to come in at €10.3 million, against €43.6 million last year. Across the full year, Finnair expects strikes to cut €100 million from revenue, €70 million from its comparable operating result and around 5% from total capacity by ASKs. Collective labour agreements were signed by pilots in April; by crews and agency staff later in the quarter; and in recent days by Finland's service sector and aviation sector unions, which the airline believes will put the threat of strikes behind it. Finnair notes that despite the disruption, 94% of flights were operated as planned in the second quarter. "Restoring customer trust and satisfaction is of primary importance to us, and we are systematically working towards this by taking care of our customers and their needs as well as possible, both in the development of our product and services and in our daily operations," states chief executive Turkka Kuusisto. Finnair has halved its capacity guidance for the full year, to 5% growth, and expects revenue to be in the range of €3.2-3.3 billion, a slight moderation on its guidance in April. The airline is cautioning that its final comparable operating result will be at the lower end of its €30-130 million guidance – itself narrowed from €100-200 million in April – as a result of "weaker-than-expected demand in North Atlantic traffic and the indirect effects of industrial action on demand in broader terms". Kuusisto adds: "During the quarter, general market uncertainties increased, which began to affect demand for transatlantic flights, and customers’ booking windows became shorter. Our North American traffic grew significantly, but the growth rate was more moderate than previously planned, and average ticket fares in the area declined. In other markets, demand developed as expected."

A KLM Boeing 777-200 operating between New York JFK and Amsterdam Schiphol will be flown by Air France pilots for the next four months – a move aimed at boosting the Dutch carrier's crew capacity over the busy summer period. The first flight under the new collaboration, KL641, departed from Schiphol on 16 July with Air France pilots working alongside KLM cabin crew. The arrangement will remain in place until the end of October. "This collaboration will help KLM to operate its scheduled flights this summer," states KLM chief operating officer Maarten Stienen. "It supplements our capacity this summer, which is good for KLM as a whole." The two airlines say they have "worked hard" over the last several months to make the co-operation possible, including engaging with their respective unions and aviation authorities. Air France-KLM group chief executive Ben Smith said in 2024 that the Dutch carrier was struggling to increase its capacity because of a shortage of pilots and maintenance workers. He said at the time that KLM faced "challenges with training our pilots under the right equipment".

Air India has disclosed plans to start restoring long-haul services reduced as part of a "safety pause" following the crash of flight AI171 on 12 June. The carrier enacted the measure to enable it to conduct precautionary checks on its Boeing 787s and adjust for longer flight times amid airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East. Some flight frequencies will be reinstated from 1 August; full restoration is targeted for 1 October. A new route from Ahmedabad to London Heathrow will run from 1 August to 30 September, operated at thrice-weekly frequency. This will replace five-times-weekly flights from the Gujarati state capital to London Gatwick. AI171 was a service on this route. Air India will increase frequencies from Delhi to Amsterdam, Heathrow, Seoul, Tokyo and Zurich, and from Amritsar to Birmingham, UK. However, services on six routes will be reduced over the coming weeks. Delhi-Paris, for example, will have its frequency reduced from 12 flights a week to seven from 1 August, and Delhi-Milan from four per week to three. Services from Delhi to New York JFK and Newark will each be reduced from seven times weekly to six from 16 July. Bengaluru-London and Mumbai-New York services will also be reduced. A route to Nairobi from India's capital will be operated three times weekly but then be suspended for September. Ten routes with reduced frequencies will remain at their lower levels until October. “As the schedule reductions taken as part of the safety pause had been implemented until 31 July 2025 and the restoration to full operation is being phased, some services initially planned to operate between 1 August and 30 September 2025 will be removed from the schedule,” the carrier says. In addition to the suspended link between Amritsar and London Gatwick, Air India's routes from Goa to Gatwick and from Bengaluru and Pune to Singapore will remain closed. With the partial restoration, Air India will operate some 525 weekly international flights across 63 routes, it says.