US majors American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have dropped the mask requirement for domestic passengers and employees on aircraft and in US airports in the wake of a US district court's ruling that vacated the federal government's mask mandate. District judge Kathryn Mizelle for the US court in Tampa, Florida, said in a ruling on 18 April that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has "failed to adequately explain its decisions" regarding the extension of its mask mandate intended to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on public transportation and in transportation hubs. Declaring the mandate "unlawful", the judge vacated it.
Mizelle, who was nominated by former president Donald Trump in September 2020, notes in the ruling that while it is "indisputable" that the public has a strong interest in combating Covid-19, the CDC has exceeded its "statutory authority". The CDC on 13 April had extended its travel-related mask mandate through 3 May. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on 18 April responded to the US court's ruling by saying that it will no longer enforce the CDC's requiring of mask use on public transportation and in transportation hubs. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said during a press briefing on 18 April that the Florida court's ruling is "disappointing". "The CDC continues recommending wearing a mask in public transit," Psaki says. "So, right now, the Department of Homeland Security, who would be implementing, and the CDC, are reviewing the decision. And, of course, the Department of Justice would make any determinations about litigation." The US majors all say that the wearing of masks is now optional. "While this means that our employees are no longer required to wear a mask – and no longer have to enforce a mask requirement for most of the flying public – they will be able to wear masks if they choose to do so, as the CDC continues to strongly recommend wearing a mask on public transit," United says. Southwest stated: "We encourage individuals to make the best decision to support their personal well-being." The ending of the mask mandate arrives on the cusp of an expected boom in summer travel. Delta enthusiastically welcomed the TSA's statement that it would no longer enforce the CDC's mask mandate. "We are relieved to see the US mask mandate lift to facilitate global travel as Covid-19 has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus," the Atlanta-based carrier says.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Turkish carrier Pegasus' foreign- and local-currency long-term issuer default ratings (IDR) to 'B+' from 'BB-'. The downgrade reflects its expectation of Pegasus' delayed deleveraging on the back of a weaker operating environment for both international and domestic businesses, the US-based ratings agency says. The outlook on the IDRs remains negative. Fitch Ratings has affirmed its $375 million senior unsecured bonds rating at 'BB-'/'RR3' and has also affirmed its national long-term rating at 'AA(tur)', reflecting the recalibration of Turkey national rating scale following Fitch's downgrade of Turkey's sovereign rating to 'B+' from 'BB-' on 11 February. Fitch says the negative outlook reflects potential further macroeconomic instability due to prolongation of the Russia-Ukraine war or a volatile Turkish economy, which may pose further risk to Fitch's forecasts and the sector recovery. Fitch adds that it may revise the outlook to stable if the current positive trends in operations including ancillary business continue despite higher cost pressures. Fitch Ratings states: "The 'B+' ratings reflect Pegasus' strong domestic position in Turkey with strong growth prospects on both international and domestic routes, an industry-leading cost base with a young and fuel-efficient fleet and readily accessible hard-currency liquidity. "The rating also reflects high execution risk inherent in its aggressive growth strategy, a weak operating environment with foreign-exchange and geopolitical risks, weak leverage and coverage metrics and smaller scale than many peers." In 2020-2021, Pegasus has been successful in capacity ramp-up but recovery of yield, load factor and profitability were slower than Fitch's expectation. Its domestic capacity, measured by available seat kilometres, remained resilient throughout the pandemic and exceeded its pre-pandemic level in the third quarter of 2021, before significantly underperforming from the fourth quarter as its focus moved to international. Pegasus expects over 50 new aircraft deliveries in 2022-2025, all Airbus A321neos, which are more fuel-efficient and have larger capacity but also pose challenge to load-factor management, Fitch adds.

China Eastern has resumed operating a small number of its Boeing 737-800s, flight tracking data suggests, after a fleetwide grounding of the variant for nearly one month since the fatal MU5735 crash. Data from Flightradar24 shows instances of China Eastern operating its 737-800 jets. An example includes a 737-800 jet, bearing registration B-207L, on flight MU5843 on 17 April, from Kunming to Chengdu. Data shows the aircraft, bearing MSN 63075, is of 2018 vintage and managed by China Everbright Financial Leasing. Another 737-800 jet, bearing registration B-1308, is expected to be operated on flight MU5844 on 18 April, from Chengdu to Kunming, according to Flightradar24 data. Data shows the 2017-vintage aircraft, bearing MSN 63762, is managed by SPDB Financial Leasing. The data also shows China Eastern Group operates a fleet of 223 737-800s, of which 108 are operated by China Eastern Airlines, 71 by Shanghai Airlines and 44 by China United Airlines. The resumption of 737-800 operations comes after China Eastern grounded its 737-800 fleet on 21 March, in response to the fatal crash of flight MU5735 at Wuzhou, Guangxi province, killing all 123 passengers and nine crew. It was flying from Kunming to Guangzhou. Days-long search efforts have recovered the aircraft’s cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, which have been sent for analysis, as well as parts of aircraft. Preliminary details on the crash are expected to be released, in line with ICAO’s accident investigation provisions that require states investigating the accident to lodge the preliminary report within 30 days of the accident.