Over 1,000 SAS pilots are threatening strike action at the peak of the summer flying season, in the latest blow to the Scandinavian airline group. Pilots across Denmark, Norway and Sweden are threatening to walk out from late June following a stall in negotiations to replace a collective labour agreement which expired on 1 April. Talks between pilot representatives and SAS on a new CLA have been ongoing since November 2021, "but it is now clear that they are so far apart that there is no prospect of agreeing on a new agreement", says Danish union Dansk Metal. Unions are concerned that instead of reinstating pilots laid off during the pandemic, SAS is seeking to hire foreign staff into its new SAS Connect and SAS Link units on lower pay rates. They accuse SAS of creating these new divisions solely to circumnavigate labour agreements. The airline laid off 560 pilots amid the crisis. They were granted the right to reinstatement within five years ahead of SAS hiring new pilots. "SAS is in big financial trouble, and employees cannot save the company alone," states Henrik Thyregod, chairman of the Danish Pilots Association. "The sense is that even if the pilots flew for free for SAS, it is not enough." The airline group has warned that it is facing growing competitive pressure in its home markets, and a potentially difficult winter. Meanwhile, analysts have questioned its ability to remain solvent. The Swedish government in recent days announced its participation in a debt-to-equity conversion scheme as part of joint action with Norway and Denmark. It said that it would not provide the carrier with any further financial assistance, however, having provided state aid throughout the Covid crisis to keep the airline afloat. Despite seeing bumper trading into the summer in line with its peers, SAS is concerned that a return of the pandemic in some form could lead to a brutal winter. As part of this it is rushing to implement its "SAS Forward" transformation strategy, which includes bolstering its presence in secondary Scandinavian cities, refocusing towards leisure travel and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) traffic, and streamlining its fleet away from widebodies towards smaller aircraft such as the Airbus A321. Earlier this year chief executive Anko van der Werff noted that the company had only a limited window in which to place itself on a stable financial footing.

A White House spokesperson has confirmed on Twitter that the Biden administration is ending the pre-departure Covid-19 testing requirement for travellers flying to the USA. CNN, Bloomberg and other media outlets reported on 10 June that the Biden administration would that day accede to US carriers' entreaties and end the testing requirement. White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz later confirmed on Twitter that the USA will "end [the] Covid-19 testing requirement for air travellers entering the country". Nicholas Calio, chief executive for US airlines' trade group Airlines for America (A4A), stated on 10 June that "the airline industry appreciates the administration’s decision to lift the pre-departure testing requirement in accordance with the current epidemiological environment". He adds: "Lifting this policy will help encourage and restore air travel to the United States, benefiting communities across the country that rely heavily on travel and tourism to support their local economies." In a 23 March letter sent by A4A to US president Joe Biden and signed by chief executives from seven US commercial carriers, the organisation said that pre-departure testing for incoming international travellers was “no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment”. The airline chiefs argue in the 23 March letter that the testing requirement in particular “creates a competitive disadvantage for US travel and tourism by placing an additional cost and burden on travel to the US”, and point out that the UK, EU and Canada have lifted international travel restrictions. Details about the timing of the testing requirement's cessation have yet to be disclosed by the White House.

South African carrier Comair is to be liquidated after failing to secure enough capital to enable it to restart flights. Comair suspended all British Airways- and Kulula-branded flights on 31 May due to a shortage of funds. It had hoped to raise sufficient capital to restart operations, but the airline's business rescue practitioners (BRPs) said on 9 June that they "had been unable to secure the capital required for the airline to recommence operations". The BRPs have therefore lodged a court application to convert rescue proceedings into liquidation proceedings. "We did our utmost to secure the funding, but when we were unable to do had no option but to lodge the application. It is an extremely sad day for the company, its employees, its customers and South African aviation," say the rescue practitioners. Comair says it faced "unforeseen headwinds" in the form of Covid-related travel restrictions and the suspension of its air operator's certificate in March while the South African Civil Aviation Authority carried out an audit. Comair operates franchise services on behalf of British Airways and the kulula.com brand.