Portugal's government will start the process of selecting a buyer for state-owned airline TAP as soon as this summer, finance minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento has indicated. "We will advance on the selling process in the coming weeks," Sarmento told Bloomberg TV on 7 July. The government, he explains, is looking for a suitor that will "help us develop the company, increase routes [and] increase the number of planes", as well as recover some of cash that the Portuguese state sunk into TAP amid the pandemic. Portugal is looking to sell a less-than-50% stake in the airline "in this first moment", he adds, implying that a larger share could be sold off later on. Data shows that the Portuguese state owns around three-quarters of TAP. Most of the remainder is held by the Barraqueiro group. TAP received billions of euros in state support amid the pandemic, in the form of emergency liquidity, loans, loan guarantees and restructuring assistance. This included equity and quasi-equity measures which led to the government taking majority control of the carrier in 2020, amid warnings at the time that the alternative was bankruptcy. Prior to this, Atlantic Gateway – a consortium which included JetBlue Airways and Azul founder David Neeleman – held a 45% stake, down from 61% when it was originally privatised in 2015. In September 2022, it emerged that the Portuguese authorities were seeking to return the company to the private sector, ideally to become part of a larger airline group that could support its development, but progress since has been hindered by changes of government. IAG, one of the frontrunners to take over TAP, said in February that the conditions of the sale would be released in the coming few weeks and that it would make a decision on whether to make a bid in March, yet appears to have been silent on the matter since then. Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have also expressed a desire to purchase a stake in TAP. Sarmento confirms that the Portuguese government has "had meetings with several potential candidates" which have "large aircraft lines that are very interested in TAP". Asked whether authorities had a valuation in mind, he responded: "We do have." This, he indicates, would be made public alongside further details on the sale process, timeline, and "the conditions to be included or excluded from the process".

LATAM Airlines has committed $40 million towards retrofitting 37 of its Airbus A319s. The Chile-based airline group in May began the interior retrofit efforts – which will include new Collins Meridian seats, USB-A and USB-C connection ports, and support for mobile phones and tablets – and expects to complete the work between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. It intends to use the aircraft for domestic and regional routes in Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. LATAM has 39 A319s in service and one in storage, fleet data shows. Its A319 fleet has an average age of 17 years. "With this renewal of 19 narrowbody aircraft, for domestic and international routes in Peru and Ecuador, and 18 for the Brazilian market, we are not only modernising our fleet, but we are also bringing the essence of South America to the interior of our aircraft," states Jaime Cornejo, product manager cabin, inflight entertainment and connectivity for LATAM.

Former Republic Airways chief executive Bryan Bedford has been confirmed by the US Senate as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Republic disclosed on 2 July that Bedford had retired as chief executive of the Indianapolis, Indiana-based carrier after serving more than 25 years in that role. Board chair David Grizzle succeeded Bedford as chief executive on 2 July. US president Donald Trump in March nominated Bedford to lead the FAA after the previous FAA administrator, Mike Whitaker, resigned from the agency on 20 January, the day of Trump's presidential inauguration. The Senate on 9 July voted 53-43 in favour of Bedford's confirmation as FAA administrator. Only one Democratic senator, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, voted to confirm Bedford.