Pilots at Alaska Airlines represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union will vote during May on whether to seek permission to go on strike if contract negotiations with the airline break down. Leaders of Alaska's union on 22 April unanimously decided to tally votes from 3,100 members at the airline from 9 May to 25 May on whether to approve the option of a strike when the union is legally permitted to do so. Negotiations between Alaska’s pilots and the Seattle-based carrier are scheduled to resume by the end of April, including representation from the US National Mediation Board for the first time in those talks. Retaining pilots and recruiting new ones is key for the airline's capacity goals, Alaska chief executive Ben Minicucci said on 21 April during an earnings call, adding "we are entirely focused on getting a deal with our pilots". If approved by the union members, ALPA states a strike could only be legally permitted "if negotiations break down and the federal government authorises a walkout after the parties exhaust the required procedures of the Railway Labor Act".
Before a strike could take place, the federal mediator would have to release the two sides from mediation. A 30-day "cooling-off period", ALPA states, would then have to pass before the union could organise a strike or the airline could begin a lockout. The union wants to avoid a strike but wants to keep a legal strike as an option to achieve a better contract, Alaska's ALPA chairman Will McQuillen states. “We lag behind our peers in several significant areas which has resulted in dozens of pilots leaving for better career opportunities elsewhere,” McQuillen says. “If Alaska Airlines management wants to run a competitive airline with ample growth, then they need to get serious about reaching a new pilot agreement that’s competitive that provides job security, stronger work rules, and enhanced quality-of-life provisions that provide flexibility and reasonable schedules.” Alaska’s vice-president of labour relations Jenny Wetzel said on 31 March that the carrier has a proposed a “competitive” collective bargaining agreement that enables the company to grow its fleet and network while providing “increased pay, job security and greater work flexibility”.

Hong Kong International airport’s third runway is ready to begin operations. “In accordance with the requirements of International Civil Aviation Organisation, the third runway at Hong Kong International airport is ready to commence operations, marking a milestone of readiness preparation,” Airport Authority Hong Kong says in a press release today. Flight checks of the runway were satisfactorily completed earlier in April. The authority and the civil aviation department are working closely together on other preparation work, including statutory procedures, drills and exercises for the commissioning of the third runway, it adds.

The US Justice department will support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by appealing to uphold a federal mask mandate for airlines and airports, challenging a federal court decision and setting up a showdown on an increasingly partisan issue. The CDC asked the Justice department to appeal the decision published on 18 April by US District Court for the Middle District of Florida Judge Kathryn Mizelle, who found it "unlawful" for the CDC to extend its federal mask mandate into May. The judge in her decision stated that the agency "failed to adequately explain its decisions" regarding the extension of its mandate intended to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on public transportation. The Justice department tells Cirium that it "continues to believe that the order requiring masking in the transportation corridor is a valid exercise of the authority Congress has given the CDC to protect the public health". Following the district court's ruling, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on 18 April stated that it would no longer enforce the CDC's requiring of mask use on public transportation and in transportation hubs. Numerous US carriers in response also stated that masks would be optional on their flights, including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. These carriers were among the seven US airlines that in March sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to end travel restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of Covid-19, including the mask mandate. Republicans on US House and Senate transportation committees had also spent months criticising the mask mandate as unnecessary. The pandemic is ongoing yet the federal appeal comes amid a movement by numerous governments, pressured by the private sector and frustrated citizens, to loosen restrictions intended to halt the spread of Covid-19. Around 66% of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the CDC, which recommends wearing masks to reduce the risk of infecting the unvaccinated. The mask mandate dispute comes as US airlines forecast a boom of travel during mid-2022. Periods of increased infections during the pandemic have generally followed peak summer and winter travel periods.