US lawmakers are on the verge of passing a $900 billion relief package to supplement the CARES Act aid that expired in October that would give airlines $15 billion more in payroll support to help them manage through the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced a compromise between Republican and Democratic leadership on 20 December. The next day as the full Senate debated the legislation ahead of a vote, McConnell said "we're going to stay here until we finish tonight". The White House has said that President Donald Trump will be signing the coronavirus relief legislation, which is part of a broader $1.4 trillion government spending bill necessary to prevent federal agencies from shutting down. The bill will extend the payroll support for airline workers provided by the CARES Act that passed in March and expired in October. Airline industry groups and unions had sought a clean extension of the CARES Act, but the compromise legislation would extend payroll support for only four months instead of six months as the original stimulus did. The legislation requires carriers that accept the aid to reinstate employees involuntarily furloughed after the CARES Act expired on 1 October, and to compensate those returning employees for lost pay and benefits retroactive to 1 December, offset by any compensation paid during their furlough. Fort Worth-based American Airlines and Chicago-headquartered United Airlines together furloughed about 32,000 staff on that date. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines reached agreements with all its work groups to avoid furloughs until 2021. United chief executive Scott Kirby in a statement welcomed the impending passage of the stimulus and said those employees eligible for recall can "temporarily come back to United through March 2021" for the duration of the proposed stimulus. "We don't expect customer demand to change much between now and the end of the first quarter of 2021," Kirby said. "We just don't see anything in the data that shows a huge difference in bookings over the next few months. That is why we expect the recall will be temporary." US airlines as of March employed around 460,000 people before the start of the pandemic travel downturn, industry group Airlines for America (A4A) reports. Carriers represented by that group are expected to end the year with 370,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and more furloughs may be necessary as the pandemic drags on into 2021. The stimulus extension for the broader US economy would include direct payments of up to $600 per eligible adult, an additional $300 per week in jobless benefits, and $25 billion in rental assistance. The US economy is slowly recovering after losing 22.2 million jobs since March, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 12.4 million of those jobs were recovered as of November. Airline unions including the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines flight attendants, sought an extension of coronavirus stimulus for the entire US economy instead of stand-alone airline stimulus because air travel demand depends on the continued survival of other job sectors. The Regional Airline Association (RAA) industry group that represents carriers including SkyWest Airlines and Mesa Airlines tells Cirium they are thankful for compromise by Congress even though they would receive less relief than expected. "That compromise allows airlines to put workers back on the job where they are needed, it allows furloughed workers to move though their holiday season and into the next year without the heavy burden of joblessness," RAA tells Cirium. "This is a down payment and more work remains but nonetheless, this is a strong and helpful piece of legislation"
McConnell for months refused to co-ordinate with the Democratic-controlled House to extend stimulus legislation before benefits expired on 1 October. The House in May originally sought $3 trillion for more payroll relief and stimulus loans for businesses, which McConnell refused to consider in the Senate. The House later passed a revised $2 trillion stimulus, a bill he also refused to consider. Democrats aim to push for additional payroll support and coronavirus aid for the broader US economy in 2021 when President-elect Joe Biden takes office. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said of the deal "I consider this a first step and again, more needs to be done".

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways are joining British Airways in implementing pre-departure Covid-19 testing for passengers booked on flights from the United Kingdom to the USA. The testing is in response to a new, even more highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, currently tearing across southern England. Following an appeal by New York state governor Andrew Cuomo earlier in the day, on 21 December all three carriers confirmed that they will be introducing the testing programmes this week for their customers arriving at New York’s John F Kennedy International airport, but also to other US destinations as well. “Virgin Atlantic will be implementing new pre-departure Covid-19 testing for all customers travelling from London to the United States from Thursday 24 December,” the airline says. “With the health and safety of our customers and people always our number one priority, we will require all travellers to present evidence of a negative LAMP or PCR Covid-19 test, taken up to 72 hours prior to departure, including on-site at the airport.” In addition to John F Kennedy, Virgin also operates flights from London to Atlanta, Boston, Washington’s Dulles International, Las Vegas, Miami and San Francisco, according to Cirium data. In addition, Virgin flies from Manchester to Orlando, John F Kennedy and Atlanta, and it was unclear whether passengers on those flights would be tested as well. Atlanta-based Delta says it will also begin testing for US-bound passengers from the UK on 24 December. “We will be contacting customers due to travel on our London Heathrow to Atlanta and New York-JFK services in the coming days to provide further information regarding recommended suppliers and testing requirements,” the airline says. British Airways said earlier in the day that it will begin a testing programme for passengers travelling between the UK and New York from 22 December. United Airlines, which operates flights to London from Newark’s Liberty International airport as well as Chicago O’Hare International airport, Washington DC’s Dulles International and San Francisco International airport, has not said if it will offer testing for passengers, similar to what the other carriers are doing. Newark, though in relatively close proximity to the New York City metropolitan area, is in the US state of New Jersey, and beyond the jurisdiction of New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Meantime, the Federal Aviation Administration will not say if it is considering implementing a blanket ban on inbound flights from the United Kingdom as numerous other countries including Canada, most of Europe and some Latin American nations have already done to stop the spread of the new coronavirus mutation. “This is a developing situation that we are monitoring closely. We will continue to work with our government partners as the situation evolves,” the US regulatory body says on 21 December. Indications show that the new strain of the coronavirus can spread up to 70% more quickly. Medical experts say, however, that it is not more lethal than the known variant, and that the vaccines, currently being rolled out globally, are likely to be equally effective against the new mutation. Late in the day media reports emerged that the US government is considering requring every passenger arriving from the UK to present proof of a negative coronavirus test that is no older than 48 or 72h. Some jurisdictions in the US, like Hawaii, already require this for all inbound travellers in order to avoid the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine order.

United Airlines plans to bring the Boeing 737 Max back into its schedule from 11 February, with departures out of its Denver and Houston hubs. The Chicago-based carrier says on 18 December that due to ongoing public scepticism about the safety of the aircraft, it will deploy other aircraft types on the same routes as its Max, in case customers have qualms about travelling on the recently recertificated jet. The aircraft had been grounded for 20 months following two fatal accidents and was only recently approved to return to revenue service. “Nothing is more important to United than the safety of our customers and employees, so United’s Max fleet won’t return to service until we have completed more than 1,000 hours of work on every aircraft, including FAA-mandated changes to the flight software, additional pilot training, multiple test flights and meticulous technical analysis to ensure the planes are ready to fly,” the airline says. “We will be fully transparent with our customers and will communicate in advance when they are booked to fly on a Max aircraft.” The airline adds that it will publish the schedule of Max flights and routes in early January. Any customer who feels uncomfortable travelling in the aircraft can rebook at no charge or receive a refund, the airline adds. According to Cirium fleets data, United had operated 18 of the type prior to its grounding and has a further 166 aircraft on order with Boeing. The Federal Aviation Administration on 18 November rescinded its 13 March 2019 “Emergency Order of Prohibition” – the document barring US airlines from operating Boeing’s latest 737 iteration – after the US airframer made design modifications. Earlier this week, Canada’s civil aviation regulator “validated” Boeing’s Max updates, indicating it will lift the jet’s grounding in January. On 9 December, Brazilian low-cost airline Gol operated the first revenue flight following the aircraft’s recertification in that country. The first US carrier that will re-introduce the type into its regular schedule is American Airlines. The Fort Worth-based carrier will operate the aircraft on a round-trip flight between Miami and New York’s LaGuardia airport on 29 December. Southwest Airlines, the world’s top 737 operator, said earlier this week that it will return the type to its schedule from March.