WestJet will not seek airline-specific loans proposed by Canada's federal government as the privately owned airline prepares for the reopening of that nation's borders starting in August, even as most Canadian airlines have accepted federal loans. Despite the "constructive discussions over the last several months" between Ottawa and the Calgary-based airline, WestJet tells that it is "not actively pursuing financial support". "Given encouraging vaccination rates across the country, both parties have mutually agreed to shift focus from these negotiations, and away from taxpayer-funded support, to leading the safe restart of the travel and tourism sector," the airline says. "WestJet and the government of Canada remain open to resuming financial support discussions in the future." The airline, second largest in Canada, is owned by private equity firm Onex, so it may have the cash reserves to endure the rest of the travel downturn without government loans. Ottawa since March 2020 has closed its land border with the USA to non-essential travel but starting August it plans to allow fully vaccinated travel from America. People have flown from the USA to Canada to avoid the land border restrictions but airlines hope this reopening will spur more travel demand. Canada aims to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from other nations in September. This matches with the schedules of Canada's airlines to scale up international routes or relaunch grounded fleets through September. The federal government Canada throughout 2020 did not enact grants or loan programmes for airlines similar to the federal stimulus enacted in the USA and France. Ottawa offers a federal wage subsidy to help companies maintain payroll during the pandemic that is scheduled to expire in June but is expected to be extended through September. Leisure carrier Sunwing in February became the first airline in Canada to receive federal aid, gaining access to $311 million in financing through the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) programme. Air Canada in April secured debt and equity financing agreements with Ottawa that allows the flag carrier to access up to $4.8 billion in LEEF funds. Air Transat and Porter Airlines have also secured LEEF funds through the government in recent months.

Airbus has launched a subscription-based software tool for pilots undergoing initial or recurrent type training, which features a 3D interactive virtual cockpit environment that can be accessed on any digital device. Named Mobile Airbus Training experience (MATe), the cloud-based solution was derived from a virtual, interactive cockpit simulator used in the airframer's training centres. Airbus says it developed MATe with portability and compatibility in mind. "Pilots can therefore use the service to train whenever and wherever they want, with trainers able to monitor and follow their progress via the latest cloud technology," it says. It suggests the software follows a "competency-based" philosophy and enables "better knowledge retention" than other study solutions. Airbus predicts that the software will deliver significant time savings on higher-level training devices and simulators. The solution is initially available for A320-family pilots. Versions for the A330 and A350 are to be launched in early 2022. Air Malta and Indian carrier IndiGo are among several airlines that have subscribed to the service, Airbus says.

Ryanair, EasyJet, Tui UK & Ireland, Virgin Atlantic and Manchester Airports Group have failed in their High Court bid to force the UK government to publish information on which travel-restriction decisions are based. The industry group launched the legal action in June, following Portugal's removal from the green list and the addition of a host of countries to the red list. "The primary thrust of the claimant's challenge is that these decisions were taken without proper reasons being given and without proper notice of the criteria applied when deciding that countries should move from one list to another," notes the High Court. However, it has decided that the government did not act unlawfully in taking the decision, and that forcing the authorities to provide further information "would hamper rather than enhance effective public administration". In a joint statement responding to the ruling, the complainants deride the UK government's handling of traffic-light travel restrictions as causing unnecessary uncertainty to businesses and consumers. "The way decisions have been taken to date has not been transparent and has created huge confusion and uncertainty for the British public," write the various companies' chief executives in the joint letter. "In a recent poll, 80% of UK consumers agreed." A recent decision to create another category of "amber-plus" for travellers from France is described in the letter as "shambolic". It goes on: "If the government is truly following the data, then it must make significant changes to the green list, including adding the US and major EU countries. There is also no reason why travellers from the US and EU should not be exempt from quarantine and testing as soon as possible. "The UK has already fallen behind the EU's reopening and our overly cautious approach to international travel will further impact our economic recovery."