Qantas Group requires all employees to be fully vaccinated, frontliners by 15 November and all others by 31 March. "Having a fully vaccinated workforce will safeguard our people against the virus but also protect our customers and the communities we fly to," chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement today. He adds: "We provide an essential service, so this will help guard against the disruptions that can be caused by just one positive Covid-case shutting down a freight facility or airport terminal." Qantas says there will be exemptions for employees who are unable to be vaccinated for documented medical reasons to be vaccinated. Further discussions will take place with employees, their health and safety representatives and unions over the coming weeks on the detail of the policy, including how medical exemptions will be applied. The policy is part of the group's commitment to safety and follows consultation with Qantas and Jetstar employees, it says. This includes a survey on vaccination that had 12,000 responses, representing 60% of Australia-based Qantas Group employees. In the employee survey, around three-quarters think it should be a requirement for all employees to be vaccinated and would be concerned if co-workers were not vaccinated. Furthermore, 89% had already been vaccinated or are planning to be, with 4% unwilling or unable to do so. In a separate survey of more than 1,000 Qantas customers, 92% said they expect Qantas crew to be fully vaccinated, according to the group. Joyce says the employee survey saw one of the largest responses, "even with thousands of our people stood down". He states: "It’s clear that vaccinations are the only way to end the cycle of lockdowns and border closures and for a lot of Qantas and Jetstar employees that means getting back to work again."

Alaska Airlines on 16 August announced it will exercise its options with Boeing to add 12, 737 Max 9 aircraft to its existing order for a total of 93 jets scheduled for delivery by the end of 2024. The Seattle-based airline restructured its agreement with Boeing in December 2020 to acquire 68 Max aircraft by 2024, with options for another 52 deliveries by 2026. Alaska in May exercised its options to add 13 Max jets to its order. The airline as part of its deal with Boeing will add 25 options to its contract to backfill the options that have been exercised for the Max jets that seat 178 passengers. With the addition of these new jets to the backlog, Boeing is expected to deliver to Alaska 12 Max 9's during 2021; 31 during 2022; 31 during 2023; and 18 jets during 2024. Alaska said it has already entered into service five of those Max jets from the total order. Alaska plans to eventually transition its operation back to an all-Boeing fleet, as it was prior to inheriting an Airbus A320-family fleet through its acquisition of Virgin America in 2018. The airline aims to reduce its Airbus fleet to 10, A321neos by mid-2023. In addition to the 10, A321's in service, Alaska has 20 A320-200 jets in service, with 21 in storage, along with 10, A319's in storage.

Emirates has signed a unilateral codeshare agreement with South African carrier Airlink as it resumes flights to the African country. The Dubai-based carrier says the deal will provide travellers to and from South Africa with access to more than 40 domestic and regional destinations across 12 African countries. Through the new agreement, passengers can now transfer from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban to destinations in South Africa including Bloemfontein; George; Upington; Nelspruit; Hoedspruit; Kimberley; Skukuza; Pietermaritzburg; Richards Bay; Sishen; Mthatha; and Port Elizabeth. Travellers can also connect to destinations in other African nations. These destinations include Gaborone; Kasane; Vilanculos; Lubumbashi; Dar es Salaam; Entebbe; Maseru; Antananarivo; Pemba; Tete; Maun; Victoria Falls; Walvis Bay; Maputo; Windhoek; Harare; Lusaka; Ndola; Bulawayo; and Livingstone. “We are committed to growing our operations in South Africa, and with the strong connection opportunities being provided collectively with Airlink we hope to help jumpstart the recovery of the local travel and tourism industry,” Emirates chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim states.