IATA has deepened its forecast for airline net losses in 2021 to $47.7 billion due to the slower-than-hoped-for recovery in air travel from the pandemic. The airline association had in late November projected industry losses of $38 billion for this year. That outlook was based on a pick-up in air travel during the second quarter. But the slower-than-expected pace of recovery in air travel has prompted IATA to lower its traffic projections for this year, as measured in RPKs, from reaching 51% of 2019 levels to only 43%. That in turn means IATA, in a fresh outlook issued today, now expects industry losses of $47.7 billion this year. It has also deepened its estimate of the losses airlines made in 2020 from $118 billion to $126.4 billion. IATA has pushed back its projections of when the industry will reach a cash-positive position from the fourth quarter of 2021 into next year. "We think we are going to have to wait until 2022 for the industry to return to profitability," says chief economist Brian Pearce. "Next year and the year after actually looks much better," he adds, citing the strength of the wider economy and outlook for travel in some key domestic markets showing pent-up demand exists once travel restrictions are lifted. "It's entirely the travel restrictions that is driving this reduced travel. The broader economy is looking more supportive," says Pearce.

Alaska Airlines has unveiled plans to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2040, and greatly reduce its carbon, waste and water impacts by 2025. The Seattle-based carrier says its roadmap to 2040 will focus on five key areas. They include fleet renewal, operational efficiency, sustainable aviation fuel, novel propulsion technology and "credible" carbon offsets. With a recent Boeing 737 Max order, its newest aircraft have 22% better fuel efficiency on a seat-by-seat basis than the aircraft they replace, the airline notes. Alaska will also continue to expand the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to optimise routes. As part of its near-term goals, the carrier has pledged to cut in half emissions of its ground services equipment by 2025 through the purchase and use of electric ground equipment and other renewables. The airline has also signed onto the Climate Pledge, a commitment co-founded by Amazon to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early. Alaska Airlines' vice-president of public affairs and sustainability Diana Birkett Rakow states: "After a difficult year, this is an exciting time for our company, as we return to growth while embedding sustainability even deeper in our culture, set bold goals and collaborate with innovative partners to keep our company, our communities and our environment strong and healthy for the long term."

The US Federal Aviation Administration is expanding to all US-registered Boeing 787s an airworthiness directive (AD) related to potential failure of decompression panels. The latest order, made public on 19 April, builds on a related AD that took effect on 8 March. Both orders respond to “reports of multiple incidents of torn decompression panels found in the bilge area” of 787s, FAA documents say. As a result, “leakage in the bilge area could, in the event of a cargo fire, result in insufficient Halon concentrations to adequately control the fire”, the agency says. The FAA’s March AD applied only to 787s with certain decompression panels, but the new rule will apply to all 787-8s, 787-9s and 787-10s. The agency has “received new information indicating that additional airplanes may be subject to the unsafe condition”, it says. “The FAA determined that all of the decompression panel part numbers may be subject to damage (tearing) or becoming disengaged.” The latest AD takes effect in 16 days. It will require 787 operators to complete “repetitive general visual inspections for disengaged or damaged decompression panels of the bilge barriers located in the forward and aft cargo compartments”. Operators will be required to reinstall panels found to be disengaged, and to replace damaged panels. Decompression panels typically help equalise pressure between compartments within the fuselage, helping prevent structural damage in the case of a rapid decompression. Boeing has indicated that the panel problem is “not an immediate safety of flight issue”. “We recommended increased inspection and replacement of components as necessary, and we have worked on redesigning the part,” Boeing adds. “We fully support the FAA’s airworthiness directive.”