ExpressJet Airlines plans to re-launch services using its own brand after an 11-month hiatus after being given regulatory clearance. The regional carrier says it plans to resume flights during the third quarter following approval on 30 July by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for it to restart commercial operations amid the recovery of US domestic travel. The Atlanta-based carrier states that it "expects to resume service within the quarter with a focus on cities, markets, and customers that have seen diminished air service as a result of airline consolidation and an industry trend towards larger aircraft". ExpressJet shuttered operations in September 2020 after making its final flight on behalf of United Airlines. The regional carrier flew Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft for United until that mainline carrier consolidated all operations with that type through CommutAir, which is partially owned by United. ExpressJet is 100% owned by ManaAir, of which United owns 49.9%. ExpressJet has said that its strategy for relaunching as its own brand would be to service cities that have lost air travel connections during the Covid-19 pandemic while avoiding "needless overlap" with other airlines. It would target routes to "small and midsize communities, initially on routes with an average stage length of approximately 540 miles", according to its filing to the DOT published on 16 April. The US Federal Aviation Administration still recognises ExpressJet as a scheduled air carrier, and it is licensed to operate Embraer regional jets, along with Bombardier-built CRJ aircraft in the 200, 700 and 900 series. The initial focus of the independent ExpressJet will be the 50-seat Embraer ERJ145 aircraft. The airline has one ERJ145 in storage, Cirium fleets data shows. It aims to expand its fleet to 10 ERJ145s during 2022, according to its proposal to the DOT. During its first 12 months after restarting operations as an independent carrier, ExpressJet forecasts it would spend $360,000 in aircraft deposit expenditures for 10 ERJ 145's, as part of a total $60.4 million for its first full year of operations. ExpressJet aims to rebuild its staff to 261 employees during the first year after restarting, a far cry from the 3,000 employees it had in 2019 prior to the start of the pandemic. It aims to operate 1,500 flights monthly by April 2022.

Australia’s Qantas Group will stand down around 2,500 frontline Qantas and Jetstar employees for an estimated two months in response to ongoing domestic border closures. The stand down is a temporary measure to deal with a significant drop in flying caused by Covid restrictions in Greater Sydney in particular and the knock-on border closures in all other states and territories, the group says in a statement today. No job losses are expected. Qantas says the decision will directly impact domestic pilots, cabin crew and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales but also in other states given the nature of airline networks. It adds that employees will be given two weeks’ notice before the stand down takes effect, with pay continuing until mid-August. Chief executive Alan Joyce says the difficult decision to trigger stand downs reflects the reality confronting many businesses operating in New South Wales. “Qantas and Jetstar have gone from operating almost 100% of their usual domestic flying [based on financial year 2019's capacity levels] in May to less than 40% in July because of lockdowns in three states. “Hopefully, once other states open back up to South Australia and Victoria in the next week or so, and the current outbreak in Brisbane is brought under control, our domestic flying will come back to around 50-60% of normal levels." He adds: “Based on current case numbers, it’s reasonable to assume that Sydney’s borders will be closed for at least another two months. We know it will take a few weeks once the outbreak is under control before other states open to New South Wales and normal travel can resume.” Joyce is hopeful that Australia's vaccine rollout will alleviate the situation in the domestic network and eventually bring back international travel. He says: "Higher vaccinations rates are also key to being able to fly overseas again, and finally getting all our people back to work."

Canadian carriers Air Transat and Sunwing Airlines both started to resume flights on 30 July after temporarily shuttering their operations amid restrictions on international and domestic travel aimed at halting the spread of Covid-19. Both leisure carriers began flights to Punta Cana, Mexico, as part of their initial service to cater to Canadians eager for travel to sun destinations. Ottawa in January negotiated with Canada's airline sector to halt flights to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. Sunwing's initial schedule includes routes from Toronto to Cancun, Punta Cana and Montego Bay; and from Montreal to Cancun and Punta Cana. Transat began service with flights from Montreal to Punta Cana and Vancouver. Canada's third-largest airline says it will operate 24 routes to 16 destinations during the summer season. Transat starting in November plans to operate a network of 50 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, the USA and Europe. WestJet and Air Canada during August will continue reintroducing routes and launching new ones. Porter Airlines is also recalling its staff and plans to restart flights on 8 September as international borders open to vaccinated travellers. The Toronto-based regional carrier shuttered its operations during the pandemic as local and federal travel restrictions in Canada damaged travel demand. Travel demand to Mexico has been relatively strong during the pandemic and trade group Airlines for America (A4A) notes that it was the top international travel destination for Americans throughout 2020. Ottawa plans to resume non-essential travel by vaccinated people arriving from the USA starting 9 August and will welcome vaccinated travellers from all nations starting 7 September. The USA, meanwhile, plans to keep travel restrictions in place for arrivals from other nations as the contagious delta variant of Covid-19 drives a spike of infections around the world. Canada's federal government is backing this airline restart by providing carriers with loans, including the C$270 million ($216 million) provided to Porter through the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC). WestJet is the only major carrier in Canada that has declined federal loans, in part because it is owned by private equity firm Onex Partners. Ottawa during 2020 provided federal wage subsidies to companies impacted by the pandemic but not airline-specific financing on the scale of the USA or France.