Executives from various hub airports have reiterated calls on international governments to harmonise travel restrictions and Covid-19 testing protocols in order to facilitate an air transport recovery. During a 23 September panel discussion held as part of this year's virtual World Aviation Festival, Heathrow airport chief executive John Holland-Kaye said that consistency of health, travel and testing standards between countries, airports and airlines was "hugely important" to stop the health crisis from turning into an employment crisis. Heathrow has proposed that, ultimately, all passengers should be tested prior to departure – first before leaving home and, ideally, a second time at airports – to ensure potential quarantine requirements can be followed at the point of departure rather than destination. Holland-Kaye acknowledges that the proposed regime would be unlikely to involve fully-fledged PCR tests as currently conducted by health authorities, but would nonetheless provide a rapid indication of potential coronavirus infection which could subsequently be verified by a full test if there is a positive result. Noting the difficulty of reaching international agreement on such a regime, Holland-Kaye says testing passengers from risk countries on arrival could be an intermediate step, because that could be unilaterally implemented by local authorities without international consent. Holland-Kaye says Heathrow was in a comparatively fortunate financial situation going into the crisis in March. But noting the low level of flying, particularly in the long-haul segment, he warns that the current situation is not sustainable for a prolonged period, and that waiting for traffic to recover following arrival of a vaccination development is not a way forward. Airports are not sustainable "even at 20%" of pre-crisis operation, he says. Holland-Kaye's view was echoed by all other chief executives who participated in the panel discussion – Dubai Airports' Paul Griffiths, Spanish airport operator AENA's Maurici Lucena Betriu, Amsterdam airport parent Royal Schiphol Group's Dick Benschop, and the World Travel & Tourism Council's Gloria Guevara Manzo. Noting Dubai International airport's position of a purely international gateway, Griffiths predicts "quite a long, slow recovery". He says that a "lack of international co-ordination" and absence of aligned testing, quarantine and travel protocols is "really holding us back". Heathrow and Schiphol are each evaluating the possibility of establishing co-ordinated testing practices with New York JFK, to serve as pilot projects for implementation of wider, internally co-ordinated travel regimes. During the discussion, Griffiths and Holland-Kaye both expressed interest in establishing a similar pilot scheme between Dubai and London. All panelists concede that governments are occupied with handling the health crisis in their individual jurisdictions and currently have no capacity to concentrate on an international effort to facilitate an air transport recovery. Pilot projects to prove the viability of co-ordinated testing practices on selected routes were therefore all the more important, they argue. Guevara Manzo believes that if the EU, UK and USA agreed a joint approach other nations and regions could follow suit. Citing previous downturns following the SARS epidemic, 9/11 terror attacks and global financial crisis in 2008-09, Guevara Manzo says economies were able to recover quicker when governments worked together. Schiphol chief Benschop predicts that the present situation of government restrictions will – without the arrival and delivery of vaccines – continue for the next 12 months. "We have to take the initiative," he says. "It will be very difficult without any change."

Source: Cirium

A systematic pre-flight coronavirus testing regime for all international passengers is the only way to kick-start the airline sector’s recovery, according to IATA. Laying out its proposals for such a scheme today – which it says would be on a scale with the security measures introduced post-9/11 – the airline body suggests the initiative would replace the need for the quarantine requirements that are “killing the industry’s recovery”. “IATA is calling for the systematic testing of all international passengers before departure,” states director general Alexandre de Juniac. ”This will enable governments to safely open borders without quarantine”. Crucially, de Juniac continues, it will also ”provide passengers with the certainty that they will be able to travel without worrying about last-minute changes that could spoil their plans”, while giving them confidence that fellow travellers are Covid-free. He recalls the “dismally disappointing” figures for international travel in July, which were just 8% of year-ago levels, in explaining why drastic measures are needed. Noting that IATA ”did not come to this decision lightly”, de Juniac highlights potential hurdles such as “logistical challenges” around ”the integration of systematic testing to the travel process”. As a result, the scheme “needs manufacturers to develop a test that can be deployed that is fast, accurate, scalable, affordable and easy to operate”. “We expect a solution – or several solutions – to come to the market in the coming weeks,” de Juniac states. The scale of testing required – millions of passengers daily under pre-Covid levels of traffic – means non-medical personnel would need to deliver tests, he notes. At the same time, governments would need to agree to common standards on testing, so that there would be “mutual recognition” of the results. De Juniac suggests the standards should be agreed through ICAO. IATA will work with airports and other partners to implement the scheme, he states, partly informed by experiences already gained with limited testing at some airports. “Time is of the essence,” de Juniac concludes. “Our position today is setting a marker for everyone in the industry to aim for. Much will need to be done to achieve 100% testing of all passengers prior to departure. “We don’t see any alternative solution that would be less challenging or more effective.”

Source: Cirium

American Airlines’ pilots will begin 737 Max “special training” in November in preparation for the jet’s return to service, with the company’s entire complement of 737 pilots expected to complete the reviews by January 2021. Union Allied Pilots Association, which represents American’s cockpit crews, disclosed the time frame in a message to members on 21 September, a development coming as Boeing works to get the jet back in the skies. Boeing has said it expects the Federal Aviation Administration will certificate the Max, which has been grounded since March 2019, in the fourth quarter of this year. Prior to flying the jet, American’s pilots must complete “a distance-learning training module”, which will take about 1h 40min to complete. They must also complete about 3h of flight-simulator time, including a 1h briefing and 2h of simulated flying, according to APA’s message. The union expects that about 1,700 of American’s pilots will complete the training in November. Though training dates are set, APA has raised concern with the Max’s certification timeline. In a statement, it warns of a “last-minute rush to push the Max back into service and put pressure on the process before all things have been completely vetted”. The union notes that the Joint Operations Evaluation Board – a panel of pilots and regulators from the Federal Aviation Administration and other countries’ oversight bodies – has not completed its pilot training assessment. Additionally, the industry will need time to review updated pilot training requirements published by the FAA’s Flight Standardisation Board, APA says. “Clearly this is the cart before the horse,” says the union. “Rushing the final phase will only undermine the process and confidence in the Max’s return to service.”

Source: Cirium