Etihad Airways has teamed up with private hospital group Mediclinic Middle East to offer its UAE-based passengers a Covid-19 testing service that can be carried out in their own homes prior to travel. After booking a flight with the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, travellers can contact Mediclinic and arrange for a PCR swab test to be carried out either in their homes or at a Mediclinic facility. Test results will come back within 24h. Passengers who test negative for Covid-19 can print their test result and take it with them when they check in for their flight. In the event of a positive result, travellers will not be permitted to travel and must follow UAE quarantine guidelines. They can then rearrange their flight for a future date. Etihad recommends that testing is carried out at least 48h prior to departure. The airline says it will "evolve the relationship with Mediclinic to further simplify the home-testing process" as more countries open their borders to international arrivals. "Enabling home PCR testing will remove much unnecessary stress from the travel experience during this challenging period," states Dr Nadia Bastaki, vice-president of medical services at Etihad. The Gulf airline is the latest aviation company to implement or talk about implementing a coronavirus testing programme for passengers. In April, Emirates declared itself the first operator to carry out Covid-19 blood tests on passengers when it tested travellers ahead of a flight to Tunisia. Lufthansa announced in late June that it had joined forces with Fraport and disease diagnostics company Centogene to provide an onsite coronavirus testing facility at Frankfurt airport. London Heathrow is looking to do a similar thing and has called on the UK government to allow it to host a Covid-19 test-on-arrival programme as an alternative to requiring passengers from high-risk countries to quarantine for two weeks.

Source: Cirium

American Airlines intends to notify pilots this week of potential layoffs, a move coming after executives estimated the airline may need to cut some 1,500 pilot jobs. In a 10 July weekly message to pilots, American managing director of flight line operations Chip Long said layoff warnings will come in the form of notices required under a federal law. “Our expectation is that… notices will be sent next week. Our hope is to very soon engage with [the Allied Pilots Association] and explore every opportunity to take care of our pilots while taking care of our airline,” Long said. Under federal law airlines must notify employees at least 60 days prior to a pending mass layoff. The Allied Pilot Association (APA), which represents some 15,000 American pilots, tells FlightGlobal it has not held formal discussion with American’s managers about layoffs. However, the union worked with the airline this year to implement voluntary leave and early retirement programmes. About 800 pilots have retired early and some 4,500 have taken temporary leaves, which come with partial pay, APA says. American’s ability to trim its workforce is limited until 30 September under the terms of financial aid taken via the US government’s coronavirus relief bill. The airline declines to comment about potential job cuts, which are suspected to hit a broad swath of employee groups. American has already said it was cutting 30% of management and administrative jobs. More information may be available this week, American adds. On 24 June, American chief executive Doug Parker gave employees an idea of the scope of cuts. American’s unionised workforce is “at least” 30% larger than the airline will need in October, and 15-20% larger than it expects to need in July 2021, Parker said during a monthly pilot meeting called “Crew News”. He called the 15-20% range relevant to American’s pilots because, due to training lead times, American must base pilot staffing on long-term workforce projections. Specifically, Parker and another executive said American may need to cut 1,500-1,600 pilot jobs. It doesn’t make much sense at all to reduce pilot staffing by 50% if you… need to be at 80% in six months,” he says. Dennis Tajer, head of APA’s communications committee, cautions that airlines that cut too many pilots could struggle to rebound when the industry rebounds. “Every airline… has to be very careful not to trim the ranks too aggressively,” he says. “Airline management teams who focus on where the puck is versus where the puck is going will risk being put on ice during the recovery.”

Japan Airlines and Malaysia Airlines expect to launch a joint business partnership on 25 July, through which the two national carriers will co-operate commercially on flights between Malaysia and Japan JAL says the airlines will "take on new challenges to further enhance convenience between Japan and Malaysia and allow customers to benefit from more flight choices". Malaysia Airlines is resuming flights to Japan this month, and the two airlines combined will then offer four weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo Narita in July and August, adds JAL. "This initiative will enable MH and JL to enhance their capabilities, and leverage on each other's strengths," says the Japanese operator. "The carriers shared best practices and responsibilities are in line with a sustainable business model in the long haul. "With JL's renowned precision in service and offerings, combined with MH's signature Malaysian hospitality, customers are promised of the best travel experience." The two airlines will also implement measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. "MH and JL are committed to uphold the highest standards in aircraft safety and hygiene procedures to protect their passengers and employees," JAL says. "With the significant shift in consumer expectations on air travel post Covid-19, they have adjusted to the new norm with modifications to offerings on ground and on board as well as processes and procedures from check-in, boarding and arrival to uphold the highest safety and health standards."

Source: Cirium