United Airlines has resumed nonstop service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Cape Town (CPT). The resumed flight, which will operate three times a week, complements United’s existing five times weekly service to Johannesburg.

Flights will depart Newark at 8:30 p.m. ET arriving in Cape Town at 6:00 p.m. local time the next day. The return flight leaves Cape Town at 8:50 p.m. and arrives in Newark at 5:50 p.m. ET the next day. The airline has deployed a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 257 seats—48 flat-bed seats in United Polaris business class, 21 Premium Plus and 188 in Economy, including 39 Economy Plus seats.

South African Tourism and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) have taken note of the latest reports on the new COVID-19 variant (Omicron), discovered by South African scientists, and the subsequent placing of South Africa on the red lists of various countries, thereby banning travel from South Africa to these countries.

“The latest travel bans on South Africa are extremely disappointing and premature considering the limited information we have about this new variant. Whilst we cannot control the international market, we can control how we handle the crisis domestically, and will support the government to amplify vaccination opportunities and protect lives and livelihoods that depend on the tourism industry. Further restrictions will exacerbate an already devastated and ailing tourism industry and will negatively affect various other industries in South Africa,” said Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of TBCSA, in a press release.

“We would like to emphasize that our country remains open for all those travelers who wish to visit. We also encourage all South Africans to continue with their plans to go out there to explore and enjoy traveling within South Africa, while observing guidelines laid out by the national command center from time to time. The resilience of domestic tourism is key to the recovery of South Africa’s tourism sector and to the economy as this helps avoid any further job losses,” added Sthembiso Dlamini, acting CEO, South African Tourism.

South Africa has been open for tourism since November 2020 with stringent health and safety protocols including a mask mandate. Travelers are required to provide a negative result from a COVID-19 PCR test taken 72 hours prior to arrival.

Read more …..

Sept 14 (Reuters) – U.S. carrier United Airlines (UAL.O) and Dubai’s Emirates announced a codeshare agreement on Wednesday amid strong demand for air travel.

United said it would launch a direct flight between Newark/New York and Dubai from March. Passengers of the flight can travel on Emirates or its sister airline flydubai from Dubai to other cities.

The carrier also added that soon customers of both airlines would be able to book these connecting flights on a single ticket.

Read more ….

In this video, you’ll see exactly what it takes to run United Airlines’ fastest growing hub airport! If you’ve ever made a connection or had a layover, you might have wondered what was happening “behind the scenes.” Well, in this Airport Documentary, you’ll find out! We’ll look at everything that happens behind the scenes while you’re making a connection with United Airlines through the largest airport in the United States: Denver International Airport. You’ll meet United Airlines Gate Agents, Ramp Agents, Ramp Tower Controllers, and even go inside the Station Operations Center at Denver International Airport. You’ll climb into a United Airlines 757 bound for Hawaii to load bags and even see what it’s like to drive an airplane tug pushing a United Airlines A319 bound for Boise, Idaho!

The inaugural flight touched down at Palma’s Son Sant Joan Airport on June 3, with all 204 seats on the Boeing 767-300ER filled. Holidaymakers were greeted upon disembarking by airport authorities, staff, and journalists to commemorate the start of the landmark service.

As reported by Aviation24, media representatives for the airport described the arrival of the flight as “happy,” “historic,” “exciting,” and “important,” with passengers receiving traditional island gifts, including a cloth bag of llengües with two small jars of locally produced Es Trenc salt and a welcome card, celebrating their visit.

United Airlines plans to offer more flights across the Atlantic this summer than it did in 2019, a wager that international travel will bounce back strongly despite the persistent pandemic.

United said Tuesday that it will boost transatlantic passenger-carrying capacity by 25% over pre-pandemic levels to a combination of new destinations and old favorites such as London.

Patrick Quayle, the airline’s senior vice president of international network, said it was the biggest single transatlantic increase in United’s history.

Read more …..

United Airlines has launched a program to train the next generation of pilots, including promoting other workers to fill those vacancies.

Airlines cannot fly anywhere without pilots and some are struggling to find enough of them. Next year, they expect to have a shortage of more than 12,000 pilots.

United Airlines has launched a program to train the next generation of pilots, including promoting other workers to fill those vacancies.

Ricki Foster is at the helm, learning the ropes with her flight instructor. She is a mother of two and a former flight attendant. She told CBS News’ Errol Barnett that she was inspired to upgrade her wings. 

“Show me an excuse and I’ll show you how you can overcome that, you know like you’re too old? Well, I’m 38 and there’s someone in my class that’s a little older than me. So we’re just starting now. We’re getting it done,” she said

Foster is one of 59 students in the inaugural classes of United Airlines Aviate Academy in Goodyear, Arizona.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says this is their effort to combat the persistent staffing shortage on the flight deck,  which has forced route reductions.

“We’ve got over 100 regional aircraft that effectively aren’t flying because there are not enough pilots to fly them,” Kirby said.

Ricki Foster is at the helm, learning the ropes with her flight instructor. She is a mother of two and a former flight attendant. She told CBS News’ Errol Barnett that she was inspired to upgrade her wings.

By FAA regulation, pilots have to retire at age 65 and by one estimate, almost half them will within 15 years.

Couple that with the COVID pandemic, which slowed the rate of new pilots taking to the skies, and it’s almost impossible to keep pace with all the open seats.

“One of the biggest sources for airlines was the military. The problem today is there are not that many pilots in the military. There are a lot of drone pilots — that doesn’t really help in terms of being able to bring people in,” CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg said.

United expects 50% of their pilots to come from this program, and half of those will be women and people of color. 

Read more …….

United Airlines filed a schedule update this past weekend that will see it increase capacity on three long-haul routes next year. In early 2022, Rome and São Paulo will see increases from Newark and Houston, respectively, with plans to use larger aircraft. Meanwhile, in the summer, United will add two new weekly frequencies to Tahiti. Cirium schedule updates for the weekend showed the expansion. Flights are also available for booking via the United Airlines app or website.

Read more by Jay Singh

United Airlines’ employees who are granted exemptions to a company vaccinate mandate for religious reasons will be put on temporary unpaid leave starting next month, the airline told staff Wednesday, citing the recent rise in Covid cases.

The airline last month said its 67,000-person U.S. workforce must be vaccinated against Covid-19 this fall, but said it would consider exemptions for religious and personal beliefs as well as medical reasons.

Airlines’ approaches to encourage vaccination rates of their staff have varied. Delta Air Lines is imposing a $200 surcharge on unvaccinated employees’ company health care premiums. Delta, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines will end pay protections for unvaccinated employees who contract or are exposed to Covid-19.

Read more by Leslie Josephs

It seems that businesses are spending as much money on bulking up their data capabilities as they are on, well, anything else.

I worry that this constant number-munching turns us all into permanently neurotic beings. Still, sometimes the numbers seem to help senior executives make decisions that they know won’t be universally popular.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has often been regarded as the quintessential data-driven human. So when he announced that his airline’s employees would all have to be vaccinated by Oct. 25 — or they’d be fired — it was instructive how he presented his case.

Read more By Chris Matyszczyk for Technically Incorrect

United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL 0.80% will require its 67,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated this fall, the first major airline to take this step as the Delta variant drives a nationwide increase in Covid-19 infections.

Airlines including United have so far tried to encourage workers to be vaccinated voluntarily, with incentives such as bonus pay or extra vacation.

In a letter to employees Friday, Chief Executive Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said they expected that some would disagree with the decision but said the move was necessary to keep workers safe.

“The facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated,” the executives wrote. “Over the last 16 months, Scott has sent dozens of condolences letters to the family members of United employees who have died from COVID-19. We’re determined to do everything we can to try to keep another United family from receiving that letter.”

Read more …….