Welcome to Morning Call for August 12, 2021, and the Top Aviation News Stories for today. You can also search our Archives for older news stories by date.
AirInsight US Airline Index
US domestic air traffic has flattened in August, averaging slightly below the levels experienced in July and the first downturn of the year. The Delta variant has had an impact in reducing short-term airline bookings, resulting in a flattening in our performance index as load factors have fallen in early August from July levels. The question now is whether the Delta variant will cause more significant downturns in travel, or if fully vaccinated travelers will consider the risk minimal. The constant media hype on the evening news may be scaring even fully vaccinated individuals from travel, despite a risk 25 times lower than for unvaccinated individuals. We will watch this space, but the trend from earlier in the year for a third quarter recovery to 2019 levels is now in doubt. Our expanded charts are shown below:
Commercial Aviation
- Boeing poised to win crucial 737 MAX deal with new Indian budget carrier – Bloomberg
- US to reopen Boeing-Airbus bidding war over refuellers – Daily Mail
- SIA says no problems detected with A350 planes reported by Qatar – will not ground fleet – Straits Times
- Boeing returns more 737 MAXs to skies as other orders are cancelled in uneven recovery – Seattle Times
Business Aviation
- ZeroAvia completes first high-power ground tests of new 19 seat, zero-emission aviation powertrain system – ZeroAvia
- Avionics sales eke out gain in 2Q, but still down YTD – AIN
Airlines
- Avianca banks on United Airlines partnership in bankruptcy exit plan – Airline Weekly
- Vaccine passports gain traction as delta variant threatens travel rebound – CNBC
- Southwest, American, Delta break with United, won’t mandate vaccine for workers – The Hill
- Qatar Airways goes its own way with aggressive Covid-19 strategy – Travel Weekly
- Cathay Pacific adds 4K IFE screens to latest digital cabin upgrades – Aviation Today
Urban Air Mobility
- Embraer’s Eve and Kenya Airways partner on the future of Urban Air Mobility – Embraer
- Joby Aviation hits range, noise target milestones – CW
- Joby powers up EVTOL program – Wall St. share flotation – Future Flight
Social Media
- Southwest experiences deceleration in close-in bookings – Twitter
- Airbus video lifts the lid on air show flight displays – Digital Trends