Airline News: Top Air Travel Stories From October

With the industry gearing up for what's projected to be a busy holiday travel season, there was plenty of significant air travel news over the course of October, from positive stories like the launch of new airlines and revamped loyalty programs to more disconcerting news such as hints at a looming TSA staffing.

Here are some of the top stories to catch up on from the previous month.

October saw several major airlines announce COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees amid new requirements from the Biden administration, prompting plenty of controversy and even distraction among pilots.

While it's difficult to overstate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline industry, new data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) put it in perspective in October, revealing that airlines around the globe are expected to lose $11.6 billion in 2022 on the heels of a $51.8 billion loss in 2021.

In early October, United Airlines revealed that it would be flying its largest domestic schedule since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in anticipation of a surge in holiday travel demand. The carrier is planning to fly 3,500 daily domestic flights in December, which is 91 percent of its December 2019 domestic schedule.

Disruptive behavior on commercial flights may have reached its peak in October when a one-week stretch saw a whopping 128 incidents reported by flight crews, the highest number since the FAA started releasing weekly data back in July. The figure brought the total for the year to 4,626 incidents. However, that number is unfortunately sure to climb before the end of 2021.

Southwest Airlines was one of the biggest losers of October as the low-cost carrier was plagued by widespread flight disruptions midway through the month that forced it to issue an apology to customers and ultimately cost it approximately $75 million.

Travel agents received good news in the latter half of October as the Airlines Reporting Corp's (ARC) most recent data shows that ARC-accredited travel agency air ticket sales increased 175 percent year over year in September 2021.

New research from NerdWallet revealed the best U.S. airlines for passengers traveling with pets. The study examined the nine major U.S. carriers and rated each on a five-point scale according to nearly a dozen different variables, including factors like safety record, pet fees, whether they transport pets in cargo and impose species limitations.

Flight attendants have been forced to deal with more than their fair share of stress amid the pandemic and in a welcome move this October, the FAA proposed increasing the rest period from nine to 10 consecutive hours when flight attendants are scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less.

Following the debuts of Breeze and Avelo, Reno-Tahoe-based Aha! took off for the first time this October. The new carrier's name is an acronym for "air hotel adventure" and will operate with 50-passenger Embraer jets focusing on service across the western U.S.

Airlines are pulling out all of the stops to win back customers as they work through a COVID-19 recovery and October saw carriers such as American and JetBlue revamp their loyalty programs and expand benefits for members.

Travelers can usually expect long security lines and frustrating wait times at aiprort checkpoints around the busy holiday season but COVID-19 vaccination issues could potentially lead to even more headaches in 2021. Travelers should keep an eye out for updates on TSA staffing this fall, consider investing in TSA PreCheck and leave themselves extra time ahead of their next flight.