Southwest Airlines chairman and CEO Gary Kelly pledged the company would “exhaust all other efforts” before shrinking its workforce but cautioned such reductions may eventually be needed amid the extensive downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Textron Aviation’s customer service network is offering a new financing program to customers wanting to upgrade or modify their U.S.-registered aircraft.

The FAA will adjust the operating hours of 100 airport towers to “ensure resiliency” of the air traffic control (ATC) system and protect employees during the coronavirus pandemic, the agency announced.

Air France-KLM’s CEO Ben Smith said he would forego his 2020 bonus and promised to speed up restructuring as the airline group moved closer to securing a multi-billion-euro state-guaranteed loan from France.

Lufthansa Group said April 23 that it needs financial assistance by its home countries to be able to survive as it cannot get sufficient access to additional liquidity in financial markets.

Russia’s S7 Group has shelved its Sea Launch space program, the group’s owner Vladislav Filev confirmed. 

Encouraged by progress in the Commercial Crew program, NASA should nonetheless expand planning for staffing the International Space Station long-term to provide options, NASA’s safety oversight panel said on April 23.

The U.S. Air Force completed a second round of Skyborg tests in March on a new flying testbed aircraft, but further flights are on hold due to schedule disruption caused by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the service announced on April 22.