The account of a UC Berkeley researcher who was removed from a flight after a fellow passenger heard him speak Arabic on his phone has drawn condemnation and outrage for the airline, Southwest, about a perceived pattern of barring travel. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was removed from the Oakland-bound flight from LAX April 6. According to Makhzoomi, he was removed from the flight and questioned by the FBI after another passenger informed airline staff about his phone conversation, which was to his uncle in Baghdad. He ended the call with the word “inshallah”, meaning “God willing”, and said the passenger thought he used the word “shahid”, meaning “martyr”, during the conversation. Southwest said Makhzoomi was removed because of “potentially threatening comments made aboard our aircraft”. <br/>
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EasyJet is reportedly making a surprise takeover bid for Monarch, it was reported Sunday. A takeover would signal a further upturn in ailing Monarch's fortunes after it came close to collapse in 2014, due in part to an "outdated business model" and stiff competition from rival budget airlines. Monarch – which was previously restructured by Swiss-Italian billionaire family and private equity firm Mantegazza – are now owned by Greybull Capital, the same family investment fund that is reportedly buying Tata Steel's Scunthorpe plant. Hefty cuts in costs and overheads saw Greybull turn Monarch from a E94m (US$139.5m) loss to a E40m profit in the year running up to October 2015. A major factor in the company's reversal of fortune has been attributed to a recent slump in fuel prices. <br/>
The US DoT said it intends to grant flying rights to Norwegian Air Shuttle's Irish unit, setting the stage for a new battle among low cost airlines. It said it would give opponents 3 weeks to file objections. US airlines and unions have said the subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, would undermine US wages and working standards, claims Norwegian has dismissed. The decision paves the way for increased competition across the Atlantic and for more travellers to buy the cheap tickets that Norwegian can afford to offer, as its operating costs are low. It comes about a month after the EU pressured US regulators to approve the typically routine request, which has languished for more than 2 years. The DoT said it found no legal basis for denying the Irish unit's request to fly to the US. <br/>
Jin Air has signed a codeshare agreement with Jetstar Group to offer combined route bookings across both carrier’s networks. The two LCCs will offer what they call “seamless travel packages” across both networks that include Jin Air’s existing Korea-based network and the services of Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Pacific. This will be the first interline agreement that Jin Air has entered into with any other carrier, and will allow Korean passengers significantly easier access into the Southeast Asian destination market. Jin Air has been expanding its route offerings across the Asia-Pacific region including to Guam, Hawaii, Okinawa and Saipan. Both carriers have begun work on combining booking and systems interlocks, and aim to launch the full codeshare program in Q3 2016. <br/>