The US government filed a lawsuit Monday accusing United of violating a pilot's employment rights by failing to provide sick leave when he was called to active duty by the US Air Force, where he was a reservist. According to a complaint filed in Chicago federal court, United failed to credit Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Fandrei with sick leave while he was deployed as a KC-10 pilot in southwest Asia from December 2012 to March 2013. The US Department of Justice said the carrier did this despite offering such benefits to other employees on similar leave, violating the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). "USERRA ensures that service members like Lt. Col. Fandrei who answer our nation's call to duty don't return to civilian life and find their employment benefits denied and their civil rights violated," said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division. The carrier said it believes its policies comply with USERRA, and that it is "committed to supporting the many aviation professionals at our airline who served or who are currently serving in the military." The lawsuit seeks to recoup the value of Fandrei's lost benefits, and an injunction against similar violations.<br/>
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THAI reported a smaller net loss in Q2, on lower jet fuel costs. THAI made a net loss of 2.92b baht for Q2, down from a 12.76b loss in the same period last year. Revenue for the period was 41.2b, down 1.3% from the previous year. THAI is into the second phase of a transformation plan to return it to a position of sustained profitability.<br/>
As PM Narendra Modi spoke of Air India's turnaround in his Independence Day speech today, the state-run airline is expecting to log over Rs 100 crore operating profit in the last fiscal and projecting to cross the Rs 700 crore mark in the current financial year. While the 2015-16 figures are still being audited and finalised, senior officials said, "We are sure to cross Rs 100 crore worth of operating profits in the last fiscal, largely due to low fuel prices as well as improved performance. In the current financial year, we are projecting that this figure will jump to Rs 700-800 crore." The Prime Minister said, "Today I can say with complete satisfaction that Air India, which used to be notoriously known for incurring losses, has improved its operations leading it to log operational profits." The officials, however, said the biggest challenge before the airline was the massive debt burden of Rs 52,000 crore, whose servicing alone is costing the airline around Rs 5,800 per annum. <br/>