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United Continental Holdings Q1 earnings Monday beat analysts' expectations on several key measures, and the carrier again apologised for the forceful removal of a passenger from a flight last week. The parent company of United, the US industry's third-largest by passenger traffic, reported earnings of 41c per share, excluding special items, beating analysts' consensus forecast of 38c. Revenue of $8.4b was up 2.7% year-over-year, slightly above the average estimate of $8.38b. Passenger unit revenue, which measures sales relative to flight capacity, was flat, in line with the Chicago-based company's estimate. United estimated a 1 to 3% increase in that closely watched measure in the second quarter. Higher fuel costs and recent labor agreements led to a 5.1% increase in unit cost per available seat mile from the year-ago period. "In the first quarter of 2017, our financial and operational performance gives us a lot of confidence about the foundation we are building. It is obvious from recent experiences that we need to do a much better job serving our customers," CE Oscar Munoz said. United is recovering from a public relations debacle after a passenger, Dr. David Dao, was dragged from his seat off the plane in O'Hare International Airport to make space for crew members.<br/>

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, pivoting from a public apology to face investors, assured Wall Street that the carrier would rebound from the uproar that followed the dragging of a passenger off one of its planes. “This will prove to be a watershed moment for our company, and we are more determined than ever to put our customers at the center of everything we do,” Munoz said Monday. “We are dedicated to setting the standard for customer service among US airlines, as we elevate the experience our customers have with us from booking to baggage claim.” The comments were the CEO’s first to investors since the April 9 incident, when security officers forcibly removed David Dao from a flight after he refused to give up his seat to make room for airline employees. Munoz, who also announced a Q1 financial performance that topped expectations, is trying to maintain momentum for his plan to catch up to Delta and American Airlines in profitability and operational performance. “United said the right things regarding its need to upgrade its customer service and should be able to move past its PR nightmare,” Jim Corridore, an analyst at CFRA Research, said in a note to clients in which he reiterated a “strong buy” rating on the shares.<br/>

Air Canada has apologized and offered compensation for bumping a 10-year-old off a flight, the boy's father said on Monday, after the Canadian family's story sparked headlines following a high-profile incident involving overbooking by US carrier United Airlines. Brett Doyle said his family, who first tried unsuccessfully to check in his older son online, was told at the airport there was no seat available for the boy on an oversold flight from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to Montreal, where they were connecting to a flight to a Costa Rica vacation last month. The entrepreneur from Prince Edward Island said the family of four then drove to Moncton, New Brunswick, to catch a different flight to Montreal only to discover at the airport that it had been cancelled. "I thought it was a joke, that there were hidden cameras or something," he recalled by phone from Charlottetown. Doyle said the family contacted Air Canada in March, but only received an apology and the offer of a C$2,500 trip voucher after the story was published by a Canadian newspaper on Saturday. An airline spokeswoman said: “We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr. Doyle and his family as well as offered a very generous compensation to the family for their inconvenience.”<br/>

Singapore Airlines, Changi Airport Group and the Singapore Tourism Board on Monday renewed an ongoing partnership deal to promote Singapore as an attractive destination for travellers. The three parties said they will jointly invest S$33.75m under the renewed three-year partnership, and their marketing efforts will focus on promoting the country as a choice stopover as well as a twinning destination - travelling to two destinations on a single itinerary. This augments the previous approach of only targeting travellers from specific long-haul markets such as the US and Europe, they added. The renewed partnership will also see the Free Singapore Tour refreshed. The tour, which provides transfer passengers with a free taste of Singapore's offerings, will be expanded to include more experiences curated based on travellers' interests such as food tours to sample local fare, the press release said. <br/>

Lufthansa said starting a domestic airline in India, the world’s fastest growing aviation market, will be a “misadventure” because of high jet fuel taxes and the cost of operations. Lufthansa’s comments come weeks after Qatar Airways said it plans to start an airline in India with as many as 100 planes, as the Gulf carrier looks for a bigger share of a market projected to sell half a billion domestic tickets in a decade. Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and AirAsia have also bought stakes in local carriers buoyed by an emerging middle-class flying for the first time. “You only go make business when you have business plans which give you hope that you can be very successful,” said Wolfgang Will, a senior director for South Asia at Lufthansa, “And I did not hear up to now of any domestic airline in India making a lot of profit.” Lufthansa has a history of running an Indian airline. It was part of a partnership that ran ModiLuft, which was grounded in 1996 after disputes over payments with the German carrier, creditors, oil companies and the Airports Authority of India. The airline’s permit was later used by two entrepreneurs to start SpiceJet, now India’s second-largest budget carrier.<br/>