Alitalia employees are voting on whether to accept a government-brokered deal to save Italy’s flagship airline from bankruptcy. Some 12,500 Alitalia workers began voting Thursday on a package that eased steep cuts sought by parent Etihad Airways, and which will open E2b in investment to keep the airline afloat. Voting runs through Tuesday. Italy’s economic development minister, Carlo Calenda, has excluded nationalizing the airline, putting pressure on workers to accept the deal that foresees wage cuts of about 8%, down from as much as 30%, and reduces the number of layoffs by about one-third to 1,700. Calenda was quoted by the Turin daily La Stampa as saying a no vote would lead to a six-month period of extraordinary administration followed by bankruptcy.<br/>
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China Southern Airlines, the mainland’s biggest carrier, has banned shark fin shipments and promised to “actively participate” in animal conservation. The decision is significant as the company is based in Guangzhou, the world’s largest trading hub for the delicacy, and it narrows the options for Chinese importers. It means that 51% of international airlines, based on seat capacity, have now banned the cargo. Flag carrier Air China had already banned shark fin, leaving just China Eastern among the big three state-owned airlines yet to declare a position. Robust campaigning by wildlife activists over the years has also led the nation’s largest shipper and logistics firm, China COSCO Shipping, to come onside. In a letter to WildAid Hong Kong, seen by the Post and confirmed by the airline, China Southern’s vice-president Han Wensheng said the company “attached great importance to the issue” and had “taken immediate action”. The nation’s largest airline by revenue and eighth biggest globally said it had banned shark fin on passenger and cargo flights as of March 1, but the letter was its first public announcement of the policy change. “I would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the global coalition of shark and marine conservation groups for your constant attention and support to China Southern’s air transport business,” Han said.<br/>
A federal air marshal on a flight earlier this month from England to New York left her loaded service weapon in the aircraft’s bathroom where a passenger found it, four marshals familiar with the incident said. The passenger gave the weapon to a member of the flight crew, who returned it to the air marshal. But the marshal, who is based in the New York region, failed to report the incident to her superiors, as required by agency policy, until several days later. The incident happened on April 6, aboard a Delta flight from Manchester to Kennedy International Airport. Despite the security lapse, the marshal was assigned to a flight a few days later, people familiar with the case said. The TSA, the parent agency of the air marshal service, said that it was aware of the episode but that it would not comment publicly on internal matters, adding that it was “reviewing the circumstances of this incident.” Current and former air marshals said that leaving a loaded weapon unattended constituted a significant security breach that should have resulted in discipline and an investigation. “You can’t have inept people leaving weapons in a lavatory,” said Craig Sawyer, a former air marshal. “If someone with ill intent gets hold of that weapon on an aircraft, they are now armed.” The episode is the latest in a string of embarrassments that have plagued the air marshal service in recent years, including allegations of sexism and racism and of employees arranging their schedules to meet up for sexual trysts.<br/>