Italy's centre-left government said Wednesday Alitalia would be sold to the "highest bidder", again ruling out a state rescue as fears mounted that the troubled airline is plummeting towards bankruptcy. PM Paolo Gentiloni said he had been disappointed by staff's rejection of a rescue plan involving deep job and salary cuts, and reiterated that the state could not and would not step in.<br/>"The truth is what I said before the vote and what I say again today: the conditions are not there for Alitalia to be nationalised," Gentiloni said. Transport Minister Graziano Delrio meanwhile said the company would be "sold to the highest bidder" and the government made favourable noises about the mooted possibility of a partial takeover by Lufthansa. The loss-making national carrier's future is up in the air after its workforce rejected a restructuring plan which management had presented as the only alternative to bankruptcy. Etihad Airways, which owns a 49% stake in Alitalia, and other shareholders had made staff acceptance of the plan a precondition for their participation in a E2b recapitalisation plan involving a combination of loans and new shareholder financing. But despite earlier proposals being watered down in negotiations with unions, over two thirds of staff voted to reject them in a ballot on Monday, in which more than 90% of employees took part. The latest draft of the restructuring plan involves eliminating 1,700 jobs from a global headcount of 12,500 and wage cuts of up to 8% for some of the remaining staff.<br/>
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China Southern Airlines has signed a deal worth nearly $6b to buy 20 aircraft from Airbus, the Chinese carrier said Wednesday. China's largest airline by passenger numbers has agreed to buy 20 A350-900 jets, each with a price tag of $298.9m, it said in a stock exchange filing. The planes will be delivered between 2019 and 2022 and will be funded through China Southern's own funds and loans from commercial banks, the company said. China is gearing up for a major joint China-Europe aviation safety conference in Shanghai on Thursday as Beijing looks to raise its profile in the global aviation market. Chinese planemaker COMAC is expected to stage the maiden flight of its C919 jet in the coming weeks as the company looks to compete with Boeing and Airbus for a slice of global jet sales worth $2t over the next 20 years. <br/>
The way Kima Hamilton sees it, his urgent need to visit the restroom as a Milwaukee-bound Delta jet awaited takeoff was a misunderstanding blown all out of proportion. In fellow passenger Krista Rosolino's view, it was outrageous that Hamilton was kicked off the flight and that everyone else was forced to exit the plane when it returned to the gate in Atlanta. She took to social media to defend this man she didn't know. The Delta quick take on this incident is that federal law requires passengers to comply with crew instructions, or run the risk of being seen as a security threat. Delta sent the following statement Wednesday: "Our flight crews are extensively trained to ensure the safety and security of all customers. It is imperative that passengers comply with crew instructions during all phases of flight, especially at the critical points of takeoff and landing." The attempts by two Delta agents to eject Hamilton from the plane were caught on video. When he refused, the entire aircraft was emptied and all passengers except Hamilton were allowed to re-board a short time later.<br/>
Two airline passengers took the idea of “carry-on” to an extreme on their flight to New York. The men, on the same Delta flight, but traveling separately, were arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport last week after US Customs and Border Protection officers found a combined 23 pounds of cocaine under their clothes in separate searches, authorities said Wednesday. The combined street value of the cocaine was nearly $400,000, authorities said. According to US Customs and Border Protection, Ariel Garcia, a US citizen, and Elvin Montilla-Sosa, of the Dominican Republic, had both arrived in New York from Santo Domingo on April 19 when they were stopped for searches. In both cases, officers took the men to private search rooms. Charging documents said officers observed that Garcia was wearing baggy clothes, with “unusual bulging” around his calves. The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is prosecuting the case on federal narcotics smuggling charges, officials said.<br/>