United Continental Holdings directors were sued by a pension fund for granting a US$37m severance package to the carrier’s former CE, who was ousted in a bribery scandal. The airline’s board erred in signing off on “lavish golden parachutes” for ex-CE Jeff Smisek and other officials forced out after investigators found a public official strong-armed United into scheduling twice-weekly flights to an airport near Smisek’s vacation home, the fund said in a lawsuit. Directors also harmed investors by refusing to demand that Smisek return severance payments, the City of Tamarac Firefighters Pension Trust Fund said in the complaint. The board “put the interests of Smisek and the other officers ahead of the company’s best interests,” the fund’s lawyers said in the suit, which was unsealed Wednesday. <br/>
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Turkish Airlines recorded a 2017 Q1 net loss of US$373m, narrowed from a net loss of $421m for the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue for the quarter was $2b, down 10% year-over-year from $2.2b in the 2016 Q1. Expenses fell 11% to $2.2b, producing an operating loss of $209m, narrowed from a $280m operating loss in the year-ago period. Fuel prices dipped 2.2% to $591m for Q1 2017. The carrier said 22% of its revenue is generated from business-class passengers. Q1 traffic decreased 7.3% YOY to 26.9b RPKs on a 7.8% decrease in capacity to 36.3b ASKs, producing a load factor of 74.2%, up 0.5 point YOY. Passenger numbers were down 8% YOY to 13m. The carrier is still experience “challenging conditions” in the tourism sector, following a series of terrorist bombings in Turkey last year. <br/>
Air NZ will fly a new configuration Dreamliner between Auckland and Houston from later this year as it targets more of the premium market. The airline will also step up flights to Buenos Aires from November to meet strong demand. Services to the Argentine capital will increase to up to 5 a week during the summer peak - up from 4 at present and 3 when flights started in Dec 2015. The 787-9 Dreamliner services to Houston will operate up to 7 times a week during the peak season. Increasing demand for premium travel means the 3 Dreamliners scheduled for delivery from October this year will come with a fresh new cabin configuration that will increase the number of business premier seats from 18 to 27 and premium economy seats from 21 to 33. <br/>CE Christopher Luxon said there would also be more flights to Osaka this year. <br/>