EasyJet plunged into its worst first-half loss for six years as the weak pound and timing of Easter weighed heavily on the low-cost airline. Despite the disappointing results, CE Dame Carolyn McCall said the carrier was poised to take advantage of turmoil in the wider European airline industry. It blamed the performance on a GBP82m hit from the weaker pound, while the later timing of Easter this year had a negative impact of about GBP45m. EasyJet’s results come following a tough year for European airlines, which have been struggling with economic uncertainty unleashed by Brexit, the effect of the terror attacks in the EU and a glut of new capacity that is pushing down fares. Despite the widening losses, Dame Carolyn gave an upbeat outlook, pointing towards an improvement in bookings for H2 this year and signs of capacity growth easing from competitors. About 77% of easyJet’s seats have already been sold for Q3, and 55% for Q4, up from the same time last year, the company said. It also revealed plans to modify its aircraft order with Airbus, converting orders for 30 A320s into larger A321 Neos, which have 49 more seats. Dame Carolyn said the bigger planes would help it increase capacity in slot-constrained airports at peak times, such as Geneva, Amsterdam and London Gatwick, as well as cut costs by about 9%. “We are seeing real opportunities in short-haul Europe . . . you can see some capacity is coming out already and weaker players are getting weaker. There are a lot of things that are very much in our interest,” said Dame Carolyn.<br/>
unaligned
Two Frontier Airlines flight attendants Tuesday filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing the airline of discriminating against them by not making pregnancy-related accommodations such as allowing them to pump breastmilk. In charges brought on behalf of flight attendants who would be affected by the airline's pregnancy-related policies, Jo Roby and Stacy Rewitzer claimed that they were forced to take unpaid leave after the airline refused to accommodate their breastfeeding needs. The flight attendants are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Colorado and the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg.<br/>
Boeing delivered the first 737 Max to the jetliner’s largest customer, Lion Mentari Airlines, a step toward reaping a cash bounty from the best-selling aircraft in company history. The Tuesday hand-off in Seattle to Lion’s Malaysia affiliate, Malindo Airways, was only one day later than first scheduled after the US planemaker quickly recovered from a possible engine manufacturing defect, which had grounded the fledgling Max fleet last week. Before that hiccup, the upgraded 737 had coasted through development and flight-testing months ahead of schedule -- a rarity in an industry where delays are common. The 737 and Airbus SE’s A320 family are the sturdy workhorses for budget carriers worldwide, built to withstand multiple short flights a day. And thanks to manufacturing scale and processes honed over decades, they are the biggest profit generators for the planemakers, one reason why investors have closely watched the progress of the latest Boeing single-aisle jet so closely. The Max “is the most important program at Boeing both now and in the future,” said George Ferguson, senior air transport analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “It is the cash generator and they can’t screw it up.”<br/>
Smoke in the cockpit forced an American Eagle flight to return to an airport on New York's Long Island. The flight was carrying 40 passengers to Philadelphia. No injuries were reported. The FAA says the twin-engine turboprop de Havilland DH8 landed safely at Long Island MacArthur Airport before 7 a.m. Tuesday. It had departed about 40 minutes earlier. The airline says a mechanical problem was fixed and the flight went on to Philadelphia later in the morning. The FAA says it is investigating.<br/>