United Continental executives faced disgruntled company and contracted employees at its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday as the airline tried to repair its public image damaged by recent customer relations fiascos. Addressing the April 9 incident in which a paying passenger was dragged from a parked plane to make room for airline crew, CE Oscar Munoz told stockholders the incident had "set us back a little bit," but vowed the company would redouble efforts to improve customer service. While some attendees praised Munoz's acknowledgement of the Dao incident, several more expressed disappointment at what they said were unfair wages paid by vendors United had contracted out for some of its services. One employee, a dishwasher for a Chicago area contractor, said he was making 25 cents less than the city's minimum wage. Another said that after more than three years working for a United vendor, his pay increases had dried up. Munoz said it was up to the vendors to address compensation concerns."Those are not my companies. I cannot compel them (to change their pay practices)," Munoz said. In instances of safety concerns, however, "that's an absolute showstopper," he said.<br/>
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Newark Airport, one of the airports feeding New York, reopened following a brief closure after an apparent engine fire prompted emergency chutes to be deployed on a plane. There were reports of five minor injuries, Newark Airport said in a Twitter post. Emergency response teams were sent to the aircraft. During taxiing of United Airlines Flight 1579 from Newark to San Francisco, the tower notified the crew of what appeared to be flames from one of the engines, ABC’s Dan Linden earlier tweeted a statement from the carrier. The crew immediately deployed the slides and evacuated the aircraft, and only one person had a minor injury, according to the statement. Passengers should expect delays for the rest of the night, the airport said.<br/>
Asiana Airlines said Wednesday its decision to reseat a passenger with a physical disability was to protect the safety of its passengers after he took issue with the matter on Youtube. Tim Seward, a 31-year-old industrial designer, was heading to Hawaii from Beijing via Incheon. A Chinese airline staff noticed his prosthetic leg before the plane took off in Beijing on Sunday and asked him to move from an exit row seat to another seat. "As an airline operator responsible of protecting the safety of its passengers, it was an inevitable decision to request the reseating of the passenger after careful review to determine if the passenger is capable of helping the crew carry out its emergency duties," Asiana said. Prosthetic limbs are not specified as criteria in the FAA regulation to restrict assigning passengers to the exit row. However, the regulation states that it is the airlines' decision to judge whether the passenger is fit to be seated in certain seats. Airlines require passengers in exit row seats to physically help passengers exit from an airplane in the event of a crash landing or other emergency situations.<br/>
As Singapore Airlines considers broadening its debt sources amid plans to spend S$30.1b, some analysts are pointing to the likelihood of a shift to US-dollar bonds and the higher borrowing costs that may entail. CFO Stephen Barnes said on May 19 that the carrier is looking to raise funds in different currency bonds. “Frankly, we will want to diversify,” he said, without mentioning any specific currencies. While the local-currency market has been “quite receptive” to its issues, the airline is in “no pressing hurry” to diversify its funding and will take its time over the next year or so to look at options, Barnes said. It would be “natural” for Singapore Air to raise funds in US dollars given that the carrier’s capital commitments are denominated in that currency, according to Ajith Kom, analyst at UOB Kay Hian Pte. The brokerage is assuming some increase in borrowing costs for additional debt, Kom said. Should it decide to tap international debt markets, the choice of currency would be one factor in determining the cost of financing. All of the company’s outstanding notes are in Singapore dollars, where borrowing costs are on average lower than in the US-dollar debt market in Asia but higher than in the euro or yen. “Singapore Airlines has always maintained a modern fleet and the years ahead will see us taking delivery of many new-generation aircraft,” said a company spokesman. “Our capital expenditure will be rising as we take advantage of new growth opportunities.”<br/>