The head of Germany's anti-trust commission rejected govt aid for troubled airline Air Berlin in an interview in Germany's Die Welt newspaper to be published Wednesday. "We need opportunities in a market economy for new companies to get into the market. If a company does poorly, or its business model doesn't work, then the state should not keep it alive artificially," Achim Wambach told the newspaper. Wambach said a takeover of Air Berlin by Lufthansa would raise competition concerns since they were the primary competitors on many routes, especially to and from Berlin. "If there is only one provider on certain routes, that would naturally have an effect on prices," he said. <br/>
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In a move likely to relieve taller air travelers, American will reduce leg room by one inch instead of two as originally planned on some seats in its Boeing 737 MAX jets. Last month American said it would shrink the distance between some seat backs, or pitch, on its new jets from 31 inches to 29 inches. The backlash was swift at a time when relations between airlines and passengers have sunk to a new low. The company said it had "received a lot of feedback from both customers and team members" and said it had decided to space all main cabin rows with at least 30 inches of pitch. <br/>
Qatar Airways reported a net profit increase of just under 22% for the financial year to end March as it continued its rapid expansion. Net profit rose to QAR1.97b riyals (US$537.6m) from QAR1.62b the previous year. Group revenue was up 10.4% at QAR39.4b, with operating expenses of QAR37.3b, up from QAR32.67b. The airline carried 32m passengers in the 12 months, a 20% increase from FY16. Available seat km capacity rose by 21.8%. During the year, Qatar Air added 10 destinations and expanded its fleet to 196 aircraft. It increased its stake in British Airways and Iberia parent IAG to just over 20%, and bought 10% of LATAM Airlines Group. <br/>
Emergency workers who carried a passenger's partially clothed body down the aisle of an American Airlines jet were focused on saving her life, an airport spokesman said Tuesday. The woman died shortly after being rushed off the plane Monday at Minneapolis-St Paul International. The spokesman said the woman was found unresponsive in a bathroom while the plane was in the air. When the plane landed, emergency workers used a portable stretcher to bring her down the aisle. The woman was wearing a shirt and underwear. A passenger said it was "out of line" not to cover the woman. The spokesman said emergency workers did nothing wrong. "From our standpoint everything was handled according to the textbook." <br/>