The German govt is examining a request for loan guarantees from loss-making Air Berlin, the Economy Ministry said Wednesday. "We are looking into this application for a guarantee along with the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin," a ministry spokeswoman said. She added that presenting a "sustainable concept for the future" was key to getting such a guarantee. Air Berlin's CE Thomas Winkelmann said Wednesday it was a "confidential figure" when asked for details of the airline's request for loan guarantees from the two German states. "We're not looking for any kind of taxpayers' money. We don't want to be state-owned. As management, we look at every opportunity over how to restructure the company, and that includes restructuring the debt," he said. <br/>
oneworld
British Airways is close to striking an agreement for Capita to run its call centres as the airline attempts to improve its customer relations after its disastrous IT meltdown last month. Under the agreement, Capita, an outsourcing group that has had its own public relations disasters in the past with its management of London’s congestion charge and NHS administration, would take over the almost 10m calls a year made to BA staff in Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester. Questions were asked about cost-cutting at BA after a system meltdown left 75,000 passengers stranded over a May bank holiday weekend, with unions highlighting the hundreds of skilled staff who had been made redundant. But IAG denied any link between outsourcing and the recent problems, and the airline group appears determined to cut costs further. <br/>
Qatar Airways said Wednesday the vast majority of its operations had not been affected by airspace restrictions recently imposed on it by 4 Arab countries. CE Akbar al-Baker also repeated calls for the ICAO to intervene in the airspace rights dispute. "We are not a political body, we are an airline, and this blockade has stripped us of the rights which are guaranteed to us," al-Baker said Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar a week ago, accusing it of fomenting regional unrest, supporting terrorism and getting too close to Iran, all of which Doha denies. Qatar Airways and other Qatari-owned aircraft are blocked from using the airspace over the 4 Arab countries. Qatar Airways has said it will continue with plans to add 24 destinations between 2017 and 2018. <br/>
Medical staff at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has drawn criticism from a passenger on board an American Airlines flight for its handling of an unconscious passenger who later died. Monday, American Airlines Flight 2423 from Dallas to the Twin Cities made an emergency landing after the crew discovered an unresponsive female passenger inside one of the aircraft's lavatories. Paramedics at the airport met the plane when it landed, joining the medical professionals already on the flight in attempting to resuscitate the passenger. Paramedics moved the passenger from the aircraft to an area with more room to provide aid. But another passenger complained that more could have been done to cover up the partially clothed woman as she was "dragged" off the plane. <br/>