Coming from some other debt-ridden airline, it might have been shrugged off as just another service cutback. But not this time: When Air India announced on Monday that coach passengers on its domestic flights would now be offered only vegetarian meals, the move provoked an uproar on social media. G. P. Rao, a spokesman for the government-owned airline, said the change was made a week ago strictly to reduce waste and cut costs. But what people eat can be a sectarian flash point in India, especially since PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power. Many members of the Hindu majority are vegetarians, while the country’s Muslims and some other minorities eat meat. So the airline’s action was seen by many as discriminatory and part of a wave of religious nationalism sweeping the country. “Only veg food on Air India,” Madhu Menon, a Bangalore-based chef and food writer, wrote on Twitter. “Next, flight attendants to speak only Hindi. After that, stand for national anthem before flight take-off.” Others, though, came to Air India’s defense, saying they could not understand all the public indignation. “Simple business sense suggests that any loss making entity should attempt to optimise and cut costs & more food options = more cost,” Krish Ashok, who describes himself as a techie in Chennai, wrote on Twitter. He compared the move to other airlines’ serving sandwiches in place of a hot meal. Rao did not say on Monday how much the change in meals would save the company. But an official for the airline put the figure at about US$1.2m a year. Critics derided that as a drop in the bucket. <br/>
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An Air Canada plane touching down at San Francisco International Airport almost landed on a taxiway crowded with four other planes, a near-catastrophe that is now under federal investigation. Air Canada flight 759 en route from Toronto was cleared to land just before midnight Friday at runway 28R, according to the FAA. But the pilot had lined up the Airbus A320 for a taxiway that runs parallel to the runway, where four planes had queued and were awaiting clearance for departure, the FAA said. It’s unclear how close the Air Canada flight came to the ground, and the FAA is trying to ascertain that distance in an ongoing probe. Ross Aimer, a retired United captain, told the San Jose Mercury-News, which first reported the incident, that if the pilot was not told to correct course, the scene would have been “horrific.” “If it is true, what happened probably came close to the greatest aviation disaster in history,” Aimer said. An Air Canada representative could not immediately be reached for comment.<br/>
Lufthansa will introduce “SmartDepart” gates to expedite passengers flying from Munich to Düsseldorf, Berlin/Tegel, Frankfurt and Hamburg airports, from Oct. 31. The new service will be free initially to all Lufthansa passengers in Terminal 2 traveling with a single piece of luggage during peak times—from 6 a.m.-8:30 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. Boarding times are expected to be reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The service is currently being tested in Munich and will be expanded once successfully introduced.<br/>