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Two airlines have joined American Airlines in suspending the use of a catering facility at Los Angeles International because of a listeria finding. American suspended use of the Gate Gourmet LAX facility Nov 1. Virgin Australia Airlines made a similar decision “mid-last week,” a spokeswoman said Sunday. Delta said Monday that it had made the same decision. The facility remains open, a Gate Gourmet spokeswoman said. No cases of listeriosis have been reported. Gate Gourmet discovered the listeria during a routine inspection. “While the LAX kitchen where Delta’s food is prepared remains in compliance with local and federal regulations, Delta has temporarily adjusted catering operations so Gate Gourmet can take more aggressive actions to further improve food safety,” Delta said. <br/>

Kenya Airways will be almost 90% owned by the Kenyan govt and a group of 11 local banks under a restructuring deal unveiled Monday after the terms of a debt-for-equity swap for the lossmaking airline were finalised. The country’s govt will own 48.9% of Kenya Airways and the banks 38.1% after the swap, agreed in principle in June. The big losers under the deal appear to be the minority shareholders. Air France-KLM, which owned 26.7%, will now own 7.8%. All other shareholders, which previously owned 43.5% of the company, will be diluted down to 5.2%, according to Henry Rotich, Kenya’s finance minister. Rotich insisted the deal was not a bailout. “The govt expects a return on its investment once the company returns to profitability,” he said. <br/>