India's offer to sell a stake in Air India failed to draw a single bid by the Thursday deadline, underlining the challenges it faces in fixing the debt-laden carrier and meeting a broader target of stake sales in govt-held firms. Prime minister Narendra Modi's govt announced a plan in March to divest a 76% stake in Air India and offload about US$5.1b of its debt. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Twitter Thursday evening that it had received no bids, adding its next move on the stake sale would be decided "appropriately". Earlier this month the govt had eased some terms and extended the period to make bids, but still found no takers for the airline, which flies some lucrative routes but also has one of the industry's highest employees-per-aircraft ratios. <br/>
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United Airlines wants to return to New York John F Kennedy International 3 years after ending service there. Scott Kirby, president of the carrier, said United would like to return to JFK but "doesn’t see a feasible organic solution to getting back in there". United would have to acquire slots from another carrier to re-enter JFK, as well as secure terminal and gate space at the airport. Kirby declined to answer questions about possible inorganic options to return to JFK, in response to questions from Wolfe analysts. United ended service to New York JFK in Oct 2015, when it moved its premium transcontinental flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco to Newark Liberty International airport, and suspended flights to Washington Dulles. <br/>
The huge installations United Airlines uses to prepare and cook in-flight food recently got a new addition: some television screens. But rather than just providing news or talk show chatter, they broadcast messages explaining why workers shouldn’t unionise. Employees at all 5 of United Continental Holdings’ kitchens in the US said the screens, installed this year, broadcast a company line urging opposition to hospitality union Unite Here—which is seeking to organise its workers—or touting United’s achievements. Now, the union is fighting United’s use of TVs and its allegedly broader campaign against the union—the latest move in an escalating war between them. In a complaint filed Thursday with the National Mediation Board, Unite Here alleged that United has illegally prevented employees from engaging in pro-union activity. <br/>