A dead baby was found abandoned inside the lavatory of an AirAsia India flight that landed in New Delhi on Wednesday, police and the airline said. A woman who was on the flight and is suspected to have given birth onboard has been held by the police for questioning, an officer at the New Delhi airport police station said. He said the plane was flying in from the eastern city of Guwahati, and declined to give further details immediately. AirAsia India said the newborn was found lifeless by staff onboard as they were preparing for landing. The airline said it had informed the country’s aviation authority about the incident. “We will be assisting in the investigation and cooperating with all concerned agencies,” it added.<br/>
unaligned
Ryanair has told more than 300 pilots and cabin crew that they risk losing their jobs as it cuts its Dublin-based fleet by 20% for the winter season after strikes hurt bookings in its home market. The Irish low cost carrier is in the middle of its worst week of stoppages in more than three decades of flying as it struggles in talks with trade unions whom it has decided to recognise for the first time. Around a quarter of its Dublin-based pilots staged their third 24-hour stoppage in two weeks on Tuesday while cabin crew in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium began a two-day strike on Wednesday, prompting Ryanair to cancel more than 12% of its flights. Warning investors on Monday of more strikes this summer, CE Michael O’Leary said he would consider moving aircraft from Ireland, Belgium and Portugal and acted swiftly within 48 hours. “If our reputation for reliability or forward bookings is affected, then base and potential job cuts such as these at Dublin are a deeply regretted consequence,” Ryanair COO Peter Bellew said. Ryanair in turn said it could not rule out cutting further aircraft and jobs from Dublin as a result of the latest strike and would not hold any further meetings with the union while the threat of strikes hangs over its Irish business.<br/>
Allegiant Airlines cut its full-year profit outlook because of higher jet-fuel prices and scaled back growth projections for the year because of slower-than expected aircraft deliveries. Profit for the full year will be between $9 and $10 a share, down from the $10 to $12 expected earlier, because of $35m more in fuel costs this year, the carrier said Wednesday after the close of trading. Allegiant adjusted its 2018 outlook for seat and flight capacity growth to between 9 and 11%, down from a prior plan of as much as 15%. Allegiant joins other carriers in paring capacity or profit outlooks as fuel prices jumped 41% over the past 12 months. Slowed aircraft deliveries stymied growth earlier this summer as the carrier switches its fleet to include only planes made by Airbus. The carrier had a second-quarter profit of $3.10 a share, beating the $2.73 average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue fell short of analyst expectations, rising 8.7% to $436.8m, the company said. Allegiant said it now plans to add 25 used Airbus planes this year, down from an original 30.<br/>
A former Alaska Airlines pilot who flew a passenger plane while drunk has been sentenced in California to a year and a day in federal prison. David Hans Arntson of Newport Beach was also fined $10,000 on Wednesday. In 2014, Arntson flew an Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to Portland, Oregon, and then took a second plane from Portland to John Wayne Airport in Southern California. After landing there, he underwent random testing that found his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.<br/>
IndiGo Airlines has grounded five Airbus A320neo planes at New Delhi airport after issues with Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, India’s biggest low-cost carrier said Wednesday. The planes are expected to be back in service in the second half of August, IndiGo owner InterGlobe Aviation said. In March, India’s aviation regulator ordered Airbus A320neo aircraft fitted with certain Pratt & Whitney engines to be grounded immediately. United Technologies-owned Pratt & Whitney said separately it was working with airlines to address the issue.<br/>
An Allegiant Airlines flight made an emergency landing at a Florida airport after a bird struck the engine during takeoff. An airline spokeswoman said no one was injured during the Wednesday morning incident. Flight 1592 departed Punta Gorda Airport bound for Milwaukee. It made an emergency landing at Orlando Sanford International Airport. An Allegiant spokeswoman said bird remains were found in the engine.<br/>
Flybe chief strategy officer Vincent Hodder has been appointed as the first CE of IAG budget unit Level. Hodder – who worked at Jetstar and Viva Aerobus before joining UK regional carrier Flybe – will take up his new role on 5 September. IAG director of strategy Robert Boyle credits Hodder with "extensive experience in the aviation industry and an in-depth understanding of the low-cost business model", and expects that he will "continue to build Level's positive momentum". Hodder describes the long-haul low-cost carrier as "more than just a start-up airline brand" adding: "It's a new concept that uses technology to provide customers with control over the way they travel, and has the lowest possible costs."<br/>
When Swedish student Elin Ersson learned that an Afghan man was scheduled to be deported from Sweden Monday, she bought a ticket for the same flight. Once she boarded the plane at Gothenburg airport, Ersson refused to take her seat, standing in the aisle, until the 52-year-old deportee was released. Her dramatic act of civil disobedience, which she live-streamed on Facebook in English, forced the flight to be delayed by two hours, according to Swedavia, the company that operates the airport. Ultimately, her efforts succeeded – at least for the time being. The Afghan deportee was escorted off the plane before it took off. As she continued filming and refusing to take her seat, passengers and flight attendants are heard on the video growing increasingly frustrated. “Sit down, we want to go,” one voice is heard saying. A flight attendant tells her several times to turn off her phone, because the airline’s safety demonstration was underway. “You have to take your seat and turn it off or you can leave the aircraft,” the flight attendant says.<br/>