The family of an American killed when a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down over Ukraine in 2014 filed a lawsuit on Thursday against U.S.-based money transfer companies and two Russian banks they accuse of providing services to the group they blame for striking Flight MH17. MH17 was brought down over territory held by pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine as it flew from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. American Quinn Lucas Schansman, 18, was aboard MH17 on his way to meet his parents for a family vacation. “We realize that we will never get our son back. But we are committed to shedding light on – and holding accountable – all who participated in his murder,” his father Thomas Schansman said. Under the US Antiterrorism Act, the Schansman family are suing Sberbank of Russia, VTB Bank, Western Union Co and Western Union Financial Services, MoneyGram International Inc and MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc for providing services to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “Defendants’ provision of material support to the DPR was a substantial factor in the DPR’s ability to launch a missile from territory it controlled — an attack that killed Quinn and 297 other innocent victims,” according to the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York. Western Union said it took its regulatory and compliance responsibilities seriously, adding: “While we don’t comment on the details of pending litigation, we believe the claims asserted in this complaint are without merit.” Story has more. <br/>
oneworld
American Airlines and LATAM Airlines Group promise millions of dollars in consumer benefits in their application to US authorities for an immunised joint venture. The Oneworld Alliance carriers tout up to $273m in annual benefits from their proposed tie up that would cover flights between the USA and Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay if approved, in an application to the US Department of Transportation on 3 April. Benefits include improved connectivity, better passenger amenities and even new routes. "The [joint venture] will integrate highly complementary route networks—with one anchored in the United States and the other in some of South America’s largest and most vibrant economies—to produce the kind of integrative, pro-competitive efficiencies that the [DOT] has observed from joint businesses implemented elsewhere worldwide," say American and LATAM. The partnership, which was announced in January 2016 but was held up by a myriad of factors including the delayed ratification of the US-Brazil open skies treaty, would combine the two largest US-South America networks. American flew 26.7% of capacity between the markets covered, and LATAM 26.5% of capacity in 2018, Cirium schedules data shows. Despite their clear market dominance, American and LATAM claim that they need an immunised joint venture to compete – and grow – against other carriers and expanding low-cost carriers. They cite the proposed Avianca, Copa Airlines and United joint venture, as well as JetBlue Airways' and Spirit Airlines' growing US-South America networks in their application.<br/>