A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane skidded off the runway when it landed in bad weather at Yangon’s international airport on Wednesday evening, injuring at least 17 people, officials said. The Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft was carrying 29 passengers and four crew when it bounced while landing during heavy winds in Myanmar’s commercial capital, Bangladesh’s ambassador said. The plane was severely damaged. The 17 who sustained mostly minor injuries were admitted to a local hospital, said Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury. “The main reason, the pilot told me, was the weather – crosswinds,” he said, “When he was trying to land... suddenly the aircraft jumped, went up and went down heavily.” A photo published by the Myanmar Times showed the plane halfway off the runway with its fuselage apparently broken. Shakil Miraj, general manager for Biman Bangladesh, also blamed bad weather for the crash. The airline flies between Yangon and Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka four days a week.<br/>
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An Air Italy executive has joined a chorus of global airlines hurt by grounded Boeing 737 MAX jets but expects the airline to be profitable “very soon” and carrying five times as many passengers by 2022. “We have MAX pilots on the ground, sitting there doing nothing,” COO Rossen Dimitrov said. Sardinia-based Air Italy, which launched last year, was using three MAX aircraft to service routes to Sharm El Sheikh, Cairo and Dakar before regulators around the world grounded the fast-selling Boeing jets following two fatal crashes. With a fleet of just 13 aircraft, Air Italy has had to lease two Embraer jets and their crew from Bulgaria Air to cover routes heading into the peak summer travel season. Because Air Italy’s pilots and crew are not trained on the Embraer, their work hours have fallen, Dimitrov said. Air Italy, which also flies non-stop from Milan to five North American destinations including new seasonal routes to Los Angeles, San Francisco and as of this week Toronto, has 1,146 employees. Loss-making Air Italy, owned by Italian holding company Alisarda and Qatar Airways, expects to be profitable “very soon,” Dimitrov said. He declined to provide details but said shareholders “are happy” with a five-year business plan it recently shared.<br/>
Officials say eight people were taken to hospitals after a Spirit Airlines flight returned to a Las Vegas airport gate due to fumes or an odor in the cabin. The plane had not taken off. Airline spokesman Derek Dombrowski says 174 passengers and seven crew members aboard Spirit flight 170 returned a little before 9 a.m. Wednesday to a terminal at McCarran International Airport. The plane had been set to take off for Minneapolis. Airport spokeswoman Christine Crews says paramedics checked 15 people. She says one passenger, six aircraft crew members and one medical responder went to hospitals. Dombrowski says the smell aboard the Airbus A321 aircraft was said to resemble oil.<br/>
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet has opened reservations for its new domestic business class product that will operate on select domestic routes. Using Boeing 737NGs formerly operated by Jet Airways, the SpiceBiz product offers 2-2 seating, gourmet meals, lounge access, and priority check-in and boarding. The airline’s booking engine shows that it is bring offered on routes between major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Jet suspended operations on 17 April, leaving Air India and Vistara as the only carriers offering business class products in the domestic market. <br/>
A Jewish couple has filed a lawsuit against Spirit Airlines for alleged anti-Semitic and racist treatment, including being called "retarded Jews." In court documents filed to the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida, lawyer Yechezkel Rodal says Yisroel Sternberg, 28, and Chana Beck, 25, were targeted for being "visibly religious Jews." In a statement days after the incident, a Spirit spokesperson said: "Our records indicate that this guest ignored flight and ground crew instructions multiple times, beginning with the boarding process and continuing through landing." In a follow-up statement, Dombrowski said the airline has "zero tolerance for discrimination." "Spirit Airlines strives to maintain a welcoming environment for all of our guests," he said. "Because of pending litigation, we will not be commenting further." Story has more details about the incident.<br/>
Southwest has updated its family boarding policy nearly two years after a same-sex Florida couple with children said they faced discrimination by a boarding agent. The revised policy says “two adults” can board together with children under 6 during family boarding. The policy had read “an adult” can board. “We are happy with the resolution,” said Grant Morse, 56, who said he faced discrimination in 2017 by a gate agent and considered legal action. The airline issued a statement that confirmed the policy was updated but refuted Morse’s account of what happened, as it did two years ago. The airline said no discrimination occurred. “Never has Southwest’s family boarding policy taken into account gender or marital status when determining ability to board early,” the statement said. The airline investigated what happened and said “confusion in the boarding area surrounded the number, not the genders, of adults allowed early access to the aircraft in our family boarding,” the statement said. “Both parents were allowed to board early with their children, but we requested a third adult board with her assigned group,” the airline said.<br/>
Icelandair posted a Q1 net loss of $55m, widened from a $35m net loss in the year-ago quarter as pressure on airfares, higher costs and Boeing 737 MAX grounding created uncertainty. The airline reported a 7% decline in operating income to $249m. Expenses dropped 8% to $263m in the quarter. As a result of the MAX grounding, the Reykjavik-based carrier—a long-time Boeing customer—is rethinking its long-term fleet strategy and is also evaluating becoming an all-Airbus operator. Icelandair’s six-strong 737 MAX 8 fleet has been grounded since March 12. A further three 737 MAX 9s are yet to be delivered and the timing is uncertain. The airline has updated its flight schedule through July 15 with a 1% capacity reduction. <br/>