British Airways-owner IAG is facing a record $230m fine for the theft of data from 500,000 customers from its website last year under tough new data-protection rules policed by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO proposed a penalty of GBP183.4m, or 1.5% of BA’s 2017 worldwide turnover, for the hack, which it said exposed poor security arrangements at the airline. BA indicated that it planned to appeal against the fine, the product of European data protection rules, called GDPR, that came into force in 2018. They allow regulators to fine companies up to 4% of their global turnover for data-protection failures. The attack involved traffic to the BA website being diverted to a fraudulent site, where customer details such as log in, payment card and travel booking details as well as names and addresses were harvested, the ICO said. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said: “People’s personal data is just that – personal. “When an organization fails to protect it from loss, damage or theft it is more than an inconvenience. That’s why the law is clear – when you are entrusted with personal data you must look after it.” BA’s chairman and CE Alex Cruz said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the proposed penalty. “British Airways responded quickly to a criminal act to steal customers’ data,” he said.<br/>
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A group of five businessmen led by a former AirAsia Group chairman Pahamin Abdul Rajab is said to have met up with Malaysia's PM Mahathir Mohamad on 3 July to propose a turnaround plan for Malaysia Airlines through its vehicle Najah Air. Malaysian media reports indicate that the group sought Mohamad's approval to conduct a due diligence on the carrier before being able to present a full turnaround proposal. The process could take between six to nine months, reports The Edge Malaysia. Najah Air's plan is for Malaysia Airlines to remain as a premium full service carrier, while turning turboprop operator Firefly into an "ultra low-cost carrier focusing on millennials." In a separate interview with The Star, Abdul Rajab says the group is looking to acquire a 49% stake in the carrier from Malaysia Airlines parent, sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional. He did not specify if it was Malaysia Airlines alone or its parent Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG). He went on to give the prime minister reassurance that it will not conduct any job cuts, or seek financial support from Khazanah. In return, the group sought management control of the company and zero government interference.<br/>
American Airlines announced a new deal Monday with Hong Kong-based Cathay Dragon Airlines that will give fliers access to southeast Asian hot spots such as Phuket, Thailand, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Through its Oneworld Alliance, American Airlines fliers will get flights through Hong Kong on Cathay Dragon to Dhaka, Bangladesh; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Da Nang, Vietnam; and Phuket, Thailand. American's network also will have more frequent flights to Penang, Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Hanoi, Vietnam. It strengthens American and Oneworld's ties to Asia, the fast-growing airline region where Oneworld is fighting for market share with Sky Team and Delta Air Lines. The codeshare will impact travellers going through Hong Kong International Airport, where Cathay Dragon is based. The Fort Worth-based airline flies directly to Hong Kong daily from Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles, although travelers also can connect through Chicago and New York JFK on Cathay Pacific. Cathay Dragon, formerly known as Dragonair, is a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, a longtime partner of American Airlines. <br/>
The Australian federal police obtained from Qantas Airways the personal travel records of a journalist, a revelation that alarmed the media industry on Monday after police raids on journalists last month raised questions about press freedoms in the country. A document obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald showed that the police approached the airline in March seeking travel records for a journalist who wrote a 2017 article alleging that the Australian military had committed possible war crimes against Afghan citizens. A Qantas officer then searched for details of two flights in 2016 at the request of the police, and “captured and printed” details of the trips, the paper said. The request drew sharp criticism from media groups. “The feeling is that journalism is under attack in this country,” said Paul Murphy, CE of the Australian union for journalists, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. “There is no regard for the important role journalists play in a functioning democracy.” The journalist whose travel records were obtained, Daniel Oakes, was part of an ABC team that published “The Afghan Files,” a 2017 article based on leaked military documents that described potential war crimes by Australian armed forces in Afghanistan.<br/>