Airlines and airports have blamed each other for steep increases in ticket prices over recent years. But neither has promised to lower prices despite airlines calling on the federal govt to intervene on their side of the dispute. The two big airline bosses will visit Canberra Wednesday to urge treasurer Josh Frydenberg to regulate airports to stop them charging excessive landing fees. “It’s a unicorn,” Qantas CE Alan Joyce said. “There shouldn’t be an unregulated revenue stream in a monopoly environment. There is in this case and that’s bad for consumers.” Virgin CE Paul Scurrah said airports have charged his airline an extra A$109m over the last 3 years. “So it makes it almost impossible for us to keep discounting airfares where we’re absorbing those charges going through,” he said. <br/>
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American Airlines is losing more luggage than any other US airline, according to data released by the US DoT. Baggage handling is especially poor on AA flights which pass through Philadelphia International, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. In June 2019, the airline lost bags at a rate of 11 per 1,000 passengers boarded, the worst rate among the 10 largest US airlines. Overall, American Airlines consistently ranks poorly in lost baggage reports released by the US DoT. The problem is especially acute in Philadelphia, a major hub for American Airlines, which accounts for 70% of traffic at the airport. At PHL, American mishandled 20 bags per 1,000 boarded in June, and 15 per 1,000 overall in 2019 so far. That included an incident in August where the airline lost all of the bags on a flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia. <br/>
The govt is still looking at solutions for troubled Malaysia Airlines, which is majority-owned by Khazanah Nasional, prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday. “It’s not easy ... we have done a lot. The previous govt gave them US$1.4b and sacked 6,000 people, and in addition, reduced the number of flights. So, if you reduce the personnel and the number of flights, the ratio between personnel and the activities doesn’t change,” Mahathir said. The PM noted that there has been talk of some companies taking a stake in the national carrier. However, he said there were also some people who were sentimental and wanted to see the company owned entirely by Malaysians. “But, there is no Malaysian investor strong enough to take it up,” the PM explained. <br/>