American Airlines is providing another reason for its high number of delayed flights this summer — an antiquated, overworked kitchen at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. American says 2,300 flights were delayed between Memorial Day and Labor Day so that food and drinks could be prepared and loaded on the planes. That is more than 20 delays a day during the peak summer travel season. American says catering-related delays at DFW have been getting worse for years, and it has a solution: a new $100m kitchen. The DFW Airport board is scheduled to vote on the project Thursday after hearing a presentation earlier this week. “The current catering kitchen was built in 1982 and is too small and inefficient for today's needs,” airline spokeswoman Annie Lorenzana said. “A new kitchen is critical to enable future expansion,” including when a new, sixth terminal that opens as soon as 2025. American is the dominant carrier at DFW, operating more than 900 flights a day. The airline outsources catering to LSG Sky Chefs. If the airport board approves the project, American will negotiate a 40-year lease for more than 21 acres to house a new kitchen and related facilities. It would pay an estimated $39m in rent over the life of the lease, in addition to the upfront costs, according to airport documents.<br/>
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Qantas is to keep using smaller planes to fly between Hong Kong and Australia over the next six months, as its CEO revealed the airline’s local business had yet to emerge from the downturn brought about by the city’s civil unrest. Speaking at an event to mark the official unveiling of its luxury first-class lounge at Singapore’s Changi Airport, Alan Joyce said the decision was expected to limit the A$25m (US$17.1m) impact on the airline’s earnings through H1 2020. Qantas previously blamed the Hong Kong protests for affecting its profitability by the end of December. However, for now, there has been no downward revision on the figure to account for next year. “Nothing has really changed from the A$25m. Issues are still continuing,” Joyce said. Between August and October, passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport fell by 2.3m people compared with the same period last year. Similarly, Cathay Pacific flew 770,000 fewer people year on year during the same period. The often violent protests and rioting in Hong Kong have entered a six month, and since they began in June the city has since fallen into recession, industries have suffered, and the travel and tourism sector has been decimated with a sharp drop in visitor arrivals.<br/>