Alaska Air has been hit with a US consumer lawsuit alleging that the carrier’s proposed $1.9b acquisition of rival Hawaiian Airlines will lead to higher prices, job layoffs and fewer flights. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in federal court in Hawaii by eight airline passengers from Hawaii, California and other states. Some of the plaintiffs are former travel agents. The passengers said the Alaska Air deal, announced last year, will unlawfully harm air travel competition in violation of US antitrust law. “The current trend toward concentration, the lessening of competition and the tendency to create a monopoly in the airlines industry is unmatched, unparalleled, and dangerous,” the lawsuit said. Representatives from Alaska Air, which is the only defendant, and Hawaiian Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit appears to be the first filed over the proposed deal. In announcing the Hawaiian acquisition, Alaska Air said the combined company “will unlock more destinations for consumers and expand choice of critical air service options and access throughout the Pacific region.” The deal is under antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Department. The airlines said in March that they “have been working cooperatively with the DOJ and expect to continue to do so.” A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on Tuesday. The Biden-era Justice Department successfully sued to block JetBlue Airways’ $3.8b agreement with Spirit Airlines. After a judge blocked the deal, the airlines last month called off the merger. In another case, American Airlines has asked a US appeals court to reverse a Boston federal judge’s decision that its now-scrapped US Northeast partnership with JetBlue was anticompetitive. American Airlines said the ruling threatens other collaborations.<br/>
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An air quality event aboard a QantasLink Boeing 717-200 saw the aircraft land in Hobart with both flight crew affected by hypoxia-like symptoms. The incident has seen National Jet Systems, which operates under the QantasLink brand, update training and safety guidance about cabin air quality issues, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. On 6 June 2023 the aircraft, VH-NXM, was operating a service from Sydney to Hobart, on the sland of Tasmania. After departing Sydney two cabin crew in the front of the cabin detected a “strong chlorine odour” near the forward galley. They reported this to the flight crew, who had not detected the smell. At cruising altitude, the crew conducted a company air quality event procedure. At 21:08 local time, about 10nm (18.5km) from Hobart at an altitude of 4,000ft, the captain and first officer noticed a chlorine odour, likely coming from the air-conditioning vents. “About 30 seconds later, while the flight crew were configuring the aircraft for landing on runway 30, the captain noticed quickly developing adverse effects on vision, mental capacity, and movement, and self-assessed as unable to safely fly the aircraft,” says the enquiry. “The captain later described the symptoms as fogginess of thought, confusion, deteriorating situational awareness, weakness and tingling in the arms and legs, and narrowing of vision.” The captain transferred control to the first officer, who saw that the captain looked pale, but not incapacitated. Story has more.<br/>