Aviation

Alleging a conspiracy between Lufthansa management and Air Berlin, budget airline Ryanair filed a complaint with European Union (EU) competition authorities on Tuesday.

Ryanair filed the complaint after Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy protection and received a government loan of 150 million euro ($177M) to stay afloat.

The government loan is expected to help Air Berlin to keep flights going on for the next quarter months, allowing the company’s negotiations for a possible deal with German airline Lufthansa to continue.

On Saturday, reports said that Alaska Air Group Inc is close to settling a deal to buy Virgin America Inc. Virgin is the ninth biggest airline in the United States by passenger traffic. The deal is expected to be for greater than $2 billion. The bid surpassed the offer from JetBlue Airways Corp.

The acquisition would ushering the first commercial airline merger in the United States after US Airways and American Airlines merged in 2013. It formed the largest carrier in the world.

American Airlines Group Inc. that has been making an effort to improve its relation with its workers gave in to the pressure from employees to adopt a profit-sharing program. For a while the airline's main focus has been to improve the labor relations and to perk up its performance.

On Friday, American Airlines Group Inc reported first-quarter profit, slightly higher than estimated by analysts. The airline also announced a $0.10 dividend thanks to cheap fuel that helped its bottom line. American is the world's largest passenger carrier.

Last quarter, the airline earned $932 million, approximately double its profit a year earlier. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, apart from special items, the airline earned $1.2 billion, or $1.73 per diluted share, compared to analysts' average forecast of $1.71 per diluted share.

An emergency landing has been made by American Airlines flight from Dallas when the pilots sensed an `unusual odor' in the cockpit. The plane was traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from Dallas-Fort Worth when diverted to Tulsa.

The plane landed safely at Tulsa International Airport, and the 63 passengers and a crew of four were taken to the terminal. Tulsa International Airport spokeswoman Alexis Higgins said that the passengers were asked to get down when airport responders ensure that everybody was ok. The passengers were provided with transportation to the terminal building.

Qantas Airways Limited, the flag carrier of Australia is partnering with Samsung to trial the use of Gear VR headsets. The main aim behind it is to provide a much more immersive in-flight entertainment experience to the customers.

On Tuesday, American Airlines announced that the aviation major earned $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $4.2 billion for all of 2014. The profits excluded special charges and items. American Airlines earned $597 million for the fourth quarter and $2.9 billion for the year. These numbers represent the best fourth quarter and full year in the history of American Airlines.

The company also reported the biggest profit that surpassed No. 2 Delta Air Lines by $1.35 billion.

On Friday, Frontier Airlines announced that it will outsource around 1,300 employees. This move in which the employees will be replaced with contract workers will affect around a third of the carrier's total workforce.

It is said that the airline's outsourcing will look around 1,160 jobs in Denver and another 140 in Mikwaukee. The company also unveiled that it plans to outsource the jobs in Mikwaukee to a privately held company based in Nashville.

The nation's largest flight attendants union wants airline passengers to return to stowing cell phones and other electronics at the time of takeoffs and landings.

Struggling Malaysian Airlines (MAS) revealed on Friday that it is suspending trading in its shares. The news came out before an announcement was made later in the day on restructuring plan to enable the carrier remain afloat following two devastating air tragedies.

State investment fund Khazanah Nasional, owner of 70% of Malaysia Airlines, made the announcement for plans of delisting and taking the airline private. Now, it is expected that the plans pertinent to reforms will be announced during a press briefing at 3.00pm.