News and notes from around the interweb:

• Etihad is cancelling most of its orders for new aircraft

  

• American Airlines and LATAM have withdrawn their request for the US to approve an anti-trust immunized revenue-sharing joint venture, with plans to re-submit it. Presumably this follows Chile’s conditional approval; they have to revise the plan in light of conditions being placed on the deal.

• The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security claims only half of the money spent on air marshals is wasted. Be skeptical. Of course we don’t know why they think half isn’t wasted since the report is classified.

  

• Airport funds have to be used for the airport, and cities can’t run them as profit centers. However they can pay market rate for services, but what’s market when services are provided by a monopoly (government)? TF Green airport in Rhode Island currently pays $500,000 a year for police and fire services. The city council wants to increase that by $900,000 because of budget shortfalls. Now they’re fighting over whether that’s legal (answer: probably not).

• Italy’s government is willing to inject capital into Alitalia in exchange for equity as part of a rescue deal. If Delta and easyJet buy the carrier that means Italian government funds making it cheaper and indeed possible for them to do so. Yet that’s exactly what Delta has been lobbying against for years — except when it benefits them.

• United takes a discount version of American’s approach to on the spot compensation for problems, giving customer service agents the ability to comp an inflight drink. They probably saw that at American employees were being too generous with the compensation.

  Having a problem with @united? Agents will soon be able to issue chits on the spot for in-flight booze. From employee comms: pic.twitter.com/5CSfXWvAJE

  — Brian Sumers (@BrianSumers) February 14, 2019