Aviation

Since Israel began bombarding Beirut’s southern suburbs as part of its offensive against the Hezbollah militant group, Lebanon’s national air carrier has become a local icon simply by continuing to do its job. Middle East Airlines (MEA) is the only commercial airline still operating out of the Beirut airport, located on the coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah’s operations are based.

The Indian government plans a new law to punish those making hoax bomb threats against flights, which disrupt the schedules of airlines and cause massive inconvenience to thousands of passengers. In less than two weeks, more than 120 flights operated by Indian carriers have received bomb threats, including one that forced an Air India flight to land in Nunavut on Oct. 14 as a precaution. 

WestJet says it ushering in a “new era” by returning to its roots through an updated business strategy that includes the launch of a comprehensive brand platform and fully integrated campaign, anchored by a new tagline ‘Where Your Story Takes Off.’

Air Transat has announced it has partnered with FLX Platform by Accelya to facilitate its New Distribution Capabilities (NDC). Powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the platform enabled more than half of all global NDC transactions in 2023, according to data from T2RL and is now generating more than 350k personalized offers per second across its airline partners.

Flair Airlines continues to elicit the most complaints amongst passengers in the latest statistics from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). Flair topped the chart with an average of 17.9 complaints per 100 flights for the period April through June 2024. By contrast, the best – at the bottom of the chart – was Porter Airlines, with only 1.2 complaints per 100 flights.

The United States has fined German airline Lufthansa $4 million for its treatment of a group of Jewish passengers who were denied boarding a 2022 flight in Frankfurt after they had flown to Germany from New York.

Air Canada pilots have given a green light to a tentative agreement with the airline, easing any fears of a future strike. The Air Line Pilots Association says its 5,200 members voted 67 percent in favour of the contract, which provides a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42% over four years and goes into effect immediately.

A Turkish Airlines jetliner headed from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after the pilot died on board. Pilot İlçehin Pehlivan, 59, lost consciousness at some point after Flight TK204 took off from Seattle Tuesday night, Turkish Airlines spokesperson Yahya Üstün said in a statement.

Qantas Airways has drawn up a stir after broadcasting a slightly racy movie across an entire flight. And the Australian carrier now is apologizing to customers.

Toronto Pearson airport ranks a lowly 19th out of 20 in the newly released 2024 J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study, scoring a lowly 559 on a 1,000-point scale, and below the 595-point media. Pearson was listed in the study’s “mega” airport category, defined as facilities with 33 million or more passengers per year.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has fined Air Canada US$250,000 for operating flights carrying United Airlines’ designator code in regions in which a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight prohibition was in effect for US operators. The airline was ordered to cease and desist from future similar violations. 

In a victory for air travellers, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld rules that bolster compensation for passengers subjected to delays and damaged luggage on international flights.

With over 2.4 million seats serving Winnipeg this year, WestJet says it has expanded operations by 21 percent in 2024 and will continue to strengthen travel options for both business and leisure in Manitoba’s capital.

Frequent travellers may want to think twice before repeatedly and excessively searching for the best flight fares options. It’s an exercise, experts warn, that may lead to price actually going up due – a phenomenon occurs because online booking platforms deploy cookies to track and remember an individuals search patterns, prompting dynamic pricing adjustments.

The Competition Bureau says it has obtained court orders requiring Air Canada and WestJet to hand over information for the watchdog’s market study into airline competition. Granted by the Federal Court, the rulings require the country’s two biggest carriers to produce records and answer questions around barriers to entry into the field, performance metrics and agreements with airports and other airlines.

Qatar Airways – named the world’s best airline by Skytrax in 2024 – will launch a new service to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) starting on Dec. 11, with three weekly non-stop flights to Hamad International Airport (DOH), similarly rated the World’s Best Airport. 

Southwest Airlines have unveiled their vision for Southwest 2.0, an airline that for the first time will give passengers assigned seats, charge them extra for more legroom, and offer red-eye flights. And bags still will fly free.

The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she’ll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.

Alaska Airlines has closed its $1 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airline, shortly after the US federal government removed the last major regulatory obstacle to the deal. Alaska says it will keep Hawaiian as a separate brand, eliminating the need to repaint planes.

Low entry-level pay in the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement, some aviators and experts say. While the tentative agreement’s cumulative 42 percent wage hike over four years applies to all flight crew – a big topline gain after a decade of two per cent annual raises – many could still feel left out of the windfall.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario has posted a closure advisory, including claims protocols, for Canada Jetlines, which ceased operations on Aug. 15, and was declared bankrupt on Sept. 11, 2024. On the same date, Canada Jetlines Vacations terminated its TICO registrations.

The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a Delta Air Lines flight with cabin pressure issues left some passengers with bleeding eardrums, headaches and bloody noses. The flight was travelling Sunday from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon, when pilots of the five-year-old Boeing 737-900ER aircraft noticed a pressurization problem and made an emergency landing back in Utah’s capital, according to the flight log.

Politics, public opinion, and salary hikes south of the border helped push Air Canada toward a deal that secures major wage gains for pilots, experts say. The tentative agreement includes an “unheard of” 42 percent wage hike over four years, according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Travellers, business groups and politicians – and the travel industry! – are feeling relief after Air Canada and the union representing thousands of its pilots negotiated a new labour deal and averted a disruptive, countrywide shutdown. The airline announced shortly after midnight Sunday that it had reached a tentative, four-year collective agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association. 

Despite losing nearly $40 million in its third quarter ending July 31, Transat AT CEO Annick Guérard says the company is moving away from its disruptions earlier in the year with flight attendants labour negotiations, and that next year will be more “stable” than 2024.

Everyone’s worst travel nightmare is arriving at destination only to find their baggage didn’t travel with them. In the US alone, over 7 million pieces of luggage were reported as mishandled from 2021 to 2024, with American Airlines being the company with the most luggage mishandled.  

Two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a taxiway at Atlanta’s airport Tuesday morning, with a larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet. The airline said the wing of a Delta Airbus A350 jet that was bound for Tokyo hit the tail of a smaller Bombardier CRJ-900 that was on an adjacent taxiway. The smaller plane, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, was preparing to take off for Lafayette, Louisiana.

The US government is examining the four largest US airline frequent-flyer programs and how they devalue points that consumers have earned and frequently change the number of points or miles needed to book flights.