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About 180 Korean Air pilots will go on a 10-day strike Wednesday, calling for a 29% wage hike, the Korean Air Pilots Union said. It is the first walkout by the union since Dec 2005 when Korean Air cancelled more than 1,000 flights and suffered more than US$167m in losses in just 4 days. The airline cancelled 148 flights this time, including 12 cargo flights. Despite the strike, the company said it will maintain an operation rate of 97% for international flights, 90% for flights to Jeju and 72% for other domestic flights. Korean Air has halted 24 international flights departing from Incheon International. Their destinations include Narita and Osaka in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and cities in Saudi Arabia. <br/>

Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico have accepted antitrust conditions imposed by US regulators on the carriers’ transborder joint venture (JV), and will move forward to establish the JV. Delta and Aeromexico had threatened to “reconsider” the JV unless the US DoT dropped the conditions it was requiring for granting the JV antitrust immunity, including the divestiture of 24 slot pairs at Mexico City International and 6 slot pairs at New York JFK International. But ultimately the airlines decided there was too much to gain from the JV to drop it over regulatory conditions. “Together, Delta and Aeromexico are stronger in the US-Mexico market than either airline can be on its own,” Delta CE Ed Bastian said, adding that the JV will offer passengers “an unmatched array of options” for transborder travel. <br/>

There’s an old fashioned air-shuttle war going on. Prices are tumbling for flights between New York LaGuardia and Boston Logan, with new entrant JetBlue Airways shaking things up. Even before that, airline passenger traffic on the route grew 7% in the 12 months ended June 30. Amtrak has seen Acela Express ridership slip. The New York-Boston shuttle was once the jewel in the airline crown, a high-profile and often highly profitable service that gave an airline stature and loyalty from business travellers. But the shuttle has been a shadow of its former self since the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks and Amtrak’s introduction of high-speed Acela service 16 years ago. Security screening hassles and delays frustrated passengers and made travel by train, bus or car about as easy and timely. <br/>

Two months after a black doctor's Facebook post alleged mistreatment by a Delta Air Lines crew member, the company has announced a change in policy. In October, Dr Tamika Cross said she was rebuffed by a flight attendant after Cross tried to help a passenger who fell ill. She complained that a crew member refused to believe a young, black woman could be a doctor. The flight attendant demanded proof, Cross said, but Cross left her hospital identity badge in Houston. Now, as of Dec. 1, Delta stopped requiring medical professionals to provide credentials before helping in a medical emergency. "When situations like the one described by Dr Cross arise, we have a responsibility to our employees and our customers to review the circumstances and our policies for opportunities to listen, learn and improve." <br/>

Delta Air Lines removed 2 men from a plane at London Heathrow before take-off Wednesday, and one of the men accused the airline of acting on passenger complaints that he had been speaking on a phone in Arabic. Adam Saleh, a Muslim American, appeared in a Twitter video retweeted more than 440,000 times. "We're getting kicked out because we spoke a different language," he said. It was not immediately clear what took place before the recording began. Saleh has posted what he calls "experiment" videos in the past showing him speaking Arabic on planes. Delta said 2 customers were removed from the flight after a disturbance in the cabin prompted more than 20 customers to express their discomfort. Airlines have in recent months battled negative publicity over incidents in which Muslim passengers were removed from flights. <br/>