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Delta Air Lines Tuesday officially canceled a deal for 18 Boeing widebody jets that, though long anticipated, still leaves a dent in the planemaker’s 2016 order book. The carrier inherited a 2005 deal for 18 Boeing 787 jets when it bought Northwest Airlines 3 years later, and in 2010 deferred deliveries until after 2020 in a move that analysts viewed as a signal it would never take the planes. Northwest had been the US launch customer for the 787 and took options on 50 more jets that were due to start arriving in 2008. Design and production problems delayed the first 787 delivery until 2011. Delta has focused its widebody jet fleet on Airbus, but remains a big Boeing customer, ordering 120 of its 737-900ER single-aisle jets. Neither company detailed the terms of the cancellation. <br/>

Korean Air Lines said it will allow crew members to "readily use stun guns" to manage violent passengers, and hire more male flight attendants, after coming in for criticism from US singer Richard Marx over its handling of a recent incident. The new crew guidelines, announced Tuesday following the Dec 20 incident, will also include more staff training, use of the latest devices to tie up a violent passenger, and the banning of passengers with a history of unruly behaviour. Men account for about one-tenth of Korean Air flight attendants, and the carrier said it will try to have at least one male on duty in the cabin for each flight. In South Korea, the number of unlawful acts committed aboard airplanes has more than tripled over the past 5 years, according to govt data. <br/>