Holding unruly airplane passengers accountable for their actions has become increasingly vital over the past two years as recorded incidents aboard aircraft have reached new highs. Delta wants to bar convicted passengers from future travel on any airline. The “no-fly” list “will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International, said the proposed no-fly list “is incredibly important” to ensure the safety of all travelers. “A no-fly list should be on the table because there has to be very severe consequences for those who are acting out,” Nelson said. “It’s a relatively small number of people, but they have created incredible harm, incredible risk to the safety of everyone on board, and at the very least a major inconvenience to the rest of the passengers.” For the week ending January 23, 2022, there were 4.9 incidents per 10,000 flights. There have been 73 total incidents so far this year. According to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, “the FAA is continuing to vigorously enforce and encourage referral, criminal referrals where appropriate, for this kind of behavior.”<br/>
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Mexico's flagship carrier Aeromexico announced plans Wednesday to operate out of a brand new airport near the capital, the construction of which has been a priority for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The airline, which will still operate most flights out of Mexico City's current hub, had previously planned to wait for the new airport's opening before deciding whether to use it. With two commercial runways built on a military air base outside the capital, Felipe Angeles International Airport is meant to take the pressure off the city's Benito Juarez International, which handled 50.3 million passengers in 2019 before the pandemic. The current hub's location in eastern Mexico City is far more convenient for many residents of the capital than Felipe Angeles, which is located about 40 km north of the capital's historic district. Named after a general in the Mexican revolution, the new airfield has been engulfed in controversy from the start. After taking office in 2018, Lopez Obrador canceled another airport project launched by the previous government and already one-third complete. He called the $13b project a "bottomless pit" rife with corruption and decided instead to contract the military to turn the Santa Lucia air base into a second airport for the sprawling Mexican capital, at an estimated cost of $3.6b. In addition to Aeromexico, two low-cost Mexican airlines -- Volaris and Viva Aerobus -- have announced plans to operate a small number of flights at the new airport, with most staying at Benito Juarez. International carriers have not yet commented on whether they will also use the new airport, given Aeromexico's decision.<br/>
Italy’s government is set to approve the start of the process to sell ITA Airways -- the successor to Alitalia -- as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said, following an approach by Mediterranean Shipping with support from Lufthansa. The administration led by Mario Draghi will discuss the sale of the state-controlled company at a cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday and is taking a positive view on a deal with MSC, the people said, asking not to be named discussing confidential deliberations. Shipping giant MSC made a formal expression of interest in buying a controlling stake in ITA last month and is seeking a 90-day exclusive negotiating period. The company’s plan includes bringing Lufthansa in as an industrial partner from the outset. Lufthansa could also eventually take an equity stake, the German airline has said. A representative for ITA declined to comment. The divestment of ITA, after repeated failures by previous governments to sell Alitalia, would mark a major success for Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank. The failed carrier racked up losses for decades and was only able to continue flying by being propped up with state aid. An attempt to sell the Alitalia brand last year failed to attract significant offers. <br/>
A French trial of Air France and Airbus on charges of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of a plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris will open on October 10, a legal source told AFP on Thursday. The airline and Europe's top aircraft maker had sought to have the case thrown out, denying that criminal negligence caused Flight AF 447 to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. It took two years to find the wreckage of the Airbus A330 jet, which was eventually located by remote-controlled submarines at a depth of 3,900 metres (13,000 feet). Investigators determined the crash was caused by errors by pilots disorientated by faulty speed monitoring equipment. Yet investigating magistrates overseeing the case dropped the charges in 2019, attributing the crash mainly to pilot error, a decision that infuriated victims' families. Prosecutors contested the decision and a Paris appeals court ordered last year that a trial could go ahead. It is expected to run until early December. Air France is accused of indirectly causing the tragedy by providing insufficient training on how to react in case of malfunction of instruments known as Pitot tubes, which enable pilots to monitor the plane's speed. Both companies turned to France's top appeals court in a bid to avoid the trial, but the request was denied last August.<br/>