A New York woman was sentenced to four months in federal prison after spitting on a passenger, then shoving a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight in February 2021, a year that saw a record number of incidents of unruly and violent behavior on airplanes. Kelly Pichardo, a 32-year-old single mother who lives in the Bronx, was sentenced on Aug. 29 in U.S. District Court in Arizona, where Judge Dominic W. Lanza also ordered her to pay $9,123 in restitution. After her release from prison she will be placed on supervised release for 36 months, according to court documents. “There is a line between boorish behavior on an airplane and criminal activity, and the defendant clearly crossed it,” Gary Restaino, the United States Attorney for the district of Arizona, said in a statement. Pichardo, who has a 12-year-old daughter and lives with her mother, did not respond to requests for comment. She pleaded guilty in May to one count of interference with a flight crew member. “Ms. Pichardo is very ashamed of her actions on the plane that day,” her lawyer, Ana Botello, said in an email. The altercation occurred as mask mandates and Covid-19 restrictions led to tension on airplanes, where unruly and violent passengers shoved, struck and yelled at flight attendants and other passengers. Pichardo was flying first class from Dallas to Los Angeles with a friend on Feb. 24, 2021, according to prosecutors and court documents that described the case. The friend used a racial slur as they were talking, prompting a Black passenger who was sitting behind the two women to touch Pichardo on the shoulder and admonish them. Pichardo spit on the passenger, who suffered “racist abuse,” prosecutors said. She became “even more irate” as other passengers tried to record the interaction with their cellphone cameras, according to court documents.<br/>
general
Canada’s new airline rules now compel airlines to make sure passengers get where they’re going: within 48 hours, they must agree to issue refunds. But the additional regulations, born out of frustrations over how airlines treated customers at the start of the pandemic, won’t help an Ottawa couple and others. “Two and a half years later we’re trying to get our money back for something we were never given, never utilized, because of the pandemic,” said Shawn Allenby. Allenby, his wife, Debbie, and their children were scheduled to take an all-inclusive sun vacation with their two children. But on March 13, 2020, the Allenby family say they obeyed the direction of federal and public health officials not to travel for non-essential purposes internationally. “We were hearing from everybody, all the authorities, not to travel, to stay home,” said Debbie. The couple say they repeatedly tried to get through to their travel agency and the airline to inform the airline that they were heeding public health advice — but couldn’t through jammed phone lines. Air Transat considered them a no-show and cancelled the trip without providing a credit or a refund. Since then, they have written letters to their travel agency, credit card company, their Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and others to make their case. Stories like theirs were common at the beginning of the pandemic. “The pressure from the public was overwhelming. It’s no fault of the consumer that there’s a pandemic,” said John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre based in Ottawa. Story has more.<br/>
France’s civil aviation authority told airlines to halve flight schedules on Friday due to a planned strike by air-traffic controllers, bringing disruption back to the country’s airports after a difficult summer. The DGAC’s guidance came in response to a walkout called for Sept. 16 by the SNCTA union, the authority said in an emailed statement Tuesday. Minimum service rules will be in place where applicable, it said. In spite of the preventive measures, “flight cancellations and significant delays are to be expected” everywhere in French territory, DGAC said. “Passengers who can are invited to postpone their trips,” it said. Air France-KLM shares slumped as much as 5.6% in Paris, extending declines after the strike announcement, and traded 4.1% lower at the close. Airlines were forced to scrap thousands of flights this summer as airports shrank schedules in response to a staffing crisis, with the situation exacerbated by strikes among pilots, cabin crew, baggage handlers and others pressing for higher pay. Hubs in cities across Europe including London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt were among those suffering from the disruption.<br/>
Authorities in China's eastern province of Zhejiang ordered ships to return to port, told schools to close and evacuated tourists from nearby islands, as one of this year's strongest typhoons is set to make landfall on Wednesday. Typhoon Muifa intensified on Tuesday as it barrelled towards the twin port cities of Ningbo and Zhoushan, which share the ranking of second-busiest port in China, in terms of cargo handled. State media said China's 12th cyclone of the year was expected to make landfall between the cities of Wenling and Zhoushan, bringing torrential rains on its sweep through eastern and southern coastal areas. That includes the commercial hub of Shanghai, just north of Ningbo and Zhoushan, the official Xinhua news agency said. China Southern Airlines said it has cancelled 25 flights at Shanghai airports on Tuesday and plans to cancel 11 more on Wednesday. All flights at the airports in Ningbo and Zhoushan have been cancelled for Wednesday, flight data platform Variflight told Reuters.<br/>
Police officers increased their patrols at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday as Japan strengthens security ahead of a state funeral later this month for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Accompanied by two dogs, around 60 officers, some carrying metal detectors, inspected trash cans, lockers and unattended carts at the airport's Terminal 3, which is expected to be used by foreign delegations attending the Sept. 27 event in Tokyo. Police also distributed pamphlets to airport users asking for their cooperation in preventing terrorist attacks such as by reporting suspicious objects. The inspection, which was opened to the press, also involved the airport's terminal building operator and a security company. The Japanese government expects more than 190 foreign delegations to visit Japan to attend the ceremony at the Nippon Budokan hall. "It is the police's responsibility to secure the safety of dignitaries traveling to Japan for the state funeral," said Yusuke Takayama, an official of the Metropolitan Police Department, vowing an "all-out" effort by the department. US Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and European Council President Charles Michel are among the high-ranking foreign dignitaries expected to travel to Japan for the funeral.<br/>
Boeing’s deliveries rose to 35 planes last month, helped in part by a resumption in handovers of new 787 Dreamliners to airlines. Manufacturing flaws had paused deliveries of the wide-body Dreamliners for much of the past two years. Lufthansa and KLM were among the customers that received new Dreamliners in August after the planes were cleared by the FAA, Boeing said. Each carrier received one plane apiece. The two Dreamliners American Airlines received last month were not included in the tally. Those jets were flown to Victorville, California, for Boeing to install Wi-Fi equipment and other items in the planes’ interiors. Boeing also logged 26 net orders for new planes last month, half of them for 737 Max aircraft. Its net orders for the year stand at 388 and deliveries at 277 planes. That trails the 637 net orders and 380 deliveries rival Airbus has reported. Both manufacturers have said supply chain constraints are limiting their abilities to ramp up production despite the surge in air travel.<br/>
China’s homebuilt single-aisle passenger jet, the C919, aimed at rivaling planes made by Airbus SE and Boeing Co., could be certified by Chinese regulators as early as Sept. 19, local media reported Tuesday, in a nod to the aircraft’s model type. The long-awaited granting of an airworthiness certificate for the jet built by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, or Comac, is expected imminently, the reports said, after data from FlightRadar24 showed two C919s landing in Beijing on Tuesday in their first visit to the city’s main airport. The planes were accompanied by a third jet, an ARJ-21, a type of aircraft already in service. Certification by aviation officials in China would finally pave the way for Comac’s C919 to start commercial flights, some 14 years after development began. An initial test flight took place in 2017, but drawn out certification efforts meant Comac missed a deadline of delivering the first plane by the end of 2021. China Eastern Airlines is expected to be the first carrier to operate the China-made jet. However the latest available fleet plans through June 2022 for the Shanghai-based carrier showed it taking delivery of one C919 jet, instead of three this year. The C919 has several hundred orders -- both firm ones and options to take delivery at some future point -- from several Chinese airlines and lessors, though it’s unclear how many will actually be realized. The two C919s, touted to eventually rival single-aisle jets made by Airbus and Boeing, landed in Beijing late Tuesday morning local time.<br/>
Just over 5m people viewed Queen Elizabeth's final flight on Tuesday, as the journey carrying the late monarch's body from Edinburgh to London became the most tracked flight in history. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said a total of 4.79m people watched the flight live online, with a further quarter of million people watching on its YouTube channel. The company said an unprecedented 6m people tried to follow the flight within the first minute of the Boeing C17A Globemaster turning on its transponder at Edinburgh's airport, affecting the stability of the platform. "Seventy years after her first flight as Queen aboard the BOAC Argonaut 'Atalanta,' Queen Elizabeth II's final flight is the most tracked flight in Flightradar24 history," Flightradar24 Director of Communications said in an email. Flightradar24 said the flight was more than twice the previous record of 2.2m – when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew on a controversial visit to Taiwan in August.<br/>