A disabled travel blogger alleged Delta Airlines’s flight attendants threatened to forcefully deplane him after he insisted he would wait inside the plane until his wheelchair was brought to the gate. Cory Lee, a Georgia-based blogger diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of two, has been a wheelchair user for most of his life. On 13 November, when the incident reportedly occurred, he was traveling from Santiago, Chile to Atlanta, Georgia. Lee was waiting to deplane when he learned his wheelchair was not at the jet bridge, after which he insisted on waiting inside the plane till he had access to it. He claimed in an Instagram post that the crew “immediately got livid” and asked him to disembark. The accessibility travel blogger held his ground as his request falls under the Air Carrier Access Act, which allows a passenger to remain seated until their wheelchair is brought to them. According to the US transportation department, the law mandates airlines return wheelchairs to users as closely as possible to the door of the aircraft, if requested. Lee said it can take nearly an hour for his chair to get to the jet bridge and explained that the aisle chair used to transport wheelchair users to their own wheelchairs is uncomfortable for him. Story has further details.<br/>
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A black Air France steward won a 10-year legal battle on Oct 24 for the right to work with braided hair on flights after a decision by France's highest appeals court. Aboubakar Toure from Paris sued the airline in 2012 for discrimination after he was barred from flights once he changed his hairstyle to have short dreadlocks tied behind his head. For several years, he wore a wig before being eventually suspended for not conforming to the company's uniform rules which allow women, but not men, to have braided hair in the cabin. An unemployment court and a lower court had both ruled in Air France's favour before last week's decision by the Cour de Cassation which determined the hair policy amounted to gender discrimination. The court ruled that policy differences towards men and women can only be justified if they are related to "essential and decisive professional requirements." It said that "the manner of wearing one's hair is not a part of the uniform nor its extension".<br/>
Korean Air has taken delivery of its first A321neo – marking its entry as the region’s newest A320 family operator – as it unveils new short-haul cabin products including full-flat seats in business class. The aircraft is the first of 30 A321neos the SkyTeam carrier has on order, and is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines. Deliveries of all 30 aircraft are expected to be completed by 2027, says Korean Air. The A321neos are part of a broader medium-term fleet replacement strategy which will also see the airline receive more Boeing 787s and 737 Max aircraft. Korean Air says the narrowbodies will be deployed on short-haul routes to Japan, Southeast Asia and China, and will be configured to seat 182 passengers in two classes, with eight seats in business class and 174 in economy. The carrier is the first Korean carrier to feature fully lie-flat seats in business class on narrowbody aircraft. Its other narrowbodies – 737s and A220s – all feature recliner-style seats. “The A321neo’s fully lie-flat business seats will provide seamless comfort to transfer passengers, who have combined itineraries of long-haul flights on the Americas and Europe routes, and short-haul flights on Southeast Asia, China and Japan routes,” states Korean Air. The new products will also feature a different colour scheme: dark greys and gold in business class and woven “bold colours” with navy-coloured headrests in economy class. It is a marked change from its current colour scheme, which sees business class seats in turquoise, while economy seats are a darker shade of blue. <br/>