Comedian and actor Marlon Wayans was cited for disturbing the peace after a dispute he said he had with a United Airlines employee over carry-on luggage at the Denver airport last week, police said Monday. Wayans said on Instagram that a gate agent told him he had too many bags and, despite consolidating his luggage, he was told he would have to gate check his bag rather than carry it on. Wayans, who said his treatment constituted harassment, said he took his ticket and began walking onto the plane. In response to questions about what had occurred, United issued a statement that did not refer to Wayans by name. “In Denver on Friday, a customer who had been told he would have to gate-check his bag instead pushed past a United employee at the jet bridge and attempted to board the aircraft. The customer did not fly on United to his destination,” it said. Wayans said he booked a flight instead on American Airlines to Kansas City, saying he would rather fly coach on another airline than fly first-class on United. He apologized to his fans in Kansas City for missing a performance. “Sorry KC I’m gonna miss tonight’s shows due to a United gate agent who probably hated white chicks,” Wayans said on Twitter, referring to his 2004 movie which also starred his brother Shawn Wayans. A spokesperson for Wayans, Leslie Sloane, said Wayans had a backpack, a small carry-on and garment bag with a suit jacket in it and put his backpack inside the garment bag but was still told he had to check his bag on a flight that was not full. She said it’s important to Wayans that everyone feels safe and respected when flying, no matter what class they are in.<br/>
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Air Canada said Friday it made a mistake in rejecting some compensation claims from the thousands of travellers affected by flight delays caused by computer malfunctions in recent weeks. In messages to some customers, the airline initially said the information technology fumble was out of its hands, relieving it of obligations to pay them compensation. “In this instance, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the disruption was caused by an event outside of our control. This flight is delayed due to an unforeseen technology issue, impacting one of our suppliers, which is impacting our operations,” the airline said Thursday in an email to passenger Douglas Judson. Judson said he arrived more than three hours late after his June 1 flight from Winnipeg to Toronto was delayed due to the IT defect. “I find the dishonesty and disrespect of it the most galling,” he said in a phone interview. “Some really interesting logic puzzles at Air Canada as to when something is actually their fault.” While denying his compensation request, Air Canada offered him a 15% fare discount on any upcoming flight as a “goodwill gesture.” When contacted by The Canadian Press on Friday, the Montreal-based airline said the response stemmed from an error. “Air Canada is offering compensation in line with APPR (Air Passenger Protection Regulations) compensation levels for flights which were affected by the IT outage. Some passengers had received erroneous responses from us, and we are in the process of re-contacting them with the correct responses,” spokeswoman Angela Mah wrote. Judson received an email Friday afternoon offering an apology and $400 in compensation.The country’s largest carrier has struggled with intermittent computer problems over the past few weeks.<br/>
EgyptAir announced the launch of two new routes: one to Manchester, UK, starting mid-July, the other to Delhi, India, starting August, a statement by the national carrier read on Sunday. The flagship carrier recently added the Dhaka route in Bangladesh and New Jersey's Newark city to its network of routes as part of its plan to expand its network of direct routes. Flights from Cairo to Manchester are scheduled to operate starting 15 July, with plans to operate five weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, using the Boeing B737-800NG model. The departure time for the first flight from Cairo, numbered MS781, will be at 10:00 am, arriving in Manchester at 1:30 pm local time. EgyptAir is scheduling four weekly flights to Delhi starting 1 August, using the latest A320neo Airbus model. The departure time from Cairo for flight number MS973 will be 11:40 am on Fridays and Sundays, arriving in Delhi at 8:45 pm local time. Another Cairo-Delhi flight will depart at 11:50 pm on Thursdays and Saturdays on flight number MS975, arriving at 8:55 am the next day in Delhi.<br/>
Ethiopia's national air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, announced on Monday that Yilma Merdassa, current head of Ethiopian Air Force, has been appointed as its new board chairman. Ethiopian Airlines said Merdassa has been appointed by the Ethiopian government as its new board chairman effective from last Thursday. Merdassa replaces Girma Wake, who had served as Ethiopian Airlines' board chairman since March 2022. Wake, who has more than three decades' experience in Ethiopian Airlines, previously served as its CEO in 2004-2011. The Ethiopian Airlines statement said the new board chairman is expected to continue to implement the company's Vision 2035. Founded in 1946, Ethiopian Airlines is the largest African carrier, with more than 130 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents. It plans to increase its number of international destinations to 207 and expand its aircraft fleet to 271, from the current 140, by the year 2035.<br/>
Singapore Airlines said Monday it appointed insider JoAnn Tan as its first female CFO to replace Tan Kai Ping who will take over as COO. JoAnn Tan, in her current role as senior vice president of marketing planning, led the company's efforts to restore its network connectivity and capacity after international borders reopened since the pandemic, the airlines said. Meanwhile, CFO Ping is known for helping strengthen the carrier's financial resilience and his involvement in the proposed merger between Air India and Vistara. He will now be responsible for Singapore Airlines' Cabin Crew, Customer Services and Operations, Engineering, and Flight Operations divisions.<br/>