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A Massachusetts man was indicted Wednesday for allegedly attacking a flight attendant earlier this year with a broken metal spoon and attempting to open an airliner’s emergency door on a cross-country flight, federal prosecutors said. Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, was indicted on one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon in the March 5 incident on United Airlines Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston. In his last court appearance in July, a federal judge ruled that Torres was not competent to stand trial. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein, basing her decision on a mental health evaluation of Torres and her own observations in court, determined that further treatment is warranted. Federal public defender Joshua Hanye, who represented Torres in that court appearance, could not be reached for comment. According to prosecutor and witness accounts, Torres went on a midair rant and tried to stab a crewmember with a modified metal spoon. The plane was about 45 minutes from Boston when the crew received an alarm that a side door on the aircraft was disarmed, according to court documents. One flight attendant noticed the door’s locking handle had been moved. Another saw Torres near the door and believed he had moved the handle. Cabin pressure during flight prevents airplane doors from opening. Torres started loudly rambling that his father was Dracula, that he wanted to be shot so he could be reincarnated and that he would kill everyone on board, another passenger said.<br/>

Air Canada said on Wednesday it will operate the airline as usual when its pilots conduct an informational picket at the company's main hub, the Pearson International Airport, on Friday. Canadian pilots are pressing for higher salaries and better scheduling after US counterparts at companies including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines made big gains in deals struck over the last few months. "As we watch Air Canada cut routes due to an industry-wide shortage of pilots, we encourage them to close the growing wage gap between Canada and the United States," said Charlene Hudy, chair of the Air Canada Master Executive Council, in a statement on Tuesday. The move also comes amid wider strike action in North America that has seen workers across industries demand better pay and benefits in a tight labor market and as inflation stays high. Air Canada's estimated 4,500 pilots have received a 2% wage increase per year since 2014. The country's inflation rate was running at 4.3% in March, a 19-month low. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union, began bargaining for new labor terms this summer, before the end of their decade-long contract. The company said on Wednesday its contract with ALPA's provisions remains in effect ahead of the picket. The union had a May deadline for using a type of escape clause that would allow for negotiations this year. The agreement now runs until Sept. 29, although its provisions will apply beyond that date.<br/>

Portugal's soon to be privatised TAP airline would fit right into IAG's profile as a developer of airlines and hubs, also strengthening its existing operations, the CEO of the British Airways owner told Reuters on Wednesday. "We'll have to study the process (of privatisation) and carefully consider the details, but we feel optimistic and believe that TAP can become another success story within IAG," Luis Gallego said on the sidelines of the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon. Portugal's government is expected to approve the legal framework for the privatisation on Thursday. It has said it intends to keep a strategic stake in the carrier. At least two other major global players - Lufthansa and Air France-KLM - have shown an interest in TAP. IAG also owns Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling. Gallego said growth in Irish carrier Aer Lingus, which has more than doubled its long-haul capacity and added nine destinations in North America since its acquisition four years ago, could serve as a model for TAP. The acquisition also helped develop the Dublin hub. "We can jointly develop the Lisbon hub and provide significant value to Portugal and the Portuguese people...Our networks are highly complementary with many opportunities to connect passengers from Lisbon to Latin America, North America and Africa," Gallego said. TAP operates several routes to Brazil and connects Lisbon to Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. "Our hubs would feed into TAP's network from IAG's home bases: Dublin, London, Madrid and Barcelona," Gallego added.<br/>

Scandinavia's biggest airline SAS could announce as early as this week the result of an equity fundraising from potential investors looking to rescue the loss-making carrier. SAS filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last year as it struggled to slash costs and debt amid strikes by pilots. The airline, which in its glory days in the 1980s was named the world's best airline by an industry group, has for more than a decade struggled to compete with low-cost rivals in Europe's fragmented aviation sector. Now, having been hammered by plunging demand and travel restrictions during the pandemic, SAS follows other national carriers such as Italy's ITA Airways and Portugal's TAP in seeking new investors. SAS hopes to raise 9.5b Swedish crowns ($863m) in new equity and convert 20b crowns of debt into equity. The Danish state has said it is willing to increase its stake in SAS to around 30% from 22% currently, and that it is looking for one or more shareholders to take a majority stake. Any deal would require SAS to maintain Copenhagen as a key passenger hub, Denmark's finance ministry has said. Other potential bidders include US asset manager Apollo Global Management, which last year provided SAS with $700m in bridge financing to see it through the bankruptcy proceeding. Apollo may convert the loan into equity and thereby become a major shareholder. A source familiar with the matter said before Monday's bidding deadline that Apollo was in "pole position" to become majority shareholder and that it was aiming to take a 70% stake. Story has more.<br/>

Asiana Airlines’ initial response to a recent mid-air door-opening incident was “inappropriate” and will be fined for it, the South Korean government’s investigation showed, Mr Park Sang-hyuk of the main opposition Korea Democratic Party said on Wednesday. According to a report Mr Park received from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the ministry has imposed a fine on Asiana Airlines and recommended country’s second-largest air carrier take corrective actions to prevent similar incidents in the future. Earlier in May, a passenger opened the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines plane right before landing at Daegu International Airport. None of the 194 passengers were hurt. The report said Asiana Airlines violated its own cabin crew manual, which states that passenger activities must be monitored for safe operations. According to the ministry’s investigation, the crew, who was three metres away from the door, was not aware of the suspect’s doing and took the incident as a door malfunction. The ministry, however, saw that the negligence was not intentional given that the incident took place in a very short period of time. The ministry pointed out that Asiana Airlines also failed to locate and apprehend the suspect. The report noted Asiana Airlines did not make any efforts to report the incident to its Daegu branch or to detain the suspect, creating a situation where the suspect could have escaped.<br/>