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Air Canada has been summoned to Ottawa to present a plan on how it intends to treat passengers with disabilities following three recent high-profile incidents. Canada's Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez took to X, formally known as Twitter, on Friday (Nov. 3) to share his call to action, saying he will meet with Air Canada’s leadership, alongside Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Kamal Khera, next week to discuss recent events that have have made national and international headlines. “They must present a plan to address this. Canadians expect Air Canada to do better,” Minister Rodriguez wrote, saying he was “horrified to learn about another incident on an Air Canada flight.” The call comes one day after Air Canada admitted it violated Canadian disability regulations in the case of 50-year-old passenger named Rodney Hodgins, a B.C. man with cerebral palsy who was forced to drag himself off a flight in Las Vegas when he was told no wheelchair was available. In June, Air Canada finalized a three-year plan to increase accessibility for both customers and employees, and said it "fully supports the federal government's Accessible Canada Act and its aim to realize a barrier-free Canada by 2040." The plan came following a report stating that two-thirds of people with disabilities faced barriers on federally-regulated planes and trains in Canada from 2019 and 2020. Air Canada says it has "considerable resources" to make travel accessible, and employs 180 employees in Toronto to assist with mobility. "In light of this, we are deeply disappointed and sincerely regret when there are mobility service lapses that result in inconvenience and travel disruption," reads the airline’s latest statement. <br/>

Air New Zealand said problems with certain Pratt & Whitney engines are forcing it to make schedule changes that could impact services for as long as two years. The issue affects maintenance of the geared turbofan jet engine fleet, Air New Zealand said Tuesday. The airline uses the engines on 17 aircraft that operate to Australia, the Pacific Islands and on main trunk domestic routes and must now have them serviced much sooner than expected. “While this maintenance issue does not present a safety issue, it has caused Air New Zealand to revise its flight schedule as a result of adjustments made to the engine maintenance plan,” CEO Greg Foran said in a statement. “Due to engine availability as a result of the maintenance issues, the airline will have up to four aircraft grounded at any one time.” Airlines globally have been impacted by required checks on Pratt’s geared turbofan engines. Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc. said last month it will need to inspect Pratt engines on 33 of its Airbus SE narrowbody jets and would seek compensation from the company, a unit of RTX Corp. The issues stem from contaminated metal powder entering the manufacturing process and potentially affecting internal engine parts made between 2015 and 2021. Air New Zealand is responding by consolidating some flying and moving aircraft to different routes. Foran told Radio New Zealand that about 150,000 passengers booked on affected routes between now and April may face disruptions to their travel plans, adding the airline is in talks with Pratt & Whitney about compensation.<br/>