A parliamentary committee is launching an investigation into accessibility at Canadian airlines, with a focus on the country's two largest carriers. Following a motion put forward on Monday by NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, who represents the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley in British Columbia, the federal transport committee voted to undertake a study on the state of accessible transportation for Canadians living with disabilities as well as the regulatory regime surrounding it. The committee cited recent news reports of air travellers "facing discrimination and unacceptable treatment" on board, and invited the CEOs of Air Canada and WestJet to testify along with Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, Auditor General Karen Hogan and other experts and industry players. Those reports include two stories by CBC News: the case of Rodney Hodgins, a Prince George, B.C., man who uses a wheelchair and was forced to drag himself off an Air Canada plane in Las Vegas due to a lack of assistance; and that of Ryan Lachance, a comedian with cerebral palsy who says he was dropped and injured by Air Canada crew members after landing in Vancouver. The motion further calls on the government to table a response to a committee report slated to be presented to the House of Commons. Earlier this month, Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau apologized for the airline's accessibility shortfalls and announced new measures to improve the travel experience for hundreds of thousands of passengers living with a disability. Air Canada has apologized to a B.C. man after staff told him he would need to get to the front of the plane without any assistance. The airline has also admitted it violated Canadian disability legislation. Rodney Hodgins hopes the situation will lead to systemic change.<br/>
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Scandinavian airline SAS said on Tuesday it received US bankruptcy court approval for 13.2b Swedish crowns ($1.3b) investment agreement with a consortium of Castlelake, Air France-KLM, Lind Invest and the Danish state. The company also received final approval for its new debtor-in-possession financing credit agreement with US based Castlelake for a total of about $500m, boosting the carrier's effort to complete its restructuring and replacing Apollo Global's funding. Earlier in the month, the court had already approved $450m from Castlelake. In October, the company said Castlelake would take a stake of about 32%, while Air France-KLM's will be around 20% and the Danish state will hold about 26%, adding that total investments in the reorganized SAS would amount to $1.16b. Scandinavia's biggest carrier filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States in mid-2022 after years of struggling with high costs coupled with low customer demand brought on by the pandemic.<br/>
India's anti-terrorism agency has filed a case against a Sikh separatist leader for warning Air India passengers that their lives were in danger and threatening not to let the flag carrier operate anywhere in the world. The agency said security forces were on alert after the threats by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who acts as general counsel of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a group campaigning to establish an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan carved out of India. The case against Pannun has been registered under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and sections of the Indian Penal Code, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement on Monday. "Pannun threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate in the world ... in his video messages, released on Nov. 4," it said, adding that he had urged Sikhs not to travel on Air India flights from Sunday, "claiming a threat to their lives". Reuters has not independently verified the video messages, which were widely shared on social media this month. Pannun told Reuters in an emailed response that his message was to "boycott Air India not bomb" and that the Indian government was engaging in a disinformation tactic to "crush freedom of expression". He added that the "government can not stop SFJ from running secessionist Khalistan referendum, which is the real motive why NIA filed frivolous terror case."<br/>
Air New Zealand has warned that flights to Wellington will be “incredibly limited” over the coming days after low cloud in the capital on Tuesday led to the cancellation of more than 100 flights and left passengers stranded overnight at Auckland and Wellington airports. Air New Zealand chief integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said the airline cancelled 110 flights as a result of the weather on Tuesday, and that there may be additional cancellations or delays on Wednesday as it moves aircraft and crew to the right places around the country. Fog also caused major disruption to flights in and out of Wellington over the weekend. “Given the significant disruption yesterday, as well as over the weekend, availability over the coming days to and from Wellington is incredibly limited,” Morgan said. “We have been actively rebooking customers to travel on the next available services, but it may take three to four days to be able to reaccommodate passengers.” Customers who can’t find a suitable flight or who no longer wish to travel are able to hold their fare in credit, he said. While the skies in the capital have cleared, Wellington Airport spokesperson Phil Rennie said Tuesday’s disruption, which saw long queues at both Auckland and Wellington airports as passengers attempted to rebook, has had flow-on effects.<br/>