An unaccompanied child was mistakenly put on the wrong Spirit Airlines flight this week as airlines were gearing up for record-breaking holiday traffic. The child was traveling from Philadelphia to Fort Myers, but was “incorrectly boarded” on a flight Thursday to Orlando, a city more than 100 miles away, the airline confirmed in a statement. Spirit spokesperson Thomas Fletcher said in an email that the child was always under the supervision of an airline employee, and that as soon as the airline discovered the error, it “took immediate steps” to reconnect the family. “We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation,” Fletcher said. “We apologize to the family for this experience.” WINK News, a local TV station in Fort Myers, reported the child was a 6-year-old traveling to visit his grandmother, Maria Ramos, who told the outlet it was one of the scariest ordeals she’s ever gone through. <br/>
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German pilots' union VC has called for a five-hour strike at the Lufthansa Group's leisure subsidiary Discover Airlines ahead of the Christmas holidays, it said in a statement on Friday. All flights of the Airbus 320 and 330 fleet departing from Germany from 8 am to 1 pm (0700-1200 GMT) on Saturday will be affected by the strike, the union said. A spokesperson for Discover said that 16 flights were planned during the strike period and the airline would minimize the impact on passengers by rebooking them on other Lufthansa Group flights or on flights outside the strike period. The spokesperson, who said Discover regretted the strike decision as talks with VC on a deal had been on the home stretch, did not specify how many passengers would be affected. VC could not say how many pilots would take part. "Unfortunately, the employer has left us with no choice but to emphasise our serious desire for a first collective agreement" with a strike, said a VC spokesperson, adding that the union was available anytime to resume negotiations.<br/>
Israeli flag-carrier El Al believes its Q4 results will not be as badly affected as previously estimated, despite the impact of the Gaza conflict. El Al has taken various commercial, financial and operational measures to address the effects of the conflict which began in early October. But it states that there is increased demand for its flights, and it has added capacity on popular destinations. “Since the outbreak of the war there has been a significant increase in the scope of cargo activity,” it adds – both in dedicated freighters and passenger aircraft holds. El Al also says there has been a “significant drop” in the price of jet fuel. It states that, given these various considerations, it expects its business results for Q4 to be “better than early estimates”.<br/>
The balance of power in Vietnam's aviation industry is shifting as low-cost carrier Vietjet looks likely to eclipse state-run Vietnam Airlines in international passenger numbers this year and may become the overall market leader. Vietjet, Vietnam's first private-sector commercial airline, started flying in 2011 and has achieved rapid growth with low fares and innovative service. It has produced Southeast Asia's first self-made female billionaire, founder and Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. Vietjet's total domestic and international passengers appear to have exceeded 22m for January to November in figures compiled by Nikkei, up about 20% from a year earlier on post-COVID travel demand. The total slightly exceeds the passengers carried by the financially struggling Vietnam Airlines group, including low-cost carrier Pacific Airlines and domestic-only Vietnam Air Services. Driving Vietjet's growth is international flights, which appear to have carried more than 7m passengers. The company's share of Vietnam's international passenger travel, excluding foreign airlines, is estimated to exceed 50%. Thao told a shareholders meeting in April that Vietjet would be a "pioneer" that charts new courses. Since the start of 2023, the airline has launched new routes between Vietnam and Jakarta, Australia's Adelaide and Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. Direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City from to Tokyo's Haneda Airport also began. It had 80 international routes at the end of September, up by 32 from the end of 2022 and surpassing Vietnam Airlines.<br/>
AirAsia passengers bound for Malaysia were stuck at Incheon International Airport for more than 27 hours due to technical malfunctions, government officials said on Sunday. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, its flight carrying 315 passengers had been initially scheduled to take off at 7:35 a.m., the previous day. But airline staff opened the boarding gate for passengers some 18 hours after an issue with its engine was rectified. Just before leaving the airport, another technical error surfaced. Due to the protracted delay, the pilot permitted the passengers to leave the airplane at around 3:20 a.m., Sunday, and 50 of them did. After being stuck inside the plane for an additional seven-and-a-half hours, the remaining 265 people departed Incheon at 10:50 a.m. bound for Kuala Lumpur International Airport. An official told reporters that the ministry has been checking whether the Malaysian airline complied properly with the guidelines regarding such issues and took appropriate measures for the passengers affected.<br/>