star

The head of Air Canada is slated to come before a House of Commons committee hearing on services for Canadians with disabilities after incidents last year that drew heavy criticism. Legislators summoned CE Michael Rousseau to appear this afternoon after numerous reports of passenger mistreatment. The stories included an incident where a man with spastic cerebral palsy was forced to drag himself off of an airplane due to a lack of help from airline staff. Rousseau apologized in November for the airline’s shortfalls and announced he would speed up its accessibility scheme along with new measures to improve the travel experience for hundreds of thousands of passengers living with a disability. The carrier also formed an advisory committee last week made up of customers with disabilities and laid out a program where a lanyard worn by passengers indicates to staff they may need assistance. NDP disability inclusion critic Bonita Zarrillo says Air Canada’s corporate culture and a lack of federal enforcement are to blame for mistreatment, even after regulatory reforms over the past four years.<br/>

Copa Airlines will launch flights to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), marking its 18th destination in the U.S. and Canada, increasing its network to 85 destinations in 32 countries in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. “We are proud to welcome Copa Airlines to RDU as we help connect the diverse Triangle region with popular destinations around the world,” said Michael Landguth, president and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority. “This new gateway will provide Triangle travelers easy access to Central and South America and the Caribbean through Copa’s vast international network.”<br/>

A union has called on Lufthansa’s ground staff to walk off the job for a day on Wednesday in a pay dispute, the latest of several transport strikes in the country. The Ver.di union said Monday it is calling on ground staff for the German airline at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Duesseldorf airports to strike from 4 a.m. Wednesday. The union is seeking a 12.5% pay raise, or at least an extra 500 euros ($539) per month, in negotiations for nearly 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance and freight staff. Lufthansa said it is working on a special timetable and criticized the scale of the strike early in the dispute. Coinciding contract negotiations in the rail, air and local transport sectors have made for a frustrating few weeks for travelers and commuters in Germany. Ver.di last Thursday called security workers at most of Germany’s major airports out on a one-day strike that prompted widespread flight cancellations. On Friday, it staged a walkout that led to local buses, trams and subway trains being canceled in much of Germany. Such several-hour or one-day “warning strikes” are a common tactic in German contract negotiations. The German railway system is involved in a dispute that centers on a train drivers’ union’s demand for a shorter working week. After a five-day strike last month, the GDL union has returned to talks with the state-owned main railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, and has agreed not to stage further strikes before March 3.<br/>

RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled to escort a flight into Manchester after it had lost contact due to a technical fault. The Scandinavian Airlines SK 4609 flight from Oslo to Manchester landed safely at 12:48 GMT, Manchester Airport said. The Ministry of Defence said Typhoons from RAF Coningsby intercepted the jet and communications were later restored. Scandinavian Airlines said there was "never any danger to passengers". An airline spokeswoman said: "Flight SK4609 from Oslo to Manchester this afternoon underwent an escorted landing in response to a brief and temporary loss of communication. "A standard procedure was initiated but there was never any danger to the flight or its passengers." She said the flight landed safely and was preparing to take off again in the opposite direction to take separate passengers to Oslo. An investigation has been launched and the matter was being handled by relevant authorities as per standard procedures, she added. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon aircraft were launched this afternoon from RAF Coningsby to intercept a civilian aircraft that had lost communications. Subsequently, communications were re-established, the aircraft was intercepted and safely escorted to Manchester."<br/>

Dozens of flights were cancelled as inclement winter weather headed toward Japan’s Kanto plain, home to the capital and more than 44m residents. ANA Holdings Inc. halted 30 inbound and outbound flights at Tokyo on Monday, as well as at airports in Akita, Hiroshima and other big cities, disrupting plans for about 3,900 travellers, the carrier said Sunday. Japan Airlines Co. canceled 46 flights at Haneda International Airport, impacting about 5,170 passengers. Disruptions to transportation and businesses are common in Tokyo, even with the slightest hint of snowy weather, given the dense population and the fact that the metropolis only experiences snow for a few days each year. Rain and snow were forecast for Monday afternoon across the greater Tokyo metropolis, which tends to be vulnerable to ice and snow conditions. Local officials cautioned residents about risks of ice and slippery conditions as low temperatures blanket the area. Some schools and businesses told people to head home early in the afternoon to avoid transportation network delays and possible injuries.<br/>

Nok Air is concretising plans to open a base at the country's main international gateway, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, as it seeks to pivot away from its sole reliance on domestic passenger flows, CE Wutthiphum Jurangkool told the Bangkok Post. The new base is tentatively planned to launch in the second half of 2024 and will initially be limited to one or two aircraft only. Nok Air plans to capitalise on the cooperation with minority shareholder Thai Airways International to carry the flag carrier's passengers on domestic routes out of Suvarnabhumi. Wutthiphum said their current interline partnership could be upgraded to a codeshare in the future. Wutthiphum believes that even with the integration of its domestic and short-haul subsidiary Thai Smile, the flag carrier does not have enough aircraft to serve the Thai domestic market. Its narrowbody fleet currently comprises twenty A320-200s, but the aircraft serve also regional international markets - currently, only 57.9% of Thai's A320s scheduled capacity is deployed on domestic routes, according to the ch-aviation capacities module. Thai Airways used to deploy its mainline widebodies on trunk domestic routes, mainly to Chiang Mai and Phuket, before the pandemic, but has not resumed them since.<br/>