A man had to be tackled and restrained by other passengers on board an American Airlines flight after he “aggressively” tried to open the plane door mid-flight. The flight, AA1219 from Albuquerque to Chicago, was 30 minutes into its almost three-hour journey on Tuesday when the man attempted to open the emergency exit door. Six men reportedly “wrestled” the man to the aisle floor before duct-taping his legs and restraining him with flexi-cuffs. Several of the passengers onboard took to X (formerly Twitter) to describe the commotion. Fellow flyer The Wonton Don (@DonnieDoesWorld) said: “30 minutes after departing Albuquerque I was shaken out of my Panda Express and Tequila-induced stupor by a man trying to aggressively open the airplane door 4 rows back.” “One of the scariest days of my life,” wrote Lay Z (@layzdubz), who added that a “huge gush of wind” came “out of nowhere” when the man opened the emergency exit door. The plane was safely turned around for an emergency landing back in Albuquerque. Video footage shows the man being escorted from the plane to the tarmac in handcuffs by four law enforcement officers. American Airlines told The Independent: “Flight 1219 with service from Albuquerque (ABQ) to Chicago (ORD) returned to ABQ shortly after takeoff due to a disturbance in the cabin involving a disruptive customer. The flight landed safely and the aircraft was met by local law enforcement upon arrival.”<br/>
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One of the last remaining US airlines to hedge the price of oil has suspended the practice, supporting what some rivals have been saying for years: The costs don’t always justify the benefits. Alaska Air Group Inc. stopped buying new crude oil call options in Q4 and said it is exploring new ways to protect against volatility in refining margins, which have whipsawed over the last few years. “We’ve really started to rethink what is the purpose of hedging a barrel of oil for us today relative to when we started the program 15-plus years ago,” Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett said during the Citi 2024 Global Industrial Tech & Mobility Conference on Tuesday. “We don’t know what our new go-forward is yet, but it’s something we’ll continue to talk to folks about as we figure it out.” Before the strategy shift, the company was one of the few US airlines left that consistently used derivative contracts to protect itself against a potential surge in fuel costs. Peers including American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holding Inc stopped hedging fuel years ago. An exception to the trend has been Southwest Airlines Co., which still routinely hedges. Many European airlines also hedge fuel, buying oil derivatives contracts late last year to protect against higher prices due to the Israel-Hamas war. Hedging brings protection but also risks: Airlines lost billions of dollars from the practice during the pandemic. For Alaska Air, it’s the variable — and recently, high — refinery margins from turning crude oil to finished product like jet fuel that it wants to mitigate. West Coast margins have been especially challenging for the Seattle, Washington-based airline. “West Coast refining margins have been particularly volatile due to unexpected refinery outages over the last two or three quarters,” which has been a source of “frustration,” Tackett said.<br/>
Qantas Airways said first-half profit declined as airfares fell from their post-Covid spike, and new CEO Vanessa Hudson increases spending to help restore the airline’s tarnished reputation. Underlying earnings before tax in the six months ended Dec. 31 dropped to A$1.25b ($757m) from A$1.43b a year earlier, the Australian airline said Thursday. That was broadly in line with analyst estimates of A$1.16b. Lower fares — which have fallen about 10% in real terms since peaking in December 2022 — had around a A$600m impact on profit, the carrier said. Hudson, who took the helm in September, is attempting to repair the damage to the Qantas brand incurred under former CEO Alan Joyce. The carrier’s reputation was shredded by a series of scandals and missteps — including claims it sold tickets for thousands of flights it had already canceled, a ruling it illegally sacked 1,700 workers during the pandemic, and a slew of delays and cancelations as travel demand surged in the aftermath of the pandemic. “We know that millions of Australians rely on us and we’ve heard their feedback loud and clear,” Hudson said in the statement. “There’s a lot of work happening to lift our service levels and the early signs are really positive.” Among new initiatives announced Thursday, Hudson said Qantas will accelerate the rollout of free wifi on international flights, upgrade digital platforms to allow passengers to track their luggage during the journey, and work with banks to proactively refund remaining Covid flight credits, which now stand at A$468m. It will also give a A$500 travel credit to its around 24,000 workers. Hudson faces the delicate task of balancing the needs of customers with those of shareholders, who became accustomed to record profits and generous capital returns when Joyce was in charge. The carrier Thursday announced an additional A$400m share buyback. <br/>
Airbus faces delays in introducing an ultra-long-range version of its A350-1000 jet designed for Qantas Airways' non-stop Sydney-London flights because a regulator has asked it to redesign an extra fuel tank, a senior executive said. "The regulator has asked us to redesign the centre tank on the ultra-long-range airplane for Sunrise," Christian Scherer, the CEO of Airbus' commercial aircraft business said on Thursday on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow, referring to the airline's "Project Sunrise" flights from Sydney to London. Qantas said on Thursday the delivery dates for its first A350-1000 planes capable of the ultra-long-range flights had been pushed back by about six months to mid-2026. "We have to redesign the centre tank, the extra fuel tank, that will allow the Sunrise mission, and that's what explains the shift," Scherer said. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said the delay was due to certification of the first aircraft taking longer than expected. "However, we believe that the fleet for the 12 aircraft that will come, will come relatively quickly after that," she told reporters. Hudson added that demand for non-stop flying remained strong, as shown by the carrier's Perth-London flights and new Perth-Paris services. "So we are more than ever confident that the business case still stands, and that the aircraft's six-month delay is not a concern," she said.<br/>