After American Airlines in a legal response blamed a 9-year-old girl for using an airplane bathroom that had a recording device allegedly placed there by a former employee, the airline now says it has requested that its law firm change its response. The company was responding to a civil lawsuit filed against American Airlines claiming the girl, listed as Mary Doe, was “secretly filmed while using the airplane toilet” during an American Airlines flight in January 2023. A former American Airlines flight attendant, Estes Carter Thompson, 37, who federal investigators say secretly recorded several minors while they used the bathroom on different American Airlines flights last year, is also named in the lawsuit filed in Texas. The former employee is facing federal child sexual exploitation charges. The incident involving the 9-year-old occurred during a flight from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles, California, the lawsuit states. American Airlines initially argued that the girl was at fault and negligent because she used a lavatory “she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.” In response to CNN’s request for comment on Monday’s filing, American Airlines said the filing was made in error by outside counsel retained by the airline’s insurance company. “The included defense is not representative of our airline, and we have directed it be amended this morning,” American Airlines said in a statement Wednesday. “We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously.” Attorney Paul Llewellyn, who is representing the girl and her family, said he believes American Airlines’ change in direction was in response to public backlash. “To claim that they filed the ‘wrong’ answer is simply not credible, but the bell cannot be unwrung [sic],” Llewellyn told CNN in a statement Wednesday. “They should never have taken such an outrageous position in the first place.”<br/>
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JetBlue Airways said Wednesday that it is seeking U.S. Department of Transportation approval to pair up with British Airways so the airlines could each expand their networks. The code-sharing agreement includes 75 destinations in the United States — 39 from New York and 36 from Boston — and 17 cities in Europe. Airlines frequently turn to code-sharing agreements, which allow carries to sell seats on airline partner's flights, to grow in regions outside their network. American Airlines also has a more than decade-old joint venture with British Airways across the Atlantic that is more involved than a code-sharing agreement. JetBlue has been growing its service to Europe in recent years, adding flights to Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Edinburgh, though it is dwarfed by larger trans-Atlantic alliances, including those of American, United and Delta Air Lines. "We are always looking for new ways to offer our customers more choice when traveling," JetBlue said in a statement about the agreement, which was reported earlier by Paxex Aero, an industry news site. If the agreement were to gain DOT approval, customers would be able to seamlessly book a single ticket for travel on both airlines, providing an expanded network of destinations across Europe and the U.S. American and British Airways didn't immediately comment. JetBlue's request for an agreement with British Airways comes a year after a federal judge struck down JetBlue's partnership with American in the U.S Northeast, which sought to allow the carriers to coordinate schedules and routes.<br/>
Well-heeled passengers who want to take their air travel one step above First Class now have the option to charter the new Gulfstream G700 through Qatar Airways’ business jet unit. The new model, a roomier version of the planemaker’s flagship G650, is capable of flying 7,750 nautical miles and cruising just under the speed of sound. Qatar Airways will equip its G700s with four individual living areas, including a rear chamber equipped with a fixed, large bed, according to a statement on Wednesday when the airline took delivery of the model. Other perks include a customised lighting system, low cabin pressure and an ionising air purification system. The Doha-based airline is the launch customer for the G700 with 10 on order, complementing its existing fleet of 15 Gulfstream G650ER. With a price tag of about $75m, the G700 competes with Bombardier Inc’s similarly priced Global 7500 model. <br/>