Federal officials said Thursday they are investigating an unusual rolling motion on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max that might have been caused by a damaged backup power-control unit. The FAA said it was working with Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the May 25 incident, which happened on a flight from Phoenix to Oakland, California. The FAA said the plane went into a “Dutch roll,” the name given to the combination of a yawing motion when the tail slides and the plane rocks from wingtip to wingtip. It is said to mimic the movement of a Dutch ice skater. Pilots are trained to recover from the condition, and the Southwest plane landed safely in Oakland. There were no injuries reported among the 175 passengers and six crew members. According to a preliminary report by the FAA, an inspection after the plane landed showed damage to a unit that provides backup power to the rudder. The FAA said other airlines have not reported similar issues.<br/>
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Canadian North says its new baggage fees are about the airline being "realistic about our capabilities" to carry an ever-growing volume of cargo and passengers on its commercial flights. Last month, the airline rolled out sweeping changes to its baggage policy, and also increased costs. While passengers can still check their first bag for free, the cost of a second bag on the lowest ticket fare jumped by 50%, and the cost of an overweight bag (anything over 51 pounds) tripled on all fare types. Excess bags also now fly standby. Canadian North initially refused to answer questions about the changes in an interview, but later agreed after CBC News reported on the changes and conducted an analysis of how its fees compare to some of Canada's other airlines. "Our aircraft can only operate with a certain amount of weight and volume. Recently the requested volume of baggage often exceeds our limits, and leads to bumped baggage and fewer passenger seats," said Trevor Wilde, the airline's interim vice president of sales, marketing and distribution.<br/>
Aer Lingus passengers face possible travel disruptions from protests after pilots voted for industrial action amid a pay dispute. Talks between the airline, a subsidiary of IAG SA, and employees are set to resume on Thursday following the vote, state broadcaster RTE reported. “Aer Lingus pilots have not had a pay increase since 2019. Company is making bumper profits,” the IALPA union wrote on X ahead of the ballot. Almost 98% of members backed the industrial action, including possible withdrawal of labor, according to RTE. The dispute would cause disruption for Aer Lingus should any action go ahead during one of the carrier’s busiest periods as holidaymakers travel abroad for the summer.<br/>
Emirates Airline was fined $1.8m by US authorities for operating flights in prohibited Iraqi airspace, the Transportation Department said Thursday. The world’s largest long-haul airline flew planes carrying the designator code of US carrier JetBlue Airways Corp. over areas in the country that the Federal Aviation Administration had banned for US operators, the department said in a statement. The so-called codeshare agreement is a business arrangement that allows an airline to sell seats on a flight operated by another carrier. The violations occurred between December 2021 and August 2022, according to the department. The airline received a similar fine in October 2020. According to the consent order, Emirates said pilots entered the banned airspace because they were directed to by air traffic controllers. The airline told the department that failure to do so “would have had significant safety implications,” according to the order. Representatives for Emirates didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. JetBlue said its arrangement with Emirates ended in October 2022, and was unrelated to the flights in question. <br/>
A flight from Shanghai to Jinan was delayed on June 10 after a passenger’s pet sugar glider escaped in the cabin, causing disruption and prompting the detainment of the pet owner. The authorities identified the woman only by her surname, Guo, and said the 34-year-old violated airline regulations by bringing the small marsupial on board Eastern Airlines flight MU5599. The animal escaped Guo in the cabin before being secured by other passengers. Guo was subsequently detained by police for disrupting public order on public transportation. The incident caused a roughly hour-long delay, with all passengers required to disembark and wait. Unnamed sources allege Guo attempted to hide the sugar glider in her clothes during security checks, exploiting a blind spot in typical screening procedures for female passengers. Aviation safety expert Lin Quan stressed the dangers of concealing pets onboard aircraft. “Such actions pose a risk of animals biting through electrical wires, potentially leading to in-flight malfunctions,” Lin told the Beijing News.<br/>