An American Airlines passenger who kicked and spat at flight attendants and passengers and attempted to open the cabin door before she was secured to a seat with duct tape has been sued by the Federal Aviation Administration for $81,950, the largest-ever fine assessed by the agency for unruly behavior. The passenger, Heather Wells, 34, of San Antonio, was traveling first class from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., on July 7, 2021. About an hour into the flight she ordered a whiskey and became agitated and said she “wanted out” of the plane, according to a lawsuit filed on June 3 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Wells began running toward the back of the plane, where she dropped to her knees in the aisle and began “talking incoherently to passengers, before crawling back toward the main cabin,” the lawsuit said. When a flight attendant responded, Wells “became verbally aggressive and told the flight attendant that she would ‘hurt him’ if he didn’t get out of her way,” according to the court document. She then pushed him and moved to the front of the plane where she “lunged toward and attempted to grab” the cabin door, “all the while screaming and yelling profanities.” That was when two flight attendants and a passenger tried to physically restrain Wells, who struck one of the flight attendants in the head multiple times, the lawsuit said. They were able to restrain her with duct tape and flex cuffs and place her on a seat. But she continued to “kick and spit and attempted to bite and head butt,” which “necessitated” Wells to be further restrained with tape, including on her mouth, according to the suit. The captain determined that landing in Charlotte would be the quickest resolution, and law enforcement officers were waiting for the plane’s arrival, according to the lawsuit. Story has more.<br/>
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RwandAir expects Qatar Airways to finalise its purchase of a major stake in the central African country’s carrier as early as next month, as the Doha-based airline attempts to capitalise on one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. The partnership with Qatar Airways would boost Rwanda’s aviation sector and allow its state-owned carrier to expand its operations and fleet said its CE Yvonne Makolo, as US plane-maker Boeing projects that intra-African passenger traffic will more than quadruple in the next two decades. For the past five years, Qatar and Rwanda have been working on a deal — which has been delayed, partly, by the Covid-19 pandemic and by Qatar hosting the Fifa World Cup — to grant the Gulf nation’s airline, one of the world’s largest, a 49% stake of Rwanda’s flag carrier airline for an undisclosed sum. “It’s been going on for a while, we have been discussing it for almost five years. So, now, we’re really at the tail-end of it,” Makolo told the Financial Times. Senior executives close to the negotiations expect the “execution” of the agreement to happen as early as July. RwandAir already has access to Qatar Airways’ network thanks to a code-share agreement that also gives the Doha-based airline to access regional capitals such as Burundi’s Bujumbura. “We access over 70 points on their network, and they access a number of points, especially in central Africa, where they don’t have a presence”, Makolo said, adding that the deal would help RwandAir expand its fleet and routes and upskill its staff. RwandAir currently owned only three widebody aircraft used for its Brussels, London and Paris flights, she said. RwandAir was voted Africa’s 6th-best carrier by Skytrax last year, behind bigger ones such as Ethiopian Airlines, the continent’s largest, that flies to more than 130 destinations, and the embattled South African Airways, which entered into bankruptcy proceedings in 2020 after decades of government bailouts. Ethiopian Airlines has succeeded partly by partnering with other airlines through joint ventures and acquiring stakes as, unlike in other regions that have deregulated aviation, airlines operating in the continent often have to sign bilateral agreements to fly between two countries.<br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways passengers will pay 22% less in fuel surcharges for most tickets issued in Hong Kong from next month.<br/>The one-way fuel surcharge for flights between Hong Kong and Australia, Europe, the United States and other long-haul destinations will be reduced from HK$923 (US$118) to HK$719 effective from July 1 for tickets bought in the city. The fee for flights between Hong Kong and India and Bangladesh will drop from HK$440 to HK$343, while the fees for other short-haul flights will decrease from HK$207 to HK$161. Similar adjustments will also be rolled out for tickets issued in Canada, New Zealand and other places. Flights originating from mainland China, Japan and the Philippines will all be excluded from the update. The fee updates were made public on Friday, with the airline saying the surcharges were adjusted “in accordance with fuel prices” on a monthly basis. Brent crude, the international benchmark, has been hovering near the US$80 mark in recent weeks since hitting a high of more than US$90 a barrel in early April. The airline last updated the fee in January when the fuel surcharge for long-haul flights was reduced from HK$1,127 to HK$923. Cathay’s budget airline, HK Express, has yet to reveal its surcharge rates for July. It currently charges HK$205 or every one-way ticket from Hong Kong.<br/>