Delta Air Lines pulled some meal options from dozens of international flights on Wednesday hours after the carrier said reports of “spoiled” food on an Amsterdam-bound flight forced the plane to divert to New York. Delta was only serving pasta in the main cabin on about 75 international flights on Wednesday. It wasn’t clear if the menu changes would continue on Thursday. “Out of an abundance of caution, Delta teams have proactively adjusted our in-flight meal service on a number of international flights on Wednesday, July 3,” a Delta spokeswoman said. Delta apologized to customers over the report of spoiled food in the main cabin on the Detroit-to-Amsterdam flight. “This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay in their travels,” Delta said. In an email to staff on Wednesday, Ash Dhokte, who leads onboard service at Delta, said the airline is investigating what went wrong and that “immediate corrective actions have been implemented to avoid recurrence.” Do&Co., a Delta caterer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “As our last line of defense, please examine the dish before serving it and do not serve any food that may have a contaminant,” Dhokte wrote, noting that onboard food safety incidents are “extremely rare.” The incident occurred in the midst of the peak summer travel season, when Delta and its rivals are fighting over travelers. Airlines serve thousands of meals a day to customers and such incidents are rare, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel consultant and founder of Atmosphere Research Group. “Delta is taking prudent action. When you have a food scare you don’t want anyone getting sick on a plane,” said Harteveldt. “Going to all pasta is the safest and smartest option.”<br/>
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Romanian carrier Tarom has agreed to lease a pair of Boeing 737 Max 8s from Irish lessor CDB Aviation, with the initial aircraft to arrive in late 2025. The airline, which currently operates a mix of Airbus A318 and 737-700/800 narrowbodies, will take delivery of the first Max 8 from CDB in December next year and the second in January 2026. Tarom also has an order for five Max 8s dating from the Farnborough air show in July 2018. These were originally scheduled for delivery in 2023, though it is not clear when they will join the fleet. The lease agreement with CDB comes after the European Commission in April cleared a Romanian financial aid package for Tarom, which the carrier is partly using to carry out fleet renewal. Tarom CE Costin Iordache says: “We appreciate our partner’s expertise and support for this investment, an important part of the development plan, where fleet modernisation is a key element to improve commercial performance and growth outlook. We look forward to introducing [the jets] into our flight schedule.” The two Max aircraft, which will be configured with 189 seats, come from CDB’s existing Boeing orderbook and will be the lessor’s first aircraft placed with the Romanian carrier. Tarom also operates four ATR 72-600s and two ATR 72-500s, and has an order for three more ATR 72s in place from November 2021. <br/>
A bullet has been found inside a piece of carry-on luggage belonging to a Korean Air flight attendant who was bound for Thailand. According to police on Thursday, a 7.62-millimeter-caliber live bullet was found in her bag at Incheon International Airport during baggage inspection on Tuesday when she was preparing to board a flight to Bangkok at 7:30 a.m. An airport explosive ordnance disposal team was immediately deployed to collect the bullet. The flight attendant recognized that the bullet belonged to her, saying that she found it somewhere when she was a child. However, she said she was unaware that it was inside the bag. After police and the company concluded that she wasn't deliberately trying to smuggle the bullet into Thailand, they allowed her to board the flight for work. Police said they would question her again when she returns. Under Thai law, it is mandatory for everyone to obtain authorization prior to the possession, use, sale and import of firearms. Violations of the rules and regulations set out in the law could bring serious consequences, including imprisonment and the death penalty, according to the Thailand Law Forum, which provides an online English-language resource concerning the laws of Thailand.<br/>