An American Airlines plane bumped into a parked plane during pushback at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday. The tail of American Airlines flight 3161 heading to Miami "made contact with the tail of a nearby parked aircraft" during pushback from the gate at Philadelphia airport, American Airlines said in a statement. One hundred and sixty passengers and six crew members were onboard the plane, the statement said, adding "customers deplaned the aircraft normally" after the incident and "continued to MIA on a replacement aircraft." "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this caused," American Airlines said. No injuries were reported, and the aircraft was removed from service for inspection, according to the statement. The parked aircraft didn’t have any customers or crew on board, American Airlines said.<br/>
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The owner of British Airways has started incorporating Apple Inc. AirTags in its luggage-handling system, saying it expects the new tool to lower costs and more quickly locate wayward bags. IAG SA has switched on the location-sharing tool across all of its carriers, including Iberia and Aer Lingus, the group’s head of innovation, Annalisa Gigante, said in an interview. It’s too early to know how much money can be saved because it’s still being tested, she said. “We can see exactly where everything is and reunite passengers with bags as quickly as possible,” Gigante said in an interview. The added service was made possible in November, when Apple allowed iPhone users to share the location of their AirTags. The technology company said then that more than 15 airlines, including BA, would begin using the new feature. Delta Air Lines, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines are among the carriers that signed on. Passengers with lost luggage containing an AirTag can share a location link to airlines, which then look for the bag through their own systems. The link expires after seven days, or when the item is returned to the passenger. Calls to incorporate AirTags into bag-handling systems increased after the pandemic, when a surge in travel overwhelmed airlines and airports that were unprepared for the sudden rebound in business. The chaos highlighted how Bluetooth tracking devices were often more effective in finding misplaced bags than standard technology using mainly bar-codes.<br/>
A flight to Melbourne was delayed by over three hours earlier this month after two pilots tested above the alcohol limit. Flight JL774 was due to fly out from Melbourne, Australia to Tokyo, Japan on 1 December at 7.20am local time, however, it did not depart until 10.31am. Japan Airlines confirmed to Aviation A2Z that the delay was due to two unnamed experienced male captains having alcohol levels that exceeded the company’s limit. Both pilots conducted self-administered breath tests at their hotel around 5am local time, finding the exceeding alcohol limits. Captain A initially asked for a shift delay due to illness, while Captain B left for the airport, according to the outlet. Additional airport testing confirmed that Captain B had elevated alcohol levels, requiring multiple tests before a safe reading was finally obtained by 8.15am. After retesting at the hotel, Captain A then also cleared the alcohol limit and arrived at the airport around 6am, the outlet says. The flight ultimately departed Melbourne three hours and 11 minutes after it was scheduled, and arrived in Tokyo at 5.57pm local time. The Boeing 787-8 aircraft had 103 passengers onboard, with 11 crew members, including two captains, one co-pilot, and eight cabin attendants.<br/>
Malaysia Airlines and Uzbekistan Airways have announced the reinstatement of their codeshare partnership, enhancing connectivity for customers traveling across Southeast and Central Asia. Under the partnership, Malaysia Airways “MH” flight code was introduced on the Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport (TAS) to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) route operated by Uzbekistan Airways, marking its entry into Central Asia. This offers Malaysia Airlines’ passengers a direct link to the Central Asian region, further expanding its global network and supporting the growing demand for international travel.<br/>