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A viral video caught the moment a flight attendant had to restrain a screaming passenger who was having a “violent medical episode” while latching onto a woman’s hair. The incident occurred on a domestic US flight from Oakland, California, to Portland on 1 February. The plane never actually made it into the air as the incident occurred just before take off, and the flight was then cancelled. The alarming video shows a male flight attendant onboard the Embraer 175 appearing to pummel a man repeatedly who had the hair of another passenger in his grasp. “Let go of her hair,” someone shouts out to the passenger as the flight attendant appears to pound the man with his fist, trying to make him release his grasp from the hair, while another person behind him attempts to pry his fingers away from the hair strands. The flight attendant simultaneously pushes the man's head back into the plane seat, seemingly trying to keep him in place. Once the woman’s hair is released, she turns around towards the man with a frightened look on her face, and gets up from her seat immediately. The flight attendant keeps a hand on the man’s shoulders, who starts to hyperventilate and then lets out a scream. As the man continues to scream, the flight attendant looks around and asks for another “capable male” to come help him.<br/>

Finnair is warning that it might have to cut 90 pilots after industrial action threatened Airbus A330 operations undertaken on behalf of Oneworld partner Qantas. The A330s were deployed after the closure of Russian airspace forced Finnair to restructure its network and shift the twinjets – which have limited range – away from the lengthened European-Asian routes. Two of the aircraft are being wet-leased by Qantas for routes from Sydney to Bangkok and Singapore. Finnair says this arrangement enabled it to make “productive use” of the A330s, and offer work to some 90 pilots. But industrial action by the airline workers’ union SLL, it says, is forcing the carrier to consider difficult measures. The action is linked to collective labour negotiations which have been taking place since last year. SLL has been engaged in collective negotiations over various aspects, including wages, for around six months, with industrial action conducted over the last three. “Collective agreement negotiations have been prolonged and for this reason our use of industrial action has also been prolonged,” says SLL chair Vesa Uuspelto. “The employer’s actions have been aggressive from the beginning and, as a small trade union, we have no other means of defending our rights besides our legal industrial action.”<br/>

Iberia, Spain’s national carrier and member of the International Airline Group (IAG), has announced a major round of expansion for the northern summer 2025 IATA scheduling season which kicks off on March 30, 2025. The growth plans will see the carrier expand its global operations, with routes to the Americas, in particular, seeing the most rapid expansion. In terms of routes between Europe and South America, a market in which the Spanish airline is the clear market leader with the largest range of destinations of any international carrier, connectivity will be at its highest-ever level in 2025, with 3.2m seats between the two regions, a figure that represents an increase of 4% over 2024. This equates to over 300 flights per week where the airline will serve 18 destinations across 16 countries. The cities of Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo will see the largest increase in weekly frequencies where Iberia will add three flights per week in both cases. Buenos Aires will have 21 weekly frequencies this season, while Sao Paulo will increase to 14 weekly frequencies, consolidating the carrier’s two daily flights. Lima in Peru will benefit from an additional frequency seeing the flights increase to double daily from May 2025.<br/>

The Department of Transport has advised Virgin’s wet-lease with Qatar Airways would be allowed under current regulations. In response to a letter from the International Air Services Commission (IASC), Jim Wolfe, assistant secretary of the department’s International Aviation Branch, said the proposed 28 weekly flights to Doha would be permitted according to the terms of bilateral air services agreements with Qatar. The airline in December applied to the IASC to grant it 28 flights per week between Australia and Qatar using wet-leased 777-300ER aircraft from Qatar Airways, with tickets already on sale after receiving interim approval from the ACCC last year. Wolfe noted that Virgin “is currently designated as an Australian international airline under the Australia-Qatar Air Services Agreement and holds an International Airline Licence, which allows for operations between Australia and Qatar”. “Under the current air services arrangements, designated airlines of Australia may operate services using leased aircraft (dry-leasing) or leased aircraft and crew (wet-leasing), provided the operating aircraft and crew comply with all operational standards and requirements, including on aviation safety and security,” he wrote in response to the request by IASC chair Genevieve Butler. “In addition, the air services arrangements allow designated airlines to enter into code-share arrangements as both the marketing or operating airline, with airlines of Australia, Qatar or a third country. It is important that airlines involved in code-sharing arrangements make is clear to the traveller at the point of sale, which airline will actually operate each sector of the service and which airline the traveller is entering into a contractual relationship with. Based on the information provided, Virgin Australia’s proposed operations are allowed under the Australia-Qatar bilateral air services arrangements.”<br/>

Travellers flying Australia’s Qantas Airways can check in for their flights and drop off their luggage at Hong Kong’s in-town counters starting next week, taking the number of airlines offering the service to three. Qantas passengers could use the service at either Hong Kong MTR station or Kowloon MTR station connected to the Airport Express line from Monday, the MTR Corporation said on Saturday. Currently, only Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Airlines provide such service. The hours of operation for the in-town check-in are 7am to 6pm at Hong Kong station and 7am to 3pm at Kowloon station. Passengers can use the service 24 hours before departure and up to 90 minutes before their flight leaves. “After the addition of Qantas Airways to the service, there will be a total of three airlines providing in-town check-in service. The MTR Corp has coordinated with airlines to provide such service,” the rail operator said. “We also welcome other airlines to provide in-town check-in service to make it easier for passengers to travel.”<br/>