Nearly 300 passengers on board two international flights heading to Atlanta on Thursday were stuck for hours on an Alabama tarmac after their flights were diverted, amid severe weather, to a small airport without Customs and Border Protection staffing. Delta Air Lines flights 1828 from Cabo San Lucas and 599 from Mexico City were both on their way to Atlanta when flight crews had to divert due to inclement weather and selected Montgomery, Alabama, for their diversion point, a Delta spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Both planes landed at the Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama because Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport was not considered suitable as a diversion airport due to thunderstorms and dangerous conditions in the region, including wind shear, according to the Delta spokesperson. Because of severe lightning activity that went on throughout the evening, Delta flight crews “ran over their permitted duty times,” the Delta spokesperson said. International flights are obligated to arrive at an airport with Customs and Border Protection staffing and facilities for processing, which wasn’t possible until early Friday morning “when a special accommodation was reached with Montgomery airport officials and CBP,” the spokesperson said. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for this experience,” the spokesperson told CNN. “We fell short of how we aspire to serve and care for our customers amid thunderstorms in the Southeast U.S. Thursday evening. We are reaching out to each customer with a full refund of their booking.”<br/>
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Delta Air Lines is exploring a “shark skin” aircraft coating designed to reduce drag by testing the technology on some of its Boeing 767s. The Atlanta-based carrier said on 9 April that it added Australian aerospace company MicroTau to its Sustainable Skies Lab, an innovation incubator established in 2023 that has seen the airline partner with Airbus, Boeing, JetZero and Joby Aviation. Delta says it will test MicroTau’s “shark skin riblets” by applying them to the fuselages of 767s. The treatments are expected to improve fuel efficiency by as much as 4%. ”Despite their smooth appearance, the skin of sharks is covered in a layer of microscopic grooves called dermal denticles, which help a shark swim more efficiently and expend less energy,” Delta says. “Applying these microscopic grooves, often called riblets, to the exterior of an aircraft can reduce drag by smoothing air flow, which helps reduce fuel consumption,” it adds. Sangita Sharma, director of the Sustainable Skies Lab, says the product is an example of an innovation that can be applied in the short-term, though the incubator also has an eye on “longer-term initiatives that will revolutionise how we think about flying for years to come”. <br/>
Korean Air recorded nearly a 20% drop in operating profit in the first quarter of the year, due to increased costs related to new aircraft and a weakening Korean won. According to preliminary figures released by the national flag carrier on Sunday, revenue for the January–March period reached 3.95t won ($2.77b) on a nonconsolidated basis, up 3% from the previous year. Despite the record revenue, Korean Air’s operating profit dropped to 350.9b won, down from 436.1b won a year earlier. Net profit fell even more sharply, plunging 44% to 193.2b won. Korean Air cited rising operating expenses as a key factor behind the profit dip, particularly costs tied to new aircraft introduced after pandemic-era delays. Rising unit costs from a weaker won also contributed to the decline, the company explained. “The new aircraft is part of a mid-to-long-term investment strategy aimed at expanding capacity, enhancing service quality and improving profitability through a broader network and upgraded services,” the company said in a statement. The airline has added 16 planes to its fleet since the second quarter of last year. According to the company, revenue from the air travel sector rose 4% on-year to 2.43t won, thanks to holiday rush periods, while cargo revenue climbed 6% to 1.05t won, supported by solid demand for shipments of electronics, auto parts and fresh goods.<br/>