A retired Southwest pilot was sentenced to probation Friday after pleading guilty to exposing his genitals to a female first officer and watching pornography on a laptop during a flight from Philadelphia to Florida last year. Michael Haak, 60, apologized and expressed remorse for his actions before US Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson sentenced him to one year of unsupervised probation and a $5,000 fine. “It started as a consensual prank between me and the other pilot. I never imagined it would turn into this in a thousand years,” Haak said during a remote hearing. Federal prosecutors said that Haak had never met the first officer before that flight bound for Orlando on Aug. 10, 2020. After the plane reached its cruising altitude, Haak got out of the pilot’s seat, “disrobed” and began watching pornographic material on a laptop computer in the cockpit, prosecutors said. “As the plane continued its flight, Haak further engaged in inappropriate conduct in the cockpit, as the first officer continued to perform her duties as an assigned aircrew member,” the statement says. The judge told Haak that his actions had a traumatic effect on the co-pilot and could have impacted the safety of passengers and other co-workers.<br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines is ending service between Honolulu and the rural islands of Molokai and Lanai in Maui County. Citing significant cost and an inter-island travel market that has been limited by restrictions due to the pandemic, Hawaiian Airlines said it will terminate its ’Ohana by Hawaiian service to the two islands, The Maui News reported Friday. “With our focus on rebuilding and restoring our mainline interisland, North America and international service, we cannot responsibly justify incurring the startup costs and weakening our financial outlook,” Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said. “We do this as stewards of our company, with a firm eye on ensuring that Hawaiian Airlines is positioned to not only survive but thrive as we exit the pandemic.”<br/>
Aer Lingus welcomed the government’s plan to ease travel restrictions from July 19 as “a first step on the long road to rebuilding aviation” but it will continue to burn a significant amount of cash over the coming months. The Irish airline said schedules will be a fraction of normal levels for some time and it faced significant restructuring to rebuild network and financial strength. “While Aer Lingus welcomes the easing of travel restrictions, it will not facilitate a significant level of travel to and from Ireland during the critical summer months of 2021,” the carrier said. <br/>
Lebanon's national airline will require payment for tickets in US dollars based on the central bank's latest exchange rate from June 1, Chairman Mohamad El-Hout said on Sunday, a step that will make tickets more expensive. Middle East Airlines chairman El-Hout said the move was necessary to ensure the financial well being of the state airline that is majority owned by the central bank. "If we don't take (this measure) the company will be hit financially," Hout said. The change, which applies only to tickets bought inside Lebanon, means ticket payments can no longer be based on a lower controlled dollar exchange rate. Tickets bought in Lebanon would now be based on a central bank benchmark launched this month, which is currently 12,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, a rate that is closer to the unofficial market rate rather than an official rate of about 3,900 Lebanese pounds for dollar account holders in the country. Lebanese authorities had limited dollar withdrawals, with a few exceptions under that exchange rate, effectively cutting the value of those deposits as the unofficial dollar market rate is now more than 12,800 pounds to the dollar. Buying airline tickets was one way people could spend dollars held in local banks.<br/>