USA: United Airlines Stops Girls In Leggings From Flight

On 26 March 2017, Shannon Watts was traveling from Denver International Airport to Minneapolis when, she says, she overheard an agent from United Airlines telling a family near her that they would not be allowed to board the plane unless the two young girls changed their clothes.

Watts added that the girls’ father, who was wearing shorts, was allowed to board without incident. The story quickly spread, with many expressing confusion over the seemingly arbitrary rule.

United Airlines replied to concerned and surprised people on social media, confirming that the incident took place and that a representative of the company had told the girls to change their clothes, which they had deemed inappropriate.

We found no explicitly stated rules or guidelines about leggings or any other articles of clothing on United’s web site, but the One Mile at a Time site offered a putative explanation for the issue.

The passengers in question, according to United were flying on employee passes, and United’s dress code for “non-revs” i.e., non-paying passengers deems “form-fitting lycra/spandex tops, pants and dresses” among other forms of dress as unacceptable.

Similarly the passengers were using a United employee pass and therefore had to meet different dress standards than paying customers do.

United Airlines spokesman Jonathan Guerin confirmed the two teens were not allowed on the flight. But he said they were traveling using a United employee pass and “were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel.”

An internal policy for employees using the airline travel benefit, he said, specifically forbids leggings while traveling.

“Our regular passengers are not going to be denied boarding because they are wearing leggings or yoga pants,” Guerin said. “But when flying as a pass traveler, we require this pass travelers to follow rules, and that is one of those rules.

“They were not compliant with the dress policy with the benefit,” Guerin said, noting that the girls were aware of the internal rule. “This morning, the attire of the pass travelers on this flight didn’t meet the dress code policy.”

Travelers familiar with the airline employee travel pass say it has long been a requirement for those using the benefit to dress up more than paying passengers.

United issued a short statement on the matter, saying that “The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel.”

USA: Delta Air Lines Domestic Planes Stop Due To A Systems Outage

Delta Air Lines domestic planes were taking to the skies again early Monday but a nationwide ground stop due to a systems outage caused departure delays and at least 150 cancellations overnight, the airline said.

Delta's website and mobile app as well as airport information screens and computers at the airline's reservation desks were still down as of midnight ET, barring travelers from obtaining information about their flight statuses.

Delta's website was down early Monday after a systems outage forced the airline to ground its domestic fleet, causing delays and at least 150 flight cancellations.

"I want to apologize to all of our customers who have been impacted by this frustrating situation," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. "This type of disruption is not acceptable to the Delta family who prides itself on reliability and customer service.

"I also want to thank our employees who are working tirelessly to accommodate our customers," he added.

More cancellations were expected because of the outage, the airline said in a statement, especially at Delta hub airports like Atlanta, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Delta said in the statement that it would not fly unaccompanied minors through noon ET on Monday.

International flights and flights in the air Sunday night were not affected by the stoppage, the airline said in a statement at 8 p.m. ET.

Jeremy Webb said his flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Maui, Hawaii, was held on the tarmac for an hour and a half.

Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Jet Airways To Expand Codeshare Cooperation

Delta Air Lines and joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic will expand the airlines’ existing cooperation agreement with India’s Jet Airways, the carriers announced Oct. 31.

Beginning Nov. 2, Delta and Virgin Atlantic passengers flying from the US into London Heathrow (LHR) will be able to make connecting flights to Mumbai and Delhi on Jet Airways.

Simultaneously, Jet Airways passengers will be able to connect through London Heathrow onto Delta routes to nine US cities: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

The new London-Mumbai/Delhi connections complement Delta and Jet Airways codeshare agreements already offered out of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport.

“With up to 11,000 people flying daily between India and North America, and with trade and tourism flows increasing between the US, UK and India, we are giving our customers more … options between North America and India,” Delta SVP-Europe, Middle East, Africa and India Nat Pieper said. “Customers will be able to hold a single Delta ticket from North America through London to India.”

Virgin Atlantic already has a codeshare agreement with Jet Airways on flights between five Indian cities and London Heathrow via Delhi. In 2017, subject to government approval, the airlines plan to expand their codeshare agreement when Virgin Atlantic places Jet Airways’ marketing code on flights from London Heathrow to 10 North American cities.

USA: Delta Apologized For Forced Flight Diversion Due To Misunderstandings Between Flight Attendants

Delta Air Lines has issued an apology over a fracas that broke out on a flight between Los Angeles and Minneapolis last month.

The two combatants were flight attendants. Their scrum forced the pilot to land in Salt Lake City to quell the tussle.

“Some of our team members did not display their best behavior,” Delta said in a statement after the incident. “We expect our flight crew to be nothing but courteous and professional at all times and what you experienced was far from that.”

To make it up to passengers on the diverted flight, Delta gave loyalty reward members extra miles and handed out travel vouchers to everyone else. The airline wouldn't say if the employees were disciplined.

This was not the first clash between flight attendants.

In 2010, a regional carrier for Delta canceled a flight from Rochester, N.Y., to Atlanta when two flight attendants began to brawl. A Rochester television station quoted a passenger who said the flight attendants “got into a fistfight on the plane. The pilot decided to kick everyone off the plane.”

USA: Delta Airlines Female Flight Attendants Fight At 37,000 Feet,Flight Diverted !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis had to make an unscheduled landing in Utah because two flight female flight attendants got into a fistfight at 37,000 feet.

The Boeing 757 was south of Salt Lake City when the fist fight broke out between Delta employees servicing the flight. The pilot asked air traffic control for a diversion to Salt Lake City because he wanted to hear from his flight attendants. Delta Air Lines Flight 2598 then diverted to Salt Lake City and safely landed.

A Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200, registration N751AT performing flight DL-2598 from Los Angeles,CA to Minneapolis,MN (USA), was enroute at FL370 about 180nm south of Salt Lake City,UT (USA) when the captain decided to divert the aircraft to Salt Lake City telling ATC he wanted to hear from his flight attendants. The aircraft landed safely on Salt Lake City's runway 16R about 40 minutes after leaving FL370.

A passenger reported that three cabin crew were sent off due to "bad behaviour". The airline subsequently sent a letter of apology stating: "... some of our team members did not display their best behavior. We expect our flight crew to be nothing but courteous and professional at all times and what you experienced was far from that. I am sorry we didn’t deliver on our brand promise for you today."

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 80 minutes, then continued the flight reaching Minneapolis with a delay of 75 minutes.

On Jan 28th 2016 The Aviation Herald learned that two flight attendants disagreeing over work issues engaged in a fist fight, a third lady trying to calm the other two down was hit by the flying fists, the purser informed the flight deck and the captain decided to divert.

Delta boasts that "Main Cabin customers can access more complimentary entertainment than ever before and premium entertainment is available for purchase. First Class and Delta Comfort customers enjoy it all for free."

JAMAICA: Jamaica Secures 60,000 New Airline Seats

Jamaica’s set for a major airlift boost this tourist season. The island has secured more than 60,000 new airline seats, according to Tourism Director Paul Pennicook.

The director announced the news during the JAPEX conference in Montego Bay. Of the new seats, about 50,000 are coming out of the United States. “Some of those (flights) will be new to Jamaica and we are very excited about them,” Pennicook said.

“Come Dec. 18, American Airlines introduces a non-stop service from Los Angeles into Montego Bay on weekends. Come November 1, South West Airlines introduces daily service from Houston into Montego Bay and come Dec. 1, Frontier Airlines comes into Montego Bay for days per week from Philadelphia.”

Some of the flights include increased service out of Minneapolis on Delta and flights from Gothenburg, Sweden, Oslo, Norway and potentially one out of Dublin next summer. “We are very excited about the future, because we are having new rooms built, we are having rooms refurbished, products are being upgraded, there are attractions…and we have the airline seats to go with it, so we are looking forward to a wonderful 2016,” Pennicook said.