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Airbus A350 declared an emergency and returned to Osaka with damaged nose

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On May 28, 2023, an Air France A350-900 flying the AF291 route between Osaka-Kansai (KIX) in Japan and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) was forced to declare an emergency and land at the departure airport after presumably suffering damage to its nose cone from a bird hit.

The pilots reported a technical issue impacting the aircraft’s weather radar and speedometer about 30 minutes into the flight, by which time the aircraft had already reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.

Pictures of the A350 taxiing at Osaka-Kansai following the emergency landing have surfaced on social media; the aircraft’s nose cone is clearly damaged, most likely as a result of the bird strike experienced during takeoff.

The aircraft, with the registration F-HTYO, had only recently begun operation with Air France and was carrying 324 passengers in addition to the crew when the event occurred.

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Did United Airlines really give away a passenger’s business class seat to crew?

Photo credit:@watergirl8396 TikTok account

A woman complained on social media about United Airlines downgrading her fiance from business class to ‘coach’ so that a flight attendant could take a nap in his seat.

Together with her boyfriend, Danielle Schwab was flying from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).

In a TikTok post uploaded on May 24, 2023, Schwab, under the username @watergirl8396, ranted about the couple’s poor experience with United Airlines.

According to Schwab, her fiance was “all of a sudden” relocated to coach (economic class) by the airline so that a member of the crew could take a nap in his seat.

@watergirl8296

#unitedairlines #dobetter #unitedairlinestiktok #fyp

♬ original sound – Danielle Schwab

“We had booked and paid for our seats ahead of time. This is not customer service,” Schwab said.

A gate agent entered the aircraft when Scwab and her fiancé were already on board and sitting in their United Business Class Polaris seats, according to Scwab.

The agent told them that they will need her fiance’s seat for a flight attendant.

Additionally, Schwab added that, contrary to what she said in the initial video, her fiance had been transferred to the premium economy rather than coach or economy.

Four seats in total had to be given up by United for the cabin staff. The other woman, whose seat was also given up to the crew, was reachable by Schwab’s father, who was traveling with them.

Schwab later learned that the other two passengers agreed to be removed and take the same flight the next day in exchange for rewards from United Airlines.

Did United Airlines really downgrade a passenger?

The short answer is yes. However, there is a reason for the downgrade.

United Airlines provided the following justification:

“The seats we normally reserve for crew members to take their required rest breaks weren’t working on this flight, so we, unfortunately, had to reassign two customers to Premium Plus rather than cancel the flight. We understand the customer’s frustration and are refunding the price difference for their seats and giving them each a $1,500 certificate for future travel.”

Schwab said that they received no reimbursement from the airline in her most recent statement. When the flight landed, she claims a United Airlines customer service representative greeted them at the airport, apologized, and urged them to provide comments using the airline’s app.

They were informed by the airline staff that a different department was in charge of compensation when they inquired about it.

“We understand that this is a first-world problem but this was horrible customer service that should have never happened,” Schwab said.

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Air Canada and Rouge flights temporarily grounded in the United States

All Air Canada and Rouge flights in the United States (US) were temporarily grounded due to “internal computer issues”.

On Thursday, May 25, 2023, after 11:00 am ET, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued a ground stop stating that all Air Canada and Rouge flights were suspended.

A little under an hour later, the ground stop was lifted, allowing for the restart of flights.

Air Canada experienced a temporary technical issue with its communicator system, one of the systems that it uses to communicate with aircraft and monitor operational performance,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

“There have been some delays as a result, but the system is now returning to normal and the precautionary ground stop has been lifted.”

Soon after services resumed, Air Canada appreciated its customers for their “understanding” in a tweet.

“We continue to recover from this morning’s IT issue and temporary ground stop program,” the airline wrote.

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Penelope Cruz Unveiled As the Next Emirates Brand Ambassador

Photo credit: emirates.com

Penelope Cruz, an Oscar-winning performer from Hollywood, has recently been named the newest brand ambassador for Emirates, a Dubai-based airline.

Cruz, who had previously traveled with the airline and developed a strong relationship with the company, said she was “thrilled” to have the opportunity to work with Emirates.

The actor from Vanilla Sky and Pirates of the Caribbean will star in a number of brief commercials and promo spots that will start appearing on TV news networks around the world in June.

Emirates has already posted a few promotional videos on its social media pages, and the airline says more Cruz-related activities are scheduled for later this year.

The Spanish actor has filmed a number of brief promotional videos that showcase Emirates’ First and Business Class cabins as well as the brand-new Premium Economy experience. The videos were made in both English and Spanish.

Under Emirates’ long-running “Fly Better” campaign, the new partnership’s slogan is “Travel is not just about the end destination; it’s also about how you get there.”

“Emirates is all about Flying Better, where the journey to your destination matters as much as the place itself,” commented Richard Billington, the airline’s SVP of brand and advertising, shortly after the big reveal.

“We take care of every detail in the Emirates experience and wanted a brand ambassador who reflects the Emirates brand – it needed to be someone classy, stylish, and having modern global appeal. Penelope was the perfect fit,” Billington continued.

In 2015, Emirates was able to secure ‘Friends’ actress Jennifer Aniston for a historic TV commercial that increased the airline’s brand recognition in the US. The commercial was also a huge success in the UK, France, and Germany.

In fact, Anniston was such a success that she appeared in a follow-up advertisement in October 2016 that highlighted the amenities of Emirates’ Economy Class.

Emirates signed up a big-hitting director for its latest collaboration, employing double Oscar-winning Hollywood director Robert Stromberg for the job. Emirates said Stromberg managed to convey the airline’s “thoughtful luxury” along with Cruz’ “cheeky sense of humour”.

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Passenger accidentally locks Southwest cockpit door when the pilots were not inside

On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento (SMF) to San Diego (SAN) experienced a minor delay when the pilots were unable to access the cockpit.

After a passenger accidentally locked the flight deck door while attempting to use the restroom during the boarding procedure on Thursday, a Southwest pilot had to enter the cockpit through the right-side window.

During the boarding procedure, as the scheduled pilots were getting ready to board the aircraft, a passenger unintentionally closed the Flight Deck door, which then locked, while passengers and flight attendants were already on board.

Since the pilots had not yet entered the cockpit when the door was accidentally closed, there was no one inside. It is not uncommon for passenger boarding to commence before the pilots arrive, especially on Southwest, as the airline frequently operates “direct” flights with intermediate stops, allowing passengers to remain on the plane without disembarking.

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