Ryanair Flight Illegally Forced to Land by Belarusian Government
Ryanair Flight 4978 flying from Athens (ATH) to Vilnius, Lithuania (VNO) was illegally intercepted by an armed Belarusian Mig-29 fighter over Belarusian airspace and forced to land in Minsk following a fake bomb alert from the Belarusian military.
When the plane loaded with 121 passengers and six crew landed, it was boarded by Belarussian KGB operatives who arrested Roman Protasevich. Protasevich is the founder of NEXTA, a social media news channel which played a major role in protests against the Belarusian government last summer.
The forcing down of a commercial airliner is a violation of the Chicago Convention and sets a wildly dangerous precedent. Lithuanian president Hitanas Nasuda called the situation unprecedented and abhorrent, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Belarus, while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the incident utterly unacceptable. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, was believed to have said “meh, seems like a pretty good idea to me.” The plane spent seven hours on the ground in Minsk before resuming its journey to VNO.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said that “five or six” passengers did not continue to Vilnius along with Protasevich, saying he was under the impression they were members of the Belarusian Secret Service and were part of the operation, knowing the plane would be forced to land in Minsk.
FAA Downgrading Mexico Air Safety Rating
The FAA is expected to downgrade Mexico’s Air Safety Rating from Level 1 to Level 2 this week, creating a shift in the dynamics of the U.S-Mexico air market.
The downgrade follows a lengthy review of Mexico’s aviation oversight by the FAA. With the drop, Mexican carriers will be prohibited from adding new flights to the United States, marketing and codeshare agreements between US and Mexican carriers will be hindered, and US airlines would be prohibited from serving Mexican food or tequila as part of their inflight service.
A downgrade from the FAA typically means that the aviation authority of the specific county is deficient in areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, inspection procedures, or in-flight entertainment options. One industry insider said the FAA’s concerns were not related to specific flight safety issues, but instead Mexico’s oversight of its air carriers as well as its over-reliance on telenovelas to keep passengers occupied.
Delta, which codeshares with Aeromexico, would need to issue new tickets for passengers booked on Aeromexico flights as part of the downgrade. Volaris, Mexico’s leading LCC, would be forced to scale back its expansion plans to the United States while other Mexican airlines would be pushed to look elsewhere for their future growth until the matter is resolved and Mexico returns to Level 1.
United Offers Free Flight Sweepstakes to Vaccinated Travelers
United Airlines is offering MileagePlus members a chance to win free flights for a year for those who either have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or are just really good at photoshop.
To enter the sweepstakes, MileagePlus members must upload their vaccination record to United’s mobile app or website between today and June 22 to be entered to win a roundtrip flight for two, in any class of service, to anywhere United flies. UA will give out 30 pairs of tickets during June and will then select five grand prize winners on July 1 who will win free travel for a year in any class of service to anywhere United flies. The any class of service caveat is amazing – someone, anyone – needs to choose Basic Economy just for the reaction.
The only negative – some might view this as an anti-vaxxer award – is that the reward for getting vaccinated is having to fly United and likely connect through Newark. But hopefully most see this as a great gesture by United in an effort to encourage more Americans to get vaccinated this summer… as well as a way to further the Bill Gates-led global conspiracy for… ah nevermind, it’s just too ridiculous.
Spirit Earns Legal Victory Over FAA
Spirit Airlines was victorious in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after receiving a ruling that the FAA acted improperly by not reallocating Southwest’s slots at Newark when the airline departed the airport in late 2019. This could potentially leading to more Spirit flights at Newark Airport. Spirit and Newark – a match made in heaven.
Southwest picked up 36 slots at Newark that United was forced to release in 2010 as part of its merger with Continental. When Southwest left Newark in 2019, Spirit sought the abandoned slots but the FAA declined, because the airport was technically no longer slot-controlled. Spirit argued that the FAA and the airport retain the right to return to slot controls at any point and state that if that happens, those with slots will receive preference for service at that time – creating a future value for the slots even if they aren’t needed right now.
While the FAA will likely distribute Southwest’s abandoned slots to Spirit and others, it is not legally required to do so. The government could instead convince a delay reduction meeting and work with all carriers to reduce operations at the airport, which sounds costly, time-consuming, and really, really annoying. So expect that to be the option the government takes.
Miami Begins Daily COVID Testing
Miami International Airport is now offering daily COVID tests onsite at the airport for nearly everyone passing through, including passengers and employees. The tests are also available to the non-flying public who prefer a little jet fuel with their COVID test.
Two locations at the airport, the Central Terminal in Concourse E and the South Terminal in Concourse H, offer both Antigen and PCR tests with results being returned in 15 and 40 minutes, respectively.
Passengers testing negative will be free to proceed to their flight with no issue. Those that test positive will be sent back outside security and forced to try to avoid the illegal cockfights and brawls that regularly occur at the Miami airport… until testing negative or their bird wins.
- Air Canada’s flight attendants won a grievance that ends the airline’s ability to prohibit them from displaying visible tattoos while working. Now, only tattoos of American hockey teams are blocked.
- American hired Cole Brown as its new Chief People Officer. Brown is particularly qualified for the role as she has been a person her entire life.
- Cathay Pacific is considering a closure of its Frankfurt pilot base.
- CityJet received $2.4 million in aid from the Danish government.
- Electra Airways returned its only B737-400 aircraft.
- Etihad has taken delivery of its first A350 and is expected to put it into regular service soon.
- Fly Lili still hopes to launch operations in the Romanian domestic market this year. Reaffirming that, of course, only raises doubts.
- flydubai is adding three weekly flights to Mykonos and Santorini from its Dubai hub that will operate between June 18 and September 29.
- Gulf Air has agreed with both Airbus and Boeing to defer deliveries of aircraft originally due to be delivered in 2020 and 2021.
- Malawi Airlines received a bailout from the Malawian government to resume operations next month.
- Nigeria Air‘s debut has been delayed until Q1 2022.
- Southwest is beginning new daily service between Burbank and Reno on July 4. It will also resume flying between Burbank and Salt Lake City.
Just burned 2,000 calories. That’s the last time I leave brownies in the oven while I nap.