Pilots’ Strike Likely to Cancel Flights

Air France is warning of “significant disruptions” to flights during a four-day French pilots strike set to start Friday.

The carrier says the walkout was called to protest the French parliament’s upcoming discussion of a board reform bill that could extend the retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65.

Air France says it expects nearly half of its 833 scheduled mid and long-range flights Friday to be canceled and possibly more long-distance flights in the subsequent three days.

The effect on its partner airlines (Brit Air, Regional, CCM and Airlinair) is likely to be smaller.

Air France said in a statement Wednesday that passengers booked on flights during the strike should consult its website starting Thursday.

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Airline Passenger Bound with Duct Tape

An airline crew used duct tape to keep passenger in her seat because they say she became unruly, fighting flight attendants and grabbing other passengers, forcing the flight to land in North Carolina.

Maria Esther Castillo of Oswego, New York is due in court Thursday, charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of a flight crew aboard United Airlines Flight 645, from Puerto Rico to Chicago.

Castillo, 45, struck a flight attendant on the buttocks with the back of her hand during Saturday’s flight, FBI Special Agent Peter Carricato said in a criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Charlotte. She also stood and fell onto the head of a blind passenger and later started pulling the person’s hair, the complaint stated.

Ankle cuffs kept slipping off Castillo, so the flight crew and two passengers were forced to use duct tape to her in her seat. She calmed as the pilot diverted the flight to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport but authorities boarded the plane to remove her, authorities said.

Carricato states that a passenger saw Castillo having drinks in an airport bar before boarding. She bought another drink on the plane. Flight attendants stopped serving her alcohol due to her behavior, the complaint states.

United spokesman Jeff Kovick said Wednesday that safety is the company’s top priority and that it’s cooperating with authorities.

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