The U.S. Department of Transportation stated Friday it had fined Air Canada US$250,000 for working flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace.
The company had jurisdiction as a result of these flights had United Airlines’ designator code. The violations occurred on quite a few flights between the United Arab Emirates and Toronto in airspace that was prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration to U.S. operators.
The FAA cited the “complex security environment” that exists over Iraq in barring flights. Air Canada should pay US$125,000 of the advantageous and owes one other US$125,000 if it violates the order once more inside a yr. Air Canada stopped codesharing with United on the route in January 2023.
Air Canada stated the “incidents were brief, unplanned and inadvertent and due to several factors, including air traffic control restrictions and a switch to a larger aircraft that needed more time to achieve sufficient altitude. Also, safety was not compromised.” The provider added it has taken motion to stop such incidents from reoccurring.
Emirates was fined $1.5 million by the Transportation Department in June for working flights carrying JetBlue Airways’JBLU.O code over Iraqi airspace. It was the second time they had been fined since 2020.
–Reporting by David Shepardson; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis
