• OpenAI shared new details about its plan to overhaul its company structure.
• Its current for-profit arm has been governed by a nonprofit board.
• OpenAI said its existing for-profit arm would become a public benefit corporation with ordinary shares of stock.

OpenAI has detailed its plans for a new corporate structure that would separate its business from being controlled by its nonprofit board.

In a blog post shared by the company on social media on Friday, the company said its board was considering "how to best structure OpenAI to advance the mission of ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity have been."

"Our plan is to transform our existing for-profit into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation⁠ (PBC) with ordinary shares of stock and the OpenAI mission as its public benefit interest," OpenAI wrote.

"The PBC is a structure⁠ used⁠ by many others⁠ that requires the company to balance shareholder interests, stakeholder interests, and a public benefit interest in its decisionmaking," the company said. "It will enable us to raise the necessary capital with conventional terms like others in this space."

This structure aims to generate profit while also benefiting the public interest. The nonprofit arm would take shares in the public benefit corporation, it added.

OpenAI said it was planning to make the structural change "in order to best support the mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."

"As we enter 2025, we will have to become more than a lab and a startup — we have to become an enduring company," it added.

In September, OpenAI confirmed that it would convert to a for-profit structure.

The move was also widely reported to be key to its $6.6-billion funding round in October: OpenAI has two years to make the switch, or else investors in the round could ask for their money back, multiple reports said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last month that a for-profit status makes it easier to attract new funding.

Altman is overseeing the transition just over a year after OpenAI's board temporarily removed him as the company's chief executive, thrusting its nonprofit governance into the spotlight.

While Altman was ousted for a few days, he returned as CEO, and many of the company leaders who pushed him out have since left their roles and new board members were added.

Now, OpenAI said the AI race has proven more costly than anticipated, which requires a structure more amenable to investors.

"The hundreds⁠ of billions of dollars that major companies are now investing into AI show what it will really take for OpenAI to continue pursuing the mission," OpenAI wrote in its latest blog post.

"We once again need to raise more capital than we'd imagined," it said. "Investors want to back us but, at this scale of capital, need conventional equity and less structural bespokeness."

• An unticketed passenger was caught on board a Delta Air Lines plane, the airline said.
• The incident occurred on Christmas Eve at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
• It comes weeks after another person tried to fly from New York to Paris without a boarding pass.

A Delta Air Lines passenger was caught trying to fly to Hawaii without a boarding pass on Christmas Eve, the airline and airport officials said.

The person went through standard security screening before bypassing ID verification and boarding-status stations, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement shared with BI.

Delta flight 487 was taxiing to the runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when the person was discovered, the airline said.

It added that, per procedures, the Airbus A321neo then returned to the gate.

The suspect then departed the plane before police located them in an airport restroom using video surveillance, the Port of Seattle said in a statement shared with BI.

Investigators determined the unticketed passenger had passed through a security checkpoint the day before, it said.

It added that the person was arrested on charges of criminal trespass.

The flight to Honolulu departed more than two hours later than scheduled. The Port of Seattle said passengers were deplaned to be rescreened by the TSA, and the aircraft was swept by K9 dogs.

"As there are no matters more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed from the flight and then apprehended," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation."

After a similar incident last month, 57-year-old Svetlana Dali was charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft after sneaking onto a Delta Air Lines service to Paris. If found guilty, she faces up to five years in prison.

The complaint against Dali, which BI has seen, says she boarded a Delta flight from New York to Paris without a boarding pass or a passport.

It added that she was able to pass through security by entering a special lane for airline staff. Dali is also said to have admitted in an interview with authorities that she intentionally evaded TSA and Delta staff to board the flight.

The incident is said to have occurred in late November, during another busy holiday period when Thanksgiving travel set records.

The TSA said it expected to screen nearly 40 million people at airports from December 19 to January 2, up 6.2% from 2023.

It said the busiest days would be December 20, 27, and 30.

• United Airlines' share price has more than doubled in 2024, outperforming competitors.
• The airline benefits from its hub airport structure and has been smart with deploying capacity.
• Strong finances and planned share buybacks have also helped.

United Airlines may be Boeing's biggest customer, but the two companies have had wildly different years.

A quality-control crisis and seven-week labor strike have led to layoffs, increased regulatory scrutiny, and — perhaps most problematically — production delays.

And despite massive headwinds across the entire airline industry, United has outperformed most of its peers, with its stock price up 148% in 2024.

Financial analysts and industry consultants say the airline's strong finances, share buybacks, broad network, and a coming fleet refresh are among the reasons it has been doing so well.

That's despite impacts from Boeing delivery delays, which forced United to offer pilots unpaid leave and rethink its flying this year. The airline coped by leasing planes and shrinking its domestic supply.

Clark Johns of Alton Aviation Consultancy told Business Insider that United's advantageous hub structure and hundreds of incoming narrow-body aircraft helped position the airline to better manage Boeing-related headwinds.

The carrier also benefited this year by refocusing on long-haul flying to boost business and revenue.

"Basic economy is still a major revenue stream for them, and they're expanding their premium seating," Johns said. "In some senses, they're kind of firing on all cylinders."

United flies to more overseas cities than any other US carrier

Among the biggest boons for United has been international flying.

Analysts at HSBC raised their price target for United in December to $116 —about 14% above current levels — citing its international network as a key driver.

"Its exposure to the international markets is well above its peers, and the international demand is quite strong," HSBC said, adding that United's 2024 transatlantic winter bookings — typically a slower period — are 30% higher compared to pre-Covid levels.

Johns said United "has done a good job with regards to the timing" of deploying its capacity amid delays to deliveries of new Boeing planes.

He said United had a strong performance in Europe — operating long-haul routes when demand was high but more modestly on domestic routes when overcapacity impacted US airline revenues.

United has also expanded its capacity on flights to Asia. Tokyo's Narita Airport has been a particularly key base for United, and Johns praised the airline as "tactical" in redeploying aircraft there from weaker routes out of its Guam base. In 2025, it plans to further expand in the region.

United's diverse hubs provide a strategic advantage

United benefits hub airport locations that create strong network opportunities across oceans and the Americas.

Large population centers, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Newark, New Jersey, act as strong international gateways.

Johns said these airports help United target high-yielding premium and business traffic.

The airline also feeds passengers through hubs in Chicago, Denver, and Houston, providing good connectivity across the interior US.

In an October report seen by BI, Deutsche Bank analysts said they anticipate 2025 will be a "strong year of regional growth" for the airline's network.

Johns said Delta and American don't have the same vast hub structure and have dominance in fewer places, like Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte for American and Atlanta and Detroit for Delta.

United is revamping its fleet with hundreds of new planes

A fleet renewal plan that includes 270 new Airbus and Boeing narrow-body planes, plus 150 widebody Boeing 787 Dreamliners, is powering United's expansion.

Data from the manufacturers show that as of November 30 this year, United had received 21 Airbus A321neos, 31 Boeing 737 Maxs, and one Dreamliner. The 737 deliveries are less than half of the 71 Max planes United received through November 2023.

As it shifts capacity, United has removed the yet-to-be-certified 737 Max 10 from its future fleet plan. It has 150 units on order.

United also has new planes from rival Airbus to look forward to in the coming years, including its first A321XLR in 2026.

United's SVP of global network planning and alliances, Patrick Quayle, previously told BI the airline plans to replace its aging Boeing 757s with the A321XLR and fly to new destinations, like northern Italy and West Africa.

This influx of narrow-body planes could help United lower costs and make the airline even more competitive.

United's fleet allows for diverse revenue streams, including basic economy and money-making premium cabins; the latter is especially lucrative as corporate travel remains on the rise.

Deutsche Bank analysts said United's adjusted pretax margin of 9.7% "reflects the company's advantage of having revenue diversification with premium customers, basic economy customers, and domestic road warriors."

United's third-quarter premium revenues, including Polaris business class and premium economy, were up 5% year over year.

Basic economy was up by a fifth, signaling United's discounted fare has likely poached some business from budget carriers struggling to maintain customers who prefer more perks when flying.

Share buyback signals strong finances

In its third-quarter earnings, United's adjusted earnings per share of $3.33 beat analysts' estimates. It also announced plans for a $1.5 billion share buyback.

"We intend this buyback to be the beginning of a consistent and disciplined return of capital that is paced by our ability to generate increasing levels of free cash," said CFO Michael Leskinen.

Johns told BI that this was another sign of United's progress toward becoming a dependable "blue-chip" stock as it works to reduce its debt-to-earnings ratio.

"I think that's probably the market broadly seeing the positive aspects in terms of how the airline is performing," he said.

In a recent earnings call, United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline has been confident for the past two years that the industry is evolving to produce higher margins.

Deutsche Bank analysts are also bullish, saying: "We believe the solid earnings momentum will continue into the next two years."

• Svetlana Dali was charged with being a stowaway on a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris.
• On Sunday, she removed her ankle monitor, an arrest warrant said.
• Several outlets reported she was arrested on a Greyhound bus headed to Canada.

The woman accused of being a stowaway on a transatlantic Delta Air Lines flight was arrested after trying to sneak out of the country again, law enforcement sources told several outlets.

After being charged earlier this month, Svetlana Dali was released but ordered to wear an ankle monitor, according to court documents seen by Business Insider.

On Sunday, she "removed her location monitoring bracelet and absconded," an arrest warrant said.

CNN first reported that Dali's roommate reported her missing after finding her ankle monitor on the floor. It added that Dali was taken into custody on Monday while on board a Greyhound bus headed to Canada.

An official told The New York Times that Dali had a ticket for the ride — unlike last month's Delta flight.

She appeared in court in Buffalo on Tuesday, and a hearing for violating the terms of her release is scheduled for Friday in Brooklyn.

The Delta incident

57-year-old Dali made headlines when she was charged earlier this month with being a stowaway on an aircraft.

The criminal complaint against her says she confirmed in an interview that she boarded a Delta flight to Paris without a boarding pass or passport.

It adds that Dali was first turned away from a security checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport as she couldn't show a boarding pass.

Five minutes later, she was successful as she entered via a special lane for airline employees after blending in with a group of flight crew members, the complaint says.

Dali is said to have then boarded Flight DL264. The complaint says Delta staff realized she was on board the plane before landing, and French authorities determined she didn't have a boarding pass or passport.

The incident occurred on November 26. The 2.7 million passengers that passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints that day was a record for a Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

In a statement previously shared with BI, Delta thanked French and US authorities for their assistance. The airline said a review found its security infrastructure was "sound" and the incident was caused by a "deviation from standard procedures."

"We are thoroughly addressing this matter and will continue to work closely with our regulators, law enforcement, and other relevant stakeholders," the statement added. "Nothing is of greater importance than safety and security."

• A Delta flight encountered severe turbulence last year, with 17 people injured.
• The NTSB's newly published report says none of the injured people were wearing seatbelts.
• One passenger fractured four vertebrae and was hospitalized for over a month.

Newly released details from a 2023 incident that injured 17 airline passengers highlight the dangers of encountering turbulence, and serve as a stark reminder of why keeping your seatbelt on is always a good idea.

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 was flying from Milan to Atlanta when it encountered severe turbulence around 40 minutes from landing.

The National Transportation Safety Board made public its investigation last Friday. It found none of the injured people were wearing seatbelts despite the seatbelt sign being on.

10 of those who were injured were flight attendants, two of whom had serious injuries.

The flight's first officer told investigators that he told the cabin crew they should be seated due to expected turbulence. A list of injuries, shared with Delta and the NTSB, said the injured crew members weren't seated at the time.

One of those who was seriously injured suffered two broken ribs and back compression fractures, while the other had compression fractures in their neck and upper back, it said.

The other injuries to flight attendants included muscle strains, a concussion, and a deep cut that required stitches.

Five of the flight attendants were taken to hospital and released within 24 hours.

Of the seven passengers who were injured, one remained in hospital nearly a month after the flight. The person fractured four vertebrae and a rib, according to the NTSB report.

Another seriously injured passenger fractured one vertebra, while the others had muscle strains — mostly in the neck.

None of the injured passengers were wearing a seatbelt, the report said.

One of those passengers reported that her head hit the ceiling, hurting her neck, back, and head, although she was later able to walk off the plane.

Guy Gratton, an associate professor of aviation and the environment at Cranfield University, previously told Business Insider that a plane encountering turbulence is like "taking a box with something in it and starting to shake the box up and down."

"And clearly, if you're the person who's inside the box, then you get thrown around inside the box, and that's where injuries happen," he added.

"Passengers are told to keep their seatbelts done up because if you're tied to the box, you're much less likely to get injured."

While the Delta incident saw four serious injuries, cases of major injuries during turbulence are rare.

Between 2009 and 2023, 184 people were seriously injured by turbulence — an average of 12 a year — according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration. The majority of those, 146, were flight attendants rather than passengers.

• A KLM flight diverted to Bermuda due to the smell of pigs from the cargo hold.
• The Boeing 787 was en route from Amsterdam to Mexico City when it diverted.
• Passengers stayed at local hotels and were ultimately delayed by 30 hours.

A KLM flight made an unscheduled landing when the cabin was filled with the smell of 100 pigs.

The Boeing 787 was flying from Amsterdam to Mexico City last Friday. Data from Flightradar24 shows that six hours into its journey, it diverted to Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean.

A spokesperson for Skyport, the firm that runs Bermuda's LF Wade International Airport, told Business Insider the diversion was caused by "the distinctive aroma of 100 pigs traveling in the cargo hold," saying the stench "prompted the flight crew to divert to Bermuda for a fresh-air break."

A KLM spokesperson said that halfway through the flight, "a strong smell caused by live animals (pigs) in the cargo hold reached the cockpit." They added that the flight was diverted as a standard precaution.

The Skyport spokesperson said 259 passengers and crew were processed through immigration and accommodated at local hotels, while the pigs were attended to by a government vet.

"Thanks to excellent collaboration between KLM, Delta Air Lines, and local partners, both our two-legged and four-legged visitors are safe and well cared for — even if this wasn't quite the Christmas vacation they had planned," they added.

Skyport shared a video on social media of the pigs being loaded back onto a different plane — a KLM 777.

According to the spokesperson and Flightradar24 data, the plane was scheduled to leave Bermuda at 9:40 p.m. — but ended up departing earlier, at 6:26 p.m.

Landing in Mexico around 9 p.m. on Sunday meant the KLM passengers — and the pigs — were delayed by around 26 hours.

This diversion comes two weeks after a KLM Boeing 777 had to turn back to Amsterdam while crossing the Atlantic.

The flight from Amsterdam to Suriname experienced a "technical malfunction," leaving passengers with a four-hour flight to nowhere.

• Campbell Wilson has been CEO of Air India since it was privatized in 2022.
• He's leading a turnaround that involves hundreds of new jets plus refurbishing old cabins.
• Wilson told BI about his frustrations with the airline's supply chain, and his leadership style.

Campbell Wilson has a tough job — he compares his efforts turning around Air India to "drinking from a firehose."

The New Zealander was appointed CEO in June 2022 after the state-owned flag carrier was privatized in a deal with India's Tata Group conglomerate.

"It was sort of like walking down a beach with 10,000 stones, and under each one of those stones, you knew that there was a creepy crawly," Wilson told Business Insider in an interview at a Taj Hotel in London, also owned by the Tata Group.

"But progressively, you work through it, and you pick up all the stones, and you address everything that's sitting underneath," he added. "And I think now, for the most part, the beach is clean. It's just we have to erect the edifice on top."

At 2023's Paris Airshow, the new Air India set out its ambitions when it signed deals for 470 aircraft worth $70 billion at list prices.

To speed things up, the airline agreed to take six Airbus A350 jets originally destined for the Russian carrier Aeroflot. They're a much more modern upgrade from the aged jets that make up most of Air India's fleet.

For passengers, it's the most tangible evidence of the turnaround, operating on flights to New York and London.

There are another 44 Airbus A350 jets on the way — 10 of which were ordered on Monday. As well as hundreds of narrow-body jets, Air India has ordered 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X jets.

The 777X has been much anticipated throughout the industry but has faced several delays in certification. First deliveries are expected in 2026, six years later than initially scheduled.

"I have full confidence in Boeing to go through whatever's necessary to get these aircraft in the air," Wilson told BI.

"There are other airlines ahead of us who are equally impatient with the delivery," he added. "We just need to let them run through that process with the [Federal Aviation Administration]."

Wilson is more concerned about delays in the supply chain, given plans to retrofit old cabins. "It's the No. 1 frustration I have, to be quite honest," he said.

Two-thirds of its widebody planes haven't been updated since deliveries dating back to 2007. For all the work on behind-the-scenes operations, Wilson says the seats are "the most visible manifestation of the old Air India."

Passengers have seen problems including missing charging outlets, malfunctioning TVs, and broken tray tables.

"The gap between modern and what we offer is big, and so the urgency for us to refit these aircraft is probably greater than any other airline."

"Until we upgrade the aircraft, then people won't believe that the transformation has happened," he added. "And so it's frustrating, but we're working through it."

New Zealand to New York

Wilson didn't find himself running an airline out of a passion for aviation but was instead first driven by opportunities to see the world.

After a season playing field hockey in England, he traveled to New York, where he stayed at a teammate's brother's high-rise apartment.

"I'm sleeping on this guy's couch, looking between my feet at the Empire State Building," Wilson recounted.

He learned the apartment was a perk of his host's job, having been posted to New York. So back home in New Zealand, Wilson was excited when he spotted an ad for Singapore Airlines' management trainee scheme — with the offer to relocate to any of the destinations to which it flew.

"I had to make a sufficient nuisance of myself and knuckle down, work hard, make an impression," he said. "I got sent to Auckland, Sydney, and a few other places."

After working his way up the ranks of Singapore Airlines, Wilson was in 2011 tapped to become the founding CEO of Scoot — its subsidiary budget airline.

Over a decade later, Singapore Airlines took a minority stake in the Air India deal, and Wilson was chosen to lead the turnaround.

Contextual leadership

Wilson said a turnaround requires you to "get a lot of balls up in the air being juggled at once."

"You don't have the luxury of time to do things sequentially, and so you have to do everything in parallel," he added.

He said this can lead to heavy workloads, uncertainties, and people being stretched. "But you've only got a certain window before people really want to see the outcome."

Wilson described his leadership style as contextual. "Certainly, in the early part of the transformation, it was very hands-on," he said.

But after more progress was made, he said, people would come to him with ideas of what they wanted to do and how they could achieve them.

"Without being glib, I think the higher you go in the organization, more and more of your job is about people," Wilson told BI. He referred to the importance of aligning people behind a common objective and ensuring they have the necessary resources.

Wilson said his favorite part of being a CEO is interacting with people. Before he was in his 40s, he said, he was more interested in his own success and progress.

"And then you get to the mid-to-late 40s, and actually you take just as much pleasure — and eventually more pleasure — from seeing other people develop," he added.

The Air India boss said he was pleased with the turnaround so far, but there's still more to come.

What is he most excited about in 2025? "Getting these damn seats installed on the aircraft."

• Two planes narrowly avoided hitting each other in an October incident in Long Beach.
• A Southwest Airlines jet was cleared to land on a runway that had another plane on it.
• The incident was revealed in a preliminary NTSB report published this week.

A Southwest Airlines jet avoided disaster after it landed on a runway that already had a plane on it.

The incident occurred in Long Beach in October, although the National Transportation Safety Board published its preliminary report into the incident this week.

The Southwest Boeing 737, arriving from Oakland, was cleared to land on runway 30 at Long Beach Airport — although it was occupied by another plane.

A Diamond DA40, a four-seater light aircraft, had just arrived from Camarillo airport.

The NTSB report said that the smaller plane's crew was cleared to land on runway 30 and to hold short of an intersecting runway.

They requested to circle around and land on the other runway, but the air traffic controller denied their request.

About three minutes later, the Southwest flight was cleared to land on the same runway.

The controller provided the crew with a traffic advisory about a Cessna landing on runway 26.

As it was landing, the crew told ATC that there was another plane on the runway.

They came within 857 feet of each other. But the Southwest jet slowed down in time before both aircraft taxied to their requested parking areas without further incident.

Because the NTSB's report is preliminary, it does not aim to establish a cause of the incident but rather gives a statement of facts.

This isn't the first time that a plane has ended up on an already occupied runway.

In 2023, a JetBlue pilot taking off in Colorado made a quick maneuver to avoid a smaller plane coming in to land.

• A Qantas flight U-turned over the Pacific Ocean — 1,100 miles after leaving Los Angeles.
• Investigators said sparks were seen coming from an engine, and Qantas confirmed a "mechanical issue."
• Passengers were left with a six-hour flight to nowhere.

Qantas passengers endured a six-hour flight to nowhere when their flight turned around over the Pacific Ocean.

Flight 16 from Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia, on December 3 U-turned after 2 ½ hours, about 1,100 miles off the California coast, per FlightAware data.

It landed back at LAX at about 2:45 a.m. the next day in Los Angeles.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is investigating the incident, said the Airbus A330 suffered an engine malfunction.

From initial reports, it said, sparks were seen coming from one of the engines, prompting the Qantas pilots to return to Los Angeles.

It added that a bang was heard during the approach, followed by stall indications for the engine. After landing, an inspection found evidence of metal in the engine's tailpipe.

FlightAware's data shows that the A330, registered under the tail number VH-EBQ, has been grounded since the incident.

A Qantas spokesperson confirmed the plane returned because of a "mechanical issue with one of the engines."

"The pilots followed normal procedures and returned to LA where the aircraft landed normally," they added.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and recognize this would have been unsettling for some passengers. We'll work closely with the regulators on their investigation."

So-called flights to nowhere can be frustrating for passengers and costly for airlines — but typically less so than other diversions. It is generally easier to repair problems and reroute passengers where airlines have bases. Qantas has a maintenance facility at LAX.

The airline spokesperson said the engine would be repaired before it returned to the fleet. In the meantime, a replacement is being sent to Los Angeles from Melbourne.

It isn't especially rare for planes to turn back to where they came from when an issue arises.

On Saturday, a United Airlines flight to London returned to Newark, New Jersey, where a 24-year-old was arrested on suspicion of interference with transportation.

Earlier this month, a KLM Boeing 777 U-turned over the Atlantic, leaving passengers with a four-hour flight to nowhere.

• British Airways told customers on X it faced "baggage disruption" due to a fault at London Heathrow.
• Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport and the world's second-busiest for international flights.
• An aviation news site reported BA warned crews against checking bags due to the baggage system fault.

Some flight crews have been advised not to check bags amid a system fault at Europe's busiest airport, aviation news site Paddle Your Own Kanoo reported.

London Heathrow is also the world's second-busiest airport for international flights, behind Dubai, according to travel data provider OAG. On Wednesday, Heathrow announced that it's expecting its busiest-ever December after last month's 6.5 million passengers broke records for November travel.

Responding to customers who reported luggage troubles on Monday and Tuesday, British Airways' X account said the airline faced "baggage disruption" due to issues at Heathrow.

In another post, it said it was "unable to load a number of bags onto flights" on Monday "due to a fault with London Heathrow Airport's baggage system, which was out of our control."

PYOK reported that British Airways also told pilots and cabin crew not to check luggage due to the fault at Terminal 5.

It added that BA told crews the risk of reaching their destination without their bags was too high, and that they should pack essential uniform items and spare clothes in their carry-ons.

The report also said that, in an internal update on Tuesday, Heathrow Airport said that it was still working on "what can be done" to fix the fault.

Business Insider understands that as of Wednesday morning, British Airways passengers were no longer facing baggage issues.

British Airways did not comment when contacted by Business Insider. London Heathrow Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• A United Airlines flight turned back to Newark, New Jersey, after 90 minutes.
• It's the latest example of a flight to nowhere — when flights return to their origin.
• Passengers eventually made it to London 12 hours later than scheduled.

United Airlines passengers faced a 12-hour delay after their transatlantic trip became a flight to nowhere.

Saturday's flight from Newark, New Jersey, to London was in the air for about 90 minutes when it U-turned just off the coast of Nova Scotia, according to data from FlightAware.

The flight-tracking website shows that after landing back in New Jersey at about 2:30 a.m. ET, the Boeing 767 didn't take off again for nearly five more hours.

Flight UA940 ultimately made it to London Heathrow at 7.29 p.m. local time on Sunday — 12 hours and 5 minutes after it was initially scheduled.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, a United Airlines spokesperson said the flight returned to Newark "to address a disruptive passenger."

The statement added that law enforcement removed the passenger before the flight continued to London that morning.

One Reddit user who said they were on the flight said the plane turned around after a business-class passenger threatened the aircraft's security.

They added that the delay at Newark was compounded by the flight crew reaching their maximum time on the clock, so new staff had to be brought in from standby.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside US working hours.

Returning all the way to Newark rather than landing at a nearer airport in Canada may initially seem a strange decision, but so-called flights to nowhere aren't uncommon. Going back to an airline's hub airport usually means it's simpler to reroute passengers and solve any issues.

There have been several flights to nowhere in recent weeks.

Last month, a Delta Air Lines plane turned back over the coast of Newfoundland after the crew observed a potential engine issue.

Then, a KLM flight U-turned over the Atlantic Ocean and headed back to Amsterdam in a four-hour flight to nowhere as a precaution because of a technical malfunction.

• Boeing restarted 737 Max production last Friday, Reuters reported.
• It comes nearly a month after a seven-week strike restrained the already embattled planemaker.
• Returning to previous production levels could take months but is key to restoring trust.

Boeing restarted production of its 737 Max aircraft last Friday, nearly a month after a strike that lasted seven weeks, Reuters reported.

A slowdown in 737 Max production this year has annoyed customers — further delaying deliveries of aircraft in an industry hampered by supply-chain constraints.

Getting production back on track will likely go some way to restoring trust with both airlines and regulators. Other issues remain, like achieving certification of the 777X, and a judge rejecting Boeing's plea deal over two Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

The Federal Aviation Administration limited Boeing's output of the type to 38 a month following January's Alaska Airlines blowout. Boeing had slowed beyond that as it works to overhaul its production practices.

Then, in mid-September, Seattle-area workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) went on strike. The strike brought 737 Max production to a halt and saw Boeing raise up to $24.3 billion to boost its liquidity.

After tense and protracted negotiations, union members voted to end the strike in early November.

In an October earnings call, CEO Kelly Ortberg said it would likely take a couple of weeks to bring everyone back, given recertification and retraining efforts.

The FAA told Reuters last month that it "will further strengthen and target our oversight as the company begins its return-to-work plan."

Boeing has a backlog of around 5,400 commercial aircraft worth roughly $428 billion. Around 4,700 of those are 737 Max jets.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker previously told Reuters that he would be surprised if it took less than multiple months for the company to reach the 38 maximum production limit.

Boeing's share price has dropped 37% since the start of the year. As of 5 a.m. ET, it was up about 0.5% in premarket trading following Reuters' report.

• A passenger on a Mexican domestic flight tried to force it to divert to the US on Sunday.
• The incident occurred on a Volaris flight from El Bajío to Tijuana.
• A witness told Fox 5 San Diego he saw a man grab a flight attendant and hold a pen against her neck.

A passenger on a Mexican domestic flight tried to force the aircraft to divert to the US, the airline, Volaris, said.

Volaris said the incident occurred on Sunday morning on Flight 3041 from El Bajío to Tijuana.

It added that the flight was diverted to Guadalajara in central Mexico, where the passenger was handed over to the authorities.

Flightradar24 shows the plane landed in Guadalajara 46 minutes after taking off from El Bajío.

A passenger told Fox 5 San Diego that the man who was apprehended grabbed a flight attendant and held a pen against her neck before trying to open one of the plane's doors. Another passenger and crew members restrained him.

A Mexican government statement cited by Bloomberg said the man was a 31-year-old Mexican traveling with his wife and two children. The report added that the man told cabin crew members he had received death threats and would be in danger if he traveled to Tijuana.

Volaris said in a statement in Spanish that it regretted the inconvenience caused and that the safety of passengers and crew members was the airline's highest priority.

In a post on X, Volaris' CEO, Enrique Beltranena, apologized to the passengers on the flight and thanked them for their composure and support.

• Svetlana Dali was charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft.
• A criminal complaint says she admitted to evading Delta and TSA staff to board the flight to Paris.
• She got through security in a lane for airline staff at JFK Airport, the complaint says.

A woman who boarded a transatlantic flight without a ticket or passport got through security in a special lane for airline staff, court documents say.

Svetlana Dali, 57, was charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft. She faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.

In a criminal complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York and seen by Business Insider, an FBI special agent set out the evidence against her.

It says Dali admitted in an interview that she flew as a stowaway on board a Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Paris.

The incident is said to have occurred on November 26. The 2.7 million passengers that passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints that day was a record for a Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Thursday's complaint says Dali was first turned away from a checkpoint at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 4 as she couldn't show a boarding pass.

She tried again five minutes later and was successful, "entering through a special lane for airline employees masked by a large Air Europa flight crew," it adds.

The complaint says that about 90 minutes after being screened by the TSA alongside ticketed passengers, Dali boarded Flight DL264 without presenting a boarding pass.

It adds that Delta agents didn't stop her or ask her to present a boarding pass while they helped other passengers board.

Before the flight landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Delta staff realized Dali was on board the plane, and she couldn't show them a boarding pass, the complaint says.

French authorities met Dali at the gate and detained her after determining she didn't have a boarding pass or passport, it adds.

Dali is said to have admitted in an interview with the FBI agent that she intentionally evaded TSA and Delta staff and confirmed she appeared in security video bypassing them.

The New York Times reported that Dali's lawyer, Michael Schneider, said in court that the charge she faced was "akin to theft of services or jumping a turnstile."

In a statement, Delta thanked French and US authorities for their assistance. The airline said a review found its security infrastructure was "sound" and the incident was caused by a "deviation from standard procedures."

"We are thoroughly addressing this matter and will continue to work closely with our regulators, law enforcement and other relevant stakeholders," the statement added. "Nothing is of greater importance than safety and security."

• Two passengers engaged in "intimate acts" on a Swiss International flight from Bangkok to Zurich.
• A flight crew member took a video of the incident from a monitor in the cockpit.
• Swiss said the crew should have intervened immediately, and that it was investigating.

Airline crew members are under investigation after a video of two passengers on a Swiss International Air Lines flight emerged on social media.

The incident took place last Friday on a flight from Bangkok and Zurich, an airline spokesperson told Business Insider.

The spokesperson said two passengers were in the front galley of the Boeing 777 near the flight deck, where a camera is located that lets pilots carry out checks before opening the cockpit door.

From a screen on the flight deck, the couple were "observed engaging in intimate acts" while a crew member recorded them on a phone.

Footage of the couple then began circulating on WhatsApp and was obtained by the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten, which first reported the story.

The airline said it expected the crew to intervene immediately and found it "intolerable" that the passengers were filmed and commented on instead. Disciplinary action against the crew members was being considered.

"Filming people without their clear consent and sharing these recordings is contrary to our guidelines and values," the Swiss spokesperson said.

"The behavior of the passengers in question was inappropriate — therefore, our employees should have acted in line with our protocols and intervened immediately," they added. "Why the crew did not act accordingly is the subject of the ongoing investigation."

Among other things, the airline plans to increase employee education and training on such topics to help avoid similar incidents in the future.

• A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 U-turned before crossing the Atlantic on November 24.
• Delta said the flight crew observed a potential engine issue and returned to JFK Airport.
• The 212 passengers departed again some 12 hours after they first took off.

Hundreds of passengers endured a five-hour flight to nowhere as their Delta Air Lines plane turned back.

The Boeing 767 left New York's JFK Airport for Edinburgh, Scotland, at about 10 p.m. ET on November 24.

FlightAware shows that Flight 208 had just reached the Atlantic Ocean when it turned back over the coast of Newfoundland.

Delta said the flight crew observed a potential engine issue and followed established procedures to return to JFK.

The 767 landed back in New York at about 3 a.m., some five hours after departing.

Delta said 212 passengers and 11 crew members were on board. Passengers were given accommodations and meals before leaving New York again at 10 a.m., about 12 hours after their initial departure.

"Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels and we appreciate their patience," the airline said in a statement shared with Business Insider. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people."

It's not the only example of a flight to nowhere in recent weeks.

On Sunday, a KLM Boeing 777 U-turned over the Atlantic, leaving passengers with a four-hour flight to nowhere.

In late October, a British Airways Boeing 777 that experienced a problem over the Atlantic turned back to London and landed at Heathrow nine hours after takeoff.

For carriers flying over the Atlantic, returning to the airport is often the best decision when something goes wrong: It's typically simpler for airlines to reroute passengers and fix planes back at their hub airports than abroad.

• Latvia's airBaltic has been heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine, its CEO Martin Gauss said.
• He told Business Insider it plans to be the first airline back into Ukraine when the conflict ends.
• Gauss led airBaltic out of bankruptcy and has spearheaded plans for an IPO next year.

AirBaltic plans to be the first airline to restart flights to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement, CEO Martin Gauss told Business Insider.

The Latvian flag carrier also has bases in Estonia and Lithuania. All three countries border Russia and are NATO and the European Union members.

"What I think is an upside now is a potential peace because that's not priced in for us," Gauss said in a Monday interview in London.

"That would be a huge upside as we were the last airline out of Ukraine and would be the first one in," he added.

Gauss told BI that the start of the war impacted airBaltic "very heavily" due to missing passenger flows from Ukraine and Russia.

However, he added that tourism to the Baltic countries was no longer suffering as fears had eased about them being invaded by Russia, too.

AirBaltic has still been hampered by airspace restrictions.

"The overflying restrictions are still there and everything which goes southeast is, for us, a detour — circumnavigating the airspace," Gauss said.

The airline has more than 70 destinations — including Cyprus, Turkey, and Dubai — where the fastest route from Latvia would involve flying over Ukraine.

Finding alternative routes isn't simple. Gauss explained how flying south from the Baltics, there's only a "small corridor" between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

"Once that is too busy, we need to fly over Sweden into the south," Gauss added. "So there's an impact on the cost side."

AirBaltic's turnaround

Gauss started his career as a pilot in 1992 with Deutsche BA, then a low-cost subsidiary of British Airways. He then entered management training with the airline and worked his way up.

After developing a reputation for turning around airlines, he was headhunted for airBaltic in 2011. The airline had gone bankrupt, but the Latvian government agreed to invest more capital.

"I had to come up, in a couple of weeks, with suggestions of what you could do with a technically bankrupt airline," Gauss told BI.

"What makes it so special was that in 2012 […] we had to make a decision for the future aircraft fleet," he added. "And we took a decision to go for an aircraft type which didn't exist at the time — an A220."

In 2016, AirBaltic became the launch operator of the Airbus A220. It's a smaller jet with a capacity of 150, but it can still fly farther than the regional aircraft it competes with, such as the Embraer E195.

Today, airBaltic is the largest operator of the type with 48 A220s — with plans to double that by 2030. Based on order books, Gauss said, "We are the only airline which can double in size in Europe in the next five years."

Gauss has also promoted new technologies in his time at the helm. AirBaltic accepted bitcoin as payment back in 2014 and has minted NFTs that generate airline loyalty points.

It's also set to be the first airline in Europe to use Elon Musk's Starlink internet as soon as it's certified by the continent's aviation regulators.

Gauss is pleased with the success of his business model, with preparations underway for an IPO.

"It was intended to do it earliest in the second half of this year, which we canceled because of the market situation, so we said, first opportunity is first half of 2025 for an IPO."

• An Air France passenger is suing the airline for over $100,000, saying he was injured on a flight.
• Sofiane Licir said he sustained "serious" injuries when his business-class seat broke during takeoff.
• The suit says he was "propelled into the confines of his seating area" when pilots aborted takeoff.

An Air France passenger is suing the airline, saying he was injured when his business-class seat broke during takeoff.

Sofiane Licir's attorneys filed the suit, which Business Insider has seen, on November 20 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

The Texas resident is seeking over $100,000 in damages from the complaint.

It says that Licir was flying from Paris to Houston in December 2022. when he "sustained serious and permanent injuries." Exact injuries are not detailed in the lawsuit.

The Airbus A350 was apparently close to reaching takeoff speed when the pilots decided to abort their takeoff attempt, the suit says.

It adds that Licir's business-class seat then broke from the railings it was fastened to — causing him to be "propelled into the confines of his seating area."

The suit says that the Air France-KLM group's maintenance service failed to prevent the seat's mechanical failure.

Licir's attorneys are asking for damages under the Montreal Convention, an international treaty that stipulates airlines are liable for passenger injuries on board an aircraft unless they can prove the passenger was negligent.

The suit adds that the requested damages would exceed the Montreal Convention's minimum of $128,213.

Air France did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

Seat issues on airlines are not unheard of, with frequent flights and fast turnarounds on planes sometimes meaning issues cannot be immediately resolved.

In May, a British Airways passenger said he endured a seven-hour flight with no headrest and an exposed bolt.

And last year, an Emirates passenger sued the airline saying his business-class seat was "absolutely disgusting" and didn't recline.

• An American Airlines Boeing 737 made an emergency landing during the Thanksgiving weekend.
• The FAA said the crew reported a "possible electric issue."
• An airline spokesperson said an indicator light was later confirmed to be false.

An American Airlines jet made an emergency landing Sunday after the crew reported a "possible electric issue."

The 14-year-old Boeing 737 was operating Flight 1047, from Chicago O'Hare to Las Vegas. Data from Flightradar24 shows it flew for about half an hour before turning back to Chicago.

"American Airlines Flight 1047 returned safely to Chicago O'Hare International Airport around 9:45 a.m. local time on Sunday, December 1, after the crew reported a possible electrical issue," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The FAA will investigate the incident, it added.

The Aviation Herald, which first reported the incident, said the crew reported the autopilot and autothrottle disconnected, a takeoff configuration warning horn, and door lights were activated.

"An indicator light identified a possible mechanical issue that, after inspection, was confirmed to be false," an American Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider.

The same 737 flew to San Francisco later that day, per Flightradar24.

Sunday's incident occurred during the Thanksgiving weekend, one of the US's busiest travel periods.

From Sunday, November 24, to Thanksgiving Day, the FAA documented a record 232,000 flights across the US.

American Airlines said last month it expected to fly 8.3 million people across more than 77,000 flights — with Sunday the busiest day.

Passengers later re-departed for Las Vegas on a replacement aircraft, an airline spokesperson told USA Today.

The incident came eight days after an American Airlines passenger was taken to hospital after a 777 encountered turbulence between Brazil and Miami. It became a four-hour flight to nowhere.

• A KLM Boeing 777 flying from the Netherlands to South America turned around over the Atlantic Ocean.
• The passengers were traveling to the small nation of Suriname but ended up back in Amsterdam.
• Diverting back to an airline's hub can make it simpler to reroute passengers or make repairs.

A KLM plane U-turned over the Atlantic Ocean, leaving passengers with a four-hour flight to nowhere.

The Boeing 777 left Amsterdam for Paramaribo, the capital of the small South American nation of Suriname, on Sunday.

Data from Flightradar24 shows the flight departed on time. But two hours into the journey and about 900 nautical miles from Amsterdam, the Boeing 777 turned around over the ocean and headed back.

It landed back at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport about four hours after takeoff. The flight to Suriname, which was once a Dutch colony and still uses Dutch as an official language, typically takes just under nine hours.

The Aviation Herald, which first reported the incident, said the pilots told air traffic control the plane had a small leak, but it wasn't clear what type.

A KLM spokesperson told Business Insider there was a "technical malfunction," adding, "As a precaution, the aircraft returned after two hours of flying."

Passengers flew on a replacement aircraft about eight hours after the scheduled departure time.

The 777 was back in service the following day, according to Flightradar24.

It's not the first time passengers have been left with a flight to nowhere in recent weeks.

Last month, an American Airlines flight encountered turbulence on the way from Brazil to Miami. It turned back to São Paulo, and one passenger was taken to hospital.

In late October, a British Airways Boeing 777 experienced a problem over the Atlantic. It turned back to London and landed there nine hours after takeoff.

For carriers flying over the Atlantic, a flight to nowhere is often the best decision when something goes wrong. It's typically simpler for airlines to reroute passengers and fix planes back at their hub airports.

But sometimes diversions to non-hub airports are unavoidable. In May, for instance, an Air France jet made an urgent landing in Canada's far north, causing a different flight to be canceled to rescue the passengers.