• 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.

• 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."

• A Spirit executive blamed mainline carriers for some of its financial woes during a Senate hearing.
• He said some airlines "manufactured" a pilot shortage and that others want Spirit "out of business."
• Spirit recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is revamping its business to earn more revenue.

A Spirit Airlines executive blamed competitors for some of its financial and operational woes during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, pointing to factors including pilot staffing and limited airport access.

Chief commercial officer Matthew Klein told a Senate subcommittee that Spirit hasn't been able to grow because the mainline airlines "manufactured" a pilot shortage during the pandemic and "poached" Spirit's pilots.

When flying came to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, carriers trimmed pilot headcounts to cut costs.

"Some of our legacy carrier competitors basically paid the most senior pilots to retire early," he said. "That, in fact, caused a pilot shortage in the industry, and then they turned around and hired a lot of our pilots."

When flying ramped back up after the pandemic, airlines found themselves without enough pilots. This prompted large pay raises across the industry to fill the gaps.

Executives from Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Frontier Airlines also appeared at the hearing to answer questions about a November report covering what the committee said are excessive charges for seats and bags.

Spirit pilots are not paid as much as mainline pilots and could have left the company for better working conditions. Spirit's published pay scale shows that its Airbus A319 and A320 first officers and captains make between $97 and $312 per hour, depending on seniority.

Pay rates seen by Business Insider for American, Delta, and United show pilots flying the same Airbus aircraft make between $116 and about $360 per hour, depending on seniority and not including bonuses.

A Spirit spokesperson said they did not have anything to add about pay differences between airlines.

Klein also said pilots left partly because other airlines publicly said they were "gunning" for Spirit and" trying to put us out of business."

United CEO Scott Kirby said in a June podcast that carriers like Spirit and Frontier are "going out of business" because of their "fundamentally flawed" business models and poor customer service.

Spirit slams mainline 'dominance'

In his opening remarks, Klein encouraged the subcommittee to focus on the issues that he said are "by far the most impactful to consumers." He said this included mainline hub and slot and pricing "dominance" and mainline loyalty and credit card programs.

Klein pointed to how the mainline dominance has impacted Spirit.

He said Spirit struggles to secure gates at major airports, suggesting this blocks Spirit's access to routes and markets. He said when Spirit does get gates, they are often at the far end of terminals.

"This makes it difficult to provide a good guest experience and makes it difficult to operate efficiently and effectively," Klein said. "It raises our costs, which then, of course, makes it harder for us to be profitable, and without being profitable, we certainly can't grow."

Klein's subcommittee comments come after Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. The airline saved cash by furloughing pilots and selling $500 million worth of aircraft.

Budget airlines have been facing tough competition from mainline carriers amid rising costs across the industry.

Along with offering more premium seats and more inclusive fare bundles, Spirit and Frontier launched programs in 2022 that incentivized employees with bonuses for selling upgraded seats and catching oversized personal items.

Klein told the subcommittee that Spirit suspended the program on September 30. Instead, it has added more employees around the gate area to ensure customers comply with bag rules.

Frontier's SVP and CCO Robert Schroeder would not commit to ending its incentive program during the hearing.

• 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.

• A woman managed to sneak onto a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris last Tuesday.
• CNN reported, citing law enforcement officials, that she was to be sent back to the US on Saturday.
• But she was taken off that flight after causing a disturbance, the outlet added.

A woman who flew from the US to Paris without a ticket caused another disturbance on her way back, CNN reported.

She managed to sneak onto Delta Air Lines flight 264 last Tuesday and avoid being detected until the journey was nearly over.

A Transportation Security Administration representative told Business Insider last week that an individual without a boarding pass completed a security screening and then bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations.

JonNYC, a popular aviation insider on social media, reported she was believed to have been hiding in a restroom during takeoff.

Citing law enforcement sources, CNN reported the woman was supposed to be flown back to the US on Saturday but was removed from the flight before takeoff.

The woman had been kept in a waiting zone at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport because she did not meet the conditions for entering Europe, the outlet previously reported.

Gary Treichler, who sat across the aisle from the woman on Saturday's flight, told CNN, "She kept on saying 'I do not want to go back to the USA. Only a judge can make me go back to the USA."

"She also repeated the Geneva Convention a few times so to me that kind of showed that she was off," he added.

The stowaway is a woman between 55 and 60 years old and has a Russian passport, an airport official told CNN.

Her flight back to the US is yet to be rescheduled, the outlet reported.

"Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security," a Delta spokesperson said in a statement shared with BI after the initial flight.

"That's why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end."

• A Delta Air Lines flight unexpectedly stopped in Dublin on Wednesday.
• A man in his 30s was arrested after an incident on board, the Irish police told Business Insider.
• The Delta flight eventually continued to Atlanta, where it landed nearly three hours late.

Delta Air Lines passengers had an unexpected layover on Wednesday when their transatlantic flight diverted to Dublin.

Flight DL83 was 90 minutes into its journey from Paris to Atlanta when it changed course toward Ireland, data from Flightradar24 shows.

The Airbus A330, which had departed nearly 20 minutes late, then spent nearly two hours in the Irish capital.

Images shared on social media appeared to show a man being led off the plane in handcuffs.

Ireland's police force, An Garda Síochána, told Business Insider it charged a man in his 30s after being arrested following an incident on an aircraft. The man was due to appear in court that afternoon.

In a statement shared with BI, Delta said the plane had to stop in Dublin to remove an "unruly customer."

Aviation A2Z reported the fire service was standing by at Dublin Airport because the plane had to make an overweight landing. It couldn't dump fuel, given it was set to continue flying across the Atlantic.

Dublin Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI.

The plane left Dublin before landing in Atlanta at 3:31 p.m. ET — almost three hours later than scheduled.

"Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior and will work with law enforcement authorities to that end," the airline said in its statement. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel."

This wasn't the first time a transatlantic flight has had to divert to Ireland.

In May, a United Airlines flight from Zurich to Chicago turned around after a passenger's laptop got stuck in their seat — posing a potential fire risk due to its lithium battery.

And back in 2019, a Condor flight from Germany to Mexico diverted to Ireland after a pilot spilled coffee on the plane's controls.

• Airlines are using more narrow-body planes across the Atlantic, opening new routes for flyers.
• New single-aisle planes offer cost efficiency, smaller capacity, and flexible cabins.
• The Boeing 757 used to be the main transatlantic workhorse but is losing market share to Airbus.

New narrow-body planes designed for long-haul flights are changing how people fly.

This evolution has been largely propelled by the Airbus A321neo family, smaller planes that can flyer further than previous single-aisle aircraft. Its longest-ranged variant, the newly launched A321XLR, can fly up to 11 hours nonstop and carry up to 240 people.

These planes are popular with airlines because they can connect profitable cities that previously required a high-capacity wide-body plane like the Boeing 767 or Airbus A330. Flexible cabins mean airlines can offer different cabin configurations, like all-economy or a mix of business and coach.

Airlines can also earn extended-range allowances that govern how passenger jets can safely fly over the open ocean.

In 2024, 39,000 flights between North America and Europe are scheduled on single-aisle planes made by Boeing and Airbus, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. That's a 14% increase from the previous year and 40% more than in 2019.

Airbus is pioneering this narrow-body shift

Such a focus on single-aisle planes that can tackle long flights has been a boon for Airbus.

JetBlue, for example, started flying between New York and Europe in 2021 with about 400 total flights on its A321neoLRs. In 2024, that figure is set to hit 7,200 in 2024.

The launch of Iberia's A321XLR has added at least another 1,400 flights for 2025, per Cirium, with more to come as the jet is delivered to more airlines.

Such growth has come at the expense of Boeing's 757. The jet has been a transatlantic workhorse since the 1980s but now only represents 23% of flights to and from Europe, down from 82% in 2019.

With no replacement available, airlines are turning to the A321XLR — paving the way for Airbus to continue dominating the growing market.

Long-haul narrowbodies are cheaper to fly

Before long-haul single-aisle operations became popular, airlines struggled to fly lower-demand city pairs with widebodies because the bigger planes weren't always full — meaning they weren't making money.

This effectively eliminated direct routes to smaller leisure markets, forcing flyers to make one or more stops to reach smaller cities.

New narrowbodies solve this problem thanks to their powerful engines, fuel efficiency, and lighter weight.

United Airlines, for example, uses single-aisle jets between unique city pairs that other carriers don't fly, such as those from Newark Liberty to Malaga, Spain, and Chicago to Shannon, Ireland.

United's SVP of global network planning and alliances, Patrick Quayle, told BI in August that a Boeing 787 or Boeing 767 widebody wouldn't economic make sense in these smaller markets. The carrier plans to expand its long-haul operations with the cost-effective A321XLR.

Meanwhile, Icelandic low-cost carrier Play learned from its predecessor, WOW Air, that using widebody planes in a budget transatlantic business model is difficult because the big jet requires constant high demand — prompting Play to use Airbus narrowbodies between the US and Europe.

Single-aisle jets offer versatile route options

One reason mainline carriers like United and Iberia are moving in the single-aisle direction is because it allows them to right-size their routes depending on demand.

Cirium data shows Iberia plans to fly two A321XLRs daily between Madrid and Boston in the summer of 2025, with each carrying up to 182 people.

This allows Iberia to capture the demand without oversizing the route with two 288-passenger A330s or losing out on potential business with just one widebody.

Flying two single-aisle planes across the Atlantic instead of one widebody, for example, could up daily frequencies from one to two and give travelers more flexible options.

Airlines like Tap Air Portugal and Ireland's Aer Lingus switch between A321neo and A330 planes throughout the year, flying the bigger jet during the summer and holiday months, per Cirium.

Single-aisle planes don't always fly long haul. Their versatility, especially the previous generation A321neos and the Boeing 757, allows airlines to efficiently deploy them on short or medium-haul routes.

Delta Air Lines has decreased its 757 transatlantic flying over the years in favor of more domestic routes, per Cirium.

Widebodies don't have the same flexibility, except on a few very high-demand cross-country treks like New York to Los Angeles.

Narrow-body planes can accommodate more flexible cabins

One of the draws of these small but powerful aircraft is their versatility because they can fit into both mainline and low-cost fleets with varying cabin layouts.

Some airlines, like JetBlue and Aer Lingus, equip their A321LRs with business and economy classes. Meanwhile, Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air plans to fly a no-frills, all-economy A321XLR cabin where even water costs extra, and France's La Compagnie has all-business-class A321LRs.

Some flyers may be hesitant to fly on a narrow-body long-haul, but flying on these planes across the Atlantic is not much different from riding in a one cross-country.

Boston to Madrid lasts about seven hours, while New York to Los Angeles is about six and a half hours — though most flyers will get more perks on flights to Europe, like hot meals and linens.

Plus, single-aisle flying allows for quicker boarding and deplaning, which may be welcome time-savings for some customers — especially during tight layovers.

• A stowaway sneaked onto a Delta flight from New York to Paris, evading detection.
• The individual bypassed security and identity checks, and may have been in a bathroom for takeoff.
• Delta said it was investigating the incident breach and collaborating with authorities.

A person managed to sneak onto a Delta Air Lines service to Paris and avoided being detected until the flight was nearly over.

The incident occurred on DL264 from New York's JFK Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Tuesday.

It was first reported by JonNYC, a popular aviation insider on social media. A source told him the stowaway was believed to have been hiding in a restroom during takeoff.

A Transportation Security Administration representative told Business Insider that an individual without a boarding pass managed to complete a security screening.

The person also bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations before boarding the aircraft.

A video posted on Bluesky appears to contain audio of the captain telling passengers that police in Paris had asked them to keep everyone on board "until we sort out the extra passenger that's on the plane."

JonNYC also reported that flight attendants became suspicious when the person would move between bathrooms after staying in each for a period of time.

A passenger also told JonNYC that the stowaway "wasn't detected until we were almost" at Paris.

A Delta representative told BI: "Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security. That's why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end." They declined to provide further details.

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

It's far from the first example of people making it onto flights without boarding passes, but most are discovered before takeoff.

In March, a man was arrested after boarding a Delta flight in Salt Lake City having used a photo of another passenger's boarding pass, prosecutors said.

In August, a man boarded two flights in two days without a ticket at Munich airport. After being caught before takeoff the first time, he then managed to fly to Sweden.

• Delta Air Lines is focusing on premium cabins to boost revenue and outpace economy sales.
• The premium demand is driven by millennials willing to spend more for an elevated experience.
• Delta's president suggested budget carrier Spirit failed because it was too focused on low fares.

Delta Air Lines believes a premium-focused strategy is the secret sauce to success, as outlined during its Investor Day in Atlanta on Wednesday.

President Glen Hauenstein said that premium demand is soaring thanks to millennials willing to pay more for an elevated experience. As such, premium seats — currently about 30% of Delta's inventory — will be a majority focus of any added capacity next year.

By 2027, the airline expects to make more money from premium seats than those in economy.

Hauenstein said focusing on the premium market will help Delta win against budget carriers that depend on low fares to lure in customers.

"I think [post-pandemic demand] had a very different impact on the carriers that were supplying premium products and services, which had a little bit of a downdraft, versus those who were just focused on price that had an incredible cliff to fall off of," he said. "I think we've seen that manifest itself in the bankruptcy we saw filed this week."

Hauenstein is referring to Spirit Airlines' filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. The low-cost airline has not posted a full-year profit since 2019 and has been forced to lay off staff and sell $500 million worth of planes to stay afloat.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a June podcast that passengers prefer experience over low fares and that budget airlines may go out of business without making quality changes.

Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman gave Business Insider a similar take in November, saying low-cost carriers should stop nickel-and-diming their customers.

Spirit and Frontier have bent to modern flyer expectations. Both overhauled their business models this year to offer more premium perks, such as extra legroom and business-class-like seats. They've also dropped most change and cancel fees.

Delta's presentation on Wednesday set the tone for the coming months, as airlines continue to struggle with high costs driven largely by inflation and labor, which have weighed on profit margins.

While the investments may take years to show full potential, at least in the near term, Delta CEO Ed Bastian has welcomed president-elect Donald Trump as a "breath of fresh air" as opposed to what he described as government "overreach" under the Biden Administration.

Delta's stock price was down about 2% after Wednesday's Investor Day and is up about 57% year-to-date.

Delta is doubling down on premium seats

Delta's premium cabins, including premium-economy upgrades, Delta One business class, and domestic first class, have long been profit drivers. So far, adding more of the expensive seats has been a boon to its bottom line, and it's showing no signs of letting up.

Delta said its Airbus A350-1000 aircraft will be introduced with about 50% premium seats, for example, while the airline plans to add lie-flat business class to A321neo jets.

This all comes after Delta had higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter, largely anchored by premium seats, even though it was dinged by a costly CrowdStrike outage.

From July through September, Delta generated $5.3 billion in premium revenue compared to $6.3 billion for the economy cabin despite premium taking up less cabin real estate.

Hauenstein said Delta's biggest opportunity to add premium products and services is in the international market, where he said there is short supply but high demand.

He said that increase would come from retiring Boeing 767s, adding new A350-1000s, and reconfiguring existing A350-900s with more Delta One seats.

While executives didn't further discuss the previously hinted-at "business-class-lite" product that would unbundle business class, letting flyers buy only the seat but not other perks like lounge access, Hauenstein said there's revenue opportunity in segmenting premium economy and domestic first.

"That's where a huge revenue base is, and segmentation of that revenue base would potentially drive a significant improvement to the bottom line," he said.