THE NIECE of fashion designer Ralph Lauren, Jenny Lauren (41), was fined €2,000 when she pleaded guilty to an air-rage incident at Ennis district court on Wednesday.

She was arrested on Monday at Shannon Airport after a Delta Airlines flight from Barcelona to New York was diverted.

Ms Lauren was charged with threatening and abusive behaviour on the flight and being intoxicated to an extent that could cause danger to passengers.

A sitting of Killaloe District Court this Tuesday heard that Ms Lauren asked the arresting garda “can you say that in English please” when she was being charged with the offences.

Having spent the Monday night in Garda custody at Shannon Garda Station, Ms Lauren achieved bail from the court after €2,500 in cash was lodged for her release until this Wednesday where the matter was dealt with in Ennis.

Ms Lauren did not leave the three star hotel at the Oakwood Arms where she was ordered to stay overnight but for to sign on at Shannon Garda Station.

At the hearing this Wednesday in Ennis, the court heard that €31,718 costs were incurred as a result of the flight diversion.

Tags: air rage, Barcelona, Delta Airlines, ennis district court, featured, Jennifer Lauren, new york, Ralph Lauren, Shannon airport

Category: News

[ Business]

Following a flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Monday, Delta retired the last of its DC-9 aircrafts after nearly 50 years of use.

The DC-9 was the oldest passenger plane left in service in the United States. It was originally constructed by McDonnell Douglas in 1965, and its production was halted in 1982. Throughout its run, 976 total DC-9 planes were made.

The small plane gained popularity due to its ability to take off and land on small runways in smaller cities, replacing older and less-efficient propeller-driven planes. Due to its use in smaller airports, it was mainly a passenger plane for smaller airlines, such as Delta, Northwest, and Continental. The plane that made the flight Monday was built in 1978 and flew for North Central Airlines before it was bought by Northwestern Airlines.

Delta originally retired all of its DC-9s in 1993, but after acquiring Northwest Airlines (who had a stockpile of DC-9s), it put the DC-9 back into commission.

The DC-9 had several distinctive qualities which made its appearance unique from other passenger planes. First and foremost, it was smaller than most other passenger planes. When Northwest put the DC-9 back into commission in 1995, it completely refurbished the interiors to create more room.

The DC-9 is also known for its unique T-tail design, a feature that was later adopted by such planes as the McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 and Boeing 717. Along with its T-tail design, the cockpit of the DC-9 contains dials rather than more modern computer systems, making it a “pilot’s airplane,” according to pilot Scott Woolfrey, the man who flew the DC-9s last flight.

As it currently stands, Delta has put all 6 of its DC-9s out of commission. However, it has kept two in reserve to serve as “substitute” planes in case of emergencies or repairs.

“The DC-9 has been a workhorse in our domestic fleet while providing a reliable customer experience. The aircraft’s retirement paves the way for newer, more efficient aircraft,” stated Nat Pieper, Vice President of fleet strategy for Delta.

Images via YouTube and Wikimedia Commons

Last DC-9 Retired by Delta Airlines
January 7, 2014

Ms Lauren pleaded guilty to causing a
breach of the peace on board the Barcelona-JFK flight and being
intoxicated. A third related air rage charge was withdrawn by the State
in court.

Lauren bit her lip and looked to the ground in the dock as Garda Inspector Tom Kennedy told the judge air crew were left frightened by the attack.

He said the flight had been in the air for two hours when an air hostess noticed the defendant crying in her seat, 21G, which would not recline properly.

He revealed Lauren told stewardess Constance Topping to ‘get the f*** out of my face’ as she tried to help, and when told to calm down she became more abusive.

Guilty: Lauren leaves Ennis District Court having been fined two thousand euros for the air rage incident

Ms Lauren (pictured) suffers from depression, has overcome anorexia and has bi-polar and general anxiety disorders, the trial heard

The court heard Ms Topping went to
brief her supervisor Jennifer Simpson at the top of the plane and Lauren, who was not a first-class passenger,
nevertheless followed her through first class and in to the galley ‘at speed’ where
she ranted, roared and shouted incoherently.

Insp Kennedy said: ‘Passengers were getting concerned and standing up out of their seats. She
told the air hostess she was going to go ballistic and pushed the air
hostess hard and she hit her back against the wall of the aircraft.’

He revealed
her frightening experience continued with Lauren calling Ms Topping a
‘f****** ugly, blonde b***h’ and Ms Simpson a ‘fat ugly, unhappy, blonde
b***h’.

When a pilot on a rest break in the cabin intervened he was told ‘you’re an a*****e’ by the defendant, Mr Kennedy added.

The flight had to be diverted almost 400 miles back to Shannon Airport, with the abuse continuing for more than an hour until touchdown when Lauren was arrested by gardai.

Lauren, dressed in a black jumper, burgundy velvet skirt and boots, did not speak during the hearing and looked back to her friends for reassurance as the details were outlined to the packed courtroom.

On touchdown officers noted she was incoherent and smelt of alcohol, despite airline crew stating she drank little or no alcohol on board.

When arrested under caution at the airport she replied: ‘Can you say that in English please?’ She later claimed she thought she had landed in Spain.

More than 200 passengers and crew were on board the flight when the air rage incident took place.

The diversion cost Delta 43,158 US dollars (31,770 euros/£26,269).

Ms Lauren’s solicitor, Sharon Curley, said that her actions on the aircraft were ‘bizarre’ and completely out of character.

She said Lauren has little memory of the incident despite only consuming three alcoholic drinks.

‘My client is extremely embarrassed and extremely upset by her actions,’ Ms Curley said, offering her apologies to the airline crew, passengers and gardai.

She said when the ‘stimulants’ wore off and Lauren ‘returned to herself’ she was unable to believe what happened.

Ms Curley revealed Lauren – a fine arts graduate with an unblemished record and no other convictions – has previously suffered from anorexia and written a book on her experience and won awards from eating disorder charities for her work.

The jewellery designer, left, has two older brothers. One of them is Greg Lauren, an artist, pictured here with his wife Dancing With The Stars contestant Elizabeth Berkley

Arrested: Jenny Lauren, pictured with her father Jerry in October 2011 at an evening hosted by Oprah Winfrey at the Lincoln Center in New York City

Troubled niece of one of the world’s most famous designers who lost her mother to cancer and battled eating disorder

Jenny Lauren
first began to make jewellery after a manager from Urban Zen, a boutique founded with the help of Ralph Lauren’s rival Donna Karan, admired her work. Unaware of her design pedigree, the Sag Harbor, N.Y., store offered her  a trunk show.

She was raised in Manhattan and her father Jerry is the executive vice president for men’s design at the Ralph Lauren fashion house.

Her mother Susan died from lung cancer in October 2008.

She has two older brothers: Brad, who
is in the restaurant business, and Greg Lauren, an artist, who is
married to Dancing With The Stars contestant and former Saved By The Bell star Elizabeth Berkley.

She is said to be close to her first cousins, Ralph’s children, including David, the executive vice president for global advertising, marketing and communications at Ralph Lauren; Dylan, the owner of ‘the largest candy store in the world’, and Andrew, a film producer.

Jenny Lauren battled an eating disorder and
related health problems during her younger years which she documented in a 2004 book, ‘Homesick: A Memoir of Family, Food and
Finding Hope.

Her uncle, born Ralph Lifshitz in New York in 1939, is the man behind the
world-renowned Polo Ralph Lauren brand and the 162nd richest person in
the world.

He has an estimated wealth of $7.7billion after starting off selling ties in Manhattan in the 1960s.

Last year alone, his company reported revenues of $6.9billion.

A testimonial from Ms Lauren’s father, Jerry, was read out in the hearing.

He wrote: ‘I know that this will not be repeated. This is not the Jenny everyone knows and cares for.’

Ms Curley added: ‘She lost her Mum several years which she found extremely tough and she has indicated to me that she was upset over the Christmas period as it is a family time thinking about her Mum.

‘She found the combination of the drinks, the altitude, medication and separation from her travelling companion made her act completely out of character.’

Ms
Curley said that her client ‘is aware that the element of compensation
is something that she may have to face, possibly in another forum.’

Judge Durcan said that Ms Lauren’s actions in abusing the staff were reprehensible.

He described the ‘very personal insults’ directed at the two air hostesses and pilot ‘as nothing short of reprehensible’.

‘By virtue of the behaviour of this woman over 100 people had their schedules disrupted,’ he added.

‘All of that in my view is serious in the extreme.’

However, he said that Ms Lauren was of impeccable character and accepted what happened was completely out of character.

All the charges were brought under the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1973.

Lauren owns a jewellery line called Jenny Lauren Jewellery

A
close friend said on Monday that Lauren had her alleged drunken
meltdown on a transatlantic flight because she has a ‘long history’ of
anxiety on planes.

Melanie Beck said that Jenny could have turned to drink to calm her deep rooted ‘fear of flight’.

Ms
Beck claimed that the incident was just a one off and her friend had
‘matured’ from the days when anorexia controlled her life – with no
intention of going back.

Ms
Beck used to live with Jenny in Santa Fe, New Mexico when she was
recovering from the eating disorder and said the two have a ‘long
history’ together.

She said that Jenny had been in Barcelona recently and her posts on Facebook suggested she was having a great time.

Ms
Beck said: ‘It’s inexplicable. She’s not in a dark place, she has long
outgrown that. I think that she has a history of anxiety on airplanes.

‘I
think that’s true. She has had a long history of fear of flying. She
could have been drinking to ease that. I think that’s how most people
drink on planes (to ease anxiety).’

Lauren’s
old friend added the person Jenny describes in her memoir – it features
a frank account of her battle with anorexia – is the person she was
‘years ago’  and that she is a ‘grown woman now’.

Ms Beck admitted that her friend had a ‘lot of explosive energy’ when she was younger but she claimed that was ‘years ago’.

She
said that when Jenny used to live in her home in Santa Fe together,
which was more than a year ago, they travelled on long haul flights
together including to Brazil with no issues.

Ms
Beck said: ‘This doesn’t seem like the Jenny that I know. She is a
sophisticated woman. Totally sophisticated. ‘I’ve travelled many places
around the world and I have never seen her act out on an airplane or in a
restaurant or a public place like that. I’m shocked.’

In defense: Melanie Beck used to live with Jenny Lauren in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when she was recovering from the eating disorder and said the two have a ‘long history’ together

Dressed
in a smart black dress, coat and boots, the New York-based jewellery
designer wept before her court hearing and then clutched her hands as
she appeared before Killaloe District Court.

The
unusual sitting was held in the downstairs function room of the Brian
Boru pub – named after the ancient High King of Ireland – as there is no
dedicated courthouse in the area.

Ms
Lauren sat only feet away from Guinness and Heineken taps and under
switched off disco lights as her name was called out in the licenced
premises.

She left the initial hearing on Tuesday in a black 4×4 and covered her face as she ducked past photographers into the vehicle.

The
case is due to be heard again tomorrow at Ennis District Court where
sentencing will be decided on a guilty plea from Lauren.

The flight was able to continue its journey to New York just over two hours after touchdown.

Her company Jenny Lauren Jewellery operates in the US and sells items prices from $350 to $5,000.

Speaking from his Manhattan apartment, Jenny Lauren’s brother Brad said he was unaware of the incident – but was not surprised.

He
said: ‘That seems like Jenny. She can be explosive with her temper. I
don’t know what could cause her to snap. She just has an explosive
personality.’

Brad Lauren,
46, said that he did not believe his sister’s demons were coming back to
haunt her and that it was just her temper that was to blame.

He
said: ‘Things are going really well for her…The jewelry business is
terrific, everything is really good. I know that she was in Europe for
the holidays but I don’t know anything else.’

Brad Lauren added that his sister would be ‘very embarrassed by this’ and would be glad to get back to New York.

Clothes horse: Jenny’s uncle Ralph Lauren, flanked by wife Ricky, runs a billion-dollar empire built around his clothing label Polo Ralph Lauren

The Delta Airlines plane was diverted to Shannon Airport, Country Clare, on Monday afternoon

.

UPDATE: Jan. 6, 2014, 11 a.m.

An Idaho man who admitted to slapping a crying toddler on a Delta Airlines flight in February 2013 has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison.

The Associated Press reports that Joe Rickey Hundley was sentenced Monday morning in a federal courtroom in Atlanta.

The AP reports that prosecutors had recommended six months in prison. But the judge said he imposed a higher sentence in part because of Hundley’s criminal history, which includes a prior assault.

Hundley’s lawyer objected to the deviation from the recommendation in the plea agreement and said after the hearing that she believes the sentence is disproportionate.

ORIGINAL POST: Jan. 6, 2014 9 a.m.

• Joe Rickey Hundley pleaded guilty to assault.

The incident, in February 2013 aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta, went viral. And in short order, the mugshot of 61-year-old Joe Rickey Hundley of the North Idaho community of Hayden was everywhere.

Hundley surrendered to the FBI after being accused of slapping a toddler aboard the flight, allegedly telling the child’s mother to shut that [racial slur] baby up.” Hundley ended up being fired from his position as president of Unitech Composites and Structures in Hayden.

Hundley’s attorney, Marcia Shein, said Hundley made the derogatory statements because he was grieving. She said her client was traveling to Atlanta in order to take his only child off of life support after his son had overdosed on insulin.

“He said something inappropriate to Mrs. Bennett he shouldn’t have said even in his darkest hour,” said Shein. “We hope for Mrs. Bennett’s sake and our client’s sake that everyone will forgive him for what he said and to heal.”

Bennett said she wanted Hudley to pay for what he allegedly said and did to her son.

Hundley ultimately pleaded guilty in October 2013 after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. His admission to assault carries a possible sentence of up to a year in prison and fines of up to $100,000. Prosecutors are recommending six months behind bars.

Hundley is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal courtroom in Atlanta today.

Delta Airlines is retiring its last DC-9s, the oldest passenger plane in the fleet of the big US airlines.

Delta operated the final passenger flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta last evening.

McDonnell Douglas delivered the first DC-9s in 1965, and eventually built 976 of them. The plane was noteworthy at the time because it was small enough to fly to airports in smaller cities that had previously been served by propeller-driven planes.

Its low-to-the-ground profile put its cargo door at about waist height, so ground crews at smaller airports could load it without special equipment.

The plane flew for Delta, Continental and several smaller regional airlines. The one flown on the final scheduled flight yesterday was built in 1978 and went to North Central Airlines.

Its fate after that mirrors the merger wave that rolled through the whole airline industry. A combination of North Central and other airlines formed Republic Airlines, which merged with Northwest Airlines in the 1980s. Delta bought Northwest in 2008.

Most airlines retired the DC-9s by the 1990s. But instead of retiring them, Northwest in 1995 refurbished their interiors to squeeze more flying out of them. Federal rules don’t limit how many years a plane can fly, only how many take-offs and landings. As long as it stayed under those limits, the DC-9s could keep flying.

At one time the planes made up almost one-third of Northwest’s fleet. Yesterday, Delta was down to its last six.

It’s keeping two planes as spares for a few more weeks.

In an era when planes all have digital instruments, the DC-9 cockpit stands out for its dials.

The plane doesn’t have a flight management computer that handles many of the routine flying tasks on newer planes, said Delta’s DC-9 chief line check pilot Scott Woolfrey, who specifically asked to pilot the plane’s last flight. “It’s a pilot’s airplane,” he said before the flight yesterday.

The final flight prompted dozens of aviation enthusiasts to buy tickets, and they lined up at the window to watch the plane come in from LaGuardia airport in New York.

Delta is known for buying used aeroplanes and flying them longer than other airlines. Even Delta’s DC-9 replacement used Boeing 717s from AirTran is a hand — me — down. Delta is giving those planes new interiors and adding Wi-Fi as it brings them into its fleet. The 717, along with the MD-90s that Delta has also been buying used, are both descendants of the DC-9.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Louisville-based employee of Delta Airlines has been arrested after authorities say she got into an altercation with several of her co-workers at the Louisville International Airport.

The alleged incident took place on Sunday, Jan. 5, just before 10:30 p.m. According to an arrest report, representatives of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority were sent to an area of the airport where there was a report of a disturbance involving several Delta Airlines employees.

When authorities arrived, they allegedly found a female employee holding a co-worker, 29-year-old Zenaida Omengkar, down on the ground on her back, telling her to calm down.

According to the arrest report, Omengkar had been in an altercation with several co-workers before police arrived. Authorities say a Delta Airlines supervisor asked that Omengkar be escorted off the property.

Omengkar smelled strongly of alcohol, the report states. When her belongings were searched, authorities allegedly found a coat that belonged to a pilot, and several small bottles of alcohol “like those served on aircraft,” according to the arrest report.

Authorities say a pilot claimed the coat, and said that it had been reported missing earlier in the day.

Omengkar was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, menacing, alcohol intoxication, fourth degree assault and theft by unlawful taking.

Copyright 2014 by WDRB News. All rights reserved.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — As a blast of winter weather moves across Tennessee, airlines are delaying or cancelling flights to and from the area because of difficulties with ice and snow around the country.

At Memphis International Airport, Delta Airlines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways cancelled or delayed flights from Chicago, New York, Detroit and Houston.

Multiple flights on Delta Airlines, Southwest and American Airlines destined for Nashville International Airport were reporting delays of more than three hours and cancellations. The flights were from a variety of locations, including New York, Chicago and Denver.

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport in Tennessee’s southeastern corner reported no delays or cancellations early Sunday afternoon.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — As a blast of winter weather moves across Tennessee, airlines are delaying or cancelling flights to and from the area because of difficulties with ice and snow around the country.

At Memphis International Airport, Delta Airlines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways cancelled or delayed flights from Chicago, New York, Detroit and Houston.

Multiple flights on Delta Airlines, Southwest and American Airlines destined for Nashville International Airport were reporting delays of more than three hours and cancellations. The flights were from a variety of locations, including New York, Chicago and Denver.

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport in Tennessee’s southeastern corner reported no delays or cancellations early Sunday afternoon.

A Delta Airlines plane skidded off an icy runway and into the snow at JFKAirport on Sunday morning, authorities said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries after Delta Connections Flight 4100, which originated from Toronto, touched down on runway No. 22L shortly before 8 a.m.

“As the aircraft was exiting the runway onto a taxiway, it slid into the snow,” said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. “No injuries were reported to the FAA. The FAA is investigating.”

There were 35 people on board the CRJ2 craft, which was towed into the gate. Passengers got off the flight at about 9:29 a.m, according to flight records.

Rescuers from the Port Authority’s Police Crash Fire Rescue Unit responded after receiving calls from passengers trapped on the craft, law enforcement sources said.

The first -responders manually dug snow away from around the plane’s wheels before it was towed away.

JFK was closed for two hours so workers could put salt and sand on runways, because of the freezing rain, officials said.

Delta Connection is operated by  Endeavor Air, formerly  Pinnacle Airlines.

Copyright © 2014 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

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