Tag: Reuters (Page 6 of 49)

Air New Zealand Lays Off 3,500 Employees as Virus Halts Travel

March 31, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Air New Zealand <AIR.NZ> said on Tuesday nearly a third of its employees, about 3,500, will be laid off in the coming months, as it grapples with severe global travel curbs due to the coronavirus that has forced it to cancel nearly all flights.

The national carrier, which employs 12,500 people, said the announced number of layoffs was a “conservative” assumption, and that it could rise if the domestic lockdown and border restrictions were extended.

Large scale layoffs of its global staff will start this week, the company said.

“Unfortunately, COVID-19 has seen us go from having revenue of NZ$5.8 billion to what is shaping up to be less than NZ$500 million annually based on the current booking patterns we are seeing,” Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said in an email to staff and customers.

“This has the potential to be catastrophic for our business unless we take some decisive action.”

Air New Zealand is an example of the dire situation facing airlines across the world due to curbs on travel to control the spread of the virus.

“We have had to cut more than 95 percent of our flights here in New Zealand and around the world. The only flights remaining are in place to keep supply lines open and transport options for essential services personnel,” Foran added.

Earlier in March, the New Zealand government offered the airline a NZ$900 million ($540.99 million) lifeline to keep it in the air.

The company also noted that “every dollar we use from this loan facility comes with interest (more than double current interest rates for a household mortgage) and must be re-paid.”

“Burdening our airline with massive debt would significantly lessen our ability to compete with airlines emerging from COVID-19,” said Foran.

He also said that in a year’s time he expects staffing levels to be 30% smaller than it is currently.

($1 = 1.6636 New Zealand dollars)

(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

FILE PHOTO: An Air New Zealand Airbus A320 plane takes off from Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney

British Airways Suspending Flights from London Gatwick

March 31, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – British Airways said it is temporarily suspending flights from Gatwick Airport in southern England, Britain’s second busiest airport, due to the coronavirus.

BA’s boss warned earlier in March that the airline was in a battle for survival and would have to cut jobs and park planes.

“Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines, we will temporarily suspend our flying schedule at Gatwick,” a BA spokesman said.

BA said it will contact affected customers. The airline continues to operate some flights from its main hub at Heathrow.

Parent company IAG said flying capacity would be down 75% in April and May.

Rival airline easyJet said on Monday that it had grounded its entire fleet.

Gatwick Airport said last week it would shut one of its two terminals on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Sarah Young)

Ferrari Extends Italian Plant Closures to April 14

March 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

MILAN (Reuters) – Luxury carmaker Ferrari <RACE> said on Friday it would extend the shutdown of its two Italian plants and reopen on April 14, provided it had supplies, and update 2020 forecasts in May when it releases its first-quarter earnings.

Ferrari this month closed factories in Maranello and Modena, in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, for two weeks until March 27 in a response to the coronavirus outbreak and a shortage of parts.

Investment firm Exor <EXXRF>, which controls Ferrari, on Wednesday said that current plant closures at Ferrari as well as at other controlled companies Fiat Chrysler <FCAU> and CNH Industrial <CNHI>, though temporary, might continue.

Ferrari – which cited “the huge uncertainty and lack of predictability that the COVID-19 has created” – said it would continue to cover all days of absence for those employees who could not work remotely.

The company added it would give further financial guidance during a conference call on its first-quarter earnings, scheduled for May 4.

In February, Ferrari said it planned its adjusted core profit to increase to between 1.38-1.43 billion euros this year, compared to a previous guidance of over 1.3 billion euros.

Ferrari said on Friday it remained confident that it would “continue to create value for all stakeholders beyond the near-term uncertainties”.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Tesla to Slash Headcount at Nevada Gigafactory by 75%

March 27, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc <TSLA> plans to slash on-site staff at its Nevada battery plant by around 75% due to the coronavirus pandemic, the local county manager said on Thursday.

The move comes after its Japanese battery partner Panasonic Corp <6752.T> said it would scale down operations at the Nevada factory this week before closing it for 14 days.

The factory produces electric motors and battery packs for Tesla’s popular Model 3 sedans.

“Tesla has informed us that the Gigafactory in Storey County is reducing on-site staff by roughly 75% in the coming days,” Austin Osborne said in a post on the county’s website.

No further details were available and it was not clear how many employees work in the factory. Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Reno Gazette Journal, which earlier reported the planned suspension, said Panasonic has about 3,500 employees at the Nevada plant.

Tesla said last week it would temporarily suspend production at its vehicle factory in San Francisco Bay Area from end of March 23, as well as at its New York solar roof tile factory.

However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will reopen the New York plant “as soon as humanly possible” to manufacture ventilators for coronavirus patients.

Two employees of Tesla have tested positive for coronavirus but have been working from home for the past two weeks and had not been symptomatic at work, Tesla said in an email to employees on Thursday. It did not disclose which unit or at what location the employees work.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Himani Sarkar)

South Korea Pension Fund Backs Korean Air Chairman

March 26, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) – South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) will vote for Hanjin Group chairman Walter Cho to keep his board seat in Korean Air’s parent firm Hanjin Kal at a shareholders’ meeting on Friday, the fund said.

In a statement on Thursday, NPS said it would also approve a board seat for telecoms industry veteran Kim Shin-bae, who was nominated by Cho’s sister and an activist fund that opposed Walter Cho.

Hanjin Kal’s annual general meeting is expected to be the culmination of an intense proxy fight to decide the group’s leader.

NPS, the world’s third-largest pension fund, had a stake of 2.9% stake in Hanjin Kal by the end of 2019.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Volvo to Temporarily Close Plants in U.S. and Sweden

March 20, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Swedish carmaker Volvo is suspending production at its factories in Sweden, the United States and Belgium, to curb the spread of the coronavirus, it said on Friday, even as it resumes manufacturing in China where the infection rate has slowed.

Volvo’s Swedish factories in Torslanda, Skovde, Olofstrom, and its U.S. plant in South Carolina will close between March 26 and April 14, the company said. Its plant in Ghent, Belgium has already been temporarily shut down.

“Our primary concerns are the health of our employees and the future of our business,” Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said. “I think for the economy, we need to do something drastic, rather then trying half-hearted measures that drag on forever.”

“We are seeing the effect from this coronavirus is increasing every day. We see problems in the logistics supply side,” he told Reuters. “We have to help contributing to social distancing.”

Samuelsson said the financial impact of the shutdown would become clearer when the carmaker published first-half earnings. The company will reduce the working hours of white-collar staff during the factory closures and will take advantage of government incentives, Samuelsson said.

The financial impact on Volvo also depended on how different countries reacted to contain the virus.

“There is a big difference between countries. Some have curfews, with restaurants and schools closed. In other countries there are less drastic measures. I just think we need to synchronise that more.”

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Pravin Char)

Nikki Haley Resigns from Boeing Board over Request for Government Financial Assistance

March 20, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has resigned from Boeing Co’s board after opposing its bid for government financial assistance due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

“I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position,” Haley said in a letter to the company’s management released by Boeing on Thursday.

“I have long held strong convictions that this is not the role of government.”

Haley, a former South Carolina governor, has often been mentioned as a future presidential candidate. “The board and executive team are going in a direction I cannot support,” she wrote.

When asked to respond to Haley’s concerns, Boeing said only the company appreciated her service on the board and wished her well.

Boeing this week said it was seeking on behalf of itself and the aviation manufacturing industry at least $60 billion in government loan guarantees and other assistance. The sector faces huge losses from the coronavirus pandemic as airlines halt flights and some delay orders.

A Senate Republican proposal introduced Thursday would allow aviation manufacturing firms like Boeing to seek collateralized loans and loan guarantees from a $150 billion fund but not provide any cash. The final decision on eligibility would be up to the U.S. Treasury.

“We are not bailing out the airlines or other industries – period,” said Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee.

To ensure the government is compensated for risks in making loans, the U.S. Treasury could seek equity, warrants stock or other instruments to ensure the government participates in any gains.

Haley’s resignation letter was dated Monday, the same day Boeing confirmed it was in talks to seek short-term assistance from the U.S. government.

Boeing has racked up nearly $19 billion in costs tied to its 737 MAX aircraft, which has been grounded for the past year after two fatal crashes in five months. The company has been working to win approval for the plane to return to service.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Tom Brown)

Ford Bets More Businesses Want Carbon-Free Delivery Vans

March 4, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is putting more chips on a bet that it can profit from selling electric vans to delivery businesses that need to reduce carbon emissions.

Ford will roll out an all-electric version of its Transit van for North America in model year 2022, mirroring the timetable for launching a similar model for the European market, the company said on Tuesday in conjunction with the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.

“Our electric bet as a company is different than our competitors,” Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said in an interview. “The most critical bet we will be making over the next several years will be our commercial vehicles.”

Two of three electric vehicles Ford has announced as part of an $11.5 billion investment in electrification through 2022 are aimed at commercial customers – the Transit and an electric version of the company’s best-selling model, the F-150 pickup.

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E electric SUV represents a low-volume challenge to electric luxury vehicle market leader Tesla Inc.

The electric Transit and F-150 will play in market segments Ford dominates in the United States and Europe.

“Half of the vehicles doing work in the U.S. are Ford Motor Co vehicles,” Farley said. Ford is also the No. 1 commercial vehicle brand in Europe, and has led the commercial van market in Britain, which is Europe’s largest, for 55 years.

Regulators in Europe and in some U.S. cities are stepping up pressure on businesses to replace diesel or gasoline-fueled delivery vans with electric models to reduce pollution in city centers.

In the United States, Amazon.com Inc, has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans from start-up Rivian, the first of which will be delivered in 2021 and built in Normal, Illinois. Ford has a separate partnership with Rivian.

The electric Transit will not be related to the Rivian van, said Ted Cannis, Ford’s director of electrification.

The new Transit will be an early test of the company’s efforts to deploy new connectivity technology and services to go with it, Farley said.

Ford said the electric Transit will be built in America and cost more than the gasoline-powered version, which starts at $34,500. Research firm Auto Forecast Solutions said it will be built in Kansas City, Missouri, along with the gasoline version.

Supplier sources who asked not to be identified said Ford will launch production in late 2021, with plans to build around 2,000 that year and increase to 14,000 annually by 2023.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Additional reporting by Paul Lienert; Editing by Richard Chang)

HNA Group Rises After Company Asks Chinese Government for Help

March 1, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 2 (Reuters) – Shares in HNA Group-controlled companies rose on Monday after the Chinese aviation and tourism conglomerate said it had asked the government to help it resolve liquidity risk caused by the coronavirus outbreak which has put heavy pressure on the airline industry.

HNA directly owns or holds stakes in a number of local Chinese carriers, which have suffered in recent weeks from widespread flight cancellations and plummeting demand.

Hainan Airlines Holding Co Ltd, the flagship of HNA Group Co Ltd, rose by over 3% by 0400 GMT, while HNA Technology Investments Holdings Ltd surged nearly 40%.

Other units such as HNA Investment Group Co Ltd and HNA Technology Co Ltd also saw their prices climb.

HNA Group said on Saturday it had asked the Hainan provincial government to lead a working group as it was not able to deal with the liquidity risk itself.

The group had acknowledged liquidity issues before the coronavirus outbreak started. In December, Chairman Chen Feng said HNA had faced cash flow shortage that forced it to delay salary payments.

Its Saturday announcement has driven heavy discussion in China on whether there will be a carving up of its assets.

Two weeks ago, HNA-related shares likewise rose on a media report that said China’s government planned to take over the debt-laden conglomerate.

“The implementation of a government acquisition would be challenging as HNA’s structure is complex,” Warut Promboon, head of credit research at Bondcritic, said on Monday. “Overall, it is credit positive. HNA has grown too fast and is too big that it needs to be broken down. The restructuring will be best under the state support.”

Canadian National Starts Calling Back Employees Laid Off During Rail Blockade

March 1, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

MONTREAL, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Co has started calling back many of the 450 workers it laid off earlier this month in eastern Canada, when blockades crippled operations on strategic rail lines, according to a company email sent to customers on Friday.

Earlier this week, police made 10 arrests and cleared a blockade in eastern Canada that had been stopping freight and passenger traffic for almost three weeks on one of Canada’s busiest lines.

The blockades were held in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people in the Pacific province of British Columbia, who are seeking to stop TC Energy Corp from building a gas pipeline over their land.

“In the absence of illegal blockades on our network over the last 24 hours, and while we are keeping a close watch for any further disruptions, we have started calling back many of the temporarily laid off employees based in Eastern Canada,” CN chief executive Jean-Jacques Ruest said in the email seen by Reuters.

The email did not specify how many of the 450 workers were being called back.

After 21 days of disruptions, “there is a significant backlog of trains parked on our tracks and in our yards that will be processed,” the email said.

“The complete network recovery process will take several weeks.”

Montreal-based CN said the company was on its way to recovering in Western Canada, and said products like export grain, imported containerized goods, coal, potash and other commodities are moving to market.

Canada relies on CN and rival Canadian Pacific Railway to move crops, oil, potash, coal and manufactured goods to ports and the United States. About half of Canada’s exports move by rail, according to industry data.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert; editing by Grant McCool)

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