BERLIN (Reuters) – A German court on Sunday ordered Tesla Inc to stop clearing forest land near the capital Berlin to build its first European car and battery factory, a victory for local environmental activists.
The U.S. electric carmaker announced plans last November to build a Gigafactory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
The court ruling, by the higher administrative court of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, comes after the state environmental office gave a green light to clear 92 hectares of forest for the plant.
Planning permission has not yet been granted to build the Gigafactory, however, meaning U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company is preparing the ground at its own risk.
In a statement, the court said it had issued the order to stop the tree-felling because it would have only taken three more days to complete the work.
Otherwise the clearance would have been completed before judges made a final decision on the complaint brought by a local environmentalist group called the Gruene Liga Brandenburg (Green League of Brandenburg).
“It should not be assumed that the motion seeking legal protection brought by the Green League lacks any chance of succeeding,” the court statement added.
Lawmakers from the pro-business Christian Democrat and Free Democrat parties have warned that the legal battle waged against the Gigafactory would inflict serious and long-lasting damage on Germany’s image as a place to do business.
Local and national lawmakers have been caught out by the strength of opposition to the Gigafactory, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting over what they say is the threat it poses to local wildlife and water supplies.
Tesla currently has two Gigafactories in the United States and one in Shanghai, China.
Tesla shares have surged 340% since early June as more investors bet on Musk’s vision.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
FILE PHOTO: A traffic light is seen in front of a logo of General Electric at the company’s plant in Birr
(Reuters) – The U.S. government is considering whether to stop General Electric Co from continuing to supply engines for a new Chinese passenger jet, according to people familiar with the matter, casting uncertainty over China’s efforts to enter the civil aviation market.
The potential restriction on the engine sales – possibly along with limits on other components for Chinese commercial aircraft such as flight control systems made by Honeywell International Inc – is the latest move in the battle between the world’s two largest economies over trade and technology.
The issue is expected to come up at an interagency meeting about how strictly to limit exports of U.S. technology to China on Thursday and at another meeting with members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet set for Feb. 28, sources said.
The White House and the U.S. Commerce Department, which issues licenses for such exports, declined to comment, as did a GE spokeswoman. The departments of Defense, State, Energy and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment.
For years, the United States has supported American companies’ business with China’s budding civil aviation industry.
The government has provided licenses that allow those companies to sell engines, flight control systems and other components for China’s first large commercial aircraft, the COMAC C919. The narrow-body jet has already engaged in test flights and is expected to go into service next year. COMAC is an acronym for Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd.
But the Trump administration is weighing whether to deny GE’s latest license request to provide the CFM LEAP-1C engine for the C919, people familiar with the matter said, though GE has received licenses for the LEAP engines since 2014 and was last granted one in March 2019.
The CFM LEAP engine is a joint venture between GE and France’s Safran Aircraft Engines. The proposal to halt the deliveries of the engines was also reported on Saturday by the Wall Street Journal.
Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and French government officials could not be reached for comment.
Aside from aircraft engines, flight control systems are up for discussion at the February meetings. Honeywell International has received licenses to export flight control systems to COMAC for the C919 for about a decade, and one was approved in early 2020, according to a person familiar with the matter.
But future permission for such sales for COMAC’s passenger aircrafts may be up for debate. Honeywell also has been seeking a license for flight control technology to participate in the development of the C929, China’s planned wide-body jet venture with Russia, the person said.
The flight control system operates moving mechanical parts, such as the wing flaps, from the cockpit.
A spokeswoman for Honeywell declined to comment.
An aerospace trade group official said his organization would like to weigh in on any policy shifts.
“If there are any changes, we would hope they would engage with us, as they’ve done before,” said Remy Nathan, vice president for international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association.
At the heart of the debate over a possible crackdown on the sale of U.S. parts to China’s nascent aircraft industry is whether such shipments would fuel the rise of a serious competitor to U.S.-based Boeing Co or boost China’s military capabilities.
People familiar with the matter said some administration officials are concerned the Chinese could reverse engineer some items, though others say an abundance of LEAP engines in China has not brought that about to date.
If the United States were to move ahead with the measure, one person familiar with the matter said, China could retaliate by ordering more planes from Airbus SE , rather than crisis-hit Boeing, which relies on China for a fourth its deliveries.
The Trump administration’s meetings about technology issues also are set to include a discussion of whether to impose further restrictions on suppliers to Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which is on a U.S. trade blacklist.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
FILE PHOTO: China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet taxis after landing on its maiden flight at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s decision to raise tariffs on European-built aircraft will hit U.S. airlines already facing a shortage of aircraft and complicate efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with the European Union, Airbus <AIR.PA> said.
The European planemaker said it would continue discussions with its U.S. customers to “mitigate effects of tariffs insofar as possible” and hoped the U.S. Trade Representative’s office would change its position.
“USTR’s decision ignores the many submissions made by U.S. airlines, highlighting the fact that they – and the U.S. flying public – ultimately have to pay these tariffs,” the company said in a statement.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Competition is cranking up in the world of turboprops.
For years turboprops were an ignored corner of the aircraft industry, accounting for about 120 aircraft a year compared with the more than 1,000 jets made by giants Airbus and Boeing.
But growing rivalries in the turboprop business cut through a Singapore Airshow depleted by coronavirus this week.
While intercontinental jet travel is vulnerable to trade wars and disruptions such as epidemics, regional development in archipelago nations like Indonesia is favouring the turboprop.
The market has been dominated for years by Europe’s ATR, jointly owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, which enjoys a relatively undisturbed lion’s share of the market with a small slice also held by the Canadian-owned De Havilland Dash 8.
But the commercial arm of Brazil’s Embraer is sharpening a pitch to return to the market and Chief Executive John Slattery told Reuters he expected a decision by the end of the year.
“We should be positioned in the mid-to-late fourth quarter to bring a business case with a recommendation to our board,” he said in an interview.
In a sign that the development is accelerating, Slattery said he had held talks with three potential engine suppliers – Rolls-Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney Canada, part of the engine unit of United Technologies.
“We are fully engaged with engine manufacturers now and meeting here at the air show…We are excited by where we are.”
Until now, planemakers have found it difficult to justify the estimated $2-4 billion investment needed to develop a new turboprop, despite its efficiency on relatively short flights.
The market has been stagnant at about 120 deliveries a year and demand for the planes is dependent on volatile oil prices, with turboprops displacing small jets when prices are high.
The thrumming noise of the propellor-driven turboprop also puts some passengers off, travel experts say, even though many in the industry say that reputation is already out of date.
Slattery said quiet new engine technology and advances in passenger comfort would stimulate demand.
“We believe the market opportunity going forward is significantly different to what past decades have shown.”
COMPETITION BOOST
China has already entered the fray with its planned MA700.
At ATR’s bright-red stand inside Singapore’s exhibition hall, Chief Executive Stefano Bortoli shrugged off the threat of a comeback by Embraer which already makes smaller turboprops.
“I think once Embraer will let us know their decision you will have our comments. At this point in time it is simply commenting on opinions. Not that we will stand still,” he said.
The fundamental shape of the two-aircraft ATR family seating 40-78 people has not changed in about 30 years, but the aircraft was modernised with the -600 variant around a decade ago.
ATR recently launched a freighter and a version designed for use on short runways, which has opened opportunities in markets such as Japan and Papua New Guinea, where PNG Air emerged as a launch customer this week.
“The approach we’ve taken…is let’s consolidate the platform that we have…and when the right time comes and there are solid options available, let’s go for that,” Bortoli said.
ATR shareholders have clashed in the past about whether to launch a bigger new 90-seater, with Toulouse-based Airbus blocking the investment. But industry analysts say ATR would have to consider responding to a new plane from Embraer.
The prospect of greater competition in turboprop adds zest to efforts by Embraer to complete a tie up with Boeing, which has agreed to acquire control of its commercial division.
The European Commission has extended its scrutiny of the $4 billion deal, fearing that it would narrow options for airlines.
Slattery reiterated Embraer would only have the appetite to invest in a new turboprop in the context of the Boeing venture.
He declined to elaborate but industry experts say it is a signal to Europe that the Boeing deal would improve choice for airlines by prompting ATR to come up with its own new product.
One European source said it remained doubtful whether Boeing would support a new turboprop once it gained control of Embraer, but analysts note the U.S. planemaker has not yet ruled it out.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Jamie Freed; editing by David Evans)
FILE PHOTO: Groundcrew prepare a Liat airlines ATR 42 plane on the tarmac at Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport
(Reuters) – An AirBaltic A220 flight diverted to France on Wednesday because of an engine issue is the fourth reported case involving the Pratt & Whitney engine powering the Airbus jet, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.
The A220-300 flight, traveling from Riga, Latvia, to Malaga, Spain, was diverted to Bordeaux because of a technical failure in the left engine, France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et ‘Analyses (BEA) said on Twitter. The flight landed safely.
Airbus SE and United Technologies Corp, maker of the Pratt PW1500G engines, confirmed in statements that they were aware of the flight and working “to provide assistance” as required.
The incident follows three emergency landings involving the GTF engine on Airbus’s smallest jet, the A220.
“NTSB has accepted delegation for 3 previous incidents so NTSB will also look at the most recent incident,” a spokesman for the U.S. government investigative agency said by email.
“NTSB is in the process of gathering initial data. It is still in the early stage of any investigation cannot make any conclusions at this time.”
Pratt & Whitney has said that a software update for the GTF engine on the A220 is expected in the spring, pending regulatory approval.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert Editing by Leslie Adler)
FILE PHOTO: A traveler checks her baggage at the Southwest Airlines terminal at LAX airport in Los Angeles
(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it should have done a better job of ensuring Southwest Airlines Co <LUV> had certified completion of maintenance on 88 used Boeing 737 jets, as noted in a report by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Inspector General released on Tuesday.
Budget-friendly Southwest bought the planes in question between 2013 and 2017 from 16 foreign carriers.
The final report, first seen by Reuters, said Southwest operated more than 150,000 flights carrying 17.2 million passengers on the jets without confirmation that required maintenance had been completed.
The report said the FAA has not “effectively overseen Southwest Airlines’ systems for managing risks” and made 11 recommendations to improve oversight, including retraining inspectors and developing better control over maintenance records and inspector guidance on evaluating air carrier safety culture.
While the U.S. commercial airline industry is considered safe, with only one fatality in recent years, the FAA is under heightened scrutiny by lawmakers over its relationship with the industry after two crashes overseas on the newer Boeing Co <BA> 737 MAX killed 346 people and led to that aircraft’s global grounding.
“Given the significant unresolved safety concerns that FAA has identified at Southwest Airlines, it is clear that the agency is not yet effectively navigating the balance between industry collaboration and managing safety risks at the carrier,” the report said.
The FAA said in a response included with the report it concurred with all 11 recommendations and the inspector general’s conclusion that its office overseeing Southwest did not perform in accordance with existing guidance by allowing the 88 planes to enter service and that it “lacked a comprehensive conformity inspection for used aircraft.”
Southwest told Reuters on Tuesday that eight of the 88 jets remain out of service until needed repairs are completed and that it disagreed with the report’s findings.
The report chided the FAA, saying the agency “accepted the air carrier’s justification that the issues identified were low safety risks.”
The FAA noted it changed the leadership of its office that oversees Southwest and “continues to address deficiencies in the work functions and culture.” The agency has agreed to ensure Southwest “complies with regulatory requirements that the 88 previously owned aircraft conform to U.S. aviation standards.”
Last month, the Wall Street Journal published an article on a draft of the inspector general report.
The report also said the FAA violated its own guidance in addressing noncompliance by Southwest on baggage weight and balance data. The FAA agreed to ensure Southwest complies with requirements.
On Jan. 10, the FAA said it was seeking to impose a $3.92 million fine on Southwest for alleged weight infractions on 21,505 flights on 44 aircraft between May 1, 2018 and Aug. 9, 2018.
Southwest has said it is working with the FAA to demonstrate the effectiveness of its controls and seek a resolution on the proposed penalty.
Southwest shares closed up 0.9% on Tuesday, off intraday highs.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis)
FILE PHOTO: A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane sits on the runway waiting to take off at LAX airport in Los Angeles
SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Tuesday that lessor BBAM had ordered three 737-800 converted freighters to serve the growing e-commerce market and express sectors of the air cargo market.
The planes to be converted will come from BBAM’s existing fleet. “This agreement shows how we can serve our customers by delivering efficient and reliable airplanes and a portfolio of services that extracts value throughout the life of those jets,” said Ihssane Mounir, Boeing’s senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing.
Boeing also said it would inaugurate a 737-800 passenger to freighter conversion line in China this summer.
The new line will be at Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company Ltd (GAMECO), a joint venture between China Southern Airlines Co Ltd and Hutchison Whampoa.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The White House budget released on Monday proposed cutting funding for passenger rail carrier Amtrak, while calling for a significant boost in infrastructure spending.
The proposal would cut Amtrak funds by more than 50% over 2020 levels. It could cut funds to the congested northeast corridor from $700 million to $325 million and cut long-distance train funds from $1.3 billion to $611 million and then phase out support for long-distance trains.
Trump has proposed similar cuts in prior budgets and been rejected, and Democrats are not likely to go along. Trump has sparred with Democratic lawmakers over a $13 billion infrastructure project to build and repair tunnels and bridges in the New York City area known as “Gateway.”
In November, Amtrak said for the year ended Sept. 30, it had set records for ridership, revenue, and financial performance, including 32.5 million customer trips, a year-over-year increase of 800,000 passengers.
Amtrak reported a loss of $29.8 million in the year through September 2019 compared with a loss of $170.6 million in the prior fiscal year.
The Trump budget calls for $810 billion in highway, transit, safety and other surface transportation funds and then an additional $190 billion for a wide range of programs including $25 billion for rural water, broadband and other projects. It does not specify how to pay for the repairs or for funding an estimated $107 billion shortfall in the highway trust fund through 2026.
The budget again also calls for eliminating an Energy Department clean vehicle loan program that boosted Tesla Inc , Nissan Motor Co and Ford Motor Co during the last industry downturn, but has not funded a new project in almost a decade.
Start-up Lordstown Motors Chief Executive Steve Burns told Reuters last month the company wanted to apply for a $200 million loan from the Energy Department program to retool a former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Burns met with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette for an hour to discuss the proposal last month. Lordstown is partially owned by start-up Workhorse Group Inc.
The budget also again proposes killing the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit that phases out for automakers after 200,000 EVs are sold. The White House blocked an effort in December by congressional Democrats to expand the credit to additional vehicles.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Acela at B&P Tunnel
Acela, Amtrak, B&P Tunnel, Baltimore, NEC, maryland
An Acela train emerges from the B&P Tunnel in Baltimore.
MONTREAL/PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus SE <EADSY> is likely to acquire Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc’s <BBD-B.TO> remaining stake in the A220 passenger jet program, two industry sources said.
A deal for Airbus to buy the 33.58% share in the program was widely expected after Bombardier said in January it was reviewing the stake in the joint venture. Barring surprises, a deal is expected next week ahead of both companies’ earnings reports on Feb. 13, the sources added.
Airbus and Bombardier both declined to comment. The terms of a potential deal that would mark Bombardier’s exit from commercial aviation were unclear.
Bombardier, which is weighing additional asset sales, faced a cash crunch in 2015 due to its high-stakes bet on the technologically advanced narrowbody.
Bombardier shares closed up 2.8%.
Montreal-based Bombardier ceded control of the program to Airbus in 2018 for a token C$1 as part of broader efforts to improve its finances. It retained a minority stake alongside the Canadian province of Quebec.
Bombardier had warned the program would require additional cash to ramp up production, and could be subject to a writedown, as it faces higher-than-expected costs in its rail division and more than $9 billion of debt.
Since Airbus took over the program, the A220 has seen a sharp pickup in sales to 658 orders as of Jan. 31. But it has not seen the cost declines expected from Airbus applying its greater purchasing power with suppliers, one of the sources said.
A deal would leave Airbus to shoulder additional investments required by the plane program.
“Airbus did not particularly want to do this at this time, but is presented with little choice if Bombardier is pulling back,” the second source said.
Airbus, with a 50.6% stake in the program, delivered 48 A220 jets in 2019 and is ramping up production toward its maximum monthly capacity of 10 jets in Mirabel, Quebec, and four planes at a second line in Alabama by mid-decade.
Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer told Reuters in January the company was progressing toward its target of a double-digit percentage reduction in the A220’s production costs.
Quebec, with a 16.36% stake in the A220 program, would not invest further. Rather, it is trying to protect the program’s estimated 2,700 jobs, along with the province’s $1 billion investment in the program, Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said on Monday.
“We put $1 billion in it and that’s enough.”
(Reporting by Allison Lampert and Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Diane Craft, David Gregorio and Richard Chang)
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Thursday it will book a 496.4 billion yen ($4.5 billion) special loss after its aircraft unit delayed the delivery of its SpaceJet regional jet for at least another year until after March 2021.
The sixth delay announced by Mitsubishi Aircraft is a fresh blow to Japan’s commercial jet ambitions and could stretch Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ finances.
The company cited the special loss as one reason for wiping out a forecast for operating profit of 220 billion yen in the business year ending March 31.
The new postponement also means an aircraft that Mitsubishi Heavy had planned to bring to market in 2013, will have to compete against a new generation of regional jets built by Brazil’s Embraer SA <ERJ>.
Japan’s biggest airline by revenue, ANA Holdings Inc., is now to take the first delivery of the jet sometime after March 2021.
Mitsubishi Heavy, which builds products ranging from nuclear reactors and ships to rockets and industrial machinery, has traditionally relied on stronger units to support weaker businesses.
“We use cashflow and borrowing to finance our projects and going forward the SpaceJet development will require further funds,” a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy said. The company, he added, had no plan at the moment to raise capital for aircraft development.
Government funding would not be an option for Japan’s biggest heavy machinery maker even though the SpaceJet is backed by the government because doing so would contravene World Trade Organization (WTO) rules banning taxpayer subsidies.
A spokeswoman for Mitsubishi Aircraft declined to say how much development of the SpaceJet has cost so far.
The company on Thursday said it had appointed Takaoki Niwa, the head of its U.S. operations, as its new president, replacing Hisakazu Mizutani, who will become chairman.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing)
