Tag: Deputy

Qantas Announces Change to Executive Team

August 23, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The Qantas Group has today announced a reduction to its Group Management Committee as it continues to respond to the expanding COVID-19 crisis.

CEO of Qantas International, Tino La Spina, will leave the Group in light of what is likely to be the extended grounding of this part of the airline.

Responsibilities currently held by Mr La Spina will transfer to CEO of Qantas Domestic, Andrew David. Mr David’s role will change as a result, adding functional responsibility for Qantas International in addition to his existing responsibility for Qantas Domestic and Qantas Freight, reporting to Group CEO Alan Joyce. John Gissing (Group Executive of Associated Airlines and Services) will continue to have responsibility for regional carrier, QantasLink.

Mr Joyce said: “The COVID crisis is forcing us to rethink our business at every level. It’s increasingly clear that our international flights will be grounded until at least mid-2021 and it will take years for activity to return to what it was before. Under those circumstances, we’ve made the decision to consolidate the domestic and international business units under a single divisional CEO.

“Tino has done a superb job throughout his 14 years at Qantas. He’s a talented executive who brings his trademark enthusiasm to every challenge. I know I speak for the rest of the executive team and for the Board in thanking him sincerely for the huge contribution he has made, particularly as Deputy CFO and then CFO for most of that time.”

The change announced today will take effect from 1 September 2020.

As part of its response to the COVID crisis, the Qantas Group Management Committee took three months of zero pay in the last quarter of FY20 and is on reduced pay (65 per cent for the CEO and 85 per cent for other executives) until November 2020.

Explosion at Kansas Aircraft Plant Injures 15 People

December 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – At least 15 people were injured on Friday after a liquid nitrogen line exploded at a Textron Aviation plant near Wichita, Kansas, potentially setting back the launch of a new aircraft under development, county and company officials said.

Emergency medical services took 11 people to the hospital, one of them suffering potentially serious injuries, Dr. John Gallagher, director of Sedgwick County EMS, told a news conference.

Company officials said two of victims went to the hospital in private cars and two were treated at the scene.

Injuries were limited because only a skeleton crew was on duty during the holidays, said Deputy Chief Daniel Wegner of the Sedgwick County Fire Department.

The explosion in a 3-inch liquid nitrogen gas line also damaged a storage tank, causing nitrogen gas to vent out of the building, Wegner said.

News video from the scene showed what appeared to be a steam cloud billowing out of the damaged building. The gas was not harmful, Wegner said.

A second valve also ruptured, said Kate Flavin, a spokeswoman for Sedgwick County, and emergency crews vented nitrogen gas from the affected tanks before doing another search of the plant.

No others were found injured and control of the facility was returned to Textron shortly after noon, but emergency crews remained on standby at the scene, she said.

Damage was contained to Plant 3, a site for composite manufacturing and experimental aircraft fabrication including that of the SkyCourier, said Stephanie Harder, a spokeswoman for Textron.

The SkyCourier, a utility turboprop under development, is due to enter service in 2020, Textron has previously said. Harder said it was too early to determine what damage the prototype aircraft under production may have suffered.

Textron Aviation, a unit of Textron Inc (TXT), makes Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft.

The Wichita-area economy has long been supported by aircraft manufacturing. Boeing Co (BA) announced in January it would suspend production of its 737 Max jetliner, which has been grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes. That move affected workers at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Boeing’s top supplier, which produces the jet’s fuselages.

Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Additional reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Bill Tarrant and Richard Chang

Boeing Delivers First P-8A Poseidon to United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force

November 10, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SEATTLE, Nov. 8, 2019 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] last week delivered the first of nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) to the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF). The United Kingdom is acquiring the multi-mission aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales process with the U.S. Navy. The P-8A Poseidon replaces the U.K.’s retired Nimrod aircraft.

Speaking to attendees at the delivery ceremony, Air Marshal Andrew Turner, deputy commander for Capability for the Royal Air Force, spoke of the “profound challenge” of enemy submarines threatening the U.K. and other nations. “P-8 is the key to solving this challenge on the surface, the sub-surface and in the waters of the North Atlantic. There is no place [for our enemies] to hide. We will make the oceans transparent and we will prevail.”

Boeing formally delivered the aircraft on Oct. 29 to the U.S. Navy during a ceremony at the Boeing Military Delivery Center in Tukwila, Wash. From Tukwila, the aircraft flew to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, where U.S. Navy leaders officially turn the aircraft over to the United Kingdom. At JAX, Royal Air Force crew will work with the aircraft before flying it to the United Kingdom in January 2020. All nine P-8A aircraft will be based at Lossiemouth, Scotland.

As part of a collaborative program with the U.S. Navy, pilots and maintainers from the United Kingdom’s RAF have been stationed at Naval Air Station JAX since 2012. Called “Project Seedcorn,” the arrangement has allowed RAF members to fly the P-8A with Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Fleet Replacement Squadron, to maintain their maritime patrol skills in advance of receiving the P-8A.

The P-8 is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. In addition, the P-8 performs humanitarian and search and rescue missions around the globe.

Italy’s Salvini Prefers Transportation Group as Alitalia Partner

June 14, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

MILAN, June 14 (Reuters) – Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday an infrastructure or transportation group would be his preferred partner for troubled carrier Alitalia.

He added that he had reservations about a possible involvement of Lazio soccer club Chairman Claudio Lotito, who submitted an expression of interest for the airline this week.

Salvini’s comments put pressure on Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is also the leader of the 5-Star Movement and has been handling the Alitalia crisis since the coalition government took office last year.

Di Maio has already had to postpone the deadline for the rescue of the carrier three times and the latest extension is due to expire on Saturday with every expectation it will have to be prolonged yet again as the search for a solution continues.

Italy’s state-owned railway group Ferrovie dello Stato is spearheading an effort to set up a consortium of investors to buy loss-making Alitalia, which is managed by administrators.

So far Ferrovie has secured the commitment of Delta Air Lines but it is struggling to find another partner who is willing to invest more than 300 million euros ($336 million) in Alitalia, which has a long history of financial woe.

Salvini, who is the head of coalition party League, said caution was needed in picking the right partners.

“We are talking about a company (Alitalia) with 11,000 employees, which has a potential U.S. partner (Delta) with dozens of billions in sales, that deals with infrastructure and airplanes,” Salvini told reporters in Milan.

“As far as I know, Lotito, at present, just lets lads play soccer,” he added.

One source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Ferrovie had recently had talks with infrastructure group Atlantia over Alitalia, but added that its involvement in any accord still lacked the necessary political green-light.

Di Maio and other 5-Star officials strongly criticised Atlantia over the deadly collapse of a motorway bridge managed by the group, which killed 43 people last August.

After the disaster the government said it would revoke Atlantia’s motorway concession, accusing the company of poor maintenance of its road network.

Atlantia has denied any wrongdoing and could join the Alitalia consortium as a way to mend its relationship with the government, sources had told Reuters. The company, which is controlled by the Benetton group, denied on Wednesday that it had reached a deal to join the rescue.

($1 = 0.8923 euros)

(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, Writing by Francesca Landini; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

Qantas Announces Change to Executive Team

Explosion at Kansas Aircraft Plant Injures 15 People

Boeing Delivers First P-8A Poseidon to United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force

Italy’s Salvini Prefers Transportation Group as Alitalia Partner

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