Tag: James

Air Niugini orders 6 Airbus A220 aircraft

November 3, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, France, November 3, 2023 – Air Niugini, the national flag carrier of Papua New Guinea, has signed a firm order with Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) for six latest generation single aisle A220-100’s under its fleet modernisation program. In addition, the carrier will acquire three A220-300s and another two A220-100’s from third party lessors.

The order was announced at a special event in Port Moresby by Gary Seddon, Acting Chief Executive Officer Air Niugini and Anand Stanley, President Airbus Asia-Pacific, in the presence of the Honorable James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Honorable William Duma, Minister for State Enterprises.

Air Niugini also announced that it has selected a flight planning support system from Airbus subsidiary NAVBLUE for its fleet. Called N-Flight Planning (N-FP), the solution will help the airline optimise on fuel, time and cost to meet operational needs, while ensuring overall safety and compliance.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Windstar Cruises Names Karl Gulotta Corporate Executive Chef

December 16, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Windstar-New-Exec-Chef Download

Outrage Grows as Ryanair plane Hijacked by Belarus to Arrest Dissident Journalist – BBC

May 25, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

GM to Revive Hummer Name with Electric Pickups, SUV’s

January 10, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Workers leave the General Motors CAMI car assembly plant where the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox are built in Ingersoll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co <GM> will revive the Hummer name to sell a new family of electric pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles and will tout the return with a Super Bowl ad featuring NBA star LeBron James, two people briefed on the matter said on Friday.

The vehicles will be sold under the GMC nameplate. Reuters reported in October that GM planned to build a new family of premium electric pickup trucks at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in late 2021 and was considering reviving the Hummer name, citing several people familiar with the plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported GM’s decision to move forward earlier on Friday. GM declined to comment.

The electric truck and SUV program is the centerpiece of a planned $3 billion investment in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant to make electric trucks and vans, and part of a broader $7.7 billion (5.9 billion pounds) investment in GM’s U.S. plants over the next four years that was part of a new contract signed with the United Auto Workers union last year.

The investment moves the automaker into a part of the EV market that is largely untested and where GM has a higher likelihood of turning a profit, analysts said.

Reuters reported GM plans to first build EV pickups in late 2021 and then an electric SUV in 2023.

Tesla <TSLA> CEO Elon Musk in November unveiled an electric pickup called “Cybertruck” it plans to build starting in late 2021.

Rivian, a start-up electric company backed by Amazon.com <AMZN>, will begin building 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon starting in 2021.

Hummers were rugged civilian utility vehicles with low gas mileage that were inspired by military vehicles and were popular with such celebrities as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger but derided by environmentalists as gas-guzzlers. GM shut down its Hummer brand after a deal to sell the SUV-line to an obscure Chinese machinery maker was blocked by Chinese regulators in 2010.

Michael Harley, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book, noted “the original Hummer was ostracized out of showrooms for being heavy and ponderous with an insatiable appetite for gasoline. An all-electric powertrain essentially exonerates the truck on all charges.”

Electric pickups and SUVs – the heart of the U.S. market – could help Ford Motor Co <F> and GM generate significant sales of EVs needed to meet tougher California emission standards and electric vehicle mandates.

The Trump administration is moving to roll back those standards – and eliminate extra credits that automakers receive from EV sales but electric trucks are a hedge if California prevails.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Alistair Bell)

Aston Martin Reveals Airbus ACH130 Aston Martin Edition Helicopter

January 6, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Aston Martin (ARGGY) just can’t help but outdo itself. From its entry in Le Mans, to building James Bond cars that actually work, to Aston Martin-themed motorcycles, and even embracing the manual gearbox after everyone else abandoned it—it seems that the British luxury marque is always looking to do the unexpected.

For its next trick, Aston Martin announced a team-up with airplane and helicopter maker Airbus to unveil the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, a stylish helicopter embellished with four different interior and exterior designs provided by Aston Martin.

Exterior options include Stirling Green, Xenon Grey, Ultramarine Black, and a color simply dubbed Arizona. For the cabin, buyers get to choose between Oxford Tan, Cormorant, Ivory, and Pure Black. Matching leather and Pure Black ultra-suede makes up the rest of the interior. Aston Martin badging is embossed on the leather headrests to further distinguish this special edition for the standard ACH130.

Click the link for the full story and more pics!

Amtrak Customers Celebrate 90 Years of Empire Builder Service

June 13, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Commemorative merchandise now available

CHICAGO – Amtrak today marked the 90th anniversary of the Empire Builder, which travels across the country’s northern tier, allowing customers to experience the grandeur of the Mississippi River Valley, Great Plains, Rockies and the Cascade Range. Daily service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest provides a vital intercity travel option connecting more than 40 communities in eight states.

Sleeping car customers received wooden train whistles from Amtrak Guest Rewards and all customers departing Chicago received commemorative certificates signed by Amtrak President & CEO Richard Anderson. Prints of a new Empire Builder painting by railroad artist J. Craig Thorpe are available in the Amtrak store and, for a limited time, other items to recognize the anniversary of the service are also availab le from Amtrak.

Inaugurated by the Great Northern Railway (GN), the first westbound Empire Builder departed Chicago on the evening of June 10, 1929, but it was christened the next day in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the GN had its headquarters and where its mainline to Seattle began. The premier service was named for James J. Hill–the “Empire Builder,” who in the late 19th century founded what became the GN.

The GN and three railroads merged in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern, which continued to operate the Empire Builder until May 1, 1971, when newly-formed Amtrak took it over and changed the route to include Milwaukee by using what is now the Canadian Pacific Railway between Chicago and St. Paul. In October 1979, it became the first overnight train to be assigned bi-level Superliner® railcars, setting a higher travel standard that continues today.

Last year, 428,854 customers rode the Amtrak Empire Builder, Trains 7/27 & 8/28.

Cirrus Aircraft Announces New Chief Executive Officer

June 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Duluth, Minn. and Knoxville, Tenn. (4 June 2019) – Cirrus Aircraft announced today that Zean Nielsen has been selected to succeed Co-founder Dale Klapmeier as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Nielsen has held senior leadership roles at a range of global world-class organizations, including Tesla Motors, James Hardie and Bang & Olufsen.

“Cirrus Aircraft has a remarkably bright future ahead,” noted Dale Klapmeier, Co-founder and National Aviation Hall of Fame member. “We are fortunate to have someone of Zean’s caliber and experience to lead us into the next era of growth. I am looking forward to moving into a Senior Advisory role and continuing to work with our exceptional team on reinventing the future of personal transportation.”

“I am honored and humbled to join this team of experienced general aviation leaders and a world-class workforce as we continue to bring game-changing products and services to market,” said Zean Nielsen, CEO of Cirrus Aircraft. “Our mission is to deliver an aviation experience that is the pinnacle of innovation, quality and safety to our customers – and that is exactly what we will continue to do for many years to come.”

Zean most recently served as the Executive Vice President of North American Sales at James Hardie, a leading industrial building materials company. Prior to his role at James Hardie, Nielsen ran all aspects of Tesla Motors worldwide sales operations efforts as the Vice President of Global Sales Operations. Zean began his career at Bang & Olufsen, the luxury electronics maker, where over a 17 year career he ascended to more senior roles before he ultimately became the President of Bang & Olufsen North and South America, prior to joining Tesla Motors.

Nielsen assumed the CEO role at Cirrus Aircraft on 3 June 2019.

About Cirrus Aircraft

Cirrus Aircraft is the recognized global leader in personal aviation and the maker of the best-selling SR Series piston aircraft and the Vision JetTM, the world’s first single-engine Personal JetTM, as well as the recipient of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Founded in 1984, the company has redefined performance, comfort and safety in aviation with innovations like the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System® (CAPS®) – the first FAA-certified whole-airframe parachute safety system included as standard equipment on an aircraft. To date, worldwide flight time on Cirrus aircraft has passed 10.5 million hours and 172 people have returned home safely to their families as a result of the inclusion of CAPS as a standard feature on all Cirrus aircraft. The company has four locations in the United States, located in Duluth, Minnesota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Knoxville, Tennessee and McKinney, Texas.