Tag: shops

Southwest Airlines expand technical operations facility In Phoenix

February 19, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Dallas, Texas, February, 2024 – Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is celebrating the completion of a multi-year, $100 million project, which nearly doubles the size of the airline’s maintenance hangar at Phoenix Sky Harbor. The 90,000-square foot expansion adds three new aircraft bays to the facility, allowing the airline to work on up to five aircraft simultaneously and brings more maintenance shops to support the nearly 500 Southwest® Technical Operations Employees based at Sky Harbor. The project also included a larger facility for members of the airline’s Provisioning and Ground Support Equipment Maintenance Teams that opened in 2020.

The expanded hangar has also achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. The expansion incorporated sustainable design features including the use of recycled content in over 30% of the building materials; the installation of high-reflectance roof and surrounding paving materials to reduce heat island effect; and the selection of building products from manufacturers with verified environmental performance.

Southwest Airlines® first opened a Technical Operations base at Sky Harbor in 1986. In 1993, the airline moved into a new maintenance hangar facility to support its growth throughout the western half of the United States. Today, the carrier’s Phoenix-based Technical Operations Teams accept new aircraft deliveries to prepare them to enter revenue service and maintain aircraft as part of daily and scheduled maintenance programs.

In addition to Phoenix, Southwest operates hangar facilities in Atlanta, Chicago (Midway), Dallas (Love Field), Denver, Houston (Hobby), and Orlando. Construction is underway on a new hangar facility at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, which is anticipated to open in 2025.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may 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.

DHL fulfillment network adds capacity with new warehouse in Euskirchen

October 23, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Bonn, Germany, October 23, 2023 – As part of the expansion of the DHL (Deutsche Post AG-Xetra: DHLn) Fulfillment Network (DFN), DHL Supply Chain has now commissioned its fourth dedicated e-commerce warehouse in Germany. The fulfillment warehouse in Euskirchen will store, pick and pack orders from both large as well as small and medium-sized customers before shipping them within Germany, Europe or even to the rest of the world.

All customers benefit from an existing infrastructure that enables the integration of webshops and customer systems as well as connection to a range of parcel service providers. In this way, new companies can quickly and easily be integrated into the network. In addition, DHL provides its customers with a wide range of data and digital tools enabling them to drive their business with minimal effort. This allows inventory to be managed, each order to be monitored and sales trends to be tracked. Furthermore, all DFN fulfillment centers are run by trained DHL employees.

The DFN model was developed in Germany and currently has a global network spanning 30 locations around the world. The new Euskirchen site has a total storage area of over 60,000 square meters and has excellent connections to parcel centers and both Cologne/ Bonn and Duesseldorf Airport. Fluctuations in order numbers and inventory levels can be handled flexibly through specialist technology and dynamic staff deployment.

CSX names rail industry veteran Mike Cory Chief Operating Officer

September 10, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Jacksonville, Florida, September 8, 2023 – CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) announced today the appointment of Mike Cory, a seasoned railroad executive with more than 40 years of operations experience, as the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Canadian National (CN) Railway, Cory has provided transportation consulting services since retiring from the CN in 2019.

Cory began his railroad career in 1981 as a laborer in the CN locomotive shops in Winnipeg, Canada. Over the years, he rose through the ranks as a superintendent, general superintendent, director of service design, network operations superintendent and general manager of operations for the Michigan sub-region. He also broadened his business perspective by holding customer service and marketing positions. In 2006, he began his ascent through a series of senior leadership roles, including vice president of network operations, senior vice president of the Eastern region and senior vice president for the Western region. He was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2016.

At CSX, Cory will lead a strong team of operations professionals – led by Ricky Johnson, Senior Vice President of Operations, and Casey Albright, Senior Vice President of Network Operations and Service Design – who have helped transform the company into a safety and service leader among North American Class I railroads. He will continue to strengthen the company’s operating model across the network while fostering a ONE CSX culture that values and engages front-line employees.

CSX also today announced that Kevin Boone, previously executive vice president of Sales and Marketing, is named executive vice president and chief commercial officer. The new title recognizes Boone’s breadth of existing responsibilities across CSX’s broad customer base and growing offering of supply chain solutions. Boone previously led the company’s finance organization before transitioning to sales and marketing in 2021. He joined CSX in 2017, following a successful 17-year career in the investment industry.

Amtrak Releasing Six 50th Anniversary Commemorative Painted Locomotives

March 17, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Amtrak fans across the country may soon spot a few freshly painted locomotives featuring new anniversary logos rolling down the tracks as America’s Railroad® celebrates 50 years of service this year. The first of six different commemorative 50^th anniversary locomotives has already entered service on the national network.

“We chose locomotives already budgeted for new paint as part of our life cycle preventative maintenance program and used the opportunity to celebrate this significant milestone on the most iconic component of our business,” said Amtrak President Stephen Gardner. “The locomotive designs uniquely honor our heritage and our vision of connecting communities, economies and families nationwide.”

The commemorative locomotive list includes:

P42 #46 in “Phase V 50^th” – The standard Amtrak livery for the past two decades with our “Connecting America for 50 Years” slogan including a large golden yellow 50.
P42 in “Midnight Blue”: An all new one-of-a-kind paint scheme celebrating the dedication and commitment of our employees moving people around the clock and across the nation.
P42 in “Phase VI” – The first adaptation of the latest Amtrak livery phase on a P42.
P42 in “Phase I” – A rendition of Amtrak’s first livery phase dating back to 1972.
P42 in “Dash 8 Phase III” – The award-winning livery designed for the Dash 8 locomotive fleet in the early 90s, adapted for the first time to a P42 locomotive.
ALC-42 #301 in “Day 1” scheme – A historic throwback to the unique design created for the first day of operations on May 1, 1971, applied to Amtrak’s newest locomotive.

Each P42 locomotive is being painted and overhauled at the Amtrak Beech Grove shops in Beech Grove, Ind., rolling out over the coming months and entering service across the national network. Employees will also ensure that these locomotives are maintained to high performance and safety standards. ALC-42 #301 is currently being manufactured by Siemens in Sacramento, Calif. and is expected to be delivered in April to undergo testing in the Northeast Corridor before entering service on the national network.

In addition to the commemorative locomotives, 50^th Anniversary collectible items are also now available for purchase at the Amtrak store, including t-shirts, glasses, a challenge coin, pins and other celebratory Amtrak gear.

Amtrak 50th – Paint Scheme and Livery History

German Carmakers to Resume Production as Lockdowns Ease

April 16, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: VW hosts photo workshop at Zwickau plant

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German carmakers including Volkswagen <VOW.DE> and Mercedes-Benz <DAI.DE> will restart production at some German factories next week after the country eased restrictions designed to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said that Germany has achieved a “fragile intermediate success” in its the fight against the coronavirus and that its emergence from lockdown would begin with the partial reopening of shops next week and schools from May 4.

Unlike Italy and Spain, Germany never banned car production, though factories came to a standstill after authorities restricted the movement of people and ordered the closure of car dealerships, hitting demand.

Volkswagen said it will start producing cars for its core brand in Zwickau, Germany, and in Bratislava, Slovakia, on April 20.

Plants in Russia, Spain, Portugal and the United States will ramp up production from April 27 onwards, joined by factories in South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in May.

“With the decisions by the federal and state governments in Germany and the loosening of restrictions in other European states, conditions have been established for the gradual resumption of production,” Ralf Brandstaetter, Chief Operating Officer of the Volkswagen brand, said in a statement.

The carmaker has retooled production to ensure that workers keep 1.5 metres apart. Other measures include the staggering of shifts and lunch breaks, plus steps to change worker interaction in VW’s supply chain.

Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the company’s Works Council, said: “In the light of the pandemic, we need to adapt our routines. One answer is our new agreement on health protection. With about 100 measures, we are keeping the risk of infection at Volkswagen as low as possible.”

In China, where a Volkswagen has already implemented health measures, 32 of the 33 plants have resumed production and no coronavirus infections among employees have been reported.

Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler said that its plants in Hamburg, Berlin and Untertuerkheim will resume production next week. Its Berlin plant makes engine-management systems for vehicles sold in China.

Production will initially start in a one-shift system, Daimler said, with plants in Sindelfingen and Bremen also making preparations to ramp up production.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor and Jan Schwartz; Editing by David Goodman)

Safdie To Add Fourth Tower To Marina Bay Sands Singapore

April 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Safdie Architects has revealed its plans to extend its Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore by adding a fourth tower.

The new stand-alone tower will contain more hotel rooms and take cues from the existing glass buildings, which were completed by Safdie Architects on Marina Bay in 2011.

Alongside the tower, the studio will also design a new entertainment district with a state of the art 15,000-seat music arena.

“Building on a long-term partnership with Las Vegas Sands corporation, we are delighted to embark upon a design for a major new addition to the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore,” said the architecture studio in an Instagram post revealing the news.

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