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)
CHICAGO, Feb 5 (Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings Inc announced on Wednesday an agreement to purchase a flight training academy in Phoenix in a move aimed at bolstering its pilot pipeline as the industry faces a global shortage.
To address a tight U.S. labor market created by years of slow pilot hiring, a wave of pending retirements and new rules that in 2013 increased the number of required training hours, U.S. airlines have been taking steps to attract young aviators.
Chicago-based United, which is looking to hire more than 10,000 pilots by 2029, will be the first major U.S. carrier to run its own academy.
“We think this program will alleviate any shortage we would have had and that’s its purpose,” Curtis Brunjes, United’s managing director of pilot strategy, told reporters.
The school, currently operating as Westwind School of Aeronautics, will be renamed United Aviate Academy in September.
United expects approximately 300 graduates in 2021 and wants to expand capacity to accommodate 500 graduates per year, Brunjes said, noting that the academy is among the airline’s most aggressive steps on pilot hiring since the 1960s.
One area of focus at the school will be training for loss of control incidents, a leading cause of plane disasters, that goes beyond the current U.S. Federal Aviation Administration requirements.
Some of the enrollees will come from Aviate, a recruitment program that United launched last year offering students and pilots from 15 schools and regional carriers a path to a job at the major.
American Airlines Group Inc and Delta Air lines Inc have similar career programs.
United – which plans to design the academy’s curriculum in concert with the Air Line Pilots Association, International – is offering financing options for training and will also launch a scholarship program focused on women and minorities.
It did not disclose financial details of the purchase, with Brunjes saying only that the company paid “more than asset value, but not hugely more.”
The financial benefit down the line will be ensuring that regional carriers, which operate a significant amount of U.S. airlines’ domestic capacity at a lower cost, have enough pilots to fly the routes that United wants to contract.
In recent years, regional carriers have had to double salaries and offer sign-on bonuses to attract pilots to the field, driving up costs.
Boeing Co expects 800,000 new pilots will be needed over the next 20 years to meet growing demand for air travel.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
MONTREAL/WINNIPEG (Reuters) – Canada’s longest railroad strike in a decade ended on Tuesday as Canadian National Railway Co reached a tentative agreement with workers, but shippers warned it could take weeks before service bounces back to normal.
Industry groups celebrated the end of the eight-day strike at the country’s biggest railroad, which had cost them sales and raised their expenses. News of the deal, which must still be ratified by union members, sent CN shares up by as much as 2%.
Thousands of unionized workers began heading back to their jobs, CN said, with operations expected to be in full swing on Wednesday. Union members should vote on the deal within eight weeks.
CN has rescinded 70 temporary layoff notices at an auto shipment terminal in Nova Scotia following the deal, another union said.
Canada relies on CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to move crops, oil, potash, coal and manufactured goods to ports and the United States.
Details of the agreement were not available but some 3,200 striking conductors and yard workers had been demanding improved working conditions, including rest breaks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged CN and union officials in a tweet on Tuesday and thanked workers, industry and all Canadians for their patience.
Trudeau’s minority government had faced pressure from industry and farmers to end the strike and force workers back to their jobs.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters on Tuesday that if Ottawa had intervened with legislation, “we would not have had a solution today.”
Teamsters Canada President Francois Laporte noted the federal government “remained calm and focused.” CEO of Montreal-based CN J.J. Ruest thanked customers for their patience.
About half of Canada’s exports move by rail, according to industry data, and the strike would likely cost the Canadian economy less than C$1 billion ($750 million) and cut fourth-quarter growth by about 0.1 percentage point, Brian DePratto, a senior economist at TD, said.
PROPANE SHORTAGE TO PERSIST
The Canadian Propane Association warned severe shortages of the fuel in several eastern Canadian provinces could last weeks. “We need to get the inventory back up,” said association President Nathalie St-Pierre, noting the “crisis” was not over.
Garneau said CN will work quickly to clear the backlog, but added the process is complex and would take time.
Bob Masterson, chief executive of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, said some plants had slowed production during the strike.
Based on past rail disruptions, he said CN is likely to move critical commodities first, like propane for farms and homes and chlorine for drinking water, leaving other shippers to face delays.
PAIN FOR MINERS, FARMERS
Brendan Marshall, a vice president with the Mining Association of Canada, said miners faced hefty costs due to lost sales and plant disruptions. He said restoring normal operations could take a week for every day of disrupted service.
“Now we can hope that things can get back to normal in quick fashion. It’s cost a lot of money to farmers already,” said Markus Haerle, chairman of the Grain Farmers of Ontario. Wet conditions have stalled the harvest across much of Canada, including much of Haerle’s corn crop near St. Isidore, Ontario. Those crops must be dried before they can be sold, but the rail strike held up deliveries of propane, forcing farmers to use costlier alternatives.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg. Additional reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa, writing by Steve Scherer, editing by Louise Heavens, Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio)
FILE PHOTO: Railcars stand idle at the CN railyards in Edmonton
