PARIS: Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR is tackling a slump in deliveries resulting from a combination of industrial delays, unsold aircraft and pilot shortages, industry sources said.The turboprop maker, owned jointly by Airbus and Italy's Leonardo, has delivered only a handful of aircraft in 2019 but aims to recover in the second half.Toulouse-based ATR declined to give a figure for mid-year deliveries but said it was confident of achieving its target of matching last year's total handover of 76 aircraft."Our market is a very volatile one and we are used to managing that well," a spokeswoman said.ATR dominates the turboprop market, competing against the Bombardier-developed Q400, recently acquired by Canadian manufacturer Viking Air, and China's upcoming MA700.With debate about aviation's environmental impact intensifying, ATR aims to pitch its 72-600 at next week's Paris Airshow as cleaner than regional jets, with 40 percent less emissions per trip.While the show is dominated by … [Read more...] about Pilot shortages, unsold planes weigh on ATR deliveries: sources
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One dead during Orthodox Easter celebrations in Greece
Greece's celebration of the Orthodox Easter on Sunday, hailed by the government as a moment of hope for the post-bailout resurrection of the country, was marred by the death of a cameraman hit by a flare during a show. According to the police, the 54-year-old man was filming in a parking area in the Peloponnesian town of Kalamata when he was hit in the head. He pronounced dead in hospital, authorities told AFP. Easter is the biggest religious festival in Greece, where some 90 percent of the population is Orthodox and is celebrated with some spectacular but also dangerous customs. Millions of worshippers crammed into churches late Saturday as priests declared that "Christ is risen", sharing candle light from the "holy fire" in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The flame arrived in Athens on board a government aircraft and was welcomed by an honour guard and band. Hope-fuelled havoc Greeks after mass set off firecrackers, a custom that dates from the 19th … [Read more...] about One dead during Orthodox Easter celebrations in Greece
Redefining ‘friendly competition: Your top rival can be your biggest ally
A few years ago, an entrepreneur named Wade Eyerly dreamed up an airline that would allow California commuters to fly over heavy traffic. After putting down US$1 million (S$1.36 million) in non-refundable deposits on a fleet of air planes for his start-up, SurfAir, he was struggling to raise enough money to follow through on the purchase.Eyerly had been warned that the airline industry was cutthroat and his background prepared him to be especially wary of his adversaries – he was a former spy who had deployed to Iraq as part of the Department of Defence. But his back was against the wall. In an act of desperation, he cold-called a board member at a rival company, JetSuite.We all have rivals in our work lives. They’re our closest competitors; the individuals or groups we’re highly motivated to defeat. Although we often see them as enemies, our rivals can be our greatest allies.You can see this at the extreme in sports. A 2018 study of NCAA basketball teams found that … [Read more...] about Redefining ‘friendly competition: Your top rival can be your biggest ally
Q&A: Canadian marathon record just the start for Vancouver’s Rachel Cliff
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By Mark Zwolinski Sports Reporter Sun., April 28, 2019 Canadian marathon runner Rachel Cliff is like all record-setting athletes: She never stops trying to get better. In only her second marathon, the 30-year-old from Vancouver broke the Canadian record. On March 10, Cliff finished the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan in 2.26:56, shattering Lanni Marchant’s 2013 standard of 2.28:00. Since then, Cliff — also the national record-holder in the half-marathon — has run in California and signed on as a global ambassador for the Swiss sportswear company On. On a recent spring day in Vancouver, Cliff snuck in a run close to home between phone interviews with the media — including the Star — before heading back to California for another race. Her coach, Richard Lee of the BC Endurance Project, learned that the winners in Nagoya trained more than Cliff’s 145 to 153 kilometres per week, and that information will be factored in … [Read more...] about Q&A: Canadian marathon record just the start for Vancouver’s Rachel Cliff
FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: Source
NEW YORK: US regulators considered grounding some Boeing 737 MAX planes last year after learning belatedly of a problem with a system that is now the main suspect in two deadly crashes, a source close to the matter said.Investigators in the Lion Air crash in October and the Ethiopia Airlines disaster in March have zeroed in on the planes' anti-stall system, the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.Last year, before the Lion crash, inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration discovered that the manufacturer had de-activated a signal designed to advise the cockpit crew of a malfunctioning of the MCAS system, the source said.These inspectors were in charge of monitoring Southwest Airlines, the biggest user of 737 MAX planes, with a fleet of 34 of them at the time, said the source.The inspectors came up with this hypothesis - the signal alert being switched off - as they tried to determine whether pilots flying these planes needed additional training, said … [Read more...] about FAA considered grounding some Boeing 737 Max planes last year: Source