Cathay Pacific yields to its Beijing co-pilot 12 Aug 2019 The Hong Kong carrier will allow Chinese authorities to vet staff flying to and over the mainland, as anti-government protests heat up at home. “Overly radical" employees will be kept away. Local roots and links leave Cathay and parent Swire vulnerable, and with limited options.
Hong Kong protests cloud Cathay Pacific’s skies 7 Aug 2019 The $5 bln airline delivered decent earnings and expects a better performance in the second part of the year. It won’t look so rosy, though, if anti-China clashes continue and prompt flyers to pick other hubs. Worse, Cathay’s ties to Air China are unlikely to provide shelter.
Boeing’s 737 disruption is still not maxed out 18 Jul 2019 The aerospace giant is owning up to nearly $7 bln in charges and increased costs over the grounding of its troubled MAX jet. The tally is bound to grow, and a return to service in the fourth quarter is far from guaranteed. Airlines and investors should brace for more turbulence.
IndiGo row makes case for clipping founders’ wings 10 Jul 2019 The two top owners of India's largest and most profitable airline are at war over an old shareholder deal handing one of them outsize control. Now that the country has laid out strict rules for dual class shares and more, such pacts look like a relic of bad governance past.
Singapore Airlines reroutes back to Malaysia 28 Jun 2019 The $8 bln carrier is deepening ties with its struggling Kuala Lumpur rival, from code-sharing to maintenance. It may be a precursor to merging again nearly 50 years after the two split. Reuniting would benefit both, but politics and regulation will be hard to navigate.
Bombardier feeds Japanese jet dreams, not reality 26 Jun 2019 Mitsubishi Heavy is buying the Canadian company’s regional jet business for $550 mln. A support network and new customer ties will help get its troubled SpaceJet off the ground. But adding a struggling unit suggests executives have eyes on the sky, not the bottom line.
Delta is uncertain wingman for Korean Air Lines 24 Jun 2019 The $37 bln U.S. carrier bought a 4% stake in the parent of its Asian peer and plans to lift it to 10%. Delta is being regarded by investors as protection for the controlling family’s messy succession plan. Funds aligning against KAL, however, suggest the fight will persist.
Boeing boss’s job is to restore trust – or quit 22 May 2019 The aerospace giant has a technical fix to the problem that caused two 737 MAX crashes. The real challenge for CEO Dennis Muilenburg is to regain the confidence of regulators and the public. That starts with owning up to mistakes made. If he isn’t up to the task, he should go.
HNA’s Hong Kong spat is a sign of worse to come 9 May 2019 The indebted Chinese conglomerate is stuck in a bizarre boardroom brawl at Hong Kong Airlines. The sight could lead buyers to demand steeper discounts as HNA unwinds a $50 bln acquisition spree. Creditors like China Development Bank have cause to be anxious.
Qantas captain flies into risky tenure territory 8 May 2019 Alan Joyce agreed to serve as CEO of the $6 bln Aussie airline for another three years. He’s young and has led an impressive turnaround over the past decade, but problems often pile up for bosses who stick around too long. Succession should be atop the Qantas board’s to-do list.
New winds may blow Korean Air successor off-course 8 May 2019 The sudden death of the carrier's patriarch has elevated scion Cho Won-tae to run the parent Hanjin conglomerate. A huge inheritance tax and restive shareholders, including the country's pension giant, threaten his grip, though. Heirs at Samsung and Hyundai face the same forces, too.
GE’s decent quarter won’t stop the shrink 30 Apr 2019 The $85 bln conglomerate burned less cash than feared in the first quarter, but problems with Boeing’s 737 MAX jet bring new risk to the one division that was thriving. That leaves CEO Larry Culp with no growth engines, and the prospect of cutting GE into still smaller pieces.
Boeing’s supine owners invite tougher co-pilots 29 Apr 2019 Investors rejected a fresh call for an independent chair of the $214 bln plane maker. Its boss, Dennis Muilenburg, has been slow to respond to the 737 MAX crisis, and resolving it is more than a full-time job. If owners won’t tighten oversight, regulators and politicians will.
U.S. CEOs put their heads in the clouds, literally 11 Apr 2019 Most of the 100 biggest U.S. companies let executives use company aircraft for personal trips. These perks tend to be a small part of executive pay but are red meat for social and financial activists. Some small firms are flagrant too. Yet there are some role models out there.
Boeing’s crisis flies beyond its 737 MAX failures 9 Apr 2019 Shareholders extended to $28 bln the overall hit to the aircraft maker’s value after it slashed production of the jet involved in two fatal crashes. The immediate impact on Boeing’s bottom line doesn’t justify that. But the reputational damage and risk to other projects do.
Boeing risks becoming an American Huawei 5 Apr 2019 The largest U.S. exporter, just like the Chinese telecom giant, is a national champion with hard-to-avoid products and a big image problem. Their respective governments have made things worse in different ways. Of the two, the airplane maker has a better route out of ignominy.
Etihad is strapped in too tightly at Jet Airways 19 Mar 2019 The ailing $400 mln Indian carrier has stopped flights to Abu Dhabi, the hub of its 24 pct shareholder. Even with some planes grounded, Jet may be trying to strong-arm support for a restructuring. It’s a harsh reminder that Etihad has more to lose than just its equity investment.
Viewsroom: Boeing’s struggles 14 Mar 2019 The U.S. aircraft maker is facing a crisis after a second crash involving an updated version of its workhorse 737 jet. There’s a financial hit to Boeing from countries grounding the plane; but there are geopolitical implications, too. Plus: China tries to stimulate its economy.
Belated 737 action marks U.S. soft power erosion 13 Mar 2019 The FAA finally followed many other countries’ watchdogs in grounding Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft. Usually, the U.S. regulator shows the way. Washington’s government by autopilot and perceived capture by companies has made even allies increasingly skeptical of its leadership.
Boeing needs to think faster than its watchdog 12 Mar 2019 Europeans joined others in suspending flights of the 737 MAX 8 after two crashes, and two U.S. senators called on the FAA to follow suit. The company’s stock lost another 7 pct. Rather than waiting for its regulator, Boeing could get ahead of the crisis by grounding the plane.