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South Korea jet crash puts fast-growing Jeju Air's safety under analysis
Before it suffered the most dangerous crash in South Korea's history, spending plan airline Jeju Air was moving quickly: racking up record passenger numbers and flying its aircraft more than domestic competitors and a lot of its worldwide peers, data reveal. The high utilisation rate of Jeju Air's aircrafts - the number of hours they fly in a day - is not problematic in itself, professionals state, however suggests scheduling sufficient time for required upkeep is vital. Authorities have suggested a bird strike contributed to the mishap, but as part of their probe into the occurrence aboard Boeing 737-800, police have raided the airline companies' Seoul office to seize files associated with the operation and maintenance of the plane. You're literally looking at everything, said aviation security and crash examination professional Anthony Brickhouse. You're going to start off with their mishap history and security history. What sort of occasions have they had in the past, what happened, what was done to correct the issues? Jeju Air informed Reuters that it did not neglect upkeep procedures which it would step up its safety efforts. The Dec. 29 crash, which killed 179 people, was the airline's very first deadly accident given that its 2005 founding and the first for any Korean airline in more than a years. The business's CEO, Kim E-bae - who has actually been barred from travelling overseas during the investigation - informed a news conference last week that Jeju's upkeep remains in line with regulatory requirements and that there were no upkeep concerns with the doomed jet during pre-flight inspection. He acknowledged the airline's safety measures had actually not been sufficient in the past, however said enhancements had been made. The authorities have not said bad maintenance contributed to the crash and the precise scenarios behind the disaster remain unclear. Besides the reported bird strike, authorities are looking into why the pilot might have hurried a second landing attempt after declaring an emergency, and why the landing equipment was not released. Investigators have recuperated the cockpit and flight information recorders but have not released any information. The country's transportation regulator is checking all 101 737-800s in South Korea - more than a 3rd of which are run by Jeju Air - focusing on how frequently and how well the planes were kept, to name a few factors to consider. Although it had actually taped no violations in the last 2 years, it was struck with more fines and suspensions for aviation law breaches than any of its domestic competitors in 2020-2022, simply throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, records reveal. According to transport ministry information on major airlines from 2020 to August 2024, Jeju Air was struck by about 2.3 billion won ($ 1.57 million) in fines and the impacted airplane were stayed out of operation for a total of 41 days, according to Reuters calculations based on the information. The next-most penalized airline company, T'way Air, had 2.1 billion won in fines and four days of suspended operation during that period. Jeju Air flies its aircrafts more than any other significant airline company in the country, information show, and also exceeds most worldwide peers such as Ireland's Ryanair and Malaysia's AirAsia. Jeju Air 7C2216 was flying from the Thai capital of Bangkok to Muan in southwestern South Korea at night when it belly-landed, overshot the runway and burst into flames after hitting an embankment. The airplane flew every day in 2024, according to flight data reviewed . UTILISATION RATES High utilisation rates are treasured in the market as an indication of financial efficiency, especially at low-cost carriers, specialists state. Jeju Air, which ranks behind only Korean Air and Asiana Air in regards to traveler volumes in the nation, saw record numbers from January to December 2024, according to transport ministry information. Its regular monthly utilisation hours for traveler jets almost doubled to 412 in 2023 from 2022, greater than Korean Air at 332 hours and Asiana Airlines at 304 hours, according to stock exchange filings. T'way balanced 366 hours monthly in traveler and freight jets combined, Jin Air balanced 349 hours, and Air Busan 319 hours, according to their filings. In 2024, Jeju Air flew its airplanes more every day - 11.6 hours - than almost any other airline offering inexpensive tickets and flying just narrowbody airplane, according to information from air travel analytics company Cirium, which determines utilisation rates differently from the profits filings. Only Saudi Arabia's Air Arabia flew its planes more - 12.5 hours a day. Vietnam's VietJet flew its airplanes 10 hours a day. Ryanair's typical use was 9.3 hours, while Malaysia's AirAsia was 9 hours. China's Spring Airlines flew 8 hours a day. The utilisation itself is not an issue, said Sim Jai-dong, a professor of airplane maintenance at Sehan University in South Korea. But there could be higher tiredness for pilots, crew members and mechanics given the greater utilisation rates.
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Kinder Morgan shuts two Los Angeles fuel pipelines due to power outages
Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc. stated that two of its fuel pipelines in Los Angeles have. been shut considering that Jan. 8 due to power outages, as the most. destructive wildfires in the city's history continued to burn. uncontained on Thursday. The business stated the 515-mile (828.8 km) SFPP West pipeline. and 566-mile CALNEV pipelines are not straight impacted by the. fires, and it expects them to resume service once power has been. restored. Yikes! That's how item gets to Phoenix, Las Vegas and. San Diego, a West Coast fuel trader said on hearing of the. shutdown. SFPP West transfers fuel from the Los Angeles Basin to. Colton, and Imperial, California, and to Phoenix, Arizona. CALNEV moves fuel, diesel and jet fuel from Colton,. California to terminals in Barstow, California, and Las Vegas,. Nevada, according to Kinder Morgan's site. They need to be able to capture up, but it depends on the. stock situations, the trader said, asking for anonymity as. they are not licensed to speak publicly about another. company's operations. California refineries had about 5.2 million barrels of carbohydrate. gas in stockpiles as of Jan. 3, according to data from the. California Energy Commission. Up until now there have been no reports. of refinery blackouts in the state due to the wildfires. More than 300,000 clients were without power in California. since Thursday, according to figures from energy Southern. California Edison.
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Boeing states it is contributing $1 million to Trump presidential inaugural fund
Boeing is contributing $ 1 million to U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump's inauguration, a representative for the U.S. planemaker stated on Thursday. Boeing is signing up with numerous major U.S. business including General Motors, Ford, Microsoft and Meta in donating for the Jan. 20 event. The planemaker previously contributed $1 million to the last three governmental inaugurations, consisting of Trump's very first in 2017. American Airlines separately confirmed on Thursday it is also contributing $1 million. In 2016, Trump extracted a pledge from Boeing that the expense of replacing Flying force One would not exceed $4 billion, and the company has actually because lost more than $2 billion on the significantly postponed program to deliver two brand-new presidential aircraft. Boeing likewise deals with continuing harder oversight by the Federal Air Travel Administration, a year after a door panel missing 4 key bolts flew off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in mid-air. Trump's candidate to head the Transport Department, Sean Duffy, told Reuters last month he wanted to make certain we. have safe airplanes coming out of Boeing. The FAA announced a brand-new. audit of Boeing in October. The Senate Commerce Committee will. hold a confirmation hearing for Duffy on Wednesday.
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Airplane lessor Avolon sees effect of supply problems lasting a years
A longrunning production deficiency by planemakers will underpin supply and demand characteristics that are enhancing airline and lessor profits for at least another decade, the head of the world's secondlargest aircraft leasing company Avolon said on Friday. Airplane makers and providers have struggled to keep up with a post-pandemic healing in travel due to rising costs, labour and parts scarcities, problems that have been intensified by safety issues at Boeing and a strike by its personnel last year. Avolon's annual outlook report anticipated that airline companies' web earnings would rise by 16% to over $36 billion in 2025, driven by low fuel rates, strong profits and the truth that airplane shortages have actually enabled them to prioritise the most profitable routes. That production deficiency underpins the supply and need balance, not just for the next 3 or 4 years, however for at least another years, Avolon President Andy Cronin informed Reuters. Cronin stated Avolon's view that the supply and demand balance would be firmly in our favour over that time period spurred it to buy 200 aircraft in 2023. It added 118 more airplane last year through the acquisition of smaller competing Castlelake Aviation Limited, bringing its overall fleet to 1,129 aircraft. The Dublin-based lessor said Boeing and main rival Jet will continue to have a hard time to hit their targets to ramp up production despite increasing their shipments. Avolon, which is a subsidiary of China's Bohai Leasing Co. Ltd, likewise predicted that orders from Chinese companies. will rise dramatically to 800 aircraft in 2025, pointing out development in. travel need and a need to change an aging fleet. While Avolon's report described the aviation outlook for. 2025 as robust, it also noted that financial cycles typically last. 4 to 6 years and that the current cycle is already in its. 4th or 5th year, with growth in Europe slowing. We define it as a low visibility environment at the. moment. I believe there's uncertainty around foreign policy and. trade policy, and substantial effects as it pertains to the. air travel market, Cronin included.
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Unions and employers praise Trump for US port deal which may influence future talks
The tentative labor agreement prevented potentially damaging trade disruptions in three dozen U.S. East Coast ports and Gulf of Mexico port. Both sides in the negotiations credited President-elect Donald Trump with clearing the path for them to reach a deal regarding automation. The International Longshoremen's Association's success in gaining Trump's backing for its anti-automation campaign could serve as a lesson for other unions who face contract renewals under his administration, such as the United Auto Workers and UPS Teamsters, or the International Longshore & Warehouse Union of the U.S. West Coast. The agreement, announced Wednesday night, will need to be ratified in order for it to become effective by the 45,000 ILA members and USMX employers. Judah Levine is the head of research for Freightos, an online platform that allows users to book and pay for freight. The strike was averted by the fact that it arrived days before the extended deadline of Jan. 15, averting the possibility of a second strike, which could have caused a major economic impact at the beginning Trump's second tenure on Jan. 20, 2019. Harold and Dennis Daggett, father-and-son ILA leader Harold and Dennis Daggett, late on Wednesday called Trump "a hero" to the union. They also gave him the "full credit for the successful resolution of the talks." They pointed out a Truth Social posting from mid-December where Trump seemed to support the union in its fight against "foreign employers" after meeting those ILA leaders. I've studied automation, and I know everything about it. Trump wrote that the amount of money saved was nowhere near as much as the pain, distress and harm caused to American Workers. In this case, it is our Longshoremen. The group of employers, which includes Maersk APM Terminals, and the U.S. arm of major container carriers like China's COSCO shipping, said that the agreement was "in large part" due to the leadership shown by President Trump. After a deadlock on automation led to a three-day walkout in October, the ILA and USMX extended the bargaining deadline. Joe Biden was instrumental in helping workers achieve a 62% increase over six years and ending the October strike. Biden thanked both the unions and employers on Wednesday for a tentative agreement. Trump hasn't commented on Truth Social, and his transition team didn't immediately comment. A pro-labor lawyer warned against misinterpreting Trump's comments on automation as union backing, saying it was consistent with his pugilistic international policy. "It supports the narrative of his going after foreigners," said Cathy Creighton. She is an attorney and Director of Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Buffalo. SEEING THE FURTURE? Sean O'Brien, the Teamsters president who negotiated United Parcel Service's last contract, made a bold move by speaking to the Republican National Convention and praising Trump's toughness. Last year, the Teamsters broke tradition by not endorsing a U.S. Presidential candidate. The UPS contract ends in 2028, Trump’s last year in office. Attorneys who support unions said that Trump's record does not show a commitment to supporting unions. Trump's National Labor Relations Board appointees issued a number of rulings during his first term in office that were seen as favoring business and making it harder for unions organize workers. The board protects the rights of workers to form unions and organize, and it investigates claims that employers are engaging in illegal labor practices. Trump warned federal employees in December that they would be fired if they did not report to work. Elon Musk, who is the richest man in the world and has called the NLRB unconstitutional, was also given the task of reducing the federal budget. Creighton, an attorney, said that Trump would not support the labor movement. "He has tried to undermine the labor movements."
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Corporate America pledges donations to Trump's Inauguration
Before Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20, big companies from Wall Street and Silicon Valley pledge donations to his inaugural fund, hoping to build a good relationship with his new administration. These companies include: Adobe donated $1 million for the fund. A spokesperson from the company confirmed this. CHEVRON The U.S. oil major Chevron is donating to the first fund. A spokesperson for the company said The amount refused to be specified ALPHABET A spokesperson for Alphabet said that Google, part of Alphabet, has donated $1,000,000. AMAZON.COM Amazon has donated $1 million. Amazon will broadcast the event on its Prime Video service. GOLDMAN SACHS AND BANK of AMERICA Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, the two largest U.S. lenders, plan to donate to Trump's inaugural funds, but they have not yet decided on the amount. META PLATFORMS A spokesperson for Meta Platforms confirmed that the company had donated $1 million. OPENAI OpenAI's spokesperson confirmed that CEO Sam Altman plans to donate $1 million personally to the fund. Altman stated in a press release that "President Trump is leading our country into an age of AI and I am excited to support his efforts so America can stay ahead." ROBINHOOD MARTKETS A spokesperson for Robinhood Markets, the retail trading platform, said that $2 million was donated. UBER TECHNOLOGIES Uber Technologies' CEO Dara Khorowshahi and Uber Technologies donated $1 million to each other, according to a spokesperson for the company. (Reporting from Jaspreet, Deborah Sophia and Harshita, Mary Varghese in Bengaluru, and editing by Pooja, Desai and Howard Goller)
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Europe's air travel regulator concerns brand-new warning for Russian airspace
The European Union Air Travel Security Agency released a new alert on Thursday caution nonEuropean providers not to fly within western Russia airspace due to the threat of being unintentionally targeted by its air defence systems. EASA stated the crash last month in Kazakhstan of an Azerbaijan Airlines airplane, after Russian air defences fired against Ukrainian drones, showed the high risk at play. At least 38 people passed away in the crash. The continuous dispute following the Russian invasion of Ukraine presents the danger of civil airplane being accidentally targeted in the airspace of the Russian Federation due to possible civil-military coordination shortages, and the potential for misidentification, EASA said. EASA recommends not to run within the affected airspace of the Russian Federation located west of longitude 60 ° East at all elevations and flight levels. The warning was for third-country operators authorised by EASA, provided Russian airspace has been closed to European Union airlines because the bloc enforced Ukraine-related sanctions targeting Russia's air travel sector. Four sources with understanding of the initial findings of Azerbaijan's investigation told Reuters last month that Russian air defences had wrongly shot the airliner down. Guests stated they heard a loud bang outside the aircraft. President Vladimir Putin apologised to Azerbaijan's leader for what the Kremlin called a terrible incident although the Kremlin statement did not state Russia had actually shot down the aircraft, just noting that a criminal case had actually been opened.
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Brazil freight lobby sees grain shipping interruptions after new toll guideline
A freight lobby has alerted of the threat of logistical collapse after Brazilian transport agency ANTT changed payment system guidelines for trucks moving millions of lots of farming products and other cargo, according to a statement on Thursday. The intro of electronic tags as the only accepted means of payment comes as Brazil begins collecting a huge soybean crop of almost 170 million tons, stated Carley Welter, executive director at ANATC, an association of freight firms. ANATC, whose members move a combined 150 million tons of freight including soybeans, corn and soybean meal and have 2.2 million registered truck motorists, said companies providing the tags have been not able to fulfill high demand. On one day today, Welter estimates some 50,000 truckers were impacted. Without sufficient time to adjust, thousands of truck drivers and carriers are left without options, dealing with logistical traffic jams that can result in fines of 3,000 genuine ($ 490.87) per automobile for each journey, Welter stated in the statement. NTC&L ogística, another transport lobby, applauded the brand-new payment plan to speed up truck streams at toll cubicles. Its members have reported no disruptions related to the electronic tags, according to Gil Menezes, the group's legal consultant, who stated that the shippers have the commitment to provide them and all had time to adapt. The transportation company said business had sufficient time to adjust, and stated there are 20 recognized suppliers of the compulsory tags. It stated the innovation aims to increase toll collection oversight and truck traffic efficiency. ANEC, a grains exporter group speaking for companies like Cargill and Bunge, stated trucks are crucial to move grains to ports. If we plan to export something near to 180 million loads of grain, this would involve making 5.1 million truck trips, said Sergio Mendes, director at ANEC. Any issue with the trucks will definitely result in losses for the farmer, the exporter and the trade balance.
Texas tops US states for renewable resource and battery capacity: Maguire
Texas is controling the development of renewable energy generation and battery capacity within the United States, and is approximated to have installed nearly 80% more combined solar, wind and battery capability than the next biggest state.
The Lone Star state has 42,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power, 22,000 MW of solar farms and 6,500 MW of utility-scale battery capacity in location as of the end of 2024, data from Cleanview and the U.S. Energy Details Administration (EIA) shows.
California has the next biggest network of sustainable generation and battery capacity, while Florida, Arizona and Colorado round out the leading 5 list of U.S. states that are releasing renewables and batteries to boost power supplies.
Below is a breakdown of the scale and development rates of solar, wind and battery storage capacity across the United States.
THE BIG 3
Texas's emergence as the country's tidy energy leader has been fuelled by quick capability growth on several fronts.
Considering that 2019, Texas power companies have improved solar generation capacity by 800%, wind capacity by 50% and battery storage capacity by an eye-popping 5,500%, according to energy information portal Cleanview, using EIA and state-level information.
In outright terms, Texas has actually set up around 19,000 MW of solar, 14,000 MW of wind and 6,200 MW of battery capacity within the previous 5 years.
Those setups have actually led to wind and solar farms generating approximately 30% of the state's electrical energy in 2024, according to Cinder, which is up from a combined solar and wind share of around 18% in 2019.
California gets around 40% of its electricity from wind and solar sources, up from around 25% in 2019, thanks primarily to an aggressive climb in solar generation.
Around 9,000 MW of solar capability has actually been added to California's power system given that 2019, to bring the state's overall solar capability footprint to around 21,500 MW in 2024.
Over the exact same duration, California's utility-scale battery network has actually grown from around 240 MW in 2019 to over 11,000 MW last year - the largest in the country.
California's wind generation footprint has actually held mostly stable at around 6,430 MW over the last few years, leading to a. combined solar, wind and battery storage capability of around. 40,000 MW, EIA data shows.
Florida has the third-largest footprint of renewables and. battery capacity, but has no wind power capability therefore trails. the leading states in terms of cumulative solar, wind and battery. capability which is a combined 11,500 MW.
That said, the state has boosted its solar footprint from. less than 50 MW in 2019 to over 10,500 MW in 2024, which. indicates strong current momentum for renewables output.
Florida's battery capability is currently around 575 MW,. according to EIA, which puts the state fifth overall in that. classification.
Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of Energy just recently announced. almost $30 million in investments in battery storage capacity in. the state to enhance power sector strength, which ought to improve. general battery capacity further.
DEVELOPMENT MARKETS
Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada are the next. biggest states in regards to combined grid-scale renewables. generation and battery storage capability.
Each of those states has approximately 7,500-8,300 MW of integrated. solar, wind and battery capability, and each state's power sector. looks set to add to both solar and battery capability in the. coming years.
Arizona and Nevada have the largest battery storage networks. of the lower-tier states - at around 2,000 MW and 1,125 MW. respectively - which need to permit regional utilities to store. surplus solar energy for later distribution.
In overall across the United States, around 62,000 MW of. grid-scale battery storage is expected to be deployed between. 2024 and 2028, according to a report by consultancy Wood. Mackenzie.
An additional 10,000 MW of domestic storage capacity and. around 2,500 MW of industrial and industrial storage is also. anticipated to emerge before the end of the years.
The viewpoints revealed here are those of the author, a market. expert .
(source: Reuters)