Latest News
-
UAW members strike at GE's Evendale and Erlanger facilities
UAW President Shawn Fain announced that members of the United Auto Workers at GE Aerospace’s Evendale, Ohio plant and Erlanger distribution facility in Kentucky went on strike Thursday, after failing to come to a new agreement. Evendale builds industrial and marine engines for the U.S. Navy. Erlanger supplies parts to the company's other engine plants. The strike is the latest in a series of strikes that have swept through the aerospace and aviation industries. Unions are flexing their muscle to win new contracts, amid a high demand for skilled workers. In the past two years, workers in all sectors have been pushing for higher wages and better job protections. Local union chapter in the area represents more than 600 workers at both sites. The union members voted by majority to strike if no new agreement could be reached by the afternoon of August 27. A GE Aerospace spokeswoman said that the company had activated a detailed contingency plan, adding it was "disappointed", the union decided to go on strike before the employees were given a chance vote. Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary, Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Harshita Menaktshi, Mrinmay dey and Maju Samuel; Editing and Sonia Cheema.
-
ADIA invests $1.5 billion in GLP, a logistics firm
The two companies announced on Thursday that GLP, a global logistics builder and investment company, has received up to $1.5 billion in funding from an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority wholly-owned affiliate to support its next phase of growth. Initial capital investment of $500,000,000 is included in the deal. The funds will be used to bolster Singapore-headquartered GLP's presence in logistics, digital infrastructure, and renewable energy, the companies said in a joint statement. A person who has knowledge of this matter declined to name themselves as the information is not public. The investment is in response to the growing demand for digital infrastructure and logistics. The demand for artificial intelligent services and high growth potential has prompted a surge in investments into data centres. GLP operates in Brazil, China and Europe. It also develops and manages data centers, renewable energies, and other technologies. GLP Capital Partners, the group's asset management division, manages assets worth around $80 billion. ADIA had been investing in GLP funds for some time, but this is the first instance that the largest sovereign fund in the UAE has become a shareholder of the group. GLP announced earlier this week that it had secured 2.5 billion Yuan ($349.51 millions) from Zhejiang-backed investors for its China data center operations. GLP reported that its annual revenue from data centres grew by 43% to $193 millions in May. In November last year, it was reported that GLP aimed to list in Hong Kong by 2025, eight years after the company was privatized. GLP is still planning to list in Hong Kong, but not this year. This was confirmed by a person familiar with the company's plans and another source. GLP has declined to comment on the listing plan. In 2017, a Chinese consortium, including Hopu Investment Management, Hillhouse Investment and GLP CEO Ming Mei backed, bought the Singapore-listed company private for S$16 Billion ($12.47 Billion). GLP sold its international business to Ares Management Corp. for $3.7 billion. The payment was made in cash, with $1.8 billion being paid in cash, and the remainder in shares. ($1 = 7.1529 Chinese Yuan Renminbi) $1 = 1.2827 Singapore Dollars (Reporting and editing by Kane Wu)
-
UAW members at GE Evendale will strike on Thursday
UAW President Shawn Fain announced in a late-night video that members of the United Auto Workers at GE Aerospace’s Evendale, Ohio plant would go on strike starting Thursday, after they failed to reach a contract. The U.S. Navy uses the plant to build marine and industrial engines. The walkout extends also to a GE Distribution facility in Erlanger (Kentucky), which supplies parts to many of the engine plants owned by the company. The strike is the latest in a series of strikes that have swept through the aerospace and aviation industries. Unions are flexing their muscle to get new contracts, despite a high demand for skilled workers. In the past two years, workers in all sectors have been pushing for higher wages and better job protections. Local chapter of the union represents 600 workers at two GE Aerospace sites. The union members voted in favor of strike action if no new agreement was reached by August 27. GE Aerospace didn't immediately respond to a comment request outside of regular business hours. (Reporting from Shivansh Tiwary, Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Harshita Menaktshi. Editing by Maju Sam)
-
Qantas profits beat estimates due to strong travel demand
Qantas Airways, the Australian airline, posted an annual profit that was better than expected on Thursday. The company attributes this to a robust demand for travel across both its domestic and international routes. It expects that this will continue throughout the current business year. Qantas has reported a strong increase in its earnings, both for its domestic and its international divisions as well as Jetstar, its budget airline. Vanessa Hudson, CEO of the Group, said that the dual-brand strategy and continued strong demand in all segments helped to grow the Group's earnings. The flag carrier reported an underlying profit of A$2,39 billion ($1.55billion) for the fiscal year ending June 30. This was higher than the Visible Alpha consensus of A$2,38 billion, and also above the A$2,08 billion of the previous year. The company also announced that it would pay a final dividend per share of 16.5 Australian cents and a special distribution of 9.9 Australiancents. As part of its ongoing fleet renewal program, the airline has also ordered 20 more narrowbody A321XLRs from Airbus. Reporting by Sameer Mnekar and Roshan T. Thomas in Bengaluru, Editing by Alan Barona.
-
UK air passenger numbers beat pre-pandemic records for April to June
In the last quarter of 2010, the number of passengers using British airports rose to an all-time high of 81 million. This was higher than the previous pre-pandemic peak for this period. Civil Aviation Authority reported that the first half of the year saw 141 million passengers. The figures for the second quarter were up 3% compared to a year ago. The CAA reported that Dublin, Amsterdam and the Spanish tourist hotspots Palma de Mallorca, and Alicante, were the top destinations. It added that it expected a record-breaking July-September period, which is the peak summer travel period. As the government looks to expand Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London, the demand for air travel is growing. Local residents and environmental groups oppose both expansion projects, claiming that adding flights would derail the country’s goal to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. The government claims that the increased use of sustainable aviation gas by airlines means expansion can be achieved within targets. (Reporting and editing by Sachin Ravikumar; Sarah Young)
-
Air New Zealand posts smaller-than-expected drop in annual profit
Air New Zealand posted a smaller-than-expected fall in annual earnings on Thursday as global engine maintenance issues continued to weigh on the bottom line, and warned of a weak start to the 2026 financial year. New Zealand's flagship airline reported earnings of NZ$189 (US$110.96) million for the fiscal year ending June 30 compared to NZ$222 millions a year ago. This compares to the Visible Alpha consensus estimate for NZ$178.6 millions. The airline stated that the uncertainty surrounding engine maintenance issues and the sharp increase in aviation sector levies, as well as the subdued demand in domestic markets, are "expected" to negatively impact the airline's performance in the first six months. The company expects that its pretax profits for the first half 2026 will be comparable to or lower than those reported for the second half 2025 of the financial year. It announced a final dividend at 1.25 New Zealand Cents per share. This is the same as last year. $1 = 1.7033 New Zealand Dollars (Reporting and editing by Alan Barona in Bengaluru, Rajasik Mukherjee, Keshav Singh Chudawat)
-
Sources: Dos Bocas refinery in Mexico is offline due to a power outage
By Shariq Khan August 27th - Mexico's 340,000-barrel-per-day Dos Bocas refinery has been offline since Monday due to a power outage at the plant, two sources familiar with the matter told . One source said that the refinery (also known as the Olmeca refinery) will try to restart its units on Thursday. Pemex, the Mexican state-owned energy company, did not respond when contacted for comment. Olmeca, Mexico's latest refinery, has increased operations in the last few months, after years of delays and spiraling startup costs. However, it is still far from reaching its full capacity. According to the latest official figures, the refinery received 156,265 barrels per day of crude oil, which is less than half of its capacity. According to the data, in July the refinery produced 57,275 barrels per day of gasoline and about 76,980 barrels per day of diesel. (Reporting from Shariq Khan, New York; Additional Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; editing by Leslie Adler & Mark Porter)
-
The Escondida Mine Union in Chile warns against self-driving trucks
In a statement released on Wednesday, the workers' union of BHP's Escondida copper mine in Chile, which is the largest mine in the world, expressed concern over two recent accidents that involved autonomous trucks. The union, who has been critical of BHP in the past and has held strikes during contract negotiations, stated that on August 25, an autonomous truck crashed into shovel machinery, and the previous week, another truck overturned. No injuries were reported. Patricio Tapia, head of the Union, said that workers do not operate vehicles but they are responsible for other tasks, such as maintaining the roads. BHP stated that it had trained over 4,800 employees in its automation system and "totally eradicated" the risk of people being exposed to dust when moving material in an open pit. BHP reported that an incident involving autonomous trucks occurred in March. The statement stated that "in the other incident involving a mechanical shovel and an autonomous truck there were no people exposed, and the investigation is still ongoing." In July, the company announced that it had completed a five-year rolling out of autonomous operations on 33 trucks and 8 drills in the mine's Escondida North unit. The statement stated that "less than a week after the announcement, reality has revealed a huge danger to worker safety." Escondida produced 1,28 million tons copper last year. (Reporting and writing by Fabian Andres Cambero, Paolo Laudani, Alexander Villegas and Natalia Siniawski; editing by Daina Beth Sool and Alistair Bell).
Global Airlines Group proposes raising the international pilot retirement age from 65 to 67
The U.N. agency for aviation has been asked by a group of global airlines to increase the age limit for commercial aviators to 67 from 65 years, claiming that the demand for air travel worldwide is greater than the supply.
At its General Assembly on September 23, the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization will examine this proposal. Major U.S. Pilot Unions have opposed it.
Many countries, including the United States apply the same rule to domestic flights.
IATA, which represents 350 airlines, has said that raising the limit to two years is "a cautious but reasonable step in line with safety."
IATA stated in a paper on the ICAO website that there would have to be two pilots per flight. One of them must be younger than 65 if another pilot is older.
In 2006, ICAO raised the age limit to 65.
Major pilot unions in the U.S. oppose a higher retirement based on safety issues.
Dennis Tajer (American Airlines) spokesperson and spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, APA, stated that there are not enough data to understand the risks of raising the retirement age.
He said, "We do not gamble with our safety in this way."
Southwest Airlines Pilot Association and Air Line Pilots Association have not responded to comments immediately.
The U.S. Pilot Unions opposed a failed push by U.S. carriers to increase the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots to 67 years old from 65 in 2023.
Last month, a bipartisan group in Congress urged President Donald Trump to support international efforts to increase the mandatory retirement age for pilots. (Reporting from Dan Catchpole, Seattle; Additional reporting from Rajesh Kumar Singh, Chicago; Editing Jamie Freed).
(source: Reuters)