AVIATION
Delta pilots want 40% rise
The union representing Delta Air Lines Inc’s pilots wants raises of almost 40 percent compounded over three years, attempting to reverse some of the pay and benefit cuts adopted in the early 2000s. The union cites the carrier’s surging profits in saying it had requested a 22 percent raise for this year, followed by 7 percent raises in the following two years, a memo from the Air Line Pilots Association said. The union and Delta declined to comment on the memo. Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said the company looks forward to negotiating with the union to reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial.
AVIATION
China Express orders jets
China Express Airlines Co (華夏航空) has placed an order for 10 Bombardier CRJ900 jets worth US$462 million, the Canadian aircraft builder said on Thursday. The order would increase the China Express’ all-Bombardier fleet to 38, a statement said. Based in the southwest city of Chongqing, the nine-year-old carrier serves 62 cities in China. The CRJ900 is a regional jet that seats up to 90 passengers and with the China Express deal, Bombardier has racked up 409 firm orders for the aircraft.
ENERGY
GE to build Saudi plant
General Electric Co (GE) on Thursday said that it had won a contract worth nearly US$1 billion from Saudi Electricity Co to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia. Under the contract, the US industrial giant is to build the Waad al-Shamal combined-cycle power plant and provide four advanced gas turbines, a steam turbine and turbine maintenance services. The 1,390-megawatt plant, which is to include solar technology, is expected to be able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes.
RETAIL
V and D declares bankruptcy
The largest Dutch chain of department stores, US-owned Vroom and Dreesman (V and D), on Thursday declared itself bankrupt after years of losses, but said it expected a buyer to come to its rescue. Founded in 1887 in Amsterdam, the chain employs 10,000 people in 64 outlets. V and D failed to reverse a loss-making trend despite reducing the payroll and cutting wages in recent years. It reported losses of 49 million euros (US$53 million) in 2014, 42 million euros in 2013 and 19 million euros in 2012. A warm winter added to the chain’s problems at the end of this year, causing its winter collection to flop.
INVESTMENT
Canadian funds set record
Canadian pension funds, money managers and corporations acquired a record-setting US$205 billion in foreign assets last year, driving the nation’s deal total to an eight-year high. In all, there were US$281 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions involving Canadian firms through Wednesday last week, up 34 percent from a year earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. It was the second-highest total on record behind 2007, when Canadians were involved in US$315 billion worth of transactions. The size of the deals involving Canadian firms were also uncharacteristically large last year with the four biggest deals worth in excess of US$10 billion for the first time since 2006, the data showed.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors