AIRLINES
Air France-KLM picks CEO
Air France-KLM’s board of directors on Sunday appointed Jean-Marc Janaillac, the current head of French transport group Transdev, as the group’s new chief executive following the surprise resignation of Alexandre de Juniac. “The board has decided that Mr Janaillac will be co-opted as a group director when Mr de Juniac leaves office on July 31 at the latest. He will then be appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Air France-KLM,” the board said in a statement. The appointment of 63-year-old Janaillac was widely anticipated, but French media had expected the announcement to come today at the earliest.
BANKING
Qatar bank confirms leak
Qatar’s largest bank on Sunday confirmed that some personal customer data that was leaked online might be authentic, adding that it had hired an outside expert to review potential vulnerabilities to its computer systems. Files dumped online last week appeared to contain sensitive information involving thousands of Qatar National Bank customers, including bank logins, passwords, security questions and answers, credit card numbers, national identification numbers, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. The bank previously said only that it was investigating an alleged breach.
AIRLINES
Virgin Australia cuts seats
Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd joined rival Qantas Airways Ltd in slashing seating capacity, warning firms like mining companies are delaying business travel during a 10-week election campaign that will fuel doubts on economic policy. As it focuses on a return to profit after years of losses in a damaging price war, Virgin Australia yesterday said it plans to cut seats on its April-June flights by 5.1 percent to ensure fuller flights. Last month, Qantas also trimmed capacity plans citing the run-up to a likely July 2 vote. “This environment has been impacted by weak consumer demand and sentiment, uncertainty around the federal election and the resources sector downturn,” Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti said in a statement.
INTERNET
Amazon adds Bronx service
Amazon.com Inc will bring free same-day delivery to the Bronx — the only New York City borough now excluded — following criticism from elected representatives that the company’s data-driven service boundaries unfairly left out minority communities. The Bronx is at least the second area the online retailer pledged to serve following an analysis of Amazon same-day delivery areas by Bloomberg Businessweek that highlighted racial disparities in where the service was available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington. Amazon pledged to serve the predominantly black Boston neighborhood of Roxbury starting today following criticism of its exclusion.
BANKING
Intesa sells payment units
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA agreed to sell its Setefi and Intesa Sanpaolo Card payment units to a group that includes Bain Capital and Advent International in a deal valued at 1.04 billion euros (US$1.2 billion). The Italian lender is to record a gain of 895 million euros from the transaction, Turin-based Intesa Sanpaolo said in a statement yesterday. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year. As part of the deal, the bank has agreed to continue using the card and payment processing services for 10 years.
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
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