Lion Air Mentari’s owner is sketching out plans to become one of the world’s largest budget carriers, while also preparing to scrap $22 billion in Boeing jet orders out of anger at the manufacturer’s response to an October air disaster.
Rusdi Kirana, the co-founder of Lion Air, Indonesia’s biggest airline, mapped out the seemingly contradictory goals in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday. The crash that killed all 189 people aboard a Boeing 737 Max won’t derail his ambition to expand the budget carrier to an eventual fleet of 1,000 aircraft, he said. Lion Air may also list its Indonesian unit in 2019, he added.
But it’s not clear if Boeing, the airline’s long-time trade partner, would play a role in that growth given tensions following the crash of a two-month-old aircraft. The budget operator is firming up a formal document to press ahead with canceling its remaining 737 orders, Mr Kirana said, claiming the US planemaker unfairly implicated Lion Air in the deadly crash.
He has also sent a letter to the Chicago-based company outlining his objections to the way the aircraft maker handled the fallout from the first fatal crash of a 737 Max jet, Mr Kirana said in Jakarta.
“It was very cunning and very inappropriate, which I think is without any ethics,” Mr Kirana said, explaining his plan to scrap the orders. “They did it to one of their biggest customers. They created an opinion that we did not maintain our aircraft properly.”
A preliminary report last month from Indonesia’s transportation safety commission detailed maintenance issues with the doomed Max, contrasted how pilots handled confusing anti-stall warnings on the final two flights and recommended that Lion Air improve its safety culture.
Boeing responded with a lengthy statement that, like the report, alluded to but didn’t mention by name a new system on the 737 Max that was activated by erroneous data from a sensor. The software repeatedly tilted the plane’s nose downward as pilots battled for control amid a cacophony of alarms.
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Read more:
Boeing sees continued growth of aircraft financing to $143 billion in 2019
Divers recover jet's flight recorder on Indonesia seafloor
How safe is air travel?
More body parts found from crashed Indonesian jet
About the 737 Max: the plane at the centre of the Lion Air crash
___________
“This is a tough situation and understandable that there’s some challenges around that, but this is a highly respected customer. We’re in constant communication with Lion Air,” Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said in a December 6 interview on CNBC. “We’re going to work our way through this. Of course, all of these contracts are long-term arrangements. These are not things that can be exclusively canceled by either side.”
The closely held, fast-growing carrier has 368 undelivered aircraft on order from Boeing and Airbus, more than triple the fleet of 117 jetliners that it operates. Mr Kirana said Tuesday Boeing has yet to deliver about 250 jets to Lion; the manufacturer’s orders and deliveries website shows 190 unfilled orders.
MR Kirana sounded bullish on Lion’s growth prospects, despite the bruising publicity from the October 29 crash.
The group’s subsidiary in Thailand, Thai LionAir, is working on getting permits to fly to Dubai and London next year, using Airbus’s A330neo jet, which they will receive in May. He also said the group plans to fly to more countries and to open another base in Asia, without providing details.
Still, tripling Lion’s order book might be difficult at a time when Airbus and Boeing narrow-body production is effectively sold out into the early 2020s. And some analysts are skeptical Lion needs all the aircraft it currently has on order amid the brutally competitive southeast Asian travel market.
What Lion eventually “does or does not do” with its Max order, isn’t likely to temper other operators’ enthusiasm for the jet, said John Plueger, CEO of Air Lease, a Los Angeles-based lessor and a 737 Max customer.
Order cancellations tend to be “driven by business models and forward outlook, as opposed to aircraft types,” Mr Plueger said in an email. “If an airline orders too many aircraft it will end up canceling or deferring those orders. Overall demand for the Max remains strong and I am sure that there are a number of airlines and lessors that would love to have access to those positions.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
Company%20Profile
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
LOVE%20AGAIN
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Could%20We%20Be%20More
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Company%20profile
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The Indoor Cricket World Cup
When: September 16-23
Where: Insportz, Dubai
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
The%20Specs
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