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An 18-month inquiry into two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that left 356 people dead has identified a “horrific culmination” of failures at the company and among regulators.
The US House of Representatives’ transportation and infrastructure committee released its highly critical report as the aerospace firm continues efforts to return 737 MAX planes to the skies after they were all grounded in March last year.

The decision to withdraw them from service followed the demise of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 outside Addis Ababa.

Image: American Airlines 737 MAX passenger planes are parked on the tarmac at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma
All 157 on board were killed.
Six months earlier, a Lion Air 737 MAX, carrying 189 passengers and crew, crashed in Indonesia.

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The report concentrated on development activities at Boeing and scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after official accident reports blamed flight control software for both crashes.

It accused the planemaker of withholding crucial information from the watchdog and pilots and declared that the FAA “failed to ensure the safety of the travelling public”.

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It said: “The crashes were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake, or mismanaged event.
“They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA.”

Image: Dennis Muilenburg resigned as Boeing’s chief executive late last year to ‘restore confidence’ in the company
The report detailed a series of issues in the plane’s design and the FAA’s approval of it.
The central point focused on the flight control software, known as MCAS.
The inquiry team highlighted “faulty design and performance assumptions” in the system which was supposed to help counter a tendency of the MAX to pitch up and could be activated by data from only a single sensor.
The FAA, which has promised to work with the committee on improvements to its oversight regime, remains the biggest barrier as Boeing continues efforts to return the MAX fleet to service.

Image: Boeing is trying to win permission from US and European regulators to return the MAX fleet to service
Test flights were allowed to resume in June, but the regulator has since demanded further design work.
The company has been forced to compensate airlines affected by the grounding at a time when the global aviation sector is cutting back furiously to account for the collapse in demand for travel because of the coronavirus crisis.
Boeing’s total bill is running at tens of billions of dollars.
In a statement, the company said it had “learned many hard lessons” from the mistakes it had made.

British Airways expects unions to agree to new terms and conditions this week, ending a rancorous dispute that has soured relations between staff and management and compounded the airline’s challenge in managing the impact of coronavirus.
BA chief executive and chairman Alex Cruz told the Commons Transport Select Committee that unions were balloting members this week and was confident that a deal in principle agreed last week would be approved.

Mr Cruz told MPs that the new terms for staff were necessary because the airline is “fighting for its survival” as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image: Alex Cruz told MPs that BA was burning through £20m a day
The airline has been in dispute with unions representing ground staff and cabin crew since it announced plans to make 13,000 redundancies and impose new contracts that cut pay by around 20% for some.
The pilots union BALPA has already reached a deal with BA.

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The threat to “fire and rehire” staff drew a furious response from unions and staff who staged a series of protests and threatened strike action.

Last week BA said it had agreed a deal-in-principle with unions which Mr Cruz told MPs would see new terms agreed rather than imposed.

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“Since the non-pilot unions began to engage we have been able to reach agreements and the remaining large areas of BA are being balloted… [if approved] this will mean there will be no need to issue new contracts, there will be amendments to existing contracts,” he said.
Mr Cruz said that the new terms would see pay cuts of around 15% for some staff, and confirmed that they would include lay-off clauses and provisions for extended unpaid leave.

BA faces strike threat over jobs plan

Trade union Unite confirmed to Sky News that “legacy” cabin crew, those employed before 2010, are being balloted on an offer from BA this week but said outstanding issues remain for mixed-fleet cabin crew, those hired since 2010, and Heathrow ground staff.
Mr Cruz told MPs that the new terms reflected the fact BA expected to fly only around 25% of its normal passenger volume this winter.
He said the airline was “burning through” £20m every day and its cash reserves had reduced by £500m in the year to June.
“This is the worst crisis that British Airways has gone through in its 100 years of history,” Mr Cruz said. “We’re still fighting for our own survival.

Walsh: ‘It’s going to involve pain for everybody’

“We are taking every measure possible to make sure we can actually make it through this winter.
“We do not see a short-term coming back of our passengers.
“All the feedback we get … is still pointing at a slow recovery process.”
Mr Cruz, who was paid more than £800,000 last year and has taken a 33% pay cut since the pandemic began, called for the government to approve enhanced testing for air travellers and make changes to its quarantine rules.

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He said BA was keen to introduce testing on flights between London and New York, and said the weekly changes to the quarantine list was hugely disruptive.
“The weekly announcements of countries going in and out of the list is incredibly disruptive to passengers, who are forced to make changes at the last minute or come back at the last minute, and also to airlines like ourselves which have to stand-by many aircraft.
“An enhanced criteria scheme to make it more consistent and see fewer changes would be hugely welcome.”

The owner of Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) has kicked off a process to sell the chain, making it the latest casual dining operator to seek an exit amid turbulent trading exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sky News has learnt that the new owner of Byron, the rival burger chain, is plotting to buy GBK and combine the two businesses.

Hospitality industry sources said that Deloitte had begun approaching prospective buyers of GBK in the past week, although it was unclear whether a transaction would be possible on a solvent basis.

Image: The owner of Byron is plotting to buy GBK and combine the two businesses
GBK’s current owner, South Africa-based Famous Brands, has indicated that it would not provide further funding to support the UK operation, which before the pandemic operated from 62 outlets and employed nearly 1,300 staff.
The chain underwent a financial restructuring in 2018 in the form of a company voluntary arrangement which resulted in the closure of dozens of restaurants.

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Insiders said that Calveton UK, which bought Byron through a pre-pack administration several weeks ago, had already expressed an interest in acquiring GBK.

The Byron transaction involved just 20 of its 51 sites remaining open and more than half its workforce being made redundant.

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The axed Byron workers added to the grim toll of hospitality industry employees who have lost their jobs since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
Industry experts believe that the scheduled closure of the government’s furlough scheme at the end of October is likely to entail substantial new redundancies across the sector and beyond.

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Deloitte is handling the GBK sale process.
Both parties declined to comment.

The long-term economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic may amount to $7trn (£5.3trn) – around $900 (£690) for every man woman and child on the planet – the OECD warned today.
In its latest set of global forecasts, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that the world may never regain the economic growth lost during this period.

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Chancellor: ‘Hard times are here’

That shortfall equated to around $7trn compared with the income the world economy would otherwise be generating.
While it upgraded the growth forecasts for many economies this year, including the UK, it warned that the return to pre-COVID levels of gross domestic product would take some time.

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It added that with a vaccine no longer expected this year it was scaling back its expectations for the speed of economic output next year.

The OECD revised up its forecast for global growth this year by 1.5 percentage points to -4.5% and forecast 5% growth next year.

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But chief economist Laurence Boone pointed out that that still left a lasting $7trn shortfall in economic output.
The OECD raised its forecast for the UK this year by 1.4 percentage points but, at -10.1% this year, Britain nonetheless faces one of the biggest falls in economic output in the G20.

Is the UK set for a prolonged recession?

The only major country to see positive economic growth this year will be China, it predicted.
The Paris-based organisation also warned that a more severe second wave of the virus remained a major risk for both public health and the economy – though a recovery could be in prospect if that did not materialise.
It said: “If the threat from the coronavirus fades more quickly than expected, improved confidence could boost global activity significantly in 2021.
“However, a stronger resurgence of the virus, or more stringent containment measures, could cut 2-3 percentage points from global growth in 2021, with higher unemployment and a prolonged period of weak investment.”

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It pointed out that there was a strong correlation between those countries which imposed strict lockdowns and those which had seen the biggest falls in economic growth.
“With a few exceptions, those countries that saw the largest cutbacks in private consumption also experienced the greatest declines in GDP in the second quarter of 2020, highlighting that the drop in output was due largely to weaker household consumption,” the report said.

Plans to build two new nuclear power plants in the UK have been scrapped after Japanese backer Hitachi pulled out.
Work on the £20bn project – with one site at Wylfa in Anglesey, north Wales and a second proposed location in Oldbury, in south Gloucestershire – had already been suspended last year due to funding problems.

The scheme had been expected to create thousands of jobs and enough capacity to power 11 million homes.

Image: Horizon is the UK subsidiary of Hitachi behind the Wylfa project
Hitachi confirmed on Wednesday that it was finally pulling the plug, 20 months after the suspension, noting that the “investment environment has become increasingly severe due to the impact of COVID-19”.
It had already written off £2.1bn spent on the plans. Hitachi had been involved in the project since 2012.

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Horizon Nuclear, the Hitachi subsidy behind it, said: “Horizon will now take steps for the orderly closing down of all its current development activities, but will keep the lines of communication open with government and other key stakeholders regarding future options at both our sites.”

Duncan Hawthorne, Horizon’s chief executive, said acknowledged that the announcement would be disappointing but insisted that nuclear power “still has a role to play” in tackling energy needs, meeting climate change targets and creating jobs and green economic growth.

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“Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey and Oldbury on Severn are highly desirable sites for new nuclear build,” Mr Hawthorne said.
“We will do our utmost to facilitate the prospects for development which will bring the major local, national and environmental benefits that nuclear can uniquely deliver.”

Concern over China link to UK nuclear

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Wylfa is probably the best site in the UK for new nuclear capacity, and has strong community and stakeholder support.
“It is imperative that a way forward is found for the site, to deliver thousands of jobs, hundreds of apprenticeships and millions of pounds of investment into an economic boost for the area while delivering secure, reliable and low-carbon power to underpin the UK’s transition to net zero.”
Shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead said: “The cancellation of what would have been the largest energy project in Wales, if it cannot be reversed, could have huge consequences including the loss of between £15bn and £20bn in investment.
“It will also prevent the creation of thousands of jobs in the energy sector and wider UK supply chain.

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“We are already in the middle of an economic and unemployment crisis, yet the Government has been completely silent on the potential loss of this power station and the economic impact for Anglesey and the region.
“Ministers must urgently outline whether they plan to seek new developers to take on the Wylfa project, what conversations they have had with Hitachi about the site, and how they will ensure the people of Wales do not pay the price for Hitachi’s withdrawal.”
The Wylfa plant was expected to have provided 9,000 jobs at the height of its construction.
Once up and running by the mid-2020s it was set to create up to 850 permanent jobs, many of them highly skilled.
The government said it had previously offered “a significant package of potential support to this project that went well beyond what any government has been willing to consider in the past”.
“We remain willing to discuss new nuclear projects with any viable companies and investors wishing to develop sites in the UK, including in north Wales,” a spokesman said.

Left-wing union leader Len McCluskey has made a surprise move in asking for a meeting with Boris Johnson to plead for an emergency jobs package when the furlough scheme ends next month.
In a letter to the prime minister, he has urged him to act before the “redundancy floodgates” pour open and is calling for special help from the government for manufacturing, aviation and hospitality.

“I would welcome an opportunity to meet with you and (Chancellor) Rishi Sunak to discuss this urgent request,” Mr McCluskey writes, in an approach that will be seen as a pragmatic move from a union leader caricatured as left-wing firebrand “Red Len”.

Image: Boris Johnson is at odds with union leaders over Brexit
Mr McCluskey’s plea also comes after he warmly praised an offer from Sir Keir Starmer, in a speech to the TUC, to join Mr Johnson in a “national plan” to create jobs, with the Labour leader declaring: “My door is open.”
But the appeal from Mr McCluskey for talks in Number 10 is likely to receive short shrift from Mr Johnson, who has insisted the furlough scheme must end and be replaced by a new KickStart scheme which will place jobless people in work rather than pay them while not working.

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The prime minister, who is bitterly at odds with union leaders over Brexit, will also be reluctant to take part in an initiative which would inevitably be portrayed as a return to the “beer and sandwiches” meetings between union leaders and the Labour governments of the 1960s and 70s.

In his letter to the PM, the Unite leader writes: “This week will mark 45 days until the Job Retention Scheme comes to an end.

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“With no sign yet of your government moving to extend or modify the scheme, there is the very real fear that this landmark will open the floodgates for redundancy notices as employers seek to comply with the 45 days notice period.”
Calling on the government “to save businesses and workers from this cliff edge”, Mr McCluskey says such a move would “put a floor under struggling employers who are working hard to stabilise” and help save jobs.

700,000 jobs lost since March

“Winter and Christmas are fast approaching and the recent rise in the virus infection rate is very concerning, as your recent ‘rule of six’ ruling underscores, but it also indicates that any sense of ‘normal’ consumer behaviour and economic activity will not return for some time,” Mr McCluskey writes.
Offering Unite’s help to the government to draw up plans and develop “nuanced support”, Mr McCluskey says it is vital that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is extended.

Inflation fell to 0.2% last month as the Eat Out To Help Out scheme pushed down prices in restaurants and cafes, new figures show.
It was the lowest level of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation since December 2015 and a sharp drop from the 1% rate recorded in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Falling air fares – the first time these have been recorded in August – also contributed to the decline as did muted clothing price rises after the coronavirus lockdown altered usual seasonal fashion sales patterns.

Image: Air fares fell in August for the first time on record
Upward pressure from inflation came from computer game downloads as well as accommodation services.
The ONS figures pointed to a 2.8% year-on-year fall in prices in the restaurant and hotels sector, the first negative reading for this category since records began in 1989.

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Eat Out To Help Out – the taxpayer-backed scheme which offered 50% discounts on meals – was the main reason for the decline while a VAT cut for the hospitality sector from 20% to 5% also contributed.

Government figures showed more than 100 million meals were claimed for under the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s scheme, designed to revive the sector as it reopened following the lockdown.

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Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics, said: “The cost of dining out fell significantly in August thanks to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and VAT cut, leading to one of the largest falls in the annual inflation rate in recent years.
“For the first time since records began, air fares fell in August as fewer people travelled abroad on holiday.

‘Not right to endlessly extend furlough’

“Meanwhile the usual clothing price rises seen at this time of year, as autumn ranges hit the shops, also failed to materialise.”
The 0.2% figure was higher than had been expected, with some economists forecasting a negative rate for CPI.
Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, said it “probably represents the low point for inflation” with the Eat Out To Help Out scheme now ended and the VAT discount set to expire in January.

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Meanwhile, the impact of the oil price collapse earlier this year – which has already been dragging on inflation – would continue to fade, he added.
However, it was likely to be a “few years” before the weakened economy is strong enough to push up demand so that CPI is sustained around the Bank of England’s 2% target, Mr Pugh said.
“The big risk to this view is a no deal Brexit, which could cause a slump in the pound and, in turn, a temporary sharp rise in inflation to above 3.5%.”

Thomas Cook is back selling holidays almost a year after its dramatic collapse which forced the UK authorities to repatriate 150,000 holidaymakers and put 9,000 people out of a job.
Sky News revealed last week how a former major shareholder, which snapped up the fallen travel brand for £11m, was to relaunch Thomas Cook as an online-only travel company.

China’s Fosun said it planned to turn Thomas Cook into a “global success story” as it opened for bookings, despite immediate challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis that have created severe turbulence for the sector and aviation in particular.

Where jobs have been lost in UK economy
Where jobs have been lost in UK economy

Thomas Cook said it was only selling flights and holidays to destinations not currently covered by the UK’s quarantine restrictions – with the self-isolation regime being blamed by airlines for a plunge in post-lockdown customer demand.
The company moved to bolster confidence in its fledgling business by insisting that bookings were protected under an updated Atol scheme.

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The compensation vehicle was brought to its knees financially by more than 320,000 settled claims after the old Thomas Cook collapsed on 23 September 2019.

It sparked the £100m customer repatriation process that was named Operation Matterhorn.

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Alan French was Thomas Cook’s group strategy director at that time.

Image: It took two weeks for the CAA to complete the repatriation of 150,000 Thomas Cook customers from abroad last year
Now chief executive of the new venture, he said: “What happened last year was a tragedy at a personal level for many thousands of my former colleagues, our business partners and of course our loyal customers.
“The resilience and affection still felt for the Thomas Cook brand reflects the huge commitment and professionalism of those former colleagues.
“We are very much in their debt and hope to have their backing as we look to take the brand into a new era.”
He said of the new future: “We have reinvented one of the most recognisable names in British travel.
“Our new business will combine fantastic UK-based customer service with an updated operating model protected by Atol and with the backing of a multibillion-dollar organisation.”
“We are launching now clearly aware of the short-term challenges posed by the pandemic.
“We and our Fosun backers are taking the long view and we want to offer choice, customisation and 24/7 on-holiday customer care to families who wish to travel now and in the future.”

Apple has launched a range of new products in its September event, but – for the first time in years – it has not released a new iPhone.
Three new Apple Watches were shown off, as was the updated version of watchOS.

The marquee new feature is a pulse oximeter which allows the wearable to detect blood oxygen levels by using red and infrared light to measure the colour of wearers’ blood.
This will be used with researchers in three studies focusing on respiratory diseases, including asthma and COVID-19.

Image: Apple Watch and iPad took the centre stage, with no iPhone announcement
The Apple Watch 6 will be available for £379 from 18 September, while the high-end version with GPS and cellular capabilities costs £479.

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Apple also announced the launch of a cheaper device, the Apple Watch SE, which will be available from £269 with just GPS, or £319 with GPS and cellular capabilities.

As part of the company’s move to generate revenue from services as well as its hardware devices, it announced a new Fitness+ service allowing Apple Watch users to take part in programmed workouts with world-leading fitness experts, with performance measured by the Apple Watch.

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Access to Fitness+ and other services is now available in a bundle called Apple One. This will be priced at £29.95 per month in a premier version which can be shared among family members, or for £14.95 per month on a limited subscription with fewer services.
The company also introduced its most powerful ever chip, the A14 Bionic, which will be available in the new iPad Air 4, available from £579.
The chip was described as “by far the most advanced we’ve ever made” with transistors so small they “challenge the laws of physics” with about 11.8 billion packed into a single chip.
“We’re talking about a scale so small, they’re measured in atoms,” the company said.
It is the first time such a chip has been announced in any product line other than the iPhone, potentially due to the delayed release date which the company warned investors about earlier this year.
According to Apple the iPad Air 4 is three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet, and six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook.
The iPhone 12 is expected to be the company’s first 5G device and will be launched at an event in October, according to reports.

New Look has secured support for a restructuring plan that safeguards thousands of jobs.
The fashion retailer said the so-called company voluntary arrangement (CVA) achieved the required backing from landlords and other creditors at a crucial vote.

It had earlier warned that “less favourable alternatives” – understood to include liquidation – would have to be considered without enough backing as the sector battles the effects of the coronavirus lockdown that shuttered its 490 UK stores.

Image: This was New Look’s second CVA vote in three years

Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy
Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy

Sky News had revealed on Monday that a number of its major landlords were to vote against the proposals, stoking fears that the CVA could fail.
Commercial property companies which, like retailers, have suffered from COVID-19 restrictions on their tenants argue they are being asked to take too big a hit as store chains move to cut their costs.

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The British Property Federation described the CVA process, used by a string of big names even before the crisis including Sir Philip Green’s Topshop empire, as “flawed”.

This was New Look’s second CVA in three years.

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The result secures 11,000 jobs and the implementation of turnover-based leases at 402 stores.
In return, New Look’s major shareholders are to pump £40m of new investment into the business.
The CVA also allows a recapitalisation plan, agreed with the company’s lenders, to go forward.
New Look chief executive Nigel Oddy said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our landlords and creditors for their support for our CVA, which, alongside the consequential financial restructuring that will now be progressed, will provide us with enhanced financial strength and flexibility, and a sustainable platform for future trading and investment.”