Sun Country sets time limit for holding flyers on board

Days after 154 of its passengers were stuck on a New York tarmac for about six hours, Sun Country Airlines said Sunday that it is changing its policy on extended delays and establishing a deadline for when people and planes will be returned to the terminal.

Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek said he believes his company is the first to establish such a deadline — in this case, a maximum of four hours.

“To the best of my knowledge, I think we are” the first to set such a deadline, Gadek said Sunday. “I don’t know if other airlines will follow ... but I think it’s high time that airlines stand up and commit. It’s a common-sense thing. The flight delay on Friday was unacceptable. We do not want a repeat of what happened on Friday.”

Gadek also said four hours is a maximum, and that the airline could return passengers to the gate sooner than that it appears that the delay — such as the one that occurred at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday — will last longer than four hours.

“It will be done case by case,” said Gadek, who also said he supports passengers’ rights legislation now before Congress.
Gadek’s announcement drew the immediate support of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who has been pushing airlines to establish a three-hour deadline for tarmac delays.

“I would rather have three hours instead of four, but I appreciate that he is taking responsibility for what happened on the flight Friday,” Klobuchar said Sunday night.

Gadek said he pushed for the four-hour limit because there are so many three-hour delays at JFK and New York airports that to go under that could mean even longer flight times because of the constant boarding and unboarding. link.....

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Chrysler's Press may exit this year

About a half-dozen dealers contacted by the Free Press said no one from Chrysler had told them when or if Press was leaving. One person familiar with Chrysler's new structure said Press' new role was meant to be temporary.

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has implemented a flatter organization since Chrysler's June 10 bankruptcy exit. Where Chrysler operated before the bankruptcy with a chairman and two vice chairmen, Marchionne has implemented a structure based on four presidents for the company's Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Mopar replacement parts brands.

Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler. The UAW's retiree health care trust owns 67.7%, while the U.S. and Canadian governments own 12.3%.

Cerberus Capital Management, controlling investors in pre-bankruptcy Chrysler, lured Press away from Toyota Motor Corp., where he spent 37 years, eventually becoming Toyota's highest-ranking American.

In Auburn Hills, Press embraced the challenge of reviving Chrysler, which was caught with too many trucks and SUVs just as gas prices soared and consumers moved toward smaller vehicles. Press tried to reduce Chrysler's dependence on sales to rental companies and increase the percentage of sales to consumers, but it was an uphill struggle as the U.S. economy imploded.

Eventually Chrysler asked Congress and the Bush administration for financial assistance, which led to the government-backed bankruptcy sale. Press' main role in that process was to terminate 789, or 25%, of its U.S. dealerships. While the company said the move was necessary to strengthen the surviving 2,400 dealers, it infuriated some dealers.

More recently, Chrysler has contacted some of the dealers it terminated and asked whetherthey would like to compete for one of 140 new locations in what the company said are more attractive markets. link....

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RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares slide, Shanghai leads

Asian shares tumbled from multi-month peaks on Wednesday, in a sell-off led by the Shanghai market, as investors booked in profits ahead of more company earnings.

Japanese shares gained, but stock indices in Australia and Hong Kong fell after strong run-ups in the past two weeks. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 2.6 percent, flagging after a climb this week to a 10-month high.

In Europe, stock eased after Chinese stocks fell as investors worried banks there may start to restrict lending, and S&P futures SPc1 signalled a soft start on Wall Street.

Shares in China State Construction Engineering Corp (601668.SS), whose $7.3 billion IPO last week was the world's largest in a year, jumped 70 percent at its debut, besting expectations -- but also stirring concerns about asset price bubbles. [ID:nSHA211352]

It was the second big listing in Shanghai since China resumed IPOs last month, and followed on the heels of Sichuan Expressway's (601107.SS)(0107.HK) runaway success on Monday.

"Such strong debuts of new listings will become a great boost for forthcoming IPOs, though worries have also strengthened of overall high valuations of the market," said Qian Qimin, deputy head of research at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities in Shanghai.

BBMG Corp (2009.HK), one of China's largest building materials manufacturers, also jumped 60 percent at its debut in Hong Kong. [ID:nHKG179565].

But the Hang Seng index .HSI shed 3 percent after ending at its highest in nearly 11 months on Tuesday, and the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC closed down 5 percent, its biggest daily loss in 8 months.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average .N225 edged up 0.3 percent to its highest close in seven weeks, a day after snapping its longest string of consecutive gains since 1988.

"It's natural that the market takes a breather due to investor fatigue after a nine-day winning streak and caution before earnings reports," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, manager at SMBC Friend Securities.

"But foreign investors appear to have a bullish view on the outlook for the stock markets and that's providing support to blue-chip stocks and a solid floor for the Nikkei." link.....

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“Chandrayaan’s first sensor failed much earlier”

BANGALORE: Even as the failure of Chandrayaan’s ‘star sensor’ continues to make news, top officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have revealed that the April 26 snag, announced on Friday, was the second sensor failure — the first one having occurred “much earlier.”

The lunar spacecraft had on board two star sensors, with one as back-up, to determine the orientation or “attitude” while in orbit. Although the ISRO maintained that the “spacecraft started malfunctioning on April 26,” necessitating a switch-over to a contingency gyroscope, it appears that the malfunction had taken place earlier.

At a press conference on Friday, ISRO chief Madhavan Nair said the star sensor failure was due to “excessive radiation from the sun.” It was detected on May 16. As the sensor could not be recovered at this stage, the remainder of the two-year mission would be completed using a gyroscope, an electro-mechanical device that was used in Indian Remote Sensing satellites.

Gyroscopes, however, needed regular intervention to stabilise their orientation, and the ISRO’s ground stations had begun weekly attitude corrections, the official said. With the failure of the two star sensors, the number of technical glitches Chandrayaan has encountered in its eight-month lunar orbit stands at three — the third being the failure of a Bus Management Unit, which has been replaced with a back-up unit.

The public relations office at the ISRO did not confirm that the April 26 sensor snag was the second of its kind.

Thermal heating
The Rs.400-crore satellite encountered problems of thermal heating also. In one instance in January, the temperature within the spacecraft rose to 80 degrees Celsius, according to another ISRO official. The optimal temperature for electronic packages and payloads is zero to 40 degrees.

Chandrayaan was launched on October 22 carrying 11 payloads (scientific experiments), including the moon impact probe that crash-landed on a designated location near the moon’s South Pole in November.

Five payloads were developed by international space agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency. link...

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Rio ‘bribery’ case shakes foreign groups

Nothing concentrates the mind of a foreign executive in China quite so effectively as hearing that four employees of a powerful multinational company have been accused of spying in a case that involves commercial negotiations.

So news of the detention of four employees of Rio Tinto, the Anglo-Australian miner, has spooked multinational mining groups and anyone who does business with the notoriously murky Chinese iron ore and steel industries. But it has also made foreign executives in other industries – even the squeaky clean ones – think twice about their business methods.Rio on Friday denied Chinese press reports that its employees bribed Chinese steel mill executives to steal state secrets about iron ore. The Chinese foreign ministry has accused Rio employees of spying, but they have left it to the state-owned media to explain that they mean bribing officials of the country’s strategic steel industry to reveal sensitive information. That data would allow Rio to figure out China’s bottom line in annual iron ore contract pricing negotiations, which are currently deadlocked.

China, as the world’s largest importer of iron ore, thinks it should have a greater say in how iron ore is priced. Instead, it has seen itself outmanoeuvred by Rio, which led this year’s negotiations on behalf of the miners. China is likely to end up paying substantially more for its iron ore as a result.

Then, only days after contract talks broke down, China shocked the world by detaining Rio employees. No official charges have been laid, but Australian officials have said Rio is accused of bribery.

What makes the case unusual is that China has made use of its broad state secrets law, which Nicholas Bequelin, China researcher with Human Rights Watch, in Hong Kong, calls a “drift net which can catch virtually any commercial information”.

Determining the rights and wrongs of the case is impossible without more information. “We don’t know the evidence in this case and we may never know the evidence, even when the case is finished,” says Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law at New York University.

Detainees in such cases are often denied access to counsel for months. Often no witnesses appear at trials, which are closed to the public and media, and even family members or consular representatives may not be allowed to attend, he says. “And, of course, the decision and sentence in such cases is generally guided by political leaders, not the judges who conduct the trial hearing or even the court’s adjudication committee.” link.....

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Two Mangla Dam units back online

LAHORE: Two of ten Mangla Dam units Dam came online Friday afternoon, adding 220MW to the overstretched Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco).

According to the Pepco Managing Director Mr. Tahir Basharat Cheema, the rest of the eight units would come back on 25 July. The work is in full swing on other units, and they should be online 15 days down the line.

The Power Wing of Wapda was working on two lines, and it would also be finishing its work within 15 days from now, he said.

Mr. Fazal Ahmad, member (power) says that Wapda had already planned the replacement of the line and had placed import orders. It was only waiting to see off the peak summer season, and planned replacement work for November, but unfortunately the breakdown occurred earlier. ‘The Power Wing is on the job and will also be finishing its work along with Pepco. Everything needed for the work in lined up,’ he said.

‘A combination of bad weather (strong winds) and terrorism have complicated Pepco’s job,’ says Mr. Cheema. The company is simultaneously working on many lines; some hit by winds and some by terrorists. Tarbella-Sh. Muhammadi 500KV line has been repeatedly hit by terrorists during the past week, and teams are working hard to bring it back. The company even lost one of its workers when he stepped on a landmine on Wednesday, though the area was cleared by police.

Similarly, Multan-Yousufwala line went offline when it was hit by strong winds early this month and has engaged some engineers there. Though power is being routed through alternate sources, the system is running without backup for the area, and Pepco is working hard to restore the line. Another 220KV line at Muzaffarabad was hit by the winds, making it difficult to move power from AES-PakGEN (an independent power producer), and so was 500KV line at Khanewal, he said.

Another 220KV line between Sibi and Quetta was hit by terrorists, who blasted a pylon. As a result, low voltage abounds. Though rehabilitation is ongoing, the hilly terrain is complicating matters, according to Cheema, who added: ‘All these problems are adding to the woes of the company — overstretching its human resources and infrastructural limits.’

Mr. Akram Arian, Chief Executive of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), thinks distribution problems could be lessened if the consumers exercise some honesty in declaring their correct domestic load. People keep on adding air conditioners and electrical appliances without informing the power planners. The load indicated in the distribution system is nowhere close to actual consumption. The distribution companies are ready to increase the domestic load of each consumer without charges, if informed properly. It would bring more transparency to the system, and equip companies for better service, he said. link.....

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Q+A-India-U.S. ties past, present and future

The U.S. national security adviser Jim Jones meets his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Friday, against the backdrop of regional instability and India's twitchy relations with U.S. ally Pakistan.

WHERE ARE INDIA-U.S. TIES AT?

New Delhi and Washington are enjoying some of their sweetest ever relations -- thanks in part to the earlier George Bush administration and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Perhaps the biggest leap forward came when both leaders trumped domestic critics to sign a landmark civilian nuclear deal in 2008, worth billions of dollars and ending a 30-year ban on nuclear commerce with India.

Trade has blossomed and years of market reforms have helped India's IT and outsourcing sector feed into the U.S. economy.

HAVE THEY ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDS?

No. In the Cold War era India was a member of the non-aligned movement that in theory was independent from the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

In practice, India bought most of its defence equipment from the Soviets and a chunk of the economy, until liberalisation began in earnest in the early 1990s, was under state control. link...

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