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Boeing hires former Northrop executive to lead Air Force One program, sources say

Boeing hires former Northrop executive to lead Air Force One program, sources say

Yahoo4 days ago

(Reuters) -Boeing has hired a former Northrop Grumman executive, Steve Sullivan, to lead its Air Force One program, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Sullivan, who previously worked on key Northrop programs including the B-21 bomber, replaces Gregg Coffey, who is moving to another role at the U.S. planemaker.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
The Air Force One program, which involves converting two 747-8 aircraft into VC-25B jets equipped with advanced communications and defense systems to serve as the next generation of U.S. presidential air transport, has faced chronic delays over the last decade.
Delivery of the two new 747-8s is three years behind schedule and now expected in 2027.
The news of the appointment comes after the U.S. military in May accepted a 747 jetliner as a gift from Qatar. The Air Force was tasked with evaluating options to quickly upgrade it for presidential use.

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Air India Crash Triggers Crisis Of Confidence In Indian Aviation
Air India Crash Triggers Crisis Of Confidence In Indian Aviation

Forbes

time8 hours ago

  • Forbes

Air India Crash Triggers Crisis Of Confidence In Indian Aviation

The tragic crash of Air India's AI171 on June 12, which claimed 270 lives in one of the worst airline disasters in recent years, has triggered a crisis of confidence in Indian aviation. India is one the world's fastest growing aviation markets with a fleet size of over 800 aircraft and annual traffic of 240 million passengers. This breakneck growth, however, has come with steep costs in terms of weak oversight and the ability of the country's major carriers—privatized Air India, now owned by the storied Tata Group, and Indigo—to contend with soaring passenger demand. While the official investigation into the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is ongoing, the incident has exposed flaws in regulatory design and the ability of the Tata Group, in particular, to manage, integrate, and transform a hidebound state-owned carrier into a thriving privately owned enterprise. The Tata Group certainly had the right credentials to takeover Air India from public hands in 2022. In an earlier era, the $165 billion group, one of India's largest, was a pioneer of the country's aviation sector and ran Air India until it was nationalized in 1953. The return of ownership to Bombay House, where the group is headquartered, was a massively emotional moment for the Tata's. Integrating a sleepy and bureaucratic airline was never going to be easy but even the group's supporters have been shocked by the challenges to revive an airline saddled with spiralling debt and toxic culture. To be sure, there have been positive signs that the revival was working, not least because the Tata's were prepared to deploy serious capital and effort to back its ambitions. The presence of Singapore Airlines as a minority shareholder also bolstered confidence. In February 2023, Air India placed an order for a combination of 570 Boeing and Airbus aircrafts, one of the single largest orders at the time. The airline's liveries and image were spruced up with a slick rebranding campaign, it launched several long-haul routes, and Air India signaled that it was determined to wrest market share away from foreign rivals like Emirates and Qatar. These positive moves faced turbulence at the last mile—on the ground and inside the actual aircraft which Air India passengers traveled in and social media was soon abuzz with reports of delayed flights, faulty toilets, and indifferent service. To be fair to Air India, it's principal rival in Indian skies, privately-owned Indigo, was ranked lower in the AirHelp Score report last year as one of the world's worst airlines (ranked 103 out of 109, compared with Air India's more favorable 61). While Indigo has contested the ranking, an even bigger issue is weak oversight by India's aviation regulator—the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In the aftermath of the crash of AI171, Indian media have been replete with reports about DGCA's inadequate oversight and understaffing, including its inability to enforce recent safety audits conducted on Air India. One proposal being out forward by the experts is to transform the DGCA into an independent, oversight body along the lines of U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority. This is of course a matter for the Indian government to reflect on but a repeated pattern of weaknesses in regulatory oversight will severely impact India's ambitions to become Asia's second largest aviation market after China, which has a fleet size of over 4,000 aircraft and passenger traffic of 730 million. On its part, the Tata's, which manages some of India's most admired companies, has a special responsibility to get Air India's performance back on track and to deliver on its 2022 ' aspiration of building an international carrier with the ethos and pedigree of the group. The clock is ticking.

Jeff Bezos' Venice Wedding Was Relatively Cheap
Jeff Bezos' Venice Wedding Was Relatively Cheap

Newsweek

time11 hours ago

  • Newsweek

Jeff Bezos' Venice Wedding Was Relatively Cheap

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Jeff Bezos' multimillion dollar wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice was relatively him. The cost of the nuptials on Friday was estimated between $47 million and $56 million, according to Reuters, citing Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region where the Italian city of canals is based. And while this sum may appear lavish to any ordinary American, it amounted to just 0.0193-0.0230 percent of the Amazon founder's estimated $244 billion net worth, as recorded by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The average and median net worth of an American family is $1,063,700 and $192,900 respectively, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Federal Reserve. This means Bezos' wedding was financially similar to an average American spending less than $250 on their wedding—about the cost of a family dinner or a new pair of sneakers. To put that percentage into further context, Newsweek analyzed what similarly proportioned wedding spending would look like for Americans in professions such as construction, nursing and law. Lauren Sanchez Bezos, left, and Jeff Bezos depart from the Aman hotel during wedding celebrations on June 28, 2025, in Venice, Italy. Lauren Sanchez Bezos, left, and Jeff Bezos depart from the Aman hotel during wedding celebrations on June 28, 2025, in Venice, Italy. Luca Bruno/AP Photo Why It Matters Bezos is currently the third richest person in the world, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The comparatively negligible impact of the billionaire's wedding bill on his total wealth highlights the vast and growing gap between the world's richest individuals and the average American worker. Half of regular Americans anticipate going into debt to pay for their weddings, according to a survey earlier this month by U.S. News. What To Know Newsweek used ChatGPT to help calculate the dollar amount U.S. workers in several professions would need to spend on a wedding to match the same fraction of net worth as Bezos did. Breaking Down the Proportions A construction worker, whose average net worth is approximately $60,000, would only spend between $11.58 and $13.80 on their wedding, as that amount is 0.0193 percent to 0.0230 percent of their net worth. This is roughly the equivalent of two small lattes from Starbucks. Nurses, whose average net worth was calculated to be approximately $125,000, could spend between $24.13 and $28.75 on their wedding. This is less than the cost of two bacon cheeseburgers from Five Guys. According to the AI, journalists have a lower net worth than nurses, with just $100,000 as their total net worth, meaning they have even less to spend on their weddings if sticking to Bezos' budget ratio. Journalists could spend between $19.30 and $23 on a nuptial celebration—about as much as one fancy cocktail in New York City. Teachers have a slightly higher budget of $38.60 to $46 based on an estimated $200,000 net worth. Meanwhile, the average American lawyer can afford to splash out, with $96.50 to $115 on their wedding, if sticking to spending a maximum of 0.0230 percent of their estimated $500,000 net worth. How Net Worth Estimates Were Calculated The AI constructed the approximate net worth figures from publicly available U.S. salary data, industry wage reports and national wealth surveys. For construction workers, median annual wages of $46,050 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics informed an estimated 30-year career saving a modest percentage of income, landing at a net worth of $60,000. Nurses, with average salaries near $89,000 and consistent retirement contributions, were estimated with net worth ranging from $125,000 to $175,000. Journalists—often burdened by lower salaries and potential student debt—were projected at $100,000. Teachers, benefiting from defined-benefit pensions, could reach $200,000 or more, while lawyers, despite student loan burdens, commonly reach at least $500,000. Actual net worth can vary significantly due to factors such as debt levels, regional cost of living, career interruptions, investment returns and household dynamics. These figures should be viewed as illustrative models—not precise financial portraits of individual workers in these professions. These calculations also do not take into account the age at which people in these professions reach this level of net worth. Most weddings occur when people are younger, meaning they may not have reached their highest earning potential by the time they get married. Activists stage a protest against the Bezos wedding on the Rialto Bridge on June 28, 2025, in Venice, Italy. Activists stage a protest against the Bezos wedding on the Rialto Bridge on June 28, 2025, in Venice, Italy. Antonio Calanni/AP Photo Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, both getting married for the second time, tied the knot over the weekend in Venice after a nearly two-year engagement. The wedding was met with protesters in the city who said the city should not be rented by "oligarchs," with lead protester Marta Sottoriva saying "our city has been sold to the highest bidder." City officials disagreed with Sottoriva's "No Space for Bezos" campaign, saying Bezos donated money to Venetian causes, such as restoring council homes, as part of his agreement with the city. Bezos, Sanchez and their approximately 200 celebrity guests, including Leonardo DiCaprio, several Kardashians and Oprah Winfrey, partied in Venice for several days, shutting off portions of the city from its residents. What People Are Saying Marta Sottoriva, leader of "No Space for Bezos," told The Guardian: "There's a lot of anger in the air because once again the council has enslaved itself to the logic of profit—our city has been sold to the highest bidder. Every time an event of this kind happens, the city comes to a standstill, certain areas become inaccessible and even more tourists arrive. This wedding really is the symbol of all that is wrong with Venice." Hannah Holland, writing for MSNBC, said: "This wedding—the tenor, the clothes, the cost—indicate a callous indifference toward the realities the rest of the world is facing." Usher leaves a hotel during celebrations for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos' wedding, in Venice on June 28, 2025. Usher leaves a hotel during celebrations for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos' wedding, in Venice on June 28, 2025. Luigi Costantini/AP Photo What Happens Next The wedding industry in the U.S. continues to be a highly lucrative business, with people spending more on weddings than ever before, according to Grand View Research. However, some couples are starting to reconsider their spending, opting to save up for a home or for children instead of a wedding party.

Deadline to claim part of $95M settlement over Siri snooping allegations nearing
Deadline to claim part of $95M settlement over Siri snooping allegations nearing

The Hill

time12 hours ago

  • The Hill

Deadline to claim part of $95M settlement over Siri snooping allegations nearing

(NEXSTAR) — If you ever thought Siri was snooping on you, you have only days to claim your portion of a settlement reached in a class action lawsuit against Apple. The settlement, totalling $95 million, arose from a lawsuit filed by a California resident who claimed Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, could be activated without consent and record conversations that were then provided to third parties. Plaintiffs said they saw ads for Olive Garden and Air Jordan shoes after talking about them with an Apple device nearby, according to Reuters. While Apple denied wrongdoing in the case, telling Nexstar that 'Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning,' the company agreed to the $95 million settlement. The deadline to file a settlement claim is fast approaching, though. Here's what you need to know. You must have had a Siri-equipped Apple device between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024. During that time, your 'confidential communications' must have been 'obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation.' You may have already received an email (which may have gone to your spam folder) or a postcard notifying you that you may qualify. Either correspondence will have an identification code and a confirmation code used to apply for a payout. If you meet the qualifications and have not received an email or postcard, you will be able to file a claim on the settlement's website. Claims can be submitted online, regardless of whether you received an email, a postcard, or neither. Codes provided via email or postcard can be entered into this online form. If you believe you qualify for the settlement and did not receive those codes, administrators say you can submit a new claim on the settlement website. There, you'll be asked to fill out a form with your contact information and details about your device (or devices) that may be impacted. For the latter, you'll need to include the email address linked to the device and proof of purchase, like a receipt or an invoice. Without proof of purchase, you'll need to provide the serial number and model for each device. While the settlement totals $95 million, you'll receive far less. You can submit claims for up to five Siri-enabled devices that you believe were unintentionally activated during a conversation you meant to be confidential or private. Qualifying Apple devices include: Settlement officials say you may receive up to $20 per qualifying Siri device, meaning at best, you could receive $100 (for five qualifying devices). The payout could increase or decrease based on the number of valid claims, however. Tens of millions of people may qualify for the settlement, Reuters previously reported. The deadline is currently July 2, 2025, according to the settlement website. That is also the final day to exclude yourself or object to the settlement. A final hearing is scheduled for August 1, 2025, which means the earliest approved payments could arrive is later this year. However, the timelines of other class action lawsuit settlements show it could take much longer. Two settlements reached in 2022 — one against Facebook, another against T-Mobile — didn't start dispersing payments until this year.

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