Wall Street Journal (May 16)
By one measure, President Trump’s Beijing summit “was a success. It didn’t achieve much, but it also didn’t appear to give away anything notable.” The caveat is that “we can’t be sure based on the few details leaking out from the parties,” some of which sound incredible. “Mr. Trump boasted about ‘fantastic’ Chinese purchases to come of U.S. soybeans and aircraft. But China didn’t confirm the sales, and by our count this is the second time China has bought the same American soybeans. Or is it the third?” In addition, Mr. Trump “also didn’t appear to bend to Mr. Xi’s threats on Taiwan, at least not so far.” If, however, Trump gives into China and “stops arming Taiwan, Mr. Xi will have won the veto over U.S. sales that the Chinese leader has long sought. It will send a message of weakness to our allies in the region.” Details like this, should they out, would make it a misnomer to call this “The Good-News-Is-No-News Summit.”
Tags: Aircraft, Allies, Arming, Beijing summit, Caveat. Leaking. Incredible. Fantastic, China, Misnomer, Purchases, Sales, Soybeans, Success, Taiwan, Threats, Trump, U.S., Veto, Weakness, Xi
Seattle Times (September 27)
“Built to carry nine passengers and one or two pilots,” the flight demonstrated “the potential for an electric commercial commuter aircraft flying a few hundred miles between cities at an altitude of around 15,000 feet.” Clearly, “the technology is pioneering and puts this region at the forefront of efforts to develop a zero-emission, sustainable era in aviation.” The larger question, however, is “whether it can deliver the economic returns necessary to become a commonplace mode of air travel.”
Tags: Aircraft, Aviation, Commercial, Commuter, Economic returns, Electric, Flight, Forefront, Passengers, Pilots, Pioneering, Potential, Sustainable, Technology, Zero-emission
Reuters (June 4)
“A Swedish-born anti-flying movement is spreading to other European countries.” The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is “shrinking its carbon footprint” and working to avoid stigma with a sustainability plan that “is among the most ambitious and globally focused of any industry.” Carbon emissions have roughly been halved for flights since 1990, “largely thanks to more fuel-efficient aircraft.” For the moment, however, “trains are benefiting from the anti-flight movement.”
Tags: Aircraft, Carbon footprint, Emissions, Europe, Fuel-efficient, IATA, Stigma, Sustainability, Sweden, Trains
Financial Times (November 23)
“Mitsubishi Materials has admitted its subsidiaries falsified data about products used in crucial parts of aircraft and cars, dragging another of Japan’s largest manufacturers into the data falsification scandal at Kobe Steel…. The disclosure will raise the pressure on Japan’s manufacturing sector, which has been struck in the past two months by certification scandals at carmakers Nissan and Subaru, as well as Kobe Steel, Japan’s third-largest steelmaker.”
Tags: Aircraft, Cars, Certification, Disclosure, Falsified, Japan, Kobe Steel, Manufacturers, Mitsubishi Materials, Nissan, Pressure, Product data, Scandals, Steelmaker, Subaru
Bloomberg (October 10)
“Kobe Steel Ltd. unleashed an industrial scandal that reverberated across Asia’s second-largest economy after saying it falsified data related to strength and durability of some aluminum and copper products used in aircraft, cars and maybe even a space rocket.” Following on the heels of the Takata scandal and Nissan Motor’s unauthorized vehicle inspections, “Kobe Steel’s admission raises fresh concern about the integrity of Japanese manufacturers.”
Tags: Aircraft, Aluminum, Cars, Copper, Falsified data, Integrity, Japan, Kobe Steel. Scandal, Manufacturers, Nissan, Takata
The Economist (November 30, 2013)
“Plenty of countries establish zones in which they require aircraft to identify themselves, but they tend not to be over other countries’ territory.” China’s unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over Japanese territory has also heightened tension between the U.S. and China. “This face-off marks the most worrying strategic escalation between the two countries since 1996, when China’s then president, Jiang Zemin, ordered a number of exclusion zones for missile tests in the Taiwan Strait, leading America to send two aircraft-carriers there.”
Tags: ADIZ, Aircraft, Aircraft-carriers, China, Escalation, Exclusion zones, Face-off, Jiang Zemin, Missile tests, Taiwan Strait, Tension, Territory, U.S.
