The Icelandair Boeing 737 Max training simulator is seen at the TRU Flight Training Iceland in Reykjavik, Iceland on Jan. 17, 2020.
GEIRIX/Reuters
Airlines are scrambling to book time in 737 Max training facilities as far afield as Fiji, Iceland and Panama, operators said, after Boeing Co. recommended pilots be trained in one of the few simulators replicating the latest model.
That means thousands of pilots from more than 54 airlines need to squeeze into about three dozen 737 Max simulators around the world before they can fly the plane.
“Boeing is recommending that all 737 Max pilots undergo training in a 737 Max simulator prior to flying the aircraft in commercial service,” the company told Reuters on Tuesday evening, the first confirmation of its new policy.
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On Jan. 7, the company had recommended using a simulator but did not specify what type.
The 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes and cannot return to service until regulators approve software changes and training plans.
The estimated 34 737 Max simulators in service, produced separately by CAE Inc and Textron Inc’s simulator and training division TRU, are less than a quarter of the number of older 737 NG simulators certified by U.S. and European regulators.
“I think that what a shortage of simulators will mean is the fleet of Maxes will start flying more slowly than what the airlines would like,” said Gudmundur Orn Gunnarsson, managing director of TRU Flight Training Iceland, a joint venture between Icelandair and Textron’s simulator and training division.
“In the beginning it was said that simulator training would not be needed,” he said. “This changes it totally.”
SIMULATORS SCARCE
Inside the Icelandair Boeing 737 Max training simulator in the TRU Flight Training Iceland in Reykjavik, Iceland on Jan. 17, 2020.
GEIRIX/Reuters
Gunnarsson said TRU Flight Training Iceland had more inquiries than usual from potential airline customers about the use of its 737 Max simulator since Boeing’s Jan. 7 announcement.
Boeing said on Tuesday it did not expect to win approval for returning the 737 Max to service until mid-year, longer than previous estimates, in part because regulators are working on new pilot training requirements.
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Many airlines did not order 737 Max simulators, assuming they could rely on the older 737 NG simulators because the types were so similar.
Simulators can cost C$10 million (5.8 million pounds) to C$20 million each, with the 737 Max at the upper end, CAE said. Hourly rates for simulator training can cost $500 to $1,000, it said.
High demand for 737 Max simulators has led the Montreal-company and its rival TRU to produce simulators for customers they have yet to line up.
“Customers are making increasing inquiries from all over the globe,” a TRU spokeswoman said.
South Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet, which does not have a 737 Max simulator, said it had already contacted Boeing, other airlines and training centres.
“With limited Max simulators available, we expect carriers will likely face challenges to book slots for Max simulators,” said an Eastar official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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SELLING TIME
Fiji Airways spent more than $10 million to buy a 737 Max simulator to help save on the costs and lost productivity of sending pilots to Singapore, Australia and the United States for training, said its chief operating officer, Paul Doherty.
The carrier uses its simulator 35% to 42% of the available hours to train its 70 737 pilots and had plans to sell the additional time. Now it is getting calls from airlines thousands of miles away.
“We have got interest … particularly from Asia,” Doherty said. “We are expecting some from the U.S. Our focus is to really develop our own pilots and to provide the best for Fiji Airways, but we are also very happy to help other airlines that need some time. That could be a real choke point, I think, for a lot of airlines.”
Panamanian carrier Copa Holdings SA, one of the few Latin American airlines with a 737 Max simulator, said it was seeing a lot of demand, although it was not authorized to disclose the interested carriers. Copa said its top priority was to train its own 245 pilots that will fly the 737 Max.
U.S. airlines have more simulators than many of their counterparts abroad, but they also have more 737 pilots to train, which could be done in stages.
Before Boeing’s recommendations for simulator training, Southwest Airlines Co, the world’s largest 737 operator, had estimated it would take about 30 days to train all of its roughly 10,000 737 pilots on the Max.
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On Tuesday, the Dallas-based carrier said it would be premature to make cost and timing estimates before regulators approved a training package.
The airline said it has three simulators in various stages of FAA certification and expects to receive an additional three in late 2020.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
