Canceled flights put Ryanair in lurch
DUBLIN -- Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday sought to contain the damage from plans to scrap hundreds of flights through the end of October, vowing to publish the full list of affected connections and provide clarity for unsettled customers.
With mass cancellations set to leave about 400,000 passengers with packed bags but no seats, Europe's biggest discount airline is likely to take a $30 million profit hit from refunds and compensation, the Dublin-based company said Monday, three days after announcing cutbacks that started Saturday and stemmed from vacation-related crew shortages.
To stave off further fallout, Ryanair will offer a fare sale, a bonus to pilots who are willing to waive vacation days, and spend about $35.8 million next year to hire additional crew and improve contracts.
"We should have seen it coming. This will have a reputational impact," Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary said during a conference call.
While the scrapped flights account for only about 2 percent of usual 2,500 daily services, the cause was avoidable and stems from the company's aggressive management style. As it ramped up capacity, Ryanair overscheduled its crews, which has led to a vacation backlog as it scrambles to meet holiday requirements by Irish authorities. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and the Spanish Public Works Ministry said Monday that they want to ensure the airline respects regulations on compensating passengers for abandoned flights.
-- Bloomberg News
Wisconsinite sketches Foxconn timeline
STURTEVANT, Wis. -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday described a vague timeline for Foxconn Technology Group's plans to open a flat-screen plant in southeastern Wisconsin.
Walker signed a $3 billion incentives package for the Taiwanese manufacturer Monday afternoon at Gateway Technical College near Racine. He told WTMJ-AM radio Monday that the company could announce the location of the plant in the coming weeks.
He said Foxconn and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. expect to agree on a contract to execute the incentives package by the beginning of October, with groundbreaking for the plant expected this spring. He said the plant should be open by 2020.
Walker said he's not worried about opposition to the incentives package. Critics have ripped a provision in the bill that would send appeals of any legal challenge straight to the state Supreme Court, which leans conservative. Walker insisted the package is constitutional.
-- The Associated Press
Northrop to buy Orbital ATK for $9.2B
FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Northrop Grumman is buying Orbital ATK for about $9.2 billion, with a backdrop of rising global tensions accelerating big deals in the defense sector.
The acquisition of Orbital would strengthen Northrop Grumman's capabilities in military aircraft technology and missile defense. Orbital ATK, formed from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corp. and parts of Alliant Techsystems, makes launch vehicles and their propulsion systems, missile technology, defense electronics, precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition. It also builds up Northrop's space operations with Orbital's satellites and advanced aerospace structures.
Orbital ATK shareholders will receive $134.50 per share, a 22 percent premium to the company's Friday closing price of $110.04. The deal's total value, excluding debt, is approximately $7.8 billion.
Earlier this month, United Technologies said it would pay $22.75 billion for defense contractor Rockwell Collins.
-- The Associated Press
2,500 Canadians strike at GM plant
DETROIT -- About 2,500 workers at a Canadian General Motors plant that makes the Chevrolet Equinox SUV are on strike in a dispute over job security.
Members of Unifor Local 88 in Ingersoll, Ontario, west of Toronto, stopped working when their contract expired Sunday night.
The strike started just as a new version of the Equinox compact SUV arrives at dealerships, attracting buyers in the hottest part of the U.S. auto market.
The union said GM won't designate the factory as lead producer of the Equinox. GM moved production of the GMC Terrain, which is similar to the Equinox, to Mexico in July, and 600 workers were laid off. The Equinox also is made in Mexico, and workers fear more jobs could go south.
GM said in a statement that it encourages the union to resume negotiations. The company says both sides made positive progress during the past several weeks.
Equinox sales in the U.S. are up 17 percent through August to more than 185,000. GM said the Ingersoll plant is operating at maximum capacity on three shifts.
-- The Associated Press
Rolling Stone puts itself up for sale
NEW YORK --Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner is putting his majority stake up for sale, ready to relinquish control of the magazine.
The magazine, known for music, political and cultural reporting, is the latest publication to give in after years of losing advertising and readership to nimbler online alternatives. Last month, the Village Voice, New York's alternative weekly, closed down its print edition.
When Wenner Media LLC sold a 49 percent stake in Rolling Stone to Singapore-based BandLab Technologies in September 2016, it was the first time Wenner had admitted an outside investor. Gus Wenner, the company's digital chief, said at the time that the deal was an opportunity to take the brand into new and different markets.
Wenner Media hired Methuselah Advisors to explore the sale, according to a statement Sunday. The company didn't say whether Wenner is in talks with any potential suitors. BandLab Technologies, a budding digital music company co-founded by Kuok Meng Ru, the scion of one of Asia's richest families, declined to comment on Wenner's latest statement.
Earlier this year, Wenner Media sold Men's Journal and Us Weekly to American Media Inc. for undisclosed sums.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 09/19/2017