DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 4, 2014: (CHICAGO) — Boeing’s iconic 747 jumbo jet is gliding deeper into its twilight years, with a new Air Force One fleet offering the strongest sales prospect for a passenger model that no longer fits most airlines’ needs.

Even as Boeing talks with Emirates airline about an order for the upgraded 747-8, the carrier played down the chances of a deal because it’s buying 150 Boeing 777X jets. That plane will be bigger and more efficient than the current 777, a twin-engine aircraft so capable that it’s cannibalizing Boeing’s jumbo sales.

Commercial success has proved elusive for the 747-8, the latest update to an almost 50-year-old plane known for its distinctive humpbacked fuselage. While the 747-8 is a lock to win bidding that opens this year to replace the president’s fleet, waning demand for the cargo variant further imperils an assembly line that has slowed to just one or two planes a month.

‘‘Air Force One is it, unless a miracle happens in the airfreight business,’’ said Glen Langdon, president of Langdon Asset Management, a San Francisco firm that has extensive experience selling used 747s and other wide-body freighters.

Discussions with Emirates were disclosed this week by John Wojick, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Chicago-based Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Doha. Emirates is the world’s largest international airline and it operates a fleet of A380s from rival Airbus Group.

Boeing is fighting to land customers, even using trade-ins of older models to seal deals. Boeing faces a ‘‘material’’ accounting loss if it can’t win sufficient 747 orders to recover the costs of development, according to a company filing. So far, Boeing has tallied just 51 sales for the passenger variant, known as the 747-8I or Intercontinental, since Deutsche Lufthansa AG placed the first order in 2006.

This year’s 747-8 order count: one. It wasn’t always so grim. Pan American World Airways announced a $525 million order for 25 of the first 747s in 1966, effectively launching a program that would go on to produce almost 1,500 planes.

But Boeing outdid itself with the 777-9X, the first twin-engine jet designed to carry a jumbo’s haul of 407 passengers. Meanwhile, a glut of the previous 747 iteration remain parked, and Boeing cut 747 production twice last year, to 18 jets a year, as the backlog dwindled.

‘‘We expect 747-8 sales to increase with the economy, and customers flying the airplane tell us they love its strong performance,’’ Randy Tinseth, a Boeing vice-president for marketing, said in an e-mail. ‘‘That’s why we continue to invest in the 747-8, to make it even better.’’

The 747-8’s likeliest sales are to the Pentagon. The Air Force is planning to upgrade the all-747 presidential aircraft fleet by 2023 and has also begun studying whether to replace the ‘‘Doomsday’’ fleet, four 747-200 jets hardened against nuclear blasts that provide a mobile military command, Charles Gulick, an Air Force spokesman, said in an e-mail.

The White House’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposes spending $1.65 billion over five years to replace its aging Air Force One fleet, which began ferrying President George H.W. Bush in August 1990.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
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DTN News - SOUTH AFRICA NEWS: World leaders Remember Nelson Mandela

DTN News - SOUTH AFRICA NEWS: World leaders Remember Nelson Mandela
*Nelson Mandela an Icon a leader and a political stalwart

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Staff Reporter - Reuters 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 6, 2013: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday the world was not likely see a man such as Nelson Mandela again. He said Mandela's commitment to the peaceful transfer of power during South Africa's transition to democracy inspired the world.

"We've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good men. He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the angels.

"I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Mandela. The first political thing I did was protest against apartheid. I studied his words and writings. So long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him."

Mandela passed away at 8.50pm on Thursday.

Obama said South Africa was an example to the world.

"We won't likely see the likes of Mandela again, and it falls to us to follow his legacy: never discount the difference that one man can make."

'A great light has gone out'
United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron, said: "A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time. I've asked for the flag at No. 10 to be flown at half mast."

Bill Clinton, former US president, said Mandela's enduring legacy will be the "embracing of our common humanity".

"Nelson Mandela taught us so much about so many things. Perhaps the greatest lesson, especially for young people, is that, while bad things do happen to good people, we still have the freedom and responsibility to decide how to respond to injustice, cruelty and violence and how they will affect our spirits, hearts and minds.

"In his 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela endured physical and emotional abuse, isolation and degradation. His trials purified his spirit and clarified his vision, giving him the strength to be a free man even behind bars, and to remain free of anger and hatred when he was at last released.

"Mandela's enduring legacy is that, under a crushing burden of oppression he saw through differences, discrimination and destruction to embrace our common humanity," said Clinton.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said: "No one did more in our time for the values and aspirations of the UN."

'Grace and courage'
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Mandela's "grace and courage" had changed the world.

"Every time Melinda and I met Nelson Mandela, we left more inspired than ever. This is a sad day," Gates said.

Former US president George HW Bush, said in a statement: "Barbara and I mourn the passing of one of the greatest believers in freedom we have had the privilege to know. As president, I watched in wonder as Nelson Mandela had the remarkable capacity to forgive his jailers following 27 years of wrongful imprisonment – setting a powerful example of redemption and grace for us all. He was a man of tremendous moral courage, who changed the course of history in his country."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: "Nelson Mandela was of the most honourable figures of our time. He was the father of his people, a man of vision, a freedom fighter who rejected violence. He set a personal example for his people in the long years he spent in prison. He was never arrogant. He worked to mend the tears in South African society and with his character managed to prevent outbursts of racial hatred. He will be remembered as the father of new South Africa and as an outstanding moral leader."

'One of the great forces for freedom'
Former US president George W Bush in a statement said: "President Mandela was one of the great forces for freedom and equality of our time. He bore his burdens with dignity and grace, and our world is better off because of his example. This good man will be missed, but his contributions will live on forever."

"The name Mandela stirred our conscience and our hearts. It became synonymous with the pursuit of dignity and freedom across the globe. Today, a great light has been extinguished. The boy from the Transkei has finished his long walk. His journey transformed not just South Africa, but humanity itself. As we mark his passing, we give thanks for the gift of Nelson Mandela. We ask that his spirit continues to inspire, guide and enlighten us as we strive to bring freedom and dignity to the family of man, our brothers and sisters, across the world," said Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny. 

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said in a statement: "Nelson Mandela was an inspirational leader, and a remarkable man ... For years he symbolised South Africa's hope for a future free from apartheid. Mr Mandela was a force for change, not only in South Africa, but around the world."

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed Mandela as a "true Gandhian" who would continue to inspire future generations after his death.

"A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian," Singh's office tweeted after the news of Mandela's death.

"His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul."

In a separate statement, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee hailed Mandela as "a statesman, world leader and icon of inspiration of humanity".

Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi had his political baptism in South Africa after arriving there in 1893, with his experience of racism in the country shaping his future political activism back home.

India was the first country to sever trade relations with the apartheid regime in Pretoria back in the 1940s. – Additional reporting by Reuters

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Staff Reporter - Reuters 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
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DTN News - SAD CHAPTER OF OUR MANKIND HISTORY: Americans Mark 10th Anniversary Of September 11 Attacks

DTN News - SAD CHAPTER OF OUR MANKIND HISTORY: Americans Mark 10th Anniversary Of September 11 Attacks

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 11, 2011: Americans Sunday remembered the horror of September 11, 2001, and the nearly 3,000 people who died in the hijacked plane attacks as authorities worked to ensure the emotional 10th anniversary was peaceful.

Law enforcement authorities in New York and Washington were on high alert against what was described as a "credible but unconfirmed" threat of an al Qaeda plot to attack the United States again a decade after the toppling of the World Trade Center's twin towers by hijacked airliners.

Security was especially tight in Manhattan, where police set up vehicle checks on city streets as well as bridges and tunnels coming into the city.

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, were scheduled to be among the dignitaries at the Ground Zero site in New York.

They were set to join victims' families to hear the reading of the names of those who died on September 11. Bells will toll across the city.

In the attacks, 19 men from the Islamic militant group al Qaeda hijacked airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

To mark the attacks, Obama was set to visit all three sites.

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of our military personnel and our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security professionals, there should be no doubt: today, America is stronger and al Qaeda is on the path to defeat," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

U.S. forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May.

Sunday's Ground Zero ceremony was set to include moments of silence marking when planes hit the twin towers as well as when they collapsed. Other moments of silence will mark when a plane hit the Pentagon and another crashed in Shanksville after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

Bush, who has kept a low profile since leaving office, was in Shanksville Saturday. "The memory of that morning is fresh, and so is the pain," Bush told a crowd at the site.

'THEIR LIVES MATTERED'

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke Saturday at the opening of a monument to the 746 residents of his state killed in the attacks. The "Empty Sky" memorial in Liberty State Park, across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center, has the names of the dead etched on two 30-foot tall walls, each 208 feet and 10 inches long -- the exact width of the twin towers.

"Their lives mattered," Christie said at the ceremony, which began late because security slowed traffic. "That's why we built this memorial and that's why we come here today."

Security concerns were high in Washington, too. Authorities shut down part of Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia outside the U.S. capital Saturday because of a suspicious object but later said no explosives were found.

New Yorkers, accustomed to heightened security and alerts that have become commonplace over the past decade, appeared to take the increased police presence in stride.

A decade later, after a faltering start, there are signs of rebuilding progress at the World Trade Center site. The new One World Trade Center skyscraper rises more than 80 stories above the ground as it inches to its planned 1,776 foot height -- symbolic of the year of America's independence from Britain.

The memorial plaza is ready and the neighborhood has enjoyed a revival, making it a trendy Manhattan place to live.

The 2001 attacks were followed by U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter of which Obama opposed. The United States still has thousands of troops deployed in both countries.

But the weak U.S. economy has become the biggest concern for many Americans. Obama said, "After a hard decade of war, it is time for nation building here at home."

(Editing by Will Dunham)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Reuters

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*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

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Enough Of The Bushes Already

Enough Of The Bushes Already

(NSI News Source Info) Source: Mike Lupica, Daily News - January 5, 2009: At a time when just about everybody named Bush is frantically trying to rehabilitate the image, and legacy, of the outgoing commander in chief, we now get the most amazing pronouncement yet from the family: Former President George H.W. Bush feels he has another son warming up in the bullpen. "I'd like to see [Jeb Bush] run," the old man said on television Sunday. "I'd like to see him be President one day." Former President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, together in 2006. Now this was a father sounding like a father and acting like one, straight up. That is exactly what the old man - far and away the best of all the Bushes - was Sunday, whether he was talking about Jeb or the current Bush in the White House, the one who will leave office in a couple of weeks being viewed as one of the worst and weakest Presidents in history, as much of a bust-out case as the economy he leaves behind for Barack Obama. That is why nobody, not even Bush 41, this quite honorable old man, a war hero who plans to jump out of an airplane this year to celebrate his 85th birthday, doesn't get to rewrite the story now. It is much too late in the game for that. "It's been tough on his father and his mother," the former President said Sunday, talking about Bush 43 and all the criticism he's received. Even the old man, who now looks like a giant as President compared with his kid, would have to admit it's been somewhat tougher on the country. But he was still out there punching away Sunday, a good soldier to the end, even suggesting that the media in general, and The New York Times in particular, have been "grossly unfair" in its coverage of his oldest son. Again, he's too nice a man to get caught in the crossfire directed at Bush 43 on his way out the door, because none of this mess is his fault. And the old man is allowed to think of the Oval Office as the family business if he wants to. But blaming his son's problems on the media would make about as much sense as Bill Clinton blaming all of his problems on a zipper that worked. Or Eliot Spitzer blaming his issues on the hotel. One week it's Dick Cheney trying to edit the last eight years in America, almost line by line. Then it's Laura Bush, trying to be as good a wife as George H.W. Bush is a father. You half expect them to start buying time on television trying to still run George W. Bush for President as the rest of the country gets ready to kick him to the curb. History, they all keep saying, will have a different view of the last eight years in America. Not without 3-D glasses it won't - or several stiff drinks.