No survivors from Ethiopian 737 Max crash

Ethiopian Airlines has confirmed there are no survivors from the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 minutes after the jet took off from Addis Ababa. Its group chief executive, Tewolde Gebremariam, has attended the accident scene and the carrier says it “regrets to confirm” that all on board were lost in the crash. Ethiopian […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/no-survivors-from-ethiopian-737-max-crash/

Ethiopian crash likely to aggravate unease over 737 Max

Loss of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8, just a few minutes after take-off, is likely to stir disquiet over the re-engined type which emerged during the probe into a Lion Air Max 8 accident. Ethiopian Airlines has five Max 8s in its fleet and the aircraft involved (ET-AVJ) was only delivered to the […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/ethiopian-crash-likely-to-aggravate-unease-over-737-max/

Will it be prudent for Jet’s promoters to put in Rs 750 crore further?

Jet Airways was founded by Naresh Goyal 25 years ago and is currently 51% owned by him.  24% of its stake is  held by the Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways. Till September 2018, the airline operated 124 planes, of which 16 were owned and the rest were taken on lease. As per Jet Airways website, the airline has 119 aircraft in its fleet. However, only 70 are currently operational. The remaining 49 aircraft are grounded and the airline has been told to ensure that passengers do not suffer because of flight cancellations resulting from this situation, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Lessors take action on Jet Airways every other day. At least seven of them have claimed pending payments for leasing and maintenance reserves since October. As the deadline draws near—around the end of 2019—when Jet Airways may file for bankruptcy, lessors will like to get their aircraft out of India in time.

India’s Jet Airways is seriously embroiled in a quagmire of debt and losses resulting in the grounding of its aircraft fleet and the cancellation of some 200 flights a day. The revenues continue to slump while the costs increase; the gap is getting progressively wider.

Jet Airways owes more than $300 million to government-owned State Bank of India (SBI). The airline has overall Rs 8,000 crore of debt outstanding and a current market capitalisation of Rs 2,766 crore. Over Rs 2,500 crore of loans are coming up for repayment in FY20 and currently the airline is not earning enough cash to feed itself.

In banking business, lenders do not want to be shareholders in their borrowers’ ventures, because they have little knowledge of their business. In case of Jet Airways. they, however, agreed to a debt conversion.  As per the comprehensive resolution plan, lenders will convert part of their debt into equity with a 49% stake in the airline.

The buzz in aviation industry is: ‘Keeping Jet flying is crucial for lenders because apart from collecting advance money through future ticket sales, there is no way for them to recover their loans. Lenders have thus no choice but to convert debt into equity.’

SBI and Punjab National Bank (PNB) will bring in Rs 500 crore as an emergency infusion, subject to other lenders agreeing to the two banks being allowed to take out their money first. This is subject to the airline promoters (Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airlines) bringing in additional Rs 750 crore as promoter contribution.

The airline faces a bleak future.

Today, the Jet Airways situation is so critical that ’emergency financing’ is needed desperately to keep Jet’s planes in the air and to re-induct aircraft that have been grounded for lease-payment defaults or for want of spares.

Jet Airways could get emergency funding if the promoters agree to bring in Rs 750 crore. Etihad could help Goyal further if he agrees to step down from his management control.

To lend further some reassurance, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) earlier this year has said that it is carefully watching the Jet Airways situation as the airline is on its billing settlement plan.

“Jet Airways continues to be of good standing in the IATA settlement systems,” IATA official Albert Tjoeng told media. “We are in regular communication with the airline to review their position.”

Lifeline for Jet Airways only after promoters put in Rs 750 crore

Jet Airways’ future, thus, hinges on bank debt settlement. More specifically, it is on the Rs 750 crore that Goyal and Etihad are supposed to bring.

In business circles the buzz is: ‘Even after putting in further Rs 1000 + Rs 750 crores in Jet Airways, there is no guarantee that the airline will start earning profitably. First and foremost, it has a mountain of liabilities to clear presently lying as backlog. With a Rs 750 crore in hand, an investor has a wide range of other  investment choices. To put money further in Jet Airways will surely not make a prudent business sense.’

As such, the lenders should now see on ways and means to salvage their money by liquidating Jet’s visible movable and immovable assets. After two months since December, the lenders could only manage to draw a plan which is non-workable. While Jet Airways kept losing one plane after another to its lessors, the lenders just wasted their rime, money and resources.

While the lessors can predict Jet Airways go bankrupt by 2019 end, the lenders did not like to spare a thought on it. They exercised on something else and wasted two full months.  They should have started salvage proceedings immediately after December 2018 because that, too, takes its own time. With every passing minute, Jet’s assets’ value is diminishing with no signs of any recovery or addition in near future.

The on-lookers have now become accustomed to the news of Jet’s flights getting cancelled, its planes being repossessed. Today, a stage has reached for Jet Airways from where it is destined to go into the annals of aviation history as another failed story.

Why the Tide Is Turning in Favor of the BJP

The increasing popularity of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the masses has now become the chief factor that would shape the political destiny of India.

As in every sphere, mass behavior is an ever changing variable. None more so than in the case of the Indian electorate.

Earlier: The only thing predictable about Indian elections is that they are unpredictable.

Now: The writing is on the wall. Its BJP, the PM Modi all the way.

The increasing popularity of PM Modi and sharply decreasing acceptability of the Modi opponents among the masses are all helping in a big way to shape the future of India. The opposition have been creeping slowly towards innovation and are simply out of pace with the ever agile PM Modi dominating the current scene. Over the next 2 months or so, India is likely to change dramatically from what it is today in almost all spheres of public life.

The Impact: Post Feb 26

Consider the Rs. 95,000-crore scam in the IL&FS group. Government entities like the LIC, the Central Bank of India and the SBI are major shareholders in IL&FS. This scam did happen and the government cannot wash its hands of the responsibility as the stakeholders are government companies. But, the fact of the matter is that such a subject along with issues with the RBI and the CBI and many others have swiftly gone into oblivion.

Moreover, the earlier trending topics of unemployment, farm-loan waive off, Ayodhya, agrarian distress and graft allegations on the BJP-led government are now fully off the electoral discourse.

These and many other issues are of no importance now. The only thing that now matters is: ‘the PM Modi did teach Pak a lesson, others could not have done it.’

Such has been the impact post Feb 26 operations!

So, what has been the key factor which brought a sudden upsurge in BJP poll prospects? What will be the key areas for innovation that political parties need to focus on hereinafter?

Patriotism, the new found zeal

While minority appeasement, divide-and-rule policies have dominated Indian political contests since the ’70s, post Feb 26, 2019 patriotism is set to be the chief sentiment to influence the mind of an electorate. This is now a new found zeal among the Indian masses, it cuts across all socio-economic lines, it raises the bar above the lines of religion, caste and gender. Political groups who used to run their offices on these lines now cut sorry figures. Whenever they are confronted with questions like ‘would you have done it (teach Pak a lesson)’, they become inarticulate.

For over four decades, India has been the victim of terrorist activities. Several governments (most of their leaders in opposition now) have come and gone, the situation only worsened. It only took a sequence of recent  incidents- starting from Pulwama Feb 14 and culminating in a swift 19-minute IAF operation on Feb 26- which generated the huge pro-Modi invincible tsunami wave which engulfed the whole of India.

The First-timers.

Adding one more level of strength is the young electorate, the 18-19-year-olds, the 10 crore first-time voters. These voters — born between 1997 and 2001 — were not eligible to vote in the 2014 elections. In 2019 election, however, they will hold the key in as many as 282 seats across 29 states, where there could be more first-time voters than their respective winning margins in 2014.

First-time voters vote with little political baggage, may drift to any direction but could become steadfast loyalists of one particular party. They behave differently. They are often better informed, more educated and tech-savvy than the rest of their family, and they can take a stand that goes against the family’s established political leanings. They can also have an impact on elections by acting as opinion-makers and influencers in their circle of family and friends. Young Muslims, for example, are getting attracted to the BJP as they see organic development and dignity to all. (Read triple talaq) Partition phobia is long over.

With the big battle of 2019 approaching, political parties are on an overdrive to engage with the young electorate. The BJP, for example, has been organising booth-level events for nav matdata (new voters) to convert them into life members.

The big question, thus, is which political party will succeed in establishing the correct narrative ahead of the 2019 LS elections to attract the first-time voter. With the spread of 4G connectivity to interiors of India and cheaper smartphones, the 2019 battle is likely to be fought as much on phones as in the streets. Maybe, the younger lot will find phones more handy.

Simultaneous development projects.

In the meantime, the PM Modi kept himself busy with numerous project launches everywhere in India.

All these, being official functions, the PM Modi makes full use of such occasions and effectively does his electioneering at the government’s expense. The Prime Minister does not waste a moment to target opposition leaders and label their actions as “anti-national” or pro “Pak activities”.

In one fell swoop, the opposition fell into the trap the PM Modi set for them. This, so far, has been his way of setting the agenda for the 2019 LS elections.

Hats off to the statesmanship of the PM Modi. He does deserve a nomination for the Nobel Peace prize. Indeed, a second term for Team Modi at office seems more assured now.

​PICTURES: British Airways reveals Landor 747-400 retrojet

The latest British Airways retrojet, a Boeing 747-400 painted in the Landor livery of the 1980s and 1990s, emerged this morning from the paint-shop in Dublin. Max Kingsley-Jones/FlightGlobal The aircraft, registration G-BNLY, was ferried to London Heathrow this morning ahead of its service-entry later today to Miami operating BA211. Max Kingsley-Jones/FlightGlobal The scheme, which is […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/%e2%80%8bpictures-british-airways-reveals-landor-747-400-retrojet/

28 Jet Airways planes Grounded so far

SINGAPORE, March 8

FLY Leasing Ltd has grounded three planes on lease to India’s Jet Airways Ltd and will take them back and redeploy them elsewhere if the airline cannot gain approvals for a restructuring plan this month, the lessor’s CEO said.

Jet Airways on Thursday said another three aircraft had been grounded due to its failure to make payments, taking the total number to 28, but it has not specified the lessors involved.

Also Read: Jet Airways : Way for lenders to infuse funds and nominate directors cleared

The grounding of almost 25% of Jet’s fleet has resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights and complaints from customers on social media.

Several major global aircraft leasing companies, like AerCap Holdings NV and BOC Aviation have leased planes to Jet Airways which is currently facing a number of financial woes. It has defaulted on lease payments which has not gone well with the lessors. It is simply not in a position to pay the loans and has not even paid salaries to its staff including pilots. Even it owes huge sums of money to its suppliers for months.

“We have grounded our aircraft, we have control over our aircraft, but we have not terminated the leases and we are waiting for the airline to approve all its restructuring with the State Bank of India,” FLY Leasing CEO Colm Barrington told analysts on a results call on Thursday.

“If that goes through at the end of the month, obviously, we will stay with Jet. If they can’t get that done, then we’ll take our aircraft back and redeploy.”

Jet Airways had three relatively young Boeing Co 737-800s on lease which accounted for almost 3 percent of lessor FLY Leasing’s revenue.

Jet Airways has outlined a draft to sell a majority stake to a consortium led by the State Bank of India at 1 rupee, under regulations that permit banks to convert debt to equity in a defaulting firm.

The stake sale will be followed by an equity raising, debt restructuring and the sale and leaseback of jets to help plug a $1.2 billion funding gap, but the plan needs approvals from several stakeholders, including major shareholder Etihad Airways.

Is Investing in the Global Renewable Energy Sector in 2019 a Good Idea?

The world is going green, everyone says. For businesses, this often means using more environment-friendly ways of doing business. From the perspective of an investor, going green may mean impact investing, that is making investments in schemes that aim to make a positive impact on the environment.

Investing in renewable or alternative energy has become a frequent topic of discussion in investment circles. A few statistics below show why the global renewable energy sector is becoming increasingly attractive with time:

• Rising global energy demands: The rapid growth of emerging economies like India and China is driving worldwide energy usage higher and higher. According to The Guardian, global energy demand will increase by approximately 40% over the next twenty years.
• The decline in coal use: The International Energy Outlook 2017 by the US Energy Information Administration indicates that worldwide use of coal is predicted to fall to 22% in 2040 from 27% in 2015.
• Flat oil demand: Demand for oil begins to flatten from 2020 and will plunge from 2028, as DNV GL’s Energy Transition Outlook predicts.
• Increasing use of renewables: Renewable energy now makes close to 20% of global energy consumption. Alternative energy sources are predicted to be the fastest growing source of energy over the next 20 years. By 2050, solar photovoltaic, hydroelectric, and wind power will make up 85% of global electricity. (Renewables 2018 Global Status Report GSR, Ren21)
• Falling cost of solar, wind and other alternative energy sources: Improved infrastructure and use of higher voltage cables have significantly reduced the cost of generating electricity from these renewable sources.

Why the global shift to alternative energy?

The world battles with global warming. The Paris Agreement on climate change signed by hundreds of countries in 2016 saw the world agree to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 C and no more than 2 percent above pre-industrial levels. This will help greatly to reduce the effects and risks of climate change.

Investing in Renewable Energy

Whenever and wherever discussions on renewable energy are held, investors ask some questions, such as:

1. What are the available opportunities to invest in renewable energy?
2. How profitable is investing in renewable energy stocks?
3. Is renewable energy a good investment?
4. Should I diversify my portfolio with alternative energy investments?

Statistics clearly show that the market for renewable energy has high growth prospects. We are looking at a compound annual market growth rate of 7.5 percent, driven by world economic growth, more incentives for generation and use of renewables, and more cost-effectiveness of renewables. Many international investors have already capitalized on these trends.

If you want to diversify into this market, there are currently two well-established ways of investing in renewable energy stocks, namely: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Sustainable Energy Mutual Funds.

1. Alternative Energy ETFs

An ETF is a security that mirrors or tracks a single sector, market index, or basket of assets. This means that their value fluctuates with that of the particular index or industry sector they are tracking. ETFs can be traded in real time like shares.

Sustainable energy ETFs are attractive investments for individual investors who want to invest in a diversity of financial securities in the sector. They typically have lower fees than mutual fund shares.

The best alternative energy ETFs for international investors are those that offer exposure to the world’s largest companies in the renewable energy sector. They include:

• iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN)
• Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN)
• PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio ETF (PBD)
• SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP)
• Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE)
• Invesco DWA Energy Momentum Portfolio ETF (PXI)
• iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO)

Source: Investopedia, EFTdb.com

2. Sustainable Energy Mutual Funds

A renewable energy mutual fund is an investment vehicle in which investors pool funds to invest in alternative energy companies. Mutual funds take the form of a company, which has the responsibility of investing in viable securities that can provide each investor with a return for their investment. As an investor, you buy shares in a mutual fund.

Examples of alternative energy mutual funds can be found at altenergystocks.com

Important Considerations

The risk is an inherent element of any type of investment. Investors need to carefully consider the risk factors associated with investing in renewable energy stocks before putting in their money in the sector.

It is also noteworthy that investing all your funds in one sector increases the risk of your investment as all your returns are dependent on the performance of the sector. Diversify your investment portfolio across different sectors, asset classes, and geographical areas. Your decision to invest in renewable energy companies should, therefore, be a part of a larger plan to build a well-balanced portfolio with other types of investments.