Ben Katz
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
I don't think that we can really disconnect this from the new administration. Trump's team have indicated that they're open to taking a lighter touch towards white-collar enforcement. This would be a very high-profile example of that. Boeing clearly sees an opening here to be able to get a slightly more lenient deal in whatever form that takes from the Trump administration.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
And as Ben explains, avoiding a guilty plea could be crucial for Boeing's recovery. Boeing's case is of course really high profile and could potentially have significant ramifications on the company. A guilty plea could seriously impose on its ability to do defense work for the U.S. government, which is of course its biggest customer in terms of defense.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
It could also bar it from doing international defense work, right? And if it can get that leniency, it will be really critical to help alleviate some of the crisis that Boeing is in at the moment. I wouldn't say this is a catch-all that would kind of wipe the slate clean. I mean, Boeing has a lot going through with it. It's facing cases from the families of the victims who died in the crashes.
WSJ What’s News
Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat App
It's also got a lot of work to do in terms of its own corporate culture and manufacturing. But this would be a really big boon for the company.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
At the moment, we're not sure what the cause was. We understand, of course, there was a fire that broke out at a substation in West London. That's, of course, where London Heathrow is based. That led to, as you mentioned, 1,300 flights that were scheduled to fly into and out of Heathrow Airport on Friday being disrupted, many cancelled, over 100 that have been diverted.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
But I think you really touched on the most important part, which is this question of how long will this last? As we know, in the aviation world, schedules are really tight. It takes a long time to recover from this type of disruption. So really a significant moment today, just in terms of travel.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
Yes, absolutely. I mean, Heathrow is a huge port. So this disruption doesn't just impact the lives and experiences of the passengers on board, but also it has a knock-on effect on the broader economy. London also does have a number of other airports that feed into the main city. none of which actually have close to the amount of capacity that Heathrow does.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
This is a critical port, not just in terms of aviation, but across the country. If you're looking at shipping ports, if you're looking at borders, I mean, Heathrow really is at the center of movement of people and goods in and out of the country. How you can kind of compensate with that with much smaller airports around the city or around the country, really unclear.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
So the rolling impacts, I think people will be watching very closely.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
It is an interesting question and one that we've been asking about and curious to kind of investigate a bit further. You do ask the questions about generators, things like that, while alternatives. What is Heathrow's backup plan? These are questions that we're still really trying to find out the answer to.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
We know that National Grid, which is the company that owns the substation in the west of London... that they're working really rapidly with the fire brigade to try and get things up and running as quickly as possible. The other thing maybe worth pointing out is that this has knock on effects, not just in terms of aviation, but across the entire city.
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
So the capital has not been brought to a standstill, but massive delays have been reported on the trains, on the London Underground. Thousands of homes and businesses have gone without power. This is and will become a massive topic within the British media, within the British political realm. How did this happen?
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
How did a fire at a substation bring such a massive halt to such an important part of the country's operations?
WSJ What’s News
Power Outage Shuts Heathrow Airport, Snarling Travel
As we know in the aviation world, schedules are really tight. It takes a long time to recover from this type of disruption. So really a significant moment today.