Fixing Boeing, the troubled US aerospace giant, is a “very long-term project”, the company’s top regulator said on Wednesday.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) made the comments to Congress, as lawmakers urged the agency to be tougher on the company to force the company to fix its problems.
Ahead of the hearing, Democratic lawmakers released the results of a damaging internal staff survey that Boeing conducted in May, which found that more than half of Boeing workers felt that “schedule pressures” had caused their team to lower their standards.
Less than two-thirds felt they had the training or tools and materials to do their work properly. Boeing said it knew it had work to do.
“We’ve taken important steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to share their voice, but it will require continuous focus,” Boeing said in a statement.
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“Under the FAA’s oversight, we are continuing to implement our comprehensive plan to strengthen Boeing’s safety management, quality assurance and safety culture.”
The safety and quality of the company’s planes have been in the spotlight since a piece of a new passenger plane broke off in mid-air in January.
The incident raised concern that the company had not done enough to improve its manufacturing processes and safety controls, despite promises made after two its planes were involved in fatal crashes five years earlier.
On Wednesday Senator Richard Blumenthal said that regulators needed to push the company more aggressively to make changes.
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He said he was sceptical that the current plan for improvement adopted by the FAA and the company would make a difference, saying they looked like the company was “recycling” safety commitments it had made years earlier.
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FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker faced questions about the agency’s oversight of Boeing
His concerns about lax oversight were shared by some Republicans on the panel, who noted that whistleblowers from within Boeing were still reaching out to lawmakers with concerns about retaliation and efforts by the company to choose its inspectors.
“We need tough oversight,” Senator Josh Hawley said. “I want to make sure your agency is holding their feet to the fire.”
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said he felt the right rules were now in place to improve the company, pointing to an FAA order that limits Boeing to producing 38 aircraft a month and the agency’s demand that Boeing use better technology to track tools and materials.
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“It’s a much more intensive level of engagement and we plan to maintain that indefinitely,” he said. “The goal here is a culture change at Boeing and that is a very long-term project.”
But Mr Blumenthal said that the production cap was part of a series of “half measures”, noting that Boeing was currently making far fewer aircraft than it could.
He criticised the 11 inspectors the FAA has sent to Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington as “inadequate” and raised concerns that FAA was giving Boeing too much heads-up about regulator audits.
Mr Blumenthal said he thought there would be more effective ways to pressure the company to change, such as capping executive pay.
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The hearing occurred as more than 30,000 factory workers in the Pacific northwest remain on strike over pay and other benefits.
You recently ran two pieces on online fraud (Opinion, August 20; and Inside Business, September 10). This is one of the biggest financial crime threats facing all our societies, and is widely under-reported by victims.
The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists estimates that fraud scams and bank fraud caused $485.6bn in losses globally in 2023; that in Europe 80 per cent of reported frauds are cyber-enabled and that cross-border fraud rates are nine times higher than for domestic fraud.
Luckily, financial intelligence units and regulators of major countries are aware of the threat and taking measures, both by “following the money” and educating the public.
One recent example is the successful investigatory efforts of Tracfin, the French financial intelligence unit, which in 2023 froze six times more suspicious transactions than in 2021 and 2022 combined, part of France’s efforts to curb subsidies fraud, VAT fraud and social security fraud.
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Payment institutions, normally payment originators (banks, electronic money institutions) should make use of all the guidance provided by the authorities to enhance their detection and prevention systems to stop suspicious payments and report them to the authorities.
And finally, potential victims need to be aware of the risk and identify fraud attempts. Of late some US states (California, Pennsylvania and Connecticut) have begun taking legislative measures to force financial institutions to protect their elderly clients by allowing banks and credit unions to suspend or delay payments if the bank suspects exploitation, theft or fraud.
Ultimately, investigators and police rely on victims reporting the crime and on financial institutions reporting on suspicious activity that they observe.
Leonor Vereda Consultant and Former Financial Crime Compliance Officer, UBS Basel, Switzerland
CHOCOLATE lovers have been left thrilled after discovering a “strange combo” hidden within a new Cadbury’s bar.
The expert chocolate makers have tried their hand at creating a bold new flavour that has got shoppers going wild online trying to hunt down the sweet treat.
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The interesting Pink Lemonade Cadbury chocolate bar has finally started hitting shelvesCredit: Facebook / Newfoodsuk
Customers have finally started getting their hands on Cadbury‘s new Dairy Milk Pink Lemonade edition which has recently hit some shelves across the globe.
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Described as being the classic Dairy Milk chocolate on the outside with a “flowing raspberry lemonade flavoured centre”, the snack is sure to attract chocolate fans.
A picture of the oozing pink creme coming from the choc soon went viral online with hundreds curious as to what it tastes like.
One intrigued shopper said: “Oooh i wanna try this.”
A second said: “Need to try that.”
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As a third simply said: “Yummy.”
Despite the seemingly global appeal for fresh new flavours of chocolate the pink delight is actually only available in one country so far.
Australiais the lucky nation who currently sell the Dairy Milk variation with it being seen in various stores including the iconic Woolworths.
They have the 46g bar’s flying off the shelves at the moment.
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For those Brits who are interested in trying out exactly what a mixture of fizzy raspberry and smooth milk chocolate is like then the best bet is to order a bar online.
Ebay are currently advertising a bulk order of the bars online with other companies such as WorldSnacks also having them in stock for a range of different prices.
How to save money on chocolate
WE all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
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Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed on flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
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They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
More chocolate bargains
It comes as shoppers are racing to stock up on their chocolate treats for Christmas – don’t miss out.
The mega deal starts online and in stores tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25.
Customers will need a Clubcard to bag the discount – which will see Cadbury Heroes, Celebrations, Cadbury Roses and Quality Street reduced from £6.00 to £3.95.
This means shoppers will be pocketing a 34 per cent discount on the sweet treats and saving £2.05.
In July a botched software update caused chaos for the airline industry worldwide
When the CrowdStrike software bug bricked 8.5 million computers around the world on 19 July, some of the first people to notice the effects were air travellers.
Anthony Bosman, an academic at Andrews University in Michigan was trying to board his flight from Michigan to Florida when he realised he couldn’t download a mobile boarding pass to his smartphone.
So he went to check in at the airport, in person, and watched in amazement as an airline employee looked up his name on a paper list and then wrote out his boarding pass – by hand.
“It felt like a blast from the past,” he recalls. “The ticket agent, I remember how she commented that her hand was tired from having to write so many of them.” His flight took off as planned.
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Multiple other passengers, including many in India, reported having the same experience that day.
The CrowdStrike bug also hit banks, telecoms firms, health services and online retailers.
This week a senior executive at the firm appeared before a US congressional committee and said he was “deeply sorry” for the chaos caused.
For a brief moment in July, some organisations had to forget about their computer-based processes and do things the old-fashioned way.
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If you look through articles about past cyber-attacks and IT failures on the BBC News website, you’ll find countless examples of organisations that have had to “go back to pen and paper” in the face of disruption.
It sounds an almost pitiful predicament. And yet, while it certainly isn’t desirable, some cyber-experts are now advising companies to plan for switching to paper-based processes in the event of IT failure.
Rather than an ad hoc workaround, pen and paper systems could be something staff practise using from time to time so that they can switch away from their computers seamlessly if required.
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Norsk Hydro
When Norsk Hydro was hacked in 2019 thousands of staff were locked out of the company systems
One company that knows the value of paper is Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy firm.
In 2019, hackers targeted Hydro with ransomware that locked staff out of more than 20,000 computers. Bosses at Hydro decided they would not pay a ransom fee to restore access, meaning that 35,000 staff working across 40 countries had to find other ways of doing their jobs, temporarily.
They dug old binders out of basements with instructions on how to produce particular aluminium products, for instance, recalls Halvor Molland, a spokesman for Hydro. At some locations, by sheer chance, staff had printed out order requests just before the cyber-attack hit.
“Their creativity… was tremendous,” says Mr Molland. While computers with customer information and company data were locked out, factory equipment was mercifully unaffected by the ransomware. At some facilities, staff bought computers and printers from local retailers so they could print off information for factory workers. And vintage office kit came in handy. “We actually had to dust off some old telefaxes,” remembers Mr Molland.
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Although production fell by up to 50% at certain plants, these workarounds kept the business going. “You need to do what you need to do,” as Mr Molland puts it. Reflecting, he suggests that companies might want to keep printed copies of key information such as internal telephone numbers or checklists so that some work can continue even in the event of a massive cyber-attack.
Norsk Hydro
For some tasks Norsk Hydro had to work off paper instructions after the hack
“People have realised the importance of having these manual methods because of the severity of some of the recent cyber-attacks and IT outages,” says Chris Butler, resilience director at disaster recovery and business continuity firm Databarracks.
He mentions one customer his company works with – an industrial distribution firm – that has put together “disaster recovery packs” and sent them to all of its branches. The packs include paper forms and a fax machine – a contingency in case their digital ordering system becomes unavailable. “If that goes down, their only alternative, they realised, was to have these forms.”
Mr Butler suggests that companies have a training day where employees practise using flipcharts and whiteboards instead of computers, to see if they can still do their jobs effectively that way.
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Some organisations recommend using paper for security reasons. Parts of the US court system require certain documents to be filed on either paper, for example, or a secure device such as an encrypted USB drive.
Obviously there are limits to paper-based processes. Mr Butler notes that if bankers, for example, lose access to their trading terminals during an IT incident, they can’t easily switch to paper-based alternatives.
The biggest problem with pen and paper systems is that they don’t scale well, says Gareth Mott, from the Royal United Services Institute. It’s slower than using a computer for many tasks ,and it’s hard or perhaps impossible to coordinate thousands of employees using such methods across multiple office locations.
But practising workarounds really can help, adds Dr Mott. He and colleagues have researched how “war-gaming” and IT failure roleplay exercises can impact employees’ responses to real-life cyber-attacks. “We found that the companies that had done that, sometimes a few weeks before they had a live incident, really benefitted,” he says.
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It’s not just pen and paper that could come in handy. Dr Mott is aware of one firm that bought “crates worth of Chromebooks” for staff in the wake of a cyber-incident, so that they could work without needing access to the company network.
Some companies might have dormant WhatsApp or Signal messaging groups that they can ask employees to use for internal communications, if access to the company email servers goes down, for instance.
Both Dr Mott and Mr Butler stress the importance of off-site or otherwise segregated data backups so that, in the event of a ransomware attack, all that vital information is not necessarily lost.
More Technology of Business
Cathy Miron is chief executive of eSilo, a data backup firm based in Florida. There are hundreds of such companies around the world, including Databarracks, that provide secure data backup services.
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Ms Miron’s company offers off-site, cloud-based data storage on a separate network to that of their customers; and on-site, custom-built servers as well. “We have had a 100% ransomware recovery rate thus far,” she says.
For all the sophistication of contemporary computer systems, it’s the simple, improvised workarounds that can save companies when a crisis hits. Mrs Miron mentions one customer who, at the time of writing, was using a Verizon mi-fi, or mobile broadband wireless router, system to access backup data because their main computer network had been completely shut down following a cyber-incident.
“You should expect it, at some point in time, to be a victim of a cyber-attack,” emphasises Mr Molland. “What do you do in the meantime? How do you keep the wheels turning?”
SILVER SWANS: The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) offers free online ballet classes targeted at older learners from around the age of 55, though there is no strict age limit.
There are also in-person Silver Swan lessons across the UK, some of which are free or low-cost.
Take part and find out more at royalacademyofdance.org.
READ MORE MONEY SAVING TIPS
FREE ZUMBA: Get moving with high-energy Zumba Latin dance classes.
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If you are a member of a gym, check if it is part of regular schedules you can access.
Or sign up for a seven-day free trial of the Zumba Dance Fitness Workout app.
Set a reminder to cancel after the promo period or you will be charged.
CHEER FROM THE SIDES: Strictly is mostly filmed with a live audience at Elstree Film Studios in Hertfordshire.
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The public can soak up the atmosphere with free tickets allocated at random.
Martin Lewis issues reminder to anyone born between 1984 and 2006 as they can get £1,000 free
The majority for 2024 have gone, but tickets for the Christmas Special could soon be released.
Sign up to the mailing list at bbc.co.uk/showsandtours.
TICKETS FOR A TENNER: Sadler’s Wells runs dance productions from flamenco to hip-hop and everything in between at venues across London.
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If you are between 16 and 30, you can get a free Barclays Dance Pass, which unlocks cut-price £10 tickets across Sadler’s Wells venues.
Sign up at sadlerswells.com.
TEA DANCES: Some local authorities run free or low-cost tea dances for older residents.
Contact your local council to find out more.
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Or many of the over 120 local Age UKs across the country hold dance classes that vary from line dancing to ballet.
All are low cost, if not free.
Ask at your local branch or call 0800 678 1602.
All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability
Deal of the day
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Treat your lashes to the Benefit mascara trio, now on offer for £16.20 at lookfantastic.comCredit: lookfantastic.com
BAT those lashes with a Benefit mascara trio, which is now on offer for £16.20 at lookfantastic.com, down from £27.
SAVE: £10.80
Cheap treat
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Robinsons ginger and orange fruit cordial is £3 at Sainsbury’sCredit: Sainsburys
MIX up a tasty refreshment with Robinsons ginger and orange fruit cordial, £3, at Sainsbury’s.
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What’s new?
ASDA has partnered with influencer Erica Davies to create a capsule clothing collection for autumn.
Prices start from £9 and include this leopard-print cardigan, in stores now.
Top swap
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Dyson’s limited-edition pink supersonic hair dryer is £329.99Credit: Dyson
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Save £160 on Boots’ £169.99 versionCredit: Boots
GET salon-style locks with Dyson’s limited-edition pink supersonic hair dryer, £329.99, from John Lewis.
Or bag a serious saving with Mark Hill’s Pick ’n’ Mix Flexi Air styler £169.99, from Boots.
SAVE: £160
Little helper
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RELIVE classic blockbusters including Twister and Despicable Me 4 in immersive 4DX at Cineworld for just £5 a ticket until October 3.
Find your nearest venue at cineworld.co.uk.
Shop & save
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This cute ceramic candle is down from £8 to £5.60 at DunelmCredit: Dunhelm
FILL your home with a delicious seasonal scent from this pumpkin ceramic candle, down from £8 to £5.60 at Dunelm.
SAVE: £2.40
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Hot right now
BAG yourself two twister wraps and two signature fries from KFC for £10 when ordering for delivery through its app.
PLAY NOW TO WIN £200
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Join thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
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Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!
A TRAVEL hacker has revealed the surprising truth about Ryanair aeroplane seats – and which one to book for more leg room.
TikToker Ms Garn warned her 340,000 plus followers “don’t book the aisle seat”.
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Travel hacker Ms Garn has revealed the truth about Ryanair seatsCredit: Getty
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The expert has given the low down on which to book for more leg roomCredit: Getty
In a video on her channel, she said: “Did you know aisle seats have noticeably less floor space compared to the middle and window seat?
“Opt for the middle seat for the most room, followed by my personal favourite the popular window seat.”
Ms Garn, who has travelled to 54 countries and boasts over 8.1 million views, also revealed her “priority boarding hack”.
She said her tip means travellers avoid the “personal item trap” and instead enjoy skipping endless boarding queues and hoping there’ll be space in the overhead locker.
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DISCOVER MORE TRAVEL HACKS
“When you go to book your flight resist the allure of the plus and regular options, and go for basic.
“Don’t fall for the check luggage trap,” the expert explained.
“Then there’ll be another option to ‘add priority’. Don’t do it. Wait for the next screen where you can add it for less.”
She showed an example of it being £22 to add priority boarding, which comes with two free cabin bags instead of paying for checked luggage.
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Ms Garn said she’d also “bagged” the same deal for as little as £10.
New English hotel named among best in the world despite being open less than a year – with incredible secret spy bar
It comes after Sun Travel deputy editor Kara Godfrey and frequent flyer shared a common travel hack she sees other plane passengers use but she hates.
She said: “Flying economy is never comfortable, especially when a plane is busy.
“However, a recent trick has been revealed across social media that can get you an empty seat next to you without paying for it.
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“If you are travelling as a couple, ‘experts’ have said you should book the window seat and aisle seat if the aircraft has a three-seat formation.
“This is because people are unlikely to book a middle seat, so can be left empty if the plane isn’t full.
“And even if the plane is full, it means you can swap with the person anyway to sit next to your friend or partner.
“However, I have fallen victim to this on recent trips.
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“Finding myself in the middle seat, I have been stuck between two friends, one in the aisle and one in the window.
“After realising they were friends, I asked if one of them wanted to trade places with me so they could sit together.
“They declined, so I assumed they would be fine not talking to each other.
“Wrong. What they instead wanted was to keep their “superior” seats while constantly leaning over me to chat.”
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Woman reveals incredible all-inclusive hotel hack and people are obsessed
In August, Lucy Barson shared her all-inclusive top tip with her thousands of followers on TikTok.
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Lucy’s video has now racked up a whopping 748.2K views and 13.7K likes.
The video, found on @lucybarson’s TikTok account, presents her point of view (POV) when it comes to making the most out of an all-inclusive holiday.
“POV: Bought a cup from Tenerife to stop using the tiny all inclusive cups and going to the bar every 10 mins”, she joked.
In the video it appears the TikTokker, and presumably her boyfriend, have nabbed two large pint looking cups with handles to use instead of the all-inclusive’s cups.
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It would seem with cups of this size, far fewer trips to the bar are necessary as the bigger the cup, the bigger the drink.
According to The New York Times, all-inclusive’s usually serve drinks in polystyrene cups.
These cups aren’t recyclable and typically, they tend to be a bit small.
However, this TikTokker has sent fans wild with her new hack.
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“Stop it! I literally saw you walk past the pool with these and wondered where you got them from because that is genius”, said one amazed fan.
Another person shared their experience with hotel cups: “I always take a mug !
“The size of hotel coffee mugs drives me mad. Far to small.”
“Genius!!!”, said a third person.
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While a fourth person commented: “Omg me and my boyfriend was here in July literally up every two seconds for another drink.”
A fifth person offered her own hack: “Even better hack – get a Stanley dupe!! Keeps the drinks cold for ages.”
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Doctors, teachers and police officers are among the public sector workers who have fallen farthest down the UK earnings distribution in the past 15 years, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said on Friday.
The think-tank said its findings, published ahead of next month’s Budget, suggested that future public sector pay deals should be tilted towards higher-paid professions for which recruitment and retention was now hardest.
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In 2007, typical hourly pay for doctors put them in the top 5 per cent of UK employees — a position they had held for the previous three decades. By 2023, they barely made it into the top 10 per cent.
Teachers have also slipped, from the 87th percentile in 2007 to the 81st in 2023.
Police officers’ relative position also worsened, although the IFS said this could be because police forces had expanded rapidly by recruiting less experienced officers.
In contrast, lower paid nurses and civil servants have held their place in the pay distribution, at the 70th and 60th percentiles, respectively.
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Andrew McKendrick, IFS research economist, said reforming public sector pay would be just as important as raising it to make sure of “getting the right people in the right roles”. This might also mean “carefully rebalancing away from pensions and towards higher-paid professions”, he added.
The IFS said its findings remained the same even after accounting for the relative generosity of public sector pensions.
Even within professions, successive pay deals had often protected lower earners while senior staff took a bigger hit, it said, arguing that it was now “almost certainly justifiable” to target senior civil servants and judges for bigger pay rises given growing recruitment and retention problems.
It called for pensions to be rethought, arguing that while public sector pensions remained far more valuable than those in the private sector, many lower paid staff could no longer afford the contributions required.
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The IFS said 15 per cent of entry-level nurses and 20 per cent of doctors in core training were now opting out of the NHS pension because of this, with a similar trend seen in the Metropolitan Police.
Any move to boost public sector pay at the expense of pensions is likely to meet fierce opposition from unions, who argue that the gap between the private and public sectors should be bridged by making private sector pensions more generous, rather than the reverse.
But any further boost to public sector pay will require difficult trade-offs. Even after this year’s £9.4bn pay award, chancellor Rachel Reeves would need to find an extra £6bn a year by 2028-29 if she wanted to raise public sector wages in line with average UK earnings growth, the IFS estimated.
The annual pay bill would need to rise by around £17bn if she wanted to close the gap that has opened up between private and public sector employees since 2019. Increasing the size of the workforce, as the government’s long-term plans for the NHS require, would cost more.
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