Boeing in El Segundo has opened a new mission control center, from which the company controls the satellites it launches into space.
Boeing uses the center to make sure the satellites deploy correctly from the rocket and enter the appropriate orbit around the Earth. Then Boeing hands control of the satellite to the customer that purchased it.
Boeing will show off the new center to the media on Monday.
I'll give you an update afte I see it.
The vehicle market is in a bad slide, but not as bad as real estate. However, that could change. The problem is not just that car makers can't unload their gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks because of high gas prices.
The fact is that vehicles today are made so well and can last so long that with the bad economy, people find that they really don't need to buy a new car. They'll just keep their 6-year-old vehicle, which works just fine.
Here's the job cuts story below.
GM to cut 15 pct of US, Canadian salaried workersDETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. plans to cut 15 percent of its U.S. and Canadian salaried work force -- or around 5,100 jobs -- by Nov. 1 as part of a plan to slash billions of dollars in costs and help the automaker ride out a slump in U.S. sales.
A GM official declined to confirm the specific numbers Wednesday but indicated they were generally accurate. The official asked not to be named because the company had not planned to release the numbers until later.
Word of the cuts came two days before GM plans to release its second-quarter earnings. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are predicting a loss of $2.63 per share on revenues of $44.6 billion amid plummeting U.S. truck and sport utility vehicle sales and restructuring costs.
GM's sales outside North America grew 10 percent in the first half of this year thanks to strong growth in Russia, Brazil and other emerging markets. But it wasn't enough to keep Toyota Motor Corp. from taking the sales lead, or to offset losses at home. GM's U.S. sales fell 16 percent in the first six months of this year, sharper than the industrywide decline of 10 percent.
NEW YORK - Department store chain Mervyns LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, the latest in a series of merchants stumbling in the harsh retail environment and another blow to the nation's struggling malls.The company, which had been languishing for several years, said that all of its 175 stores will remain open and business will continue as it reorganizes. Privately held Mervyns operates mainly in California, and has seen its sales drop further as the state is among the hardest hit by the real estate slump.
Read the full story.
A tangible result of saving the LA Air Force Base from closure.
Three years after local politicians and activists succeeded in persuading the Defense Department to keep the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, some of the local leaders who led that campaign will be able to see one of the tangible benefits from their effort.
Read teh full article.
Here's the link.
Press Demo and then Start.
Find out the answers to the following questions:
- How do you keep from eating the candy as you make it?
- Do you get a lot of cavities?
- Do you ever have food fights with the candy?
Read the full Q&A.
This week's Business Casual Column.
Strawberry Man's patch of heaven
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Business Casual
I had driven past the same wooden trailer on a dusty San Pedro intersection many times over the years.On a whim, I recently pulled into the dirt lot on the southwest corner of Western Avenue and Ninth Street.
That is where I met an otherwise forgettable man in a red shirt and cap selling large aromatic strawberries. Except that man, Ray Romero, is hardly forgettable - at least not to his customers, who call him the Strawberry Man.
I spent part of that afternoon with Romero to learn what makes the Strawberry Man special.
Read the full column.
Perhaps too little too late. The housing market slide is like the dot-com bubble bursting. There's little you can do except watch this slow-motion train wreck.
Housing rescue bill heads to Bush for signature
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress passed a housing rescue bill Saturday aimed at sparing 400,000 struggling homeowners from foreclosure. President Bush is expected to sign the measure quickly.The measure, approved by a 72-13 vote during a rare weekend session in the Senate, lets homeowners who cannot afford their monthly payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes. The bill also offers a temporary financial lifeline to the troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and tightens controls over them.
There would be higher limits on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy and the Federal Housing Administration can insure. The loans would be capped at $625,000.
Read the full story.
Read about the South Bay's drop in housing prices.
On Friday, American Honda Motor Co., based in Torrance, delivered its first hydrogen fuel cell-powered FCX Clarity for lease.
Film producer Ron Yerxa and wife Annette Ballester of Santa Monica took delivery of their Clarity on Friday from Honda of Santa Monica, one of three dealerships in Southern California that are part of the first fuel cell vehicle dealership network. Scott Robinson Honda also is part of the Clarity FCX network.
About 200 customers will lease the vehicle in the U.S. and Japan over the next three years, with most being leased in Southern California.
The Clarity has significant advances over Honda's previous generation FCX, including a 25% increase in combined fuel economy to 72 miles/kg of hydrogen (equivalent to 74 mpg) and a greater than 30 percent increase in driving range up to 280 miles.
The median home price for June in Torrance fell 5% to $570,000, compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the California Association of Realtors.
More stats to come later.
This includes Ralphs and Food 4 Less.
The whole jalapeno scare will make people even more nervous about what they eat. First kids' toys, then veggies and beef. What's next?
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The nation's largest traditional grocery chain has removed jalapeno peppers from its stores as a precaution.Kroger Co. spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Thursday it decided to halt jalapeno sales after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported Monday that a McAllen, Texas, distributor was recalling jalapenos because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. She said Kroger removed jalapenos the next day, even though none of its supply was from the Texas distributor.
"It's a precautionary measure," she said.
Glynn said Kroger had received no complaints from customers suspecting jalapenos made them ill.
On Monday, the Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B announced a voluntary recall of products containing fresh jalapenos after government inspectors found a strain of salmonella on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas.
H.E. Butt Grocery Co., based in San Antonio, also said its move was precautionary. The privately held grocer operates more than 300 stores in Texas and Mexico.
The government is warning against eating fresh jalapenos or products made from them while it continues to investigate a national salmonella outbreak initially linked to tomatoes.
Some interesting, but not surprising, results from a survey conducted by The Five O' Clock Club, a national career coaching and outplacement firm.
"A survey conducted among job seekers shows that supervisors are mishandling the termination process," according to the organization. "The striking facts show that, across an entire spectrum of industries, workers are very unhappy with the way they're treated."
Here's some results:
- 82% of the time, employees received no positive feedback about their time at the company, even those workers that had been with the company for five years- or more!
- 69% of workers say that they would not recommend the organization to other job seekers, based solely on how they were treated during the exit interview.
- 74% of workers said that, in their estimation, they could have been treated more equitably and kindly during their exit interview.
Richard Bayer, Chief Operating Officer of the Five O'Clock Club, said, "The termination process is very bruising to the employee. It destroys self-esteem, and makes it difficult to pick up the pieces and move forward. Managers often forget to have a human touch --feedback about performance, both positive and negative, and being able to say a kind word. If you have to terminate an employee, why not leave their dignity intact?"
Advice for employers when firing people:
- Be Honest: Tell the employee what went wrong. People are more likely to go forward if they are given a reasonable explanation.
- Be Positive: Yes, a kind word helps. For example, "You've been a trooper. I'm sorry that the organization has moved in a different direction."
- Be Compassionate: Allow for a "decompression period". Let them have some control over how they leave. If possible, let them finish tasks they want to finish and make arrangements for keeping in touch with co-workers.
- Be pragmatic.: Have available full written summaries of severance benefits prepared with as much care as the benefit booklets handed to new hires.
- Seek Closure.: Discuss other issues such as professional references, so the employee can formulate a strategy to move forward.
- Help Them Move On.: Provide your employees with outplacement services that position them the best for the long run.
Daily Breeze reader Austin Chu left this comment on the Biz Waves blog after reading my story on Mervyns' financial troubles:
"I work for a company that manages and tracks gift cards, and I've been following retailers filing for bankruptcy on savvywallet.com. My advice? Go spend your gift cards, you may not know how long they will be accepting them. Don't forget The Sharper Image incident: $75m in unused gift cards."
I expect Toyota's sales lead over GM to continue this year as high gas prices continue to give makers of high-gas-mileage vehicles an advantage over makers of gas guzzlers.
Toyota beats GM in worldwide sales in first half(AP) Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it sold 4.8 million vehicles between January and June, up 2 percent from the same period a year ago. General Motors Corp. says it sold 4.5 million vehicles in the same period, or about 300,000 less than Toyota.
GM says its total sales fell 3 percent in the first half of the year due to economic pressures and labor disruptions in the U.S. market. But the automaker says it posted record-breaking sales in other regions, including Latin America, Asia and Europe.
GM narrowly beat Toyota in total sales last year to retain the title of the world's largest automaker by sales.
I would be surprised if it happens simply because of the cost of living in Southern California would force the aircraft maker to pay much higher salaries, rent, etc., than in, say, Nashville. However, the aviation expertise is here already. So the learning curve and ramp-up time would be much less.
AVIATION: German company is also considering several other cities for its international headquarters. By John Canalis Staff WriterLONG BEACH -- A German aerospace company is considering building a new airplane in Long Beach, according to news reports.
The project would also likely include the unnamed company's international headquarters and the addition of about 400 jobs.
Long Beach was cited among a number of locations in the running for the project by Miami Today, a business publication serving South Florida.
Miami, North Carolina, South Carolina, the United Arab Emirates, Croatia and Indonesia are also contenders to build the "fully certified" aircraft, the newspaper reported.
Whether the airplane would be for commercial or private use was unclear.Citing Miami-Dade County's practice of keeping potential employers' names under wraps during negotiations, the newspaper did not name the company, which is apparently seeking $3.9 million in tax incentives from various government agencies in Florida.
Officials with the Boeing company in Long Beach were not immediately aware of the project.
It was unclear from the report whether the German outfit would seek tax breaks from California, Los Angeles County and the city of Long Beach, but asking for such incentives is commonplace when high-paying manufacturers shop for new locations.
The company could choose a city by fall, begin hiring by winter and start construction in winter, the newspaper reported.
In addition to the assembly line and headquarters, the company plans to establish an aerospace research and development center.
A representative for Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster was unaware that Long Beach was being considered but said that other airplane manufacturers had made inquiries about doing business here in the past.
The last commercial jetliner to be built in Southern California, the Boeing 717, was assembled in Long Beach.
Boeing still makes the C-17 military cargo plane here. On Monday, Boeing announced that it reached a deal to sell two C-17s to Qatar, an Arab emirate.
In LA County, the hardest hit cities by foreclosures in the second quarter, according to Mt. Pleasant, Penn.-based Default Research:
Los Angeles (2423)
Palmdale (952)
Lancaster (920)
Long Beach (572)
Pomona (292)
Santa Clarita (284)
Compton (268)
Los Angeles County foreclosures led Southern California in the second quarter with 24,968 Notice of Default and Notice of Trustee Sales.
Biz Waves reader DK wrote that he has a loan with IndyMac, and asked if the bank's failure and subsequent takeover by the FDIC will affect his loan.
The FDIC is assuring the public that the Pasadena-based thrift will continue to operate as a bank. The loans it has outstanding should not be affected.
However, if you have more than $100,000 in an account at the bank, that's a different story.
I stopped by the Torrance store across from Del Amo. The Torrance store still had mostly stocked shelves. Customer traffic appeared normal for early afternoon on a Monday.
Here's part of an AP story:
Mervyns LLC, the Hayward-based discount department store chain, could be the latest casualty of the fiercely competitive retail climate.The privately held company, which operates about 175 stores in seven states but primarily in California, is facing bare shelves and a cash crunch as vendors are delaying shipments and key lenders that provide finance and credit to apparel makers have stopped approving orders.
"We are advising clients to hold off shipments primarily due to lack of communications from management," said Bob Carbonell, chief credit officer at Bernard Sands LLC, a credit monitoring company.
Carbonell, who said he's working with several dozen clients that sell to the chain, noted that Mervyns had been consistently providing financial updates until about a week ago.
A person close to the company who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue said GMAC Commercial Finance stopped approving orders of merchandise last week.
The South Bay has two Mervyns stores. The Torrance location is at 22015 Hawthorne Blvd., across the street from Del Amo Fashion Center. A store in Redondo Beach helps anchor the South Bay Galleria, at 1799 Hawthorne Blvd.
The Torrance firm is in today's paper. Here's the link.
If not years away.
Economy needs months to recover: Paulson(REUTERS) The U.S. economy will need months to recover from a growth slowdown caused by a home mortgage crisis, turmoil in financial markets and high energy prices, Treasure Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday.
Paulson also told CBS television's "Face the Nation" he was optimistic Congress would approve the Bush administration's request for authority to lend money to the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Read the full story.
AcuNetx Inc., the Torrance-based marketer of medical tools, said Friday that president and CEO Ronald A. Waldorf has resigned to spend more time with his family.
Waldorf's position will be filled on an interim basis by Robert S. Corrigan, chairman of AcuNetx's board and a "seasoned" executive with more than 25 years of experience in corporate finance and business development, the firm said.
In a release, Corrigan said that he planned to build the company by growing sales, shoring up the balance sheet and strengthening ties to lenders.
Here's this week's installment of Business Casual, in case you missed it.
Gamers give right arms for careers
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Business Casual
I went up against Emmanuel "Master" Rodriguez, the world's top-ranked male player of Dead or Alive 4, a video game of hand-to-hand combat.I won. Easily. He never had a chance.
Read the full column.
The South Bay was spared. Here's a link to the list.
iSuppli Corp., the El Segundo-based producer and disseminator of technology-market data, said Thursday that it is acquiring Telematics Research Group Inc., which produces market data for vehicle electronics.
Established in 2000 and based in Minnetonka, Minn., TRG is a worldwide research firm that analyzes and forecasts global and regional demand trends for numerous automotive and mobile electronics technologies.
TRG's operations will be integrated with the existing iSuppli Automotive Infotainment and Electronics Services, along with its research on vehicle Microelectromechnical Systems, to form a broader automotive research practice, iSuppli said.
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the El Segundo-based group that promotes research on the disease, said Thursday that it will benefit financially from a new custom credit card program.
The anti-cancer group partnered with CardPartner Inc. to offer the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Platinum Visa credit card.
The Network receives $50 for each card activated, plus a percentage of every dollar charged to each card.
Funds earned through the card will help support the group's anti-cancer programs.
in case you missed today's jobs story.
Region's jobs outlook is bleak for housing, finance and manufacturing By Muhammed El-Hasan, Staff WriterThe region's economy will hobble along this year and next as job growth continues at a trickle, according to a study to be released today.
Nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County will increase by a modest 0.1 percent, or 2,300 jobs this year, says the midyear forecast by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.
The meager growth will worsen the county's job prospects. Unemployment is expected to reach 6.2 percent this year, compared to 5 percent last year, the forecast says.
"It is severely stressed," Jack Kyser, the LAEDC's chief economist, said of the Southern California economy. "There are little bits of good news, but in general it is an economy that is struggling."
Read the full story.
Video gamers rejoice.
(AP) One word sums up the announcements made by the Big Three gaming companies at the E3 this week: more.
During their flashy press conferences, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all announced plans for more games, more sequels, more exclusives, more connectivity and more ways for gamers to use their systems for stuff other than gaming.
Such an escalation in enhancements is undoubtedly good news for existing owners of the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 consoles, as well as their handheld counterparts.
However, the upgrades may leave the systems feeling less distinct than ever before.
Similar features and comparative accessories could confuse financially strapped consumers looking to power up this holiday season.
Microsoft kicked off E3 Monday at the Los Angeles Convention Center with a ceremony
pitching the Xbox 360 as family-friendly. Perhaps the biggest announcement was a
redesign of the console's interface, which will allow users to create avatars that can
interact with each other and play select games online. The Wii's already had that feature -- called Miis -- since its 2006 debut.
Can't we just all get along?
Customers furious in Day 2 of IndyMac fed takeover(AP) Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.
At least three police squad cars showed up early Tuesday as tensions rose outside the San Fernando Valley branch of Pasadena-based IndyMac.
Federal regulators seized Pasadena-based IndyMac on Friday and reopened the bank Monday under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Deposits to $100,000 are fully insured by the FDIC.
Worried customers with deposits in excess of insured limits flooded IndyMac Bank branches on Monday, demanding to withdraw as much money as they could or get answers about the fate of their funds.
When it was clear some wouldn't get in before closing, FDIC employees apparently took down names and told them to return Tuesday.
Other customers began lining up at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, and by dawn, tensions escalated because people on the list were getting priority.
By 8 a.m., about 50 people on the list waited in one line and many more waited in another. Five people were allowed in at a time.
Customers became infuriated, and police told them they could be arrested if they didn't remain calm.
Police stood by at some other branches around Southern California but there were no other reports of problems.
The video is from Monday at the Farnborough Airshow in England. Just to remind you, Raytheon in El Segundo makes the Raptor's main computer processor. Lockheed Martin is the prime on the military aircraft.
Here's the video.
Here's the Q&A
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)-- The government's seizure of IndyMac Bank raises concerns for many consumers about whether their banks might be next.While it is unlikely the nation will see thousands of banks fail as they did during the
savings and loan industry collapse in the late 1980s and early '90s, analysts predict
there will be more battered financial institutions that are unable to survive in
today's marketplace."IndyMac's failure is certainly a broader issue," said Eva Weber, an analyst at Aite
Group, a financial services research firm. "Those who are trenched in more risky
business, who are feeling more heavy losses, may be at more risk."On Friday, the Office of Thrift Supervision transferred control of the California
lender to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. because it did not think IndyMac could
meet its depositors' demands. By Monday, the bank reopened as IndyMac Federal Bank,
FSB, and customers whose deposits were insured by the FDIC were able to access full
banking services, including online banking, during normal business hours.IndyMac, like many of the nation's banks, was facing pressures of tighter credit,
tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures. In recent weeks it had experienced a run
on the bank, with depositors pulling out $100 million a day.Here are some questions and answers about the government's role when a bank fails and if other banks are at risk:
Q: Why did the government seize IndyMac's assets?
A: Regulators closed IndyMac after customers began a run on the lender following the
June 26 release of a letter by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., urging several bank
regulatory agencies that they take steps to prevent IndyMac's collapse. In the 11 days
that followed the letter's release, depositors took out more than $1.3 billion,
regulators said.
In a statement Friday, Schumer said IndyMac's failure was due to long-standing
practices by the bank, not recent events.
The financial institution spent the last two weeks trying to reassure customers that it
was not near default, including announcing that it had stopped accepting new loan
submissions and planned to slash 3,800 jobs, or more than half of its work force.Q: What happens when the government takes over a bank?
A: In such a scenario, called a conservatorship, a bank's regulator takes control of
the company and oversees their operations. The move is to maximize the value of the
institution for a future sale and to maintain banking services in the communities
formerly served by the bank.Q: Is my bank at risk?
A: John Bovenzi, the former chief operating officer of the FDIC put in charge of
IndyMac, reassured consumers late Sunday that bank failures have been rare in the past, and that if more banks do fail, the government has enough in reserve. According to
regulatory policy, there is no advance notice given to the public before a bank's
assets are seized by federal regulators.
"I think the important point to make is that, historically, only a very small
percentage of the banks on our problem banks list ever failed," Bovenzi said on CNN.
"While there are 90 banks on the list, there would be no expectation that 90 of those
banks would fail."
According to the FDIC, IndyMac is the fifth U.S. bank or thrift that has failed this
year. In 2007, only three financial institutions failed, a small number when compared
to the 2,808 institutions that failed between 1982 and 1992.Q: How can I make sure my money is safe?
A: All deposit accounts worth $100,000 and less are automatically insured by the FDIC.
Many retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, are insured to $250,000 per person. But since it's a person's aggregate deposits, and not their individual accounts, that are insured, any amounts over $100,000 deposited at any one bank are not covered.
In a joint account, each depositor is insured up to $100,000.
The FDIC has information about its insurance on its Web site, at
http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured/yid.pdf.
While keeping more than the limit at any bank means taking a chance, the risks can be
bigger with smaller companies, provided they're heavily exposed to mortgage and other
debt during the current downturn.
"Consumers may want to pick an institution that has a substantial brand," Weber said.
"But you don't necessarily want to run to a big bank because you think a smaller bank
is going to fail."Q: How much money does the FDIC have?
A: The FDIC has nearly $53 billion in insurance funds. Beyond that figure, Bovenzi said
the FDIC would have go to other banks to raise more money, adding that in such a case,
consumers could expect to see some of among passed on to them in the form of higher
fees.
The current estimated loss to the FDIC resulting from IndyMac's failure is between $4
billion and $8 billion.Q: How big does FDIC like to keep its deposit insurance fund?
A: The FDIC board of directors has set a Designated Reserve Ratio of 1.25 percent. That means their "target" balance for the fund is 1.25 percent of estimated insured
deposits. As of March 31, the fund was $52.843 billion and insured deposits were $4.431
trillion, which resulted in a reserve ratio of 1.19 percent, 0.06 percentage point
below the Board's target. If the fund falls below 1.15 percent of estimated insured
deposits, the FDIC is required by law to adopt a restoration plan that will bring the
reserve ratio back to 1.15 percent within five years.Q: Do banks have to pay into the deposit insurance fund?
A: Yes. The total amount depends upon the assessment rate assigned to the institution
and the size of their assessment base -- which is roughly equal to an institution's
total domestic deposits. Assessment rates are assigned to institutions based upon the
risk they pose to the fund, and currently range from 0.05 percent to 0.43 percent, with
the vast majority if institutions -- almost 94 percent -- paying between 0.05 percent and
0.07 percent.Q: Does the government's decision to aide Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac help the nation's banks?
A: Tony Plath, an associate professor of finance at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, says yes. "As mortgage money becomes harder to get and real estate prices go down even more, the solvency of many banks is called into question," Plath said. "The
Fed is moving to protect the solvency of the banking industry by maintaining integrity."
Even so, the exact outcome is left to be seen, Weber said.
"One must have a bit of fate in the FDIC that they are going to be able to take care of
whomever fails," she said.
Here's the Daily Breeze's official opinion on the recent announcement of a rebid for the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker:
Quick resolution would benefit the regional economy.Pentagon officials last week provided a welcome and hopefully workable response to the controversy over a disputed military air tanker contract that promises thousands of new jobs for Los Angeles County.
The Air Force had awarded the $35billion contract to the team of Northrop Grumman Corp. and its partner, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of Airbus. But Boeing Co. protested the way the contract was awarded, and last month the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office affirmed Boeing's concerns.
Read the full commentary.
Of course he's going to say that. What else would he say? That he expects to lose?
EADS CEO confident of winning US tanker contractDOGMERSFIELD, England (AP) -- The chief executive of EADS said he is confident his company and U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corp. will win a disputed $35 billion Pentagon Air Force tanker contract when the bidding process reopens.
The Air Force in February selected the Northrop team to replace 179 Eisenhower-era aerial refueling planes. Boeing filed a protest in March, and last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will reopen the bid.
The deal -- one of the largest in Pentagon history -- is the first of three contracts worth up to $100 billion to replace nearly 600 refueling tankers over the next 30 years.
"We will get the tanker because we have the best airplane," Louis Gallois, chief executive of the European aerospace and defense giant EADS, told reporters Saturday in Dogmersfield, in southern England.
The Air Force's original decision provoked fury among U.S. politicians, who objected to the military deal being awarded to an overseas contractor. Boeing had supplied refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years.
The decision also came as a surprise to some. John Young, chief operating officer for EADS North America, told reporters Saturday that even his mother was shocked.
"But I wasn't," he said. "We have the best product and frankly that will stand the test of time."
Following Boeing's complaint, the Government Accountability Office last month detailed "significant errors" the Air Force made in the original award to the Northrop team. The GAO said Chicago-based Boeing, which protested the deal, might have won had the service had mistakes not been made in evaluating the bids.
Gates said his office, not the Air Force, will oversee the competition and pick a winner by the end of the year.
Young said he expects the process will be wrapped up after the presidential elections, but before a new government is established.
The Pentagon rebid is limited to eight issues where government auditors found problems in the initial process, Gates said.
Young dismissed some of the points as technicalities, and said others require supplying more data or for the military to answer.
Air Force officials have said they choose the EADS/Northrop tanker in large part because its size will enable it to carry more fuel, cargo and passengers. Boeing protested, saying the original proposal did not call for a "jumbo-sized tanker."
Young said he is confident because the A330 aircraft on which the Northrop Grumman KC-45 Tanker is based is "ready for the military modifications." The A330 has also been chosen by the air forces of Australia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The Pentagon is expected to issue a draft of the revised bid request to the companies by early August.
This was Friday's Business Casual Column.
Planet for sale. Price: $130,000
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Business CasualAt bedtime when I was 4 years old, I would dash from our living room into my bedroom, shouting Superman's catchphrase, "Up, up and away!" as I leapt into the air to fly around the apartment.
Actually, that last part happened only in my imagination. In reality, I would leap into the air and land on my bed.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of superheroes and the comic books where they lived. So when I recently learned that a local comic book store was for sale, I flew there to kick the proverbial super tires.
Read the full column.
Of course he's going to say that. What else would he say? That he expects to lose?
EADS CEO confident of winning US tanker contractDOGMERSFIELD, England (AP) -- The chief executive of EADS said he is confident his company and U.S. partner Northrop Grumman Corp. will win a disputed $35 billion Pentagon Air Force tanker contract when the bidding process reopens.
The Air Force in February selected the Northrop team to replace 179 Eisenhower-era aerial refueling planes. Boeing filed a protest in March, and last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will reopen the bid.
The deal -- one of the largest in Pentagon history -- is the first of three contracts worth up to $100 billion to replace nearly 600 refueling tankers over the next 30 years.
"We will get the tanker because we have the best airplane," Louis Gallois, chief executive of the European aerospace and defense giant EADS, told reporters Saturday in Dogmersfield, in southern England.
The Air Force's original decision provoked fury among U.S. politicians, who objected to the military deal being awarded to an overseas contractor. Boeing had supplied refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years.
The decision also came as a surprise to some. John Young, chief operating officer for EADS North America, told reporters Saturday that even his mother was shocked.
"But I wasn't," he said. "We have the best product and frankly that will stand the test of time."
Following Boeing's complaint, the Government Accountability Office last month detailed "significant errors" the Air Force made in the original award to the Northrop team. The GAO said Chicago-based Boeing, which protested the deal, might have won had the service had mistakes not been made in evaluating the bids.
Gates said his office, not the Air Force, will oversee the competition and pick a winner by the end of the year.
Young said he expects the process will be wrapped up after the presidential elections, but before a new government is established.
The Pentagon rebid is limited to eight issues where government auditors found problems in the initial process, Gates said.
Young dismissed some of the points as technicalities, and said others require supplying more data or for the military to answer.
Air Force officials have said they choose the EADS/Northrop tanker in large part because its size will enable it to carry more fuel, cargo and passengers. Boeing protested, saying the original proposal did not call for a "jumbo-sized tanker."
Young said he is confident because the A330 aircraft on which the Northrop Grumman KC-45 Tanker is based is "ready for the military modifications." The A330 has also been chosen by the air forces of Australia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The Pentagon is expected to issue a draft of the revised bid request to the companies by early August.
Don't forget that these are Northrop Grumman Corp. employees.
Ex-hostages head home to 'be family men again'(CNN) -- Three Americans rescued last week from captivity in the Colombian jungle left a medical center for their homes Saturday, hoping for some time out of the spotlight as they reconnect with loved ones.
Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes -- hostages of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia for more than five years -- left the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
"There's family members that are waiting for us, and just imagine if you hadn't seen your family in 5½ years," Stansell said, asking the media to allow the former captives some space. "Let us go home and be family men again."
Read the full story.
This affects me personally since we have tickets with United. I'm sure it affects a lot of you.
UAL plans up to 400 additional job cuts 2 hours, 34 minutes ago
(Reuters) UAL Corp, parent of United Airlines, plans to eliminate up to 400 more jobs as it continues to shrink its operations due to skyrocketing fuel costs, the company said on Friday.United said in a statement it had reached an agreement with the International Association of Machinists for a voluntary retirement program for veteran ground workers, including customer service agents and bag handlers.
United said it would continue to explore "viable alternatives" to furloughs but did not rule them out if the early out measure did not reach its goal of up to 400 employees.
United and other big carriers are slashing domestic flights as well as the jobs needed to operate and support them to address a 50 percent increase in jet fuel costs this year.
El Segundo-based Mattel Inc., the world's biggest toy maker, launched a "Parents' Place" feature on its Web site, BarbieGirls.com, the company said Friday.
The feature will provide "tools" for parents to learn about online play and safety for children. The Web site also allows parents to control their daughters' online chat settings on the site.
One site tool, called "B Smart Pact," is an interactive activity for parents and kids to do together. The activity poses a series of questions and scenarios to guide them through a dialogue about protecting one's privacy online, chatting safely, online etiquette and length of time spent playing online.
Here's Friday's weekly Business Casual Column. Enjoy.
Planet for sale. Price: $130,000
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Business CasualAt bedtime when I was 4 years old, I would dash from our living room into my bedroom, shouting Superman's catchphrase, "Up, up and away!" as I leapt into the air to fly around the apartment.
Actually, that last part happened only in my imagination. In reality, I would leap into the air and land on my bed.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of superheroes and the comic books where they lived. So when I recently learned that a local comic book store was for sale, I flew there to kick the proverbial super tires.
Third Planet Comics & Games, at 3631 Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance, can be mine for only $130,000.
Read the full column.
Folks,
I'm passing this on because I know how much some of you enjoy frozen yogurt.
Today (Friday) at Cefiore, a new frozen yogurt shop at the Southbay Pavilion in Carson, will be offering free frozen yogurt from 1-7 pm. I haven't had it yet, but I hear it has a tart taste like Pink Berry.
Enjoy.
At bedtime when I was 4 years old, I often would dash from our living room into my bedroom, shouting Superman's catch phrase, "Up, up and away!" as I leapt into the air to fly around the apartment.
Actually, that last part happened only in my imagination. In reality, I would leap into the air and land onto my bed.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of superheroes and the comic books where they lived. So when I recently learned that a local comic book store was for sale ...
Read the full column in Friday's biz section.
With the Pentagon's deciding to rebid the Air Force's $35 billion aerial refueling tanker (Read the story here), I wanted to share a few thoughts about the run-up to yesterday's announcement.
With all the posturing by Congress members to either defend or attack the Air Force's previous decision to give Northrop the contract, it seems that the process ultimately worked.
True, the Air Force screwed up big time in its decision-making. But the GAO caught the mistakes and suggested a redo of the bidding. In other words, the proper oversight process for the Air Force contracting worked and did not need political intrusions from Congress.
Congress has a hugely important role in the purchase of military systems. But too often, it seems that political calculations and home-district boostering take precedence over the actual needs of our military.
This is true for many systems from the Osprey aircraft -- some of you may be too young to remember that -- to the F-22 and even the C-17. Often Co