While one should congratulate Ethiopian Airlines for securing a $765 million package deal to finance five 777s, I hope the banks checked more than just their credit history and their relationship with the banks.
In terms of technological adulthood, Africa is still in its infancy. The pressure put on even a fairly reputable airline company like this to keep up with maintenance and pilot training is immense. It is succeed, or else. Or else, they call the loan and repo the planes. Or else there is a catastrophe and people lose their lives.
If all is ok when plane is leased but two years later airline gets a rap for bad maintenance or pilot training or any of the hundreds of other things that could happen, then the lease co or bank needs to step in and use their clout to demand changes/corrections, or face the consequences. Their contract should have teeth, with consequences that matter enough to the lessee to compel them to action, such as the right to repo that plane for maintenance or neglect issues, or pilot training issues, just as if the lessee were not making their payments. Lenders are pretty good at covering their investment by including clauses like this. Such a provision may already exist. The clause is not window dressing. It can be acted upon. Not for money’s sake. For the sake of lives.
Yes, lives are at stake here. Banks have a duty to monitor the lessee or buyer they entrust, and a duty as well to supervise not only the money but keep up with what is being purchased with the money. Entrusting a less than capable entity in ownership and maintenance of a jet worth millions is certainly dangerous instrumentality. Sufficient time should be allocated to responsible due diligence, beyond the loan/lease, to monitor not only timely payments but also if the company is living up to aggressive guidelines of maintenance and training.
These planes bought with this money, like all other airplanes but especially jets, are weapons of mass destruction. Even if they are not used in a deliberately terrorist act, inexperienced pilots and shotty maintenance can cause that plane to crash and become a weapon for those on board and for those on the ground.
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The final words of the pilot manning Air France Flight 447 have been revealed.
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A simulation has revealed a pilot’s last words before flight AF447 crashed in 2009.
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Southwest plane nearly crossed runway in front of departing JetBlue plane Thursday in Virginia
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Russian military plane crashed in Stavropol region
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force claimed Friday it shot down a Russian strategic bomber, but Moscow officials said the plane crashed in a sparsely populated area due to a malfunction after a combat mission. Neither claim could be independently verified. Previous Ukrainian claims of shooting down Russian warplanes during their more than two-year […]
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The former president’s aircraft has been seen parked at LaGuardia Airport in New York as he takes part in his hush money trial in Manhattan.
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A military plane crashed in Russia’s Krasnogvardeysky district of the federal city of St. Petersburg. The pilots, according to sources, were ejected safely., Europe News – Times Now
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Two aircraft nearly crashed into each other earlier Thursday at Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.
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Boeing, with its airplane-making reputation in tatters, has revealed plans to get into the flying car market in Asia.
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Lawmakers said it was a “horrifying example” of the effects of undermining slot and perimeter rules, calling the airport’s runway “overburdened.”
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But he notes a more defensive tone coming from the under-fire aviation manufacturer.
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GREEN LAKE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A plane heading to EAA Airventure last July probably crashed because it ra…
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The Bonanza pilot didn’t follow the published traffic pattern, placing the aircraft close to rising terrain on downwind. He was too fast on final approach, and he went around on the first attempt. A police officer arrived to check on the airplane, as the pilot had reported to ATC that he was low on fuel. Still, he was safely on the ground.
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A NASA pilot is ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off the 2024 season.
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This deep-sea footage shows inside a sunken passenger plane, once thought to be the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The wreckage of the MH370, which disappeared without trace while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014, has still never been found. The wreckage filmed by Deep Blue Dive Center, is actually the Lockheed Martin’s L1011 Tristar plane, which was deliberately sunk in 2019 in Jordan. It serves as a home for sea life, but a viral social media post wrongly speculated it was the MH370, which disappeared in 2014.
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The rarely seen footage comes as the company fiercely fights back following a whistleblower’s testimony on Capitol Hill, where a longtime engineer made some alarming allegations.
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Several months after her viral moment, Tiffany Gomas has garnered fresh attention with an eye-catching new post.
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My wife and I are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise in the fall. By all accounts, it’s something to which we should look forward. I’ve been told the same thing about other trips, including a Vegas…
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In the nearly two decades of A380 operations, the superjumbo has never suffered a fatal accident. Why is this and does that make it the world’s safest aircraft?
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