China Airlines to split jet order between Airbus and Boeing + Panama revokes four US-sanctioned LNG vessels

Boeing compensates furloughed staff, moves ahead with job cuts: Boeing is set to repay employees furloughed during the seven-week strike by factory workers for lost wages, but will proceed with plans to cut nearly 10% of its global workforce, Reuters reported on Friday. The planemaker is facing morale issues as it moves ahead with its job cuts, with many of its workers set to be notified about their future roles this month.

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Background: Boeing has racked up nearly USD 8 bn in losses this year after wrestling with a quality crisis in January, and raised USD 24 bn in fresh funds last month to shore up its finances. The firm may end up selling some assets as it downsizes its workforce to prioritize the company’s key civil planemaking and core defense units.

ALSO FROM BOEING- The airline is reportedly nearing a funding agreement with aerostructures manufacturer — and supplier to Boeing — Spirit Aerosystems in the next few days to help Spirit Aerosystems’ finances and fix Boeing’s supply chain issues and revive its jet production, Reuters reports, citing an industry source in the know. Boeing agreed to acquire Spirit Aero for more than USD 4 bn in June.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING- Panama to revoke flag-registration for US-sanctioned LNG vessels: Four LNG vessels sanctioned by the US — North Air, North Mountain, North Way, and North Sky — are having their flag registrations canceled by Panama’s Maritime Authority, Reuters reported last week. The four ships were on Singapore's flag-registry earlier this year, but later shifted over to Panama’s, the newswire says, citing data from maritime database Equasis.

What’s driving the crackdown? The vessels, managed by UAE-registered White Fox Ship Management, were placed on the US sanction list due to their links with Russian gas producer Novatek, Reuters explains. The US sanctioned White Fox Ship Management in August, and are now being targeted by the US State Department for the transfer of LNG from Russia’s Yamal and Arctic LNG 2 projects under a leasing agreement by Novatek and UAE-based associate New Transshipment.