Europe writes its rules to control drones

Europe writes its rules to control drones

Brussels clarifies how to use these small aircraft in the Community airspace

  This Wednesday comes into force in the United Kingdom its new regulations that regulate the flight of drones in their cities. Last December, two small aircraft sowed chaos at the London airports of Heathrow and Gatwick.

Now, the United Kingdom prohibits drones from flying less than five kilometers from the aerodromes. "The law is clear in that flying a drone near an airport is a serious criminal act," says the head of Transportation, Chris Grayling, and also defends that the new legislation will serve to "keep airports and skies safe." "Anyone who uses a drone near an airport should know that not only is acting irresponsibly, but in a criminal way," he says.

   Until now, British law stipulated that you could not fly drones less than a kilometer from an airport or exceed 122 meters in altitude. The regulations added that if there was a breach of the law operators will face up to 5 years in prison

The boom of drones has caused air regulations to become obsolete. The last institution to get to work to adapt to this new model has been the European Union. Brussels has approved this week a package of technical requirements for all drones flying in the European Union, which includes the requirement that each of these devices have an individualized registration.

The new rules, which are superimposed on current national standards, also seek to provide a harmonized framework for these devices throughout the European Union with the "highest safety standards achieved in manned aviation", explains the Commission European

The directive approved by Brussels is clear: "The new devices will have to be individually identifiable, allowing the authorities to track a particular drone if necessary." In addition, they will have to operate on radio frequencies intended for their activity and ensure that they do not compromise "the health or safety of people, animals or property".

Spain, restrictive
In Spain, the requirements were updated as of December 29, 2017 with the new Regulation on the use of drones. The security zone in Spain is extended up to 8 kilometers near an airport or airfield and, like airplanes, you can not fly out of controlled airspace.

The height of the flight is also regulated, Spanish laws prohibit these devices from exceeding 400 feet in height or, in other words, "120 meters" and "pilots must have permanent visual contact with the aircraft (VLOS - Visual Line Of Sight ) ».

People who wish to fly drones recreationally do not need to have a pilot license, but only those who are going to carry out a professional activity with the devices are obliged to do so.

In addition, professional drone pilots will have to be registered with the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), have civil liability insurance, a drone pilot's degree and a medical certificate.

Air Nostrum cancels 100 flights this Friday and Monday on the occasion of the strike of its pilots

Air Nostrum cancels 100 flights this Friday and Monday on the occasion of the strike of its pilots

Affected customers may choose to reimburse the ticket or for "relocation on other flights depending on availability"

  Air Nostrum has canceled a hundred flights for the 23rd and 26th of this month due to the strike organized by the Sepla pilots' union, and the affected customers can be reimbursed for the tickets or relocated on flights or alternative dates .

For the strike on November 30, the company has announced that in the next few days it will make public the information about canceled flights through its website.

  The minimum services include 100% of the flights with origin or destination in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Melilla, the flights in Public Service Obligation in peninsular territories (Almería-Sevilla, Badajoz-Madrid and Badajoz-Barcelona), 28% of the flights between Spanish cities where the alternative is less than 5 hours and 42% for those that exceed 5 hours and for foreign cities.

According to information to EFE sources of the Sepla, this Thursday takes place a meeting between the union representatives and the direction of the airline, that this one has not confirmed at the moment. Air Nostrum has indicated that it has made the rates more flexible so that passengers on flights that do not cancel can change their dates if they prefer.

Customers who have purchased their tickets through iberia.com will receive a message from Iberia, the company for which Air Nostrum operates the affected flights, on the incident that has occurred. If you have purchased the tickets through a travel agency, you will be the one to contact the clients, and if you do not receive any notification, you can contact Serviberia or the travel agency to see the available alternatives, the company informs.

Air Nostrum claims to be sorry for the inconveniences caused to customers and appreciates their understanding of this situation, and ensures that it is doing everything possible to offer alternative solutions to affected customers.

The pilot union Sepla has called this strike to understand that the company is diverting production to other airlines of the same owners , putting at risk the future and working conditions.

Denounces that Air Nostrum is giving routes that it operates for Iberia Regional to other airlines like the Maltese MedOps, controlled in 51% by the own shareholders of the Valencian company, according to affirmed the past day 8 the union delegate Manuel Kings.

The owners of Air Nostrum created a year ago the investment group in International Airlines (ILAI) from which they hang, in addition to MedOps and Air Nostrum, airlines such as the Irish Hibernian (of which they control 100%), the Paraguayan Ampy (33 %) and Argentina's FlyEst (49%).

These companies are finally carrying out flights contracted by Iberia, which account for 75% of all production of Air Nostrum, which has already passed four aircraft to MedOps - which operates Iberia's regional routes in the Balearic Islands and those that connect the peninsula with this archipelago -, one to Hibernian and two turbohalics to Canary Fly (Binter), to which it subcontracts part of its production, according to Sepla.

From the direction of Air Nostrum they denied then "flatly the affirmations of the Sepla" and indicated that those declarations "must be framed in the present negotiation of the collective agreement", with meetings that "follow ahead in the next dates". EFE

Nissan stops Ghosn as president of the company

Nissan stops Ghosn as president of the company

The manager is silent and remains in a cell of a detention center in Tokyo

  The board of directors of the automobile giant Nissan approved on Thursday the cessation of its president Carlos Ghosn, two days after the arrest of the businessman in Tokyo for alleged embezzlement. "After examining a detailed report of the internal investigation, the board voted unanimously (...) to dismiss Carlos Ghosn as Chairman of the Board," the company said in a statement.

  The meeting began around 07:00 h. at the group's headquarters, in Yokohama (outside of Tokyo). Behind closed doors, six men and one woman decided the fate of the almighty head of the world number one Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors car, whose path was abruptly turned when his plane landed in Japan on Monday and was arrested.

Since then, Ghosn has been silent and remains in a cell in a detention center in Tokyo.

Hiroto Saikawa, the constructor's executive director since April 2017, would have led the discussions. The decision was then taken by show of hands and four votes were enough to dismiss Ghosn.

In principle his interim replacement, probably Saikawa, formerly Ghosn's right-hand man, against whom he directed harsh criticism on Monday night, will be named.

Officially, the Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian is accused of having, with accomplices, "minimized their remuneration five times between June 2011 and June 2015," declaring the Treasury revenues of 4.9 billion yen (about 37 million euros) instead of about 10,000 million yen.

"This type of false statements constitute one of the most serious faults in relation to the legislation imposed on listed companies," Shin Kukimoto, deputy prosecutor of Tokyo, told reporters on Thursday.

However, he did not want to give details about the investigation in progress nor about the hours of hearings held each day, while there is plenty of news in the Japanese media about the crimes that the 64-year-old tycoon would be guilty of.

Ghson is also suspected of abuse of social assets, according to the results of the internal investigation conducted by Nissan in recent months, although he was not arrested for this crime.

On Wednesday, the Tokyo court decided to extend its detention for ten days to continue the investigation, although the arrest could be extended further, according to the rules of the Japanese judicial system.

The businessman has received visits from the ambassador of France and the Brazilian consul, who has found him "in good shape".

The Nissan group, as a legal entity, can also be prosecuted in theory, said the representative of the prosecution.

For its part, Mitsubishi Motors (MMC) also plans to "dismiss it quickly" in a council to be held next week, according to a spokesperson for the company.

At Renault, for now, prudence prevails. The board of directors asked Nissan to "transmit all the information it has in the framework of the internal investigations to which Ghosn is subject".

At the moment, the French manufacturer appointed Thierry Bolloré, number two of the company, to take over from Ghosn on an interim basis.

The French government tried to reassure itself on Wednesday about the future of Renault, of which it owns 15%.

The French Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said before the Paris presentation that a "solid" government, even if "provisional" had been chosen in order to allow the company to continue with its activities.

Le Maire plans to meet this Thursday afternoon with his Japanese counterpart, Hiroshige Seko, to discuss the maintenance of the partnership between Renault and Nissan and Mitsubishi and its "prolongation".

And although from Japan the incoming voices seek to calm the situation, the local press has echoed anonymous statements by Nissan officials who say that the group wants to review the structure of the alliance, "a necessary condition for it to continue," according to one of them.

The objective would be to review the cross-shareholding: Renault holds 43% of Nissan, but the Japanese, which exceeds its ally in business volume, does not have more than 15% of it, a situation that has caused discomfort in the archipelago since weather.

According to the Nikkei business daily, which quotes a Nissan official, Carlos Ghosn would pursue the two groups and "it would be possible to have a concrete plan in the spring" in this regard, although Saikawa has openly rejected this merger.

Possible sanctions against Ryanair for violating the right to strike of its workers

Possible sanctions against Ryanair for violating the right to strike of its workers

The Labor Inspection confirms that the company coerced the cabin crew by asking them if they were going to exercise their rights or not

  Ryanair violated the right to strike of cabin crew (TCP) in the days of unemployment made on 25 and 26 July and 28 September. This is what concludes the Labor and Social Security Inspection in the resolution issued this Monday, as confirmed by the USO union in a statement.

  It proposes sanctions for the commission of fifteen serious infractions and one very serious one, in addition to verifying the obstruction on the part of Ryanair of the inspector's work and the breach of the norm on prevention of labor risks. The body confirms the coercion made by the company when asking the TCP through emails and telephone calls , whether or not they were going to exercise their right to strike, as well as the requirement to carry out sales work on the flights, against of what is dictated by the resolution of minimum services established by the Ministry of Public Works.

It also determines the violation of this right in the day of September 28 by designating Ryanair guards and imaginary in a number higher than normally established, modifying plans unmotivated and without respecting the notice to workers. In addition, it says that Ryanair has hindered inspectors' checking tasks.

Generals Motors will close seven factories around the world

Generals Motors will close seven factories around the world

The automaker will save about $ 6 billion with its restructuring plan that will reduce the workforce by 15%

  The automaker Generals Motors will restructure the company closing seven plants around the world until 2020 to save about 6,000 million dollars. Four will be in the United States (two assembly and two production of engines) and another in Canada, but the closure of the two remaining have not yet been confirmed but will be outside North America by the end of 2019, as confirmed by the company itself in a release.

  In a process of "reorganization" of its staff to "align manufacturing capacity", the company will reduce the workforce by 15% , of which 25% will be executives "to expedite decision-making". According to GM, the closures of these factories will save about 6,000 million dollars.

The five North American plants affected by the advertisement employ some 14,500 workers and are the assembly of Oshawa (Canada) and the Americans of Detroit-Hamtramck and Lordstown, in addition to those of Baltimore and Warren, which produce engines and transmissions. These seven closures are added to the already announced assembly plant in Gunsan (South Korea).

The Canadian plant that will be closed currently employs about 3,000 workers. The workers' union announced that it will hold a press conference on Monday. Shortly after the broadcast of the GM plan, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was "deeply disappointed" by the decision of the company.

However, the president and CEO of GM, Mary Barra, said that "the actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be very agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future." "We recognize the need to stay ahead of changing market conditions and consumer preferences so that our company is in a position to achieve long-term success," added Barra.

CaixaBank will reduce 800 offices, 17% of the total, in three years'

CaixaBank will reduce 800 offices, 17% of the total, in three years'

The entity, which will maintain the thousand of rural branches, anticipates an "inevitable" cut in staff and does not rule out that the judicial conflicts of its clients go further.

    CaixaBank plans to undertake a significant closure of branches in the next three years to leave the number of branches by 3,640 in 2021. This drainage will mean the closure of "more than 800 offices" according to the estimates included by the entity in the Strategic Plan that will be presented to investors in London this Tuesday. When the operation materializes, it will mean a reduction of 17% with respect to the network that the financial entity now has.

   However, this measure will not have the same effect in all the places where the bank now operates. The biggest reduction of offices will come between those distributed in the cities . The cut in this "urban" area, as the strategic plan presented by its president, Jordi Gual, and CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, in London, will be of more than 40% compared to the current novel that sets this network in 3,100 branches today.

However, CaixaBank will maintain its current level of presence in rural areas, where the bank has just over a thousand offices that it does not plan to close. These are offices of five employees or less located in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants, which "fulfill an important task of financial inclusion", explained Gortázar during the presentation of the plan.

And at the same time, the restructuring of offices will mean an extension of the Store branch model in cities to go from the current 285 to the more than 600 in the year 2021 . These are points of attention more focused on the advice and management of the patrimony of the clients, discarding the model of the offices to make operative, since every time a greater use of Internet with the bank registers. "We see no opposition between the digital and the presnecial, but complementary," clarified Gortázar.

The rate of branch closures has accumulated to almost 900 closed in the last four years, 16% less, and more than 3,200 (a drain of 42%) in the last decade, as a result of the crisis.

With the new forecasts, the CEO of CaixaBank has acknowledged the "inevitable reduction of staff" that should be undertaken by the entity in the next three years, but did not want to quantify how many workers would have to leave the group. "We will seek with trade unions the best way to face this reality," said Gortázar, who has pointed out that the percentage of people leaving will be "substantially lower" than the 17% in which offices will be closed. At present, the CaixaBank group has more than 37,511 workers between Spain and Portugal (through the Portuguese entity BPI).

The renewed strategic plan of CaixaBank foresees, among other objectives, reaching a return of 12% within three years, as well as maintaining the distribution of dividends ('pay-out') in the environment of 50% within a bet that will focus , among other aspects, in digitization.

However, those responsible for the entity have acknowledged that these calculations have had to contemplate the judicial litigation scenario facing the group, and the entire banking sector, as a result of conflicts such as the floor clauses, or recently the problem of the Tax on Documented Legal Acts. Far from giving up legal resolutions that impact on their accounts, the president, Jordi Gual, has admitted that the calculations of the strategic plan have a "prudent tone" in case the litigation "does not fall or even was increasing" in the next years. "It is likely that this situation will continue in the near future," Gortázar added.

They do so aware that there are still many judgments for failing, which can go against them, like the one that Adicae won last week through the macrocause that it presented against the entire sector due to the limitation of mortgage rates. In addition, the extrajudicial mechanism for the return of land clauses is still open, and more than 200,000 cases are pending against the sector in the specific courts authorized to expedite this conflict.

Mortgages do not finish up
Among the levers that CaixaBank executives want to take into account to reach their three-year targets, the advance of the mortgage market is never mentioned at all. In this field, the entity has also wanted to be "prudent" , aware that it still has a greater volume of mortgages that amortize capital than those it grants. "We do not expect very strong credit growth in the system," said Gortázar, who has indicated that they maintain the same forecast as hitherto by the deleveraging process in which families are still immersed.

Therefore, it has conditioned any mortgage growth "as long as interest rates go up" in the coming years. But even in this case they expect these increases to be "little by little" from the ECB. The entity has not incorporated any type of impact on the accounts due to having to assume the mortgage tax now and they have anticipated that they will modulate the offer - they already pay all the expenses, including the appraisal - depending on what the competition does.

Where they do want to center a good part of their growth is in the consumer credit , a business whose forecast of increase would be between 6% and 7% per year until 2021. They will do so despite the fact that domestic demand can be moderated by the slowdown of the Spanish economy. But even with this circumstance, they consider that "there is still room for good domestic demand financed," said Gortázar. It is concealed that the current levels are lower than those of consumer credit in other EU countries, despite warnings from the Bank of Spain about the "accelerated" rise in delinquency in this segment.

Other areas where CaixaBank intends to grow are focused on long-term savings, credit to companies, insurance, means of payment and the BPI business. Also to foresee a "high" investment and transformation effort and a considerable reduction of problem assets - 40% less in three years, with 7 billion euros.

The president of the entity has also acknowledged that if interest rates do not rise to the extent that the group expects, although it will be slowly, the profitability will not be 12% but 10% in 2021 , which would be a impact of about 200 basis points.

United Kingdom and Netherlands fine Uber with one million euros for stealing data from three million of its customers

United Kingdom and Netherlands fine Uber with one million euros for stealing data from three million of its customers

The company is sanctioned for not reporting the computer attack, which occurred in 2016, which affected 57 million users around the world

  The data protection authorities of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have issued sanctions against the US transport company for a total amount of more than one million euros, for not having informed about three million customers of both countries about the theft of your data during a cyber attack that occurred in November 2016.

The first of the sanctions, worth 433,818 euros, has been imposed by the Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO, for its acronym in English) of the United Kingdom for "failure to protect the personal information of its clients during a cyber attack. »

  The organism, dependent of the British Parliament and that watches over the rights of information and privacy of the citizens, the sanction imposed to the taxi company because "some avoidable security failures" caused that the data of around 2.7 million leaked of British clients.

The director of investigations of the ICO, Steve Eckersley, has stated that it was "not only a serious security breach by Uber, but also a complete disregard for customers and drivers whose personal information was stolen." "At the time no measures were taken to inform the people affected by the infraction or offer help and support, which left them in a situation of vulnerability," he added.

The second penalty, worth 600,000 euros, has been set by the Data Protection Authority of the Netherlands (AP) for hiding a data breach of about 174,000 users produced after a cyber attack in 2016.

In a statement, the AP has explained that Uber chose not to make public what happened and pay $ 100,000 (88,312 euros) to hackers "quietly and hide" the hack suffered, which was discovered a year later by a leak to the press. The attack affected 174,000 Dutch users of the company.

The computer attack was perpetrated in November 2016 by two individuals from outside the company, who obtained the data of 57 million customers and drivers from all over the world, including their names, phone numbers and emails. In addition, they obtained additional information from drivers as details of the trips they had made and payments they had received.

The General Regulation of Data Protection, promoted by the European Union and which came into force in 2018, includes fines for companies that hide data leaks and do not report them in less than 72 hours.