Boeing did not disclose 737 MAX alert issue to FAA for 13 months

Boeing Co did not tell U.S. regulators for more than a year that it inadvertently made an alarm alerting pilots to a mismatch of flight data optional on the 737 MAX, instead of standard as on earlier 737s, but insisted on Sunday the missing display represented no safety risk

The U.S. planemaker has been trying for weeks to dispel suggestions that it made airlines pay for safety features after it emerged that an alert designed to show discrepancies in Angle of Attack readings from two sensors was optional on the 737 MAX.

Erroneous data from a sensor responsible for measuring the angle at which the wing slices through the air - known as the Angle of Attack - is suspected of triggering a flawed piece of software that pushed the plane downward in two recent crashes. read more »

How a Lone Norwegian Trader Shook the World’s Financial System

A futures bet gone spectacularly wrong provoked a daylong crisis at one of the clearinghouses that are supposed to be global safeguards.

On a breezy day in September, an ominous text message appeared on Fredrik Ekstrom’s phone: Go immediately to the war room.

Mr. Ekstrom is chairman of Nasdaq Clearing, an outpost of the American stock exchange company in Stockholm, which processes futures trading and acts, in part, as a shield against contagious losses in the global financial system. He headed toward an ordinary conference room outfitted with extra phones, video hookups, data terminals and policy manuals, designed to be a command center in case of a financial crisis. Until then, the war room had been used only for drills.

Other senior executives were waiting when he arrived. They described an unfolding disaster. A trader named Einar Aas was having a spectacularly bad day. read more »

Uber, Lyft drivers plan to strike ahead of Uber’s IPO

Just ahead of Uber’s hotly anticipated initial public offering, slated to be one of the biggest in history, drivers for the ride-hailing company and its top rival, Lyft, will stage a walkout over working conditions and wages.

Drivers in at least eight U.S. cities — including Washington, New York, Los Angeles — are planning to strike Wednesday, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. The protests come as ride-hailing companies face increasing scrutiny over the sustainability of their businesses, which experience massive losses while relying on the work of millions of drivers who are not employees.

“Wall Street investors are telling Uber and Lyft to cut down on driver income, stop incentives, and go faster to Driverless Cars,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the taxi alliance, said in a news release. “With the IPO, Uber’s corporate owners are set to make billions, all while drivers are left in poverty and go bankrupt.” read more »