DANNI

Danni x

Ryanair pilot suggests cheap replacement for boss Michael O'Leary

As perhaps the most quotable and publicity-hungry head of a major company, Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has made an art out of generating newspaper coverage through supposed money-saving wheezes. Among the ideas mooted but somehow never implemented were a fat tax on bigger passengers and the introduction of standing-only tickets.

Now O'Leary is on the receiving end after a senior Ryanair pilot proposed a novel way for the budget carrier to save even more money: replace the chief executive with a low-paid cabin crew member.

Morgan Fischer's idea, outlined in a letter to the Financial Times, was put in a jocular fashion but contained a deadly serious message to O'Leary: as head of an airline, the one thing you don't speak about lightly is safety.

In an interview last week, O'Leary said he was seeking permission from aviation authorities to let Ryanair use just one pilot on short-haul flights as "the computer does most of the flying now", making co-pilots redundant.

Co-pilots are deemed a necessity in case something happens to the pilot. But O'Leary argued: "In 25 years with over about 10m flights, we've had one pilot who suffered a heart attack in flight and he landed the plane."

In typically provocative style, he ventured the idea that a flight attendant could fill in for the co-pilot given that this role was mainly to "make sure the first fella doesn't fall asleep and knock over one of the computer controls".

In a letter brimming with barely concealed distaste for the proposal, Fischer, who trains Ryanair pilots at its Marseille base, wrote: "As a Ryanair employee, I am aware of the company's desire to reduce costs whenever feasible, and in so doing, pass on these lower costs in the form of lower fares to the travelling public.

"I would propose that Ryanair replace the chief executive with a probationary cabin crew member currently earning about €13,200 (£11,000) net a year. Ryanair would benefit by saving millions of euros in salary, benefits and stock options. Further, there will be no need to petition either Boeing or governmental aviation regulators for approval to replace the CEO with a cabin crew member; as such approval would not be required."

Perhaps inevitably, Ryanair responded to the seemingly open challenge to its chief executive's authority with some slightly forced levity of its own.

"Michael thinks that cabin crew would make a far more attractive CEO than him – this obviously isn't a very high bar – so we are going to seriously look at the suggestion," a spokesman said. "After all, if we can train cabin crew to land the plane, it should be no problem training them to do Michael's job as well."

Separately, the head of the Irish Airline Pilots' Association, Evan Cullen,wrote to the FT querying O'Leary's assertion about the Ryanair pilot who suffered a heart attack, pointing out that the man in question was too gravely ill to land the plane and subsequently died. The pilot's family had asked for this to be clarified, he added.

The paradox is that in openly discussing his own demise as Ryanair boss O'Leary might, for once, be serious. In an interview with the Observerlast weekend the 49-year-old argued that the airline might soon have to move away from surviving purely on low fares and vigorous PR efforts, thus needing a change in style at the top.

He said: "You will need a different management then. We won't need my dog and pony show, which is about generating publicity."

'I thought the cocaine was gum,' claims Paris Hilton as she is charged with drug possession and faces FOUR years in priso

Paris Hilton is claiming she believed the cocaine found in her purse was chewing gum.

According to police report released today, the 29-year-old was handed her purse by an officer when a small bag containing the drug fell out.

The officer reported that Hilton said she had not seen the bag 'but now thought it was gum.'

Hilton was arrested for possessing cocaine in the early hours of Saturday morning after her car was stopped by police in Las Vegas.

She has been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, 0.8 grams of cocaine, it is claimed today.

The socialite could face four years in prison if convicted.

She is denying the allegations, claiming the cocaine which was allegedly found, along with the purse, was not hers.

She said she had borrowed the purse from a friend.

And somehow, according to Hilton, the contents of the purse were split between herself and the friend.

The report states she claimed ownership of a broken Albuterol pill - a prescription drug used to help people with breathing - Zig Zag wrappers commonly used to smoke marijuana, $1,300 in cash and credit cards.

However, 'She said several cosmetic items inside the purse were not hers,' according to the police report.

Police report: The Las Vegas arrest report has been released showing Hilton was pulled over at the Wynn Hotel

The District Attorney filed the case today, with an October 27 arraignment, according to website TMZ.

Nevada law states that if convicted, Hilton could get anywhere from probation to four years in prison - but the standard sentence is one to four years.

She could also get fined up to $5,000.

Her boyfriend Cy Waits, who was driving the car, was booked on charges of DUI.

Today, he is said to have lost his job as head of nightclub operations for Wynn and Encore properties after this weekend's events.

According to the police report, Hilton was pulled over after a policeman smelled 'the strong odour of marijuana coming from the vehicle.'

The officer then noticed the passenger was Hilton who he then observed trying to roll up the window.

The heiress was forced to step out of her luxury car as the below photograph shows.

Moment of truth: Heiress Paris Hilton is pulled over by Las Vegas police officers

Simon Cowell 'won't quit UK X Factor - he just likes moaning' insists Sinitta

The Eighties chart star, who helped Cowell pick his final three acts at the judge’s houses in Spain, says Cowell just likes moaning after he hinted last week he would quit Britain for the US.

Instead, insists his right hand woman, all SiCo needs is a big holiday and he’ll bounce back.

‘The guy is a workaholic,’ the singer told Metro.

‘I think he enjoys complaining as much as he likes working too hard. I think he’ll do both. He’ll be tired and then just take a big holiday.’

Her comments come after Cowell warned that both X Factor here and Britain’s Got Talent face major changes next year and said at the moment he is only signed to do his new US X Factor show.

Meanwhile, Sinitta says TV’s original Mr Nasty is getting all emotional now he’s over the hill and even hints there have been a few tears this year.

‘He might have cried. He’s 50 now. He’s softening in his old age,’ she said.

Cowell’s emotions spilt over after he had a tough job this year choosing his final three acts from the eight shortlisted.

‘We did have a struggle over deciding on the last act,’ she revealed. But at a time when the future of the show hangs in the balance, Sinitta insists the final talent in this year’s groups is higher than ever before.

‘The standard is unbelievable,’ she said.

Cowell recently hinted he’d bring the curtain down on X Factor when people stopped watching. That looks a long way off after 11million tuned in last month to watch the opening show of the seventh series

Amid smoke and flames, Peggy Mitchell bids farewell to EastEnders

Off you pop then, Peggy. After 16 years – most of which were spent behind the bar at the Queen Vic and the rest vowing to get back behind the bar after being removed from it for plot purposes too prosaic to go into here – Margaret Ann Mitchell turned her back on home, friends and "faaaaaamleee" and bade farewell to Walford – at least until Barbara Windsor decides she's bored of doing Tesco ad voiceovers, being the brand ambassador for a bingo firm and spending time with her real family, both in and out of the pages of OK!

Peggy did not depart burned, blackened and in a bodybag. We were denied seeing her succumbing to smoke, clutching her beloved bust of Queen Victoria. And we were deprived of the Liliputian landlady – known for yelling "Gerrahtofmypub" and embarking on theme nights, such as her infamous dalliance with grime, to pull in younger punters – being identified not by her dental records but by her flame retardant wig. Well, as Walfordians know better than most, you can't win 'em all.

Instead, she raged vainly against the flames like a very sooty clockwork mouse, and then finally realised the folly of locking crack-crazed Phil in the Vic's living room and of not taking the chance to blow out the match he would use to the set the pub alight. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

And in hindsight, Peggy should have left Walford three or four years ago, her character trapped in a cycle of increasingly samey stories that reduced her to a parody of her former self. Given that her former self was something of a parody anyway, there was little dignity in it, even – or perhaps especially – when proceedings were enlivened by escapades with old frienemy Pat, usually drunk and sometimes involving a stolen ice-cream van. The introduction in 2008 of evil Archie – whose murder marked last Christmas with typical Walford cheer – gave Peggy new purpose as she fell for, married then loathed the latest E20 villain, but it couldn't compare with her late 1990s heyday and marriage to Frank Butcher.

In the end, nothing in E20 became Peggy like the leaving of it, and with the special Peggy's Theme to see her out, all plaintive piano and pensive strings, it was a suitably sentimental sendoff, even if Barbara Windsor was actually the fourth actress cast as Peggy, and Angie Watts (played by Anita Dobson) was the Vic's best landlady. Standing in the ruins of the pub amid so many memories, Peggy's epiphany might have been that, in the words of HG Wells, arson is an artificial crime as "a large number of houses deserve to be burnt".

Of course, life/soap will go on. To fill the Peggy-shaped gap, another iconic Walford woman returns next week in the shape of Kat Moon.

Events such as the burning of the Queen Vic are nothing new: this is the second fire there, the first being back in 1992, while Coronation Street's Rovers Return went up with a whoosh due to dodgy electrics in 1986. Hollyoaks' nightspots explode with alarming regularity with another conflagration due on Bonfire Night, and in December Coronation Street commemorates its 50th birthday with a tram crash and a live episode. Such pyrotechnics, spectacular scenes and special episodes are weapons increasingly deployed by soap producers to boost ratings. How else to compete with the "real-life" dramas of The X Factor and Ultimate Big Brother, which also finished last night?

As for Peggy, you never know. She may have tottered off into the sunset – or just to Aunt Sal's – but give it a year or two and she might make a dramatic return, tanned and with a toyboy under one arm and a piñata under the other. Stranger things have happened. Though usually only in Emmerdale.

Barclays' Bob Diamond hits out at criticism of 'casino banks'

Bob Diamond, the new chief executive of Barclays, hit back at criticism of "casino banks" today by saying his accusers did not understand the way banks worked.

The appointment of Diamond, formerly head of Barclays' investment banking diivison, lastr week provoked a storm of criticism from unions and politicians, citing concerns that banks have not heeded the lessons of the financial crisis and were handing the reins to risk takers.

But Diamond, a controversial figure who has earned more than £75m in the past five years, defended his bank's activities and its role in the UK economy.

"These aren't casino businesses, these are real client-driven businesses," he told the Sunday Telegraph. "We are providing services to corporate clients, to fund managers, to retail clients through branch banking and high net-worth banking."

Business secretary Vince Cable, a persistent critic of the banks, greeted Diamond's elevation by highlighting worries about the "combination of the casinos and traditional banking".

Diamond said: "It's disappointing when we hear reference to banks as casinos. It's disappointing when we hear reference that Barclays Capital as a casino – we closed down our proprietary trading in 1998. It is just not right to use a phrase like that to encompass investment banking or banking, it is not based on fact and it creates the wrong impression."

"We will hear drama from people who have a vested interest. We will hear words like 'casino banking' that have no basis in reality and generally come from people who don't understand what a bank does and how important risk is in terms of the business we do with our clients.

However, Diamond, who is credited with rebuilding Barclays' investment banking arm, said he would engage with the banking commission set up by chancellor George Osborne, which is examining the case for breaking up Britain's biggest banks.

"We have a very strong view that our business model fits exactly what is the right model for the UK," he told the newspaper. "But we have total respect for the process and the committee. We are going to work with them and engage."

Diamond said he would work to improve some aspects of Barclays' business that had underperformed, including commercial banking outside the UK, where activities would be more closely aligned with Barclays Capital.

He said he saw the banking market in sub-Saharan Africa as a "huge opportunity", but was cooler on the retail sector in North America, where the bank was said to have been on the lookout for deals.

"Both (outgoing CEO) John (Varley) and I would love to make an acquisition that made sense financially and accelerated our strategy in our wealth business," he told the paper.

"But the truth is everything we have seen in the last couple of years, either the price has been crazy or the business is something that would not integrate well. The same is true in western Europe and our retail business – we have to assume we are going to do it day by day, brick by brick, client by client.

Terrafugia Transition flying car goes into production

The world's first modern flying car, the Terrafugia Transition, has gone into production, our friends at Condé Nast Traveller report.

The aircraft's maiden flight took place on 5 March 2009, lasting only 37 seconds and covering 900m. This took place under US Federal Air Authority supervision at Plattsburgh International Airport in New York.

The Transition is build out of carbon fibre and is a "light sport" class, meaning that anyone with 20 hours of flight experience can operate it. Frightening!

The Transition's capabilities don't quite match the agile concepts we imagined, with a ground speed of 65 mph and air speed of 115 mph. In "ground mode" the plane's wings remain folded, with all the amenities of a car (airbags etc) on the inside. The wings unfurl and the Transition is powered by a pusher propeller for flight, with a range of 400 nautical miles, running on automotive-grade oil.

The first vehicle is expected to roll off the production line in early 2011, but with a hefty price tag of £130,000. The Transition can carry two people and their luggage, perfect for a weekend getaway. With 70 orders on the books, it looks to be a roaring success.

Hybrid cars do not provide good value

Everyone knows hybrids get better fuel economy and emit less CO2 than their conventional counterparts, but they also cost more because of the added technology. And that makes them a lousy value because you won’t recoup that added cost in fuel savings.

So say the people at CarGurus.com, who repeat a common argument against hybrids but back it up with some stats. They examined the purchase price and operating costs of 45 popular hybrid models and discovered the average petrol-electric automobiles costs 25 percent more to own and operate than its petrol-only sibling.

“The hybrid premium tends to considerably outweigh any savings you might see in reduced fuel costs,” said Langley Steinert, founder and CEO of CarGurus.com. “In 76 percent of the cars we examined, the cost of ownership was significantly higher than the cost of ownership of the same petrol-only model.”

Although hybrids have enjoyed growing popularity, they remain a tiny niche. Of the 10.5 million vehicles sold in the United States last year, 290,232 were hybrids. (Almost half were Prius hybrids [.pdf], by the way.). To put that in perspective, Toyota sold 356,824 Camrys in the United States last year, while Ford sold 413,625 F-series pickups.

CarGurus.com included 45 hybrids in its study, ranging from the 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid to the 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid. It examined only those hybrids with a conventional counterpart -- the Ford Fusion Hybrid, for example -- so the bean counters could make “a direct apples-to-apples comparison,” Steinert said. For that reason, the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight aren’t included. They also compared the hybrids to siblings with similar features and options.

Steinert’s crew looked at the typical selling price of a used hybrid so they could consider depreciation in the cost of ownership. Steinert said including that data disproved the idea that higher resale values help offset the so-called “premium hybrid” paid when the car is new.

In determining the cost of ownership, they considered the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, the depreciation and the fuel cost of driving 12,000 miles annually. Then they compared the fuel economy of the hybrid and its conventional counterpart. The study examined only the economics of buying and owning a hybrid. There was no consideration given to any environmental benefits the cars might provide.

CarGurus.com found that the average hybrid vehicle costs almost $6,400 (£4,144) more than its gasoline-burning counterpart to purchase. And it costs more than $2,200 (£1,424) more to own and operate. The worst of the bunch were the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrid SUVs and the Honda Accord hybrid of 2007 and 2008. At the other end of the spectrum, late-model Ford Escape, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry hybrids provided the best value.

“Value” being a relative term, Steinert said.

“In general, hybrids are not good investments,” he said. “But if you’re going to buy one, the two things to keep in mind are the hybrid premium and the MPG premium. Don’t overpay for the car, and if you aren’t getting significantly better fuel economy -- which in my book is north of 30 percent -- with the hybrid, you should think twice.”

Advocates of hybrid technology often lament the high cost of the cars. The Union of Concerned Scientists, in compiling its first Hybrid Scorecard, praises automakers for building a wide range of gas-electric vehicle but slams them for packing them with standard features that drive up the sticker price by an average of $3,000 (£1,942). That’s on top of the hybrid premium.

“This new study appears to come a similar conclusion (as the Hybrid Scorecard) -- that hybrid vehicle manufacturers need to offer consumers the best value by maximising fuel economy improvements of hybrid vehicles while making these vehicles more affordable by offering hybrids in the same base model configurations as non-hybrid models,” said Don Anair, a senior analyst in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ vehicles program.

There is reason to believe that premium could disappear. In an industry first, Ford killed it with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, which will cost the same as its V6 sibling. That’s a huge move, and although Ford won’t say if it will adopt the pricing strategy with other models, some EV advocates and industry analysts say it signals thebeginning of the end of the hybrid premium.

As noted, CarGurus.com did not make any consideration of the environmental benefits and other advantages ofhybrid vehicles, which are difficult to quantify and many consumers place a premium on. And for that reason, consumers may indeed consider them a good value.

“Most hybrids are still a good investment,” Anair said. “Most consumers aren’t looking at just the immediate cost savings of hybrid technology. They also want to use less oil, have a car that pollutes less and they like new technology. These are real benefits, but harder to put price tag on. It’s also hard to predict where gas prices will go in the short-term. The higher gas prices are, the more economic sense hybrids and other fuel efficient cars make.”

Concorde may fly again for 2012 Olympics

For those of you who still dream of supersonic flight, today’s story may provide a glimmer of hope.

Last weekend a former Concorde engineer performed a preliminary engine inspection on one of the Mach 2 airliners in hopes of green-lighting the resurrection of the Concorde as a flying piece of aviation history instead of a mothballed museum display.

The supersonic Concorde last flew in 2003 and several of them have been sitting as museum pieces ever since. But almost as soon as the engines were shut down for the last time, there has been a small group of people who have been trying to get at least one of them flying again. Until recently, much of the effort has been seen as mostly a long shot. But now there has been a positive step taken towards getting the massively powerful jet engines up and running again.

Saturday’s preliminary inspection of the Rolls Royce engines of a Concorde at the Air Museum in Le Bourget, Paris went as well as could be hoped. An engineer used a borescope camera that is commonly used to peak deep inside of engines for inspections. After a thorough seven hours, the engineer said the engines are in great shape.

Much like the aeroplane itself, the effort to get a Concorde flying again is a joint effort between two organisations,one from Britain and one from France. The groups next hope to get the engines running and follow up with taxi testing. The end goal is to get a Concorde flying again in time for a fly over at the 2012 London Olympics. More photos and videos of the inspection can be seen here.

Unlike MIT’s futuristic design that could use 70 percent less fuel and produce less noise than modern airliners, the Concorde burned roughly six times as much fuel as a modern airliner and was a whole lot noisier than any other commercial aircraft. But with a cruise speed of 1,300 miles per hour, it did get your from point A to point B about twice as fast as a 747.