HP to jettison up to 30,000 jobs in spinoff
SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard says its upcoming spinoff of its technology divisions focused on software, consulting and data analysis will eliminate up to 30,000 jobs.
The cuts announced Tuesday will be within the newly formed Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which is splitting from the Palo Alto, California, the company’s personal computer and printing operation. The split is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month.
HP Enterprises is trimming its payroll as part of an effort to reduce its expenses by $2 billion annually.
Even before the spinoff, HP has been jettisoning tens of thousands of employees during the past few years to help boost its declining profits as a technological shift from personal computers to smartphones and smartphones reduced demand for many of its products.
Controllers reveal risk of plane collisions
WASHINGTON – Five air traffic controllers have exposed a problem that is putting planes at risk of colliding or causing accidents due to wake turbulence, a federal whistleblower protection office said Tuesday.
The problem occurs when pilots, air traffic control centers or airline dispatchers try to make changes to a flight plan by creating a second plan for the same flight. The computers that controllers use don’t automatically take note when multiple flight plans have been filed and notify controllers, the letters said. This can result in a controller clearing a flight for departure based on an outdated plan, and the pilots flying a route not anticipated or planned for by the controller.
To try to catch the problem, controllers have to review flights plans, call pilots and search through paper printouts that are passed from controller to controller to track a plane’s progress from taxing to takeoff. Then they compare the information on the strips of paper to data displayed on computers.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the problem in December 2014 and revived a working group to address the matter, the counsel’s office said in a statement. But an audit earlier this year confirms that the group had little impact and problem still remains, the counsel’s office said.
School bus crash kills 2 students, injures 3
HOUSTON – A school bus plunged off a highway overpass in Houston after being hit by a car driven by a teacher Tuesday, killing two students and seriously injuring three other people, police and school officials said.
A 17-year-old female student died at the scene, while a 14-year-old girl died at a hospital, according to the Houston Independent School District. The driver and the other passengers on the bus – two male students – are hospitalized.
The names of the students haven’t been released.
Police spokesman Victor Senties said investigators believe a car struck the front driver’s side of the bus after swerving to avoid another vehicle during morning rush-hour traffic. The bus then lurched to the right, struck a guardrail and toppled to the road below, Senties said.
White House opposes lifting oil export ban
WASHINGTON – The White House said Tuesday it opposes a House Republican bill to lift the four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports.
A decision on whether to end the ban should be made by the Commerce Department, not Congress, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
Earnest also took a shot at House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans pushing to end the oil export ban, which was imposed in the 1970s as the United States responded to an Arab oil embargo that sparked inflation and prompted long lines at gas stations.
Earnest accused McCarthy and other Republicans of trying to “cozy up to oil interests” by pursuing policies that benefit the oil and gas industry. He urged Republicans to support efforts to eliminate subsidies for oil and gas companies and back investments in wind and solar power and other renewable energy.
The Associated Press
