United Continental Holdings is turning to president Barack Obama’s former White House spokesman as its new chief communications officer, tasked with helping the airline work through the fallout from a series of public relations blunders. Josh Earnest will “play a crucial role on our leadership team as we position our brand and this company for success,” United CE Oscar Munoz said Thursday. The airline job will be Earnest’s first role in business after spending 20 years in politics. He worked for 8 years under Obama and was promoted to White House press secretary in 2014. He also worked in Chicago for Obama’s first presidential campaign. Earnest has been a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC since last year. <br/>
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New Zealand investigators have confirmed that 2 engine failures on Air NZ Boeing 787-9s last December were caused by known issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s intermediate pressure turbine (IPT) blades. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s interim report on the 2 failures, which occurred on ZK-NZE Dec 5, and ZK-NZF Dec 6, shows that both aircraft were fitted with ‘Package C’ Trent 1000 engines that failed after take-off from Auckland, forcing the aircraft to return. Examination of the engines found that they suffered major damage due to the separation of IPT blades, caused by corrosion fatigue cracking. The Commission noted that the IPT blade release was a “known problem with the Trent 1000” that required modification to the engine. <br/>
Asiana Airlines is deploying Airbus A350-900s on an increasing number of long-haul routes as more of the type are delivered. Asiana currently operates 4 A350s after receiving its latest delivery in April. One more is scheduled to be delivered in July, a spokesman said. The airline ordered 21 A350-900s and 9 -1000s. Aside from the sixth A350, Asiana has no other aircraft deliveries scheduled for the remainder of this year. The carrier this month began deploying A350s on some days on one of its two daily Seoul-Los Angeles flights. It also uses the A350 on its daily flight to London Heathrow, its daily service to San Francisco, and one of its 3 daily flights to Fukuoka, Japan. This type will also be deployed on Asiana’s daily Seattle route from July. This route is currently served by Boeing 777-200s. <br/>