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Britain’s trade minister resigned on June 21 over a planned House of Commons vote on whether to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport. “As the Government will be whipping the vote on Monday [June 25], this means I am resigning from the Government,” tweeted Greg Hands, a Conservative member of Parliament representing the constituency of Chelsea and Fulham in greater west London. Hands, who opposes the airport expansion, served for the past two years as minister of trade policy at the Department for International Trade under UK Prime Minister Theresa May. British media speculated that his abrupt resignation would pressure Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also to step down. Formerly mayor of London, Johnson once said he would “lie down in front of bulldozers” to stop the third Heathrow runway. Hands said he informed May earlier in the week that he would honor pledges he made to his constituents last year “and vote against the 3rd Heathrow runway.”<br/>

Bombardier’s revamped CRJ 900 regional jet should win “half or more” of the market against competing planes from Brazil’s Embraer SA, the company’s Commercial Aircraft President Fred Cromer said Thursday. The Canadian plane-and-train-maker expects to make further inroads in the 76-seater market against Embraer’s E175, Cromer said. “We should be targeting half or better. That’s a good target for us,” Cromer said. “Half or more.” Embraer has said its E175 accounted for 80% of all orders over the last five years in the key US market, where most regional jets are sold. “The current E175 has been very successful in the US market, where Embraer has sold over 400 units since 2013,” the company said. With European planemaker Airbus taking a majority stake in Bombardier’s flagship CSeries jetliner program, the company is focusing on shoring up its regional jets and turboprops with a mixture of hard-sell, and cost-cutting plans. The division has combined orders in hand for just for over 100 planes.<br/>