Current Events in November 2019

No sooner had Boeing conceded that there were imperfections in its safety audit of the 737 MAX, than the company is facing yet another 737-related issue -- hairline cracks in Boeing’s 737NG aircraft. 

As ConsumerAffairs reported in early October, Boeing’s latest round of headaches began with Brazilian carrier Gol Transportes Aéreos grounded all 11 of its 737NG planes. Stateside, Southwest Airlines reported it grounded two of the planes, noting that it didn’t find any issues in the “vast majority” of planes.

Now there’s news that Australian carrier Qantas has discovered the same cracks in three of the 33 aircraft it inspected. Those planes were immediately pulled from service and sent out for repairs.

“We would never fly an aircraft that wasn’t safe,” said Andrew David, Qantas Domestic’s CEO. “Even where these hairline cracks are present they’re not an immediate risk, which is clear from the fact [that] the checks were not required for at least seven months.”

Not everyone is in agreement

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) took exception with David’s position. It urged Qantas to ground its entire 737 fleet until checks were complete.

"These aircraft should be kept safe on the ground until urgent inspections are completed," the ALAEA’s Steve Purvinas said in a statement. Purvinas primary reason behind his call for a total grounding started with Boeing’s original thinking that the cracks were occurring on aircraft with over 35,000 landings. However, in Qantas’ situation, the cracks were found on aircraft with under 27,000 landings -- a serious enough distinction that, in Purvinas’ estimation, warrants a system-wide grounding. However, Qantas’ David thinks Purvinas is off-base.

“Unfortunately, there were some irresponsible comments from one engineering union yesterday, which completely misrepresented the facts. Those comments were especially disappointing given the fantastic job our engineers have done to inspect these aircraft well ahead of schedule, and the priority they give to safety every day of the week,” David said.

What does Boeing have to say?

In comments to CBSNews, a Boeing spokesperson said the company "regrets the impact" the issue was having on its customers and was "working around the clock" to fix the problem.

"Boeing is actively working with customers that have airplanes in their fleets with inspection findings to develop a repair plan, and to provide parts and technical support as necessary.”

Are you booked on a 737NG?

The “NG” in Boeing’s 737NG name stands for “Next Generation,” and as of May 31, 2019, more than 7,000 aircraft of that model have been delivered to airlines around the world. Primary users of the 737NG include Qantas, Gol Transportes Aéreos, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Ryan Air, and United Airlines. 

If a traveler is concerned about whether they’ll be on one of the potentially affected aircraft, they can always go to FlightAware, type in the flight number, and the “aircraft type” will be listed under “flight information.” The airline’s help desk can also provide pertinent information.

The Trump administration looks to be abandoning its plan to freeze the fuel efficiency standards of cars at 2020 levels and may instead push for an increase in fuel efficiency standards, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal said the White House is now considering requiring a 1.5 percent annual increase in fuel efficiency instead of the 5 percent increase called for under Obama-era rules.

Back in September, Trump announced that he was revoking California’s ability to set its own emissions standards for vehicles. California and the leaders of more than two dozen other states have already sued over the decision. 

However, General Motors, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler agreed over the summer to get on board with the administration’s policy after being called to the White House to discuss the matter. 

Carmakers divided on the issue

Earlier this week, the four automakers filed a lawsuit reiterating that they are siding with Trump and backing the claim that he is allowed to block states from setting their own emissions standards.

Trump expressed his gratitude to the automakers on Twitter, thanking them for “standing with us for Better, Cheaper, Safer Cars for Americans.” He added that “California has treated the Auto Industry very poorly for many years, harming Workers and Consumers. We are fixing this problem!” 

The automakers that have sided with California in the debate over efficiency standards are Ford, Honda, BMW, and Volkswagen.

Trump’s rumored new plan to back away from the plan leaves the automakers that have sided with him “in a lurch” because they have “squandered a lot of goodwill and damaged their reputations without getting what Trump promised,” The Verge noted. 

The administration’s change of plans -- which is expected to be announced by the end of the year -- is said to involve a 1.5 percent increase in fuel efficiency every year “using an industry measure that takes both gas mileage and emissions reductions into account,” the Journal said. 

On Thursday, Google issued a Chrome security alert and urged users to update their browsers as soon as possible in light of the discovery of two high-severity security vulnerabilities. 

In a blog post, Google engineers said an exploit for one of the two vulnerabilities has already been spotted in the wild.

"Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2019-13720 exists in the wild," the company said in announcing the release of Chrome version 78.0.3904.87.

Both vulnerabilities -- CVE-2019-13720 and CVE-2019-13721 -- were uncovered by Kaspersky researchers Anton Ivanov and Alexey Kulaev. They’re classified as “use-after-free” vulnerabilities, meaning they allow for “corruption or modification of data in the memory. This allows an unprivileged user to escalate privileges on an affected system or software,” according to the National Cyber Security website.  

Manually check for updates

Google added that public access to bug details and links “may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix.” 

Although Chrome users are notified automatically when the latest update becomes available, Google is recommending that users manually check for the update by going to “Help” and tapping “About Google Chrome” from the menu.

The update rolled out by Google “addresses vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit to take control of an affected system," the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a statement.

During an earnings call with analysts this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook signaled that the company is open to the idea of launching a subscription-style model for paying for iPhones, CNBC reported.

“We are cognizant that there are lots of users out there that want sort of a recurring payment like that and the receipt of new products on some sort of standard kind of basis and we are committed to make that easier to do than perhaps it is today,” Cook said. 

During the call, Cook said Apple sees subscriptions as a major growth area and pointed out that it’s already catering to customers who want to bundle services.

“In terms of hardware as a service or as a bundle, if you will, there are customers today that essentially view the hardware like that because they’re on upgrade plans and so forth. So, to some degree, that exists today,” Cook said in response to a question on the matter from analyst Toni Sacconagi. 

Laying the foundation

CNBC noted that Apple has been “laying the groundwork” for a subscription model for its iPhones for years.

In 2015, the company began allowing its users to pay off their iPhones on a monthly basis. The tech giant also offers an iPhone Upgrade Program, which includes an AppleCare warranty and an option to upgrade to the latest iPhone once the user has paid a minimum of 12 monthly installments for the older model of the device. 

Additionally, Apple currently offers trade-ins, which enable consumers to sell their older iPhone back to Apple in order to receive a discount on a newer model.

“We also continued to see great results from our trade-in program with more than five times the iPhone trade-in volume we had a year ago,” Apple CFO Luca Maestri said. 

Paying with Apple Card

Cook announced on the call that Apple is also set to launch a program that lets consumers buy an iPhone with their Apple Card and pay no interest on the sum for two years.

“I am very pleased to announce today that later this year, we are adding another great feature to Apple Card,” Cook said on the call. “Customers will be able to purchase their new iPhone and pay for it over it over 24 months with zero interest. And they will continue to enjoy all the benefits of Apple Card, including 3% cash back on the total cost of their iPhone with absolutely no fees and the ability to simply manage their payments right in the Apple Wallet app on iPhone.”

The Apple executive added that “one of the things we are doing is trying to make it simpler and simpler for people to get on these sort of monthly financing kind of things.” 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into Altria and its role, if any, in the resignation of the CEO of Juul, its e-cigarette subsidiary that has come under close regulatory scrutiny in recent months.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Altria has received a demand from regulators seeking information about any role Atria played in the resignation of Juul’s CEO. At the end of September, Juul announced it was replacing its CEO Kevin Burns with Altria executive K.C. Crosthwaite.

Regulators are interested because within days of taking the top job, Crosthwaite hired Altria colleague Joe Murillo as Juul’s chief regulatory officer. 

Juul has been at the center of controversy over its marketing efforts and whether it targeted underage consumers with its vaping products. The company has also been in the crosshairs of the government’s efforts to stop underage use of vaping products.

In April, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb accused Juul of being largely responsible for the spike in teen vaping. The FDA has cited research that shows an estimated 37 percent of high school seniors have tried e-cigarettes. A quarter of youth users told researchers they didn’t realize the products contain nicotine.

Attractive to minors

The agency has said products manufactured by Juul have been shown to be especially attractive to minors because they come in fruity flavors such as mango, mint, and fruit and creme. In January, Gottlieb warned that e-cigarettes could be taken off the market unless marketers made efforts to stop sales to minors.

Since then, Juul and its products have come under increasing scrutiny. In September, an official art the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called out Juul for allegedly using dangerous salts in its products.

In its SEC filing, Altria disclosed that the agency is conducting an antitrust review of Altria’s investment in the e-cigarette maker. Specifically, the agency is seeking information about any Altria role in the resignation of Juul’s CEO and his replacement with a long-time Altria executive.

In its filing, Altria also disclosed that the FTC and possibly other regulatory agencies are investigating Juul’s marketing practices. The company has been accused of targeting underage consumers -- something Juul vigorously denies.

The job market is a lot stronger than most economists thought. The Labor Department reports the economy added 128,000 jobs in October, far more than most experts expected.

In addition, the government revised the jobs numbers for August and September, showing the economy actually produced 90,000 more jobs than initially reported. Recent reports that the economy was slowing were based in part on slower hiring, which now turns out not to be so slow.

Better than expected

The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6 percent in October, largely because the labor participation rate increased, meaning more people were actively looking for work. Economist Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors, says it was a better than expected jobs report in many ways.

“Not only did the overall number come in stronger than expected, given the GM strike, but the large revisions to August and September change the discussion from a job market that is softening to one that is stable and solid,” Naroff told ConsumerAffairs. 

Most of the new jobs were found in bars and restaurants, along with social assistance agencies and financial services. Automotive manufacturing lost jobs because of the strike against General Motors. Federal government employment was down because of a drop in the hiring of temporary census workers.

Workers’ incomes continued to rise last month. The survey shows average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by six cents to $28.18. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3 percent. 

Where the jobs are

Bars and restaurants added 48,000 jobs last month, a sharp pickup from earlier in the year. Industry job growth has averaged 38,000 over the past three months, compared with an average monthly gain of 16,000 in the first seven months of the year.

Jobs in companies and agencies providing social assistance services increased by 20,000 last month, a higher than normal increase. This sector has averaged 11,500 new jobs each month over the last 12 months.

The professional and business services sector has been a job creation leader in 2019, and October was no exception. The sector added 22,000 jobs last month, a little below its average of 33,000 per month for the rest of 2019.

Health care continued to add jobs, but at a much slower rate. The sector’s payrolls increased by 15,000 in October, well below its 12-month average of 33,500.

The price of gasoline has leveled off in the last week -- higher in some places and lower in others. As a result, there was little change in the average of what consumers are paying at the pump.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the national average price of regular is $2.61 a gallon, the same as last week. Prices are still about four cents lower than they were a month ago. The average price of premium is $3.21 a gallon, a penny lower than seven days ago. The average price of diesel fuel is $3 a gallon, less than a penny a gallon more than last week.

Consumer demand for gasoline remains high, even though the summer driving season is well behind us. That demand reduces supplies and keeps the price from going down.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday that gasoline demand rose slightly during the previous week. Gasoline supplies fell for a fifth consecutive week and are now about 6 million barrels lower than at this time last year.

But prices around the nation vary widely. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, reported this week that Michigan gas prices are at their lowest level since early February. 

The statewide average in Michigan has dropped to below $2.45 a gallon -- 11 cents lower than a week ago and 16 cents cheaper than at this time last month. However, prices are rising in neighboring Ohio. The statewide average is $2.56 a gallon, eight cents higher than last week. The spread between the most expensive and cheapest states is $1.83, skewed by abnormally high prices in California.

The states with the most expensive regular gas

These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey:

• California ($4.06)

• Hawaii ($3.66)

• Washington ($3.43) 

• Nevada ($3.37)

• Oregon ($3.34) 

• Alaska ($3.20)

• Idaho ($2.93) 

• Arizona ($2.89)

• Utah ($2.81)

• Colorado ($2.78)

The states with the cheapest regular gas

The survey found these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:

• Louisiana ($2.23)

• Mississippi ($2.24)

• Texas ($2.25)

• Alabama ($2.27)

• South Carolina ($2.27)

• Missouri ($2.28)

• Arkansas ($2.30)

• Tennessee ($2.30)

• Virginia ($2.30)

• Oklahoma ($2.32)

Taylor’s Sausage of Cave Junction, Ore., is recalling approximately 1,086 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry sausages.

The products contain a pork or sheep casing not declared on the label.

There are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions.

The recalled items packaged from June 26 though October 10, 2019, are being recalled:

• 16-oz. vacuum-sealed packages containing fully cooked, ready-to-eat, "TAYLOR’S Sausage Smoked Chicken and Apple Sausage" with lot code numbers 19217, 19176, 19282, 19273, 19259 and 19252.
• 16-oz. vacuum-sealed packages containing fully cooked, ready-to-eat, “TAYLOR’S Sausage Cheddar Dogs” with lot code numbers 19247 and 19217.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number "6172" or "P-6172" inside the USDA mark of inspection, were sold at retail locations in California and Oregon.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions may contact Yvette Pendleton at (541) 592-4185.