Spotlight on Industry Headlines
EXXON MOBIL UNVEILS NEW CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN
CANADIAN HOME SALES REMAIN HISTORICALLY STRONG S tatistics released today by the Canadian Real Es- tate Association (CREA) show national home sales continued running at historically strong levels in November 2020. So far this year, some 511,449 homes have traded hands over Canadian MLS Systems, up 10.5% from the first 11 months of 2019. It was the sec - ond-highest January to November sales figure on re - cord, trailing 2016 by only 0.3% at this point. AIRLINES WARNED OVER SAFETY AS JETS RETURN FROM PANDEMIC STORAGE Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity posted a 32.1% year over year gain in November, the same as was seen in October. It was a new record for that month by a margin of well over 11,000 transactions. For the fifth straight month, year-over-year sales activity was up in almost all Canadian housing markets compared to the same month in 2019. R egulators, insurers and experts are warning air- lines to take extra care when reactivating planes left in extended storage during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing potential pilot rustiness, mainte- nance errors and even insect nests blocking key sen- sors. The unprecedented number of aircraft grounded as coronavirus lockdowns blocked air travel – at one point reaching two-thirds of the global fleet – has cre - ated a spike in the number of reported problems as airlines return them to service.
AIRLINES SCRAP INTERNATIONAL TICKET CHANGE FEES AS DEMAND WEAKENED BY PANDEMIC However, the company also noted in outlining new carbon goals that the plan ″includes input from share - holders.” For investors that doubt Exxon’s long-term strategy, the announcement signals that they are re- maining consistent with the path they are on, and that might lead some investors to sell shares or press for change in leadership. Time will tell. A week after multiple activist investor groups targeted Exxon Mobil for recent financial un - derperformance as well as climate change concerns, the oil giant has released a new five-year plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The com- pany stressed that the plan has been in the works for months as its previous five-year plan through 2020 is drawing to a close. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are getting rid of in- ternational ticket change fees, joining American Airlines in the measure that aims to spur travel demand that has been decimated in the coronavirus pandemic. Delta, American and United in August dropped change fees for domestic flights. American last month expanded that to international travel, including long-haul routes. Change and cancellation fees brought in $2.8 billion for U.S. carriers last year, according to the Department of Transportation. The cost to change international tickets ran at least $200 for many itineraries, plus a difference in fare. But with passenger traffic hovering around one- third of last year’s levels and once-lucrative international travel especially hard hit, airlines are scrambling to loos- en policies that would encourage travelers to book.
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DECEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2020
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