Bombardier, the Canadian centric firm, manufacturer of Aircraft and Rolling-stock have been kicking up the News-room dust pile for weeks now as they slowly progressed their indefatigable way to losing the UK Thames-Link rail contract to German competitor Siemens.
German company Siemens won £1.4billion Thameslink deal without crucial testshttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2017993/German-company-Siemens-won-pound-1-4billion-Thameslink-deal-crucial-tests.htmlInterestingly, Bombardier is the company who in my mind are somewhat responsible for the gross negligence that may have led to a
Bombardier made Q-400 Continental Airlines deregulated sub-contract regional airliner, to come tumbling out of the skies on Friday 13th UK time, in February 2009; namely flight COLGAN 3407.
http://q400nextgen.com/en/#/q400/technology/The official Explanation of course is that the plane was brought down by Pilot error and very slight icing.
Sorry, but it seems that my errant, sinful nature means that I still don't completely buy that story and I still suspect the real cause of the flight's fall was a 'Killswitch' styled operation, for want of a better handle.
Now, in all fairness, the grief caused by the loss of 52 lives, including that of the world's leading Rwandan Genocide investigator and outstanding 9/11-Activist and WTC widow Beverly Eckert is barely displaced by the loss of a local Train Link contract to a German Competitor, ... but is it a start?
And like anyone who's conveniently lost a job contract, this leaves Bombardier workers nicely embittered.
But the power of airline markets does not bow to the value of human life or it's loss. As a 1990's study revealed, a single life lost on a plane costs barely a Million pounds, as it was then, and it takes (at 1990's figures) at least £20M of lost lives and hence reputational damage to an airline manufacturing company before they consider reviewing safety v human life trade-offs.
Read more:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2017993/German-company-Siemens-won-pound-1-4billion-Thameslink-deal-crucial-tests.html#ixzz1Tr690cmb