Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Grounded fleet: Europe’s Airbus said on Friday that it was ordering an immediate software change on a “significant number” of its A320 family of jets that are currently in service. Industry sources told Reuters that the recall would involve up to 6,000 jets, over half of the global A320 fleet. Airbus said that a recent incident involving an A320 aircraft revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls. Airbus then identified a significant number of A320 aircrafts currently in service which may be impacted. Sources told Reuters that the recall will result in a relatively brief grounding for around two-thirds of the affected jets, but the operation is set to significantly disrupt travel as the US heads into its busiest weekend of the year. The incident that prompted the recall involved a JetBlue flight from Mexico to New Jersey in October, sources told Reuters, which made an emergency landing in Florida after a sudden uncommanded drop in altitude. (Airbus)(Reuters)(Capital Brief)
2.
Wartime corruption: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his chief of staff and lead negotiator in peace talks, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after becoming embroiled in a corruption probe. Zelensky did not elaborate on his aide’s decision in a video posted on Telegram announcing the news, but said “There will be a reboot of the Office of the President of Ukraine…I want there to be no rumors or speculation.” Earlier on Friday Yermak’s apartment was raided by anti-graft investigators following a widening probe involving several ministers and a former business partner of Zelensky. Zelensky said that he would consider Yermak’s replacement on Saturday. The shakeup comes at a pivotal moment, as Russia continues to advance on the battlefield and Kyiv is being pressured by Washington to make concessions to end the war. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, promising the leader he would keep buying Russian oil, defying the EU. (Bloomberg)(WSJ)(Reuters)
