OneAEC networking group hosts June 9 event

OneAEC, a networking group for the architecture, engineering and construction industries, is hosting a proposal and interview tips panel next month at the Spokane Convention Center.

The panel, scheduled at noon on June 9, features Quezada Consulting Principal Melissa Quezada, who will give a presentation on how to create winning proposals and strategies for approaching project interviews.

Bothell-based Quezada Consulting is a certified Woman and Minority Owned Business Enterprise that provides marketing assistance to architecture, engineering and construction firms.

Tickets are $35 for OneAEC members and $45 for nonmembers. Registration for the event is at oneaec.org/events/187.

FAA lets United resume flying Boeing 777 jets

Federal safety regulators have approved a path for United Airlines to resume using dozens of Boeing 777 jets that have been grounded since the engine on one plane blew apart over Denver last year.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Tuesday that it has approved steps necessary for flights to resume using the planes, which have engines made by Pratt & Whitney.

United’s chief commercial officer, Andrew Nocella, said some of the planes will be in use within a week. The planes had recently appeared in United’s schedule, starting May 26.

The 52 planes account for about 10% of United’s passenger-carrying capacity, “so it’s really, really material” to United’s business, Nocella said at a Bank of America conference.

Last week, United senior Vice President Patrick Quayle said the airline would start using a handful of the planes on routes within the U.S., and then add them on flights to Hawaii and international destinations starting in early to mid-June. United plans to be flying about 20 of them by the end of June, he said.

The planes were grounded in February 2021 after a Hawaii-bound plane suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff and rained parts over the Denver area. The pilots were able to return to the Denver airport and land safely.

Musk claims Twitter bots tanking potential deal

LONDON – Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that taking over Twitter would enable him to rid the social media platform of its annoying “spam bots.”

Now he’s arguing – without presenting any evidence – that there might be just too many of those automated accounts for the $44 billion deal to move ahead.

The sharp turnaround by the world’s richest man makes little sense except as a method to scuttle or renegotiate a deal that’s becoming increasingly costly for Musk, experts said.

And while such hardball tactics aren’t uncommon in corporate mergers, the way it’s happening – in a highly public, seemingly erratic conversation on the very platform Musk wants to buy – has little precedent.

In effect, Musk is negotiating the future of Twitter … on Twitter.

“That’s the hook he’s trying to grab onto as the reason for him to potentially walk away or negotiate the price down lower,” said Brian Quinn, an associate law professor at Boston College.

“He is torpedoing the deal, trying to talk down the deal.”

Musk took to Twitter early Tuesday to say his deal to buy the company can’t “move forward” unless the company shows public proof that fewer than 5% of the accounts on the social media platform are fake or spam.

From staff and wire reports

That followed a Friday tweet that said the deal was on hold pending more bot details – causing Twitter stock to plunge by nearly 10% – and Monday comments at a Miami conference suggesting he wanted a lower price for the company.

Experts say Musk can’t unilaterally place the deal on hold, although that hasn’t stopped him from acting as though he can. If he walks away, he could be on the hook for a $1 billion breakup fee.

Musk also spent much of Monday in a back-and-forth with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who posted a series of tweets explaining his company’s effort to fight bots and how it has consistently estimated that less than 5% of Twitter accounts are fake.