Connect with us

International

FTE Airline Transformation Power List EMEA 2022 unveiled

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience
Meet the 10 nominees for the FTE Airline Transformation Power List EMEA 2022, who have…

Published

on

The following article was published by Future Travel Experience

Meet the 10 nominees for the FTE Airline Transformation Power List EMEA 2022, who have been recognised for their outstanding innovation efforts.

Future Travel Experience is excited to unveil the FTE Airline Transformation Power List EMEA 2022. Here we shine a light on those who are pioneering new approaches that have the potential to improve travel for passengers and make the industry safer, more efficient and commercially successful. The EMEA edition champions the most transformative change enablers within the airline and airport industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for their outstanding efforts to lead how their organisation has embraced innovation in order to recover and thrive following the wide-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognition of their leadership and achievements, each member of the Power List will receive a complimentary “Golden Ticket” to our FTE Dublin mega-show, which will bring together the FTE EMEA, FTE Ancillary & FTE World Airport Retailing events under one roof in Dublin on 7-9 June. Three of the nominees will be awarded with an “Outstanding Achievement” trophy during an official awards ceremony at the show on 8 June, which will provide the perfect opportunity for us to announce and honour our nominees and winners, amongst industry friends and colleagues.

After extensive research into each candidate, we believe the following 10 airline executives have been right in the thick of it, facing unprecedented challenges, quickly adapting to the new normal, and charting a new course for their organisations and the wider industry.

 

Thomas Rückert, Chief Information Officer, Lufthansa Group

Thomas Rückert took over the role of Chief Information Officer of the Lufthansa Group on January 1, 2021, right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, he has enabled the design of a “customer centric airline” through innovative, fast and flexible information management. The Lufthansa Group responded quickly to the crisis by setting up a comprehensive restructuring programme, entitled “ReNew”, to maintain its global competitiveness and future viability. As part of the programme, the group sharpened its focus on the customer by digitalising customer touchpoints throughout the journey. The aim is to offer tailor-made customer information and self-service elements through digitalisation and to make the travel experience even more comfortable through increasing personalisation of products and services along the whole travel chain. A particular focus was placed on creating a seamless digital travel experience for the customer. For instance, Lufthansa Group airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS last year became the first to use Star Alliance’s interoperable biometric identity and identification platform that aims to significantly improve the travel experience for frequent flyer programme customers. Sustainability also plays an increasingly important role for the group’s post-COVID-19 operations and last year the Lufthansa Group CleanTech Hub was launched as a new competence centre for climate protection technologies. The CleanTech Hub bundles airline know-how with impulses from the global start-up and science scene. The goal is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, non-CO2 emissions, waste and noise in the Lufthansa Group flight operations within the next two to four years. The focus is on topics such as sustainable aviation fuels, retrofits, digital solutions, waste reduction and the mobility of tomorrow. The FTE Power List recognises Thomas Rückert as a key figure in Lufthansa’s transformation plan, as the group continues to safeguard its leading market position and economic success by becoming an agile and flexible organisation.

Keenan Hamza, Vice President Technology Futures & Innovation, The Emirates Group

Despite the difficult business environment, Emirates Group has continued to invest in the future of the company, while delivering innovative new customer services and ensuring health and safety of its customers and employees. Emirates led the industry in responding to its customers’ needs throughout the pandemic and it was one of the first airlines to proactively implement bio-safety measures onboard and on the ground to protect its customers and employees. In addition, to help restore travel confidence, Emirates launched a number of policies and initiatives, including the industry’s first complimentary COVID-19 health cover, extended waivers for rebookings and refund administration fees, and onsite rapid COVID-19 tests for departing passengers at Dubai International Airport (DXB), just to name a few. To help customers navigate the varied and dynamic travel requirements around the world, the airline launched a digital COVID-19 travel information hub as a one-stop shop for information on emirates.com. The airline also continued its investment in biometrics technology with the launch of an integrated biometric path at DXB in October 2020 to improve the customer experience with smooth processing at airport touchpoints via iris or facial recognition technologies. Enhancing the smart contactless journey offered to customers at DXB, Emirates later launched touchless self-service check-in and baggage drop kiosks. Moreover, the company was among the first to trial the IATA Travel Pass, which enables travellers to digitally manage and share their health documents for travel requirements. No stranger to delivering experiences and engaging with customers in the digital world, last year Emirates became the first airline to launch its own VR app on the Oculus store, offering users accurate, life size and interactive cabin interior experiences onboard Emirates’ flagship A380 aircraft and Boeing 777-300ER Gamechanger aircraft. Today, the airline is also among the first to experiment with NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the metaverse to create unique experiences for its customers and employees. As Vice President Technology Futures & Innovation, Keenan Hamza is instrumental in shaping Emirates Group’s technology and innovation approach, while also supporting the global aviation business through his involvement with the aviation and travel incubator, Intelak, established by Emirates Group, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), Accenture and Microsoft to support early and late-stage startups with the education, mentorship, tools and resources needed to address business challenges.

The FTE Dublin mega-event, taking place at the RDS in Dublin on 7-9 June, will bring together the FTE EMEA, FTE Ancillary & FTE World Airport Retailing shows under one roof to inspire air transport and travel sector executives from around the world on the most innovative digital, customer experience, future mobility, sustainability and commercial approaches. Attendees will have access to three high-level conference tracks, where they can hear inspirational presentations from a number of the leading airlines listed here including Lufthansa, easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines,  plus many more speakers from inside and outside the industry. Register today – airlines can attend for free >>

Charlotte Svensson, EVP & CIO, SAS

Charlotte Svensson was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of SAS in February 2020 and has since driven the organisation’s technological development and structure, in order to respond to future needs. From the onset of the pandemic, Svensson was presented with the challenge to deliver on aggressive cost savings, while increasing speed in development. In an initial response to the challenges, SAS refocused its ways of working and decentralised its Core IT department into a cloud based DevOps setup. SAS is now making the largest move within Digital & IT in the history of the company. Its ambition is to lead the way for the industry into the future and create a seamless travel experience for passengers. SAS aims to become the airline with absolute integration between business, people, and technology. During her first two years in the company, Svensson has successfully transformed SAS into an agile, value stream-oriented organisation, fully operational in the cloud. This has enabled the airline’s focus on vital business development, putting the needs of the business at the forefront and at the same time drive an ambitious plan for cost decrease, by using frontrunner technology such as AI, machine learning, robotics and persistently challenging high-cost solutions. Moreover, to secure its long-term competitiveness, SAS has embarked on a transformation plan – known as ‘SAS Forward’. The plan includes leveraging the SAS brand, achieving unit cost competitiveness, rightsizing the fleet (including refocusing long-haul), and building a sustainable future. A key element of the plan is SAS’ digital transformation. The carrier has stated that it will undergo a major digital transformation, delivering major improvement in customers’ experiences and driving financial benefits. Another major focus is on positioning SAS as the leader in sustainable aviation. SAS will invest in modern fuel-efficient aircraft, sustainable aviation fuels, emerging technologies and sustainable products and services with incentivised customer behaviour change.

Stuart Birrell, Chief Data & Information Officer, easyJet

Stuart Birrell joined easyJet in November 2020 as Chief Data & Information Officer, bringing significant experience and expertise in IT security, cloud-based solutions, big data sets and technology. Birrell is focused on developing the post-COVID-19 operating model and strategic capabilities in IT, Data and Change, making sure the airline is propelled to be one of the winners in aviation through smart deployment of technologies, data and people. Innovation has always been part of easyJet’s DNA – from its launch almost 20 years ago when the airline changed the way people fly to the present day where it leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel easy and affordable for passengers, minimise disruption and improve efficiency. The airline aims to deliver a seamless digitally-enabled customer journey at every stage of the passenger experience. Prior to travel, easyJet’s ‘direct is best’ strategy is led by digital channels, with an app/mobile-first mindset. Initiatives include optimising web booking interface; driving app usage and improving the overall experience; enhancing self-service booking management such as changing passenger details or baggage booking; improving online redemption management such as vouchers; developing full pre-order capability for retail onboard; and payments innovation. To help customers navigate through the COVID-19 travel rules, easyJet launched the COVID-19 Travel Hub in nine languages, providing a one stop shop for all information customers require to prepare for travel, including easy access to COVID-19 tests at negotiated rates. At the airport, streamlining the bag drop and boarding experience, building a model customer journey at Gatwick Airport to roll out to other airports, and pushing for virtual solutions have been top priorities for Birrell and his team. Meanwhile inflight, easyJet is committed to improving On-Time Performance (OTP) by managing suppliers, empowering crew, implementing pre-tactical and strategic ATC planning, carrying out base operating reviews, building a customer-level data view to enable targeted offers such as inflight retail and reviewing the CRM lifecycle for more relevant customer engagement. This enhanced focus on customer excellence, defined by digital channels, has continued to drive the strength of the easyJet brand and delivered strong customer satisfaction scores, which is why we are nominating Stuart Birrell for the FTE Airline Power List.

Airlines attend FTE Dublin for free – register today >>

Jean-Christophe Lalanne, EVP CIO, Air France-KLM

In his role as CIO at Air France-KLM, Jean-Christophe Lalanne has been at the forefront of the company’s transformation to a digital organisation. The core aim is to place high-quality customer experiences at the front and centre of business operations. One example is the “Where Can I Fly To?” map launched in October. This is a joint Air France – KLM Digital product that helps customers find their next AF/KL destination with a general overview of current COVID-19-related travel requirements. As part of the Air France–KLM self-service offer, Ready2Fly (Air France) and the Upload@Home (KLM) service were introduced to assist operational staff with the increase in COVID-19 document checks at the airport and offer customers a more streamlined experience. Air France-KLM’s hybrid model of agent servicing, supported by tooling and bots, demonstrated its essential role in the company’s social media service organisation, making tangible the best of human and AI interaction to assist customers. The digital teams adapted and developed additional bots to handle the high servicing volumes, in a context of complex travel conditions for customers. To support the group’s ambition to become the sustainability leader in the aviation industry, the Digital teams have also developed a number of tools to promote the offsetting of CO2 emissions, such as CO2 calculator, Trip&Tree module (offsetting) with partner Ecoact and Payment in Miles for Trip&Tree, as well as tools to increase investment capabilities in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and to allow customers to voluntary invest in SAF on the booking, reservation and check-in windows alongside offsetting products. For some years Air France and KLM have combined their digital development resources and expertise to create a joint digital ecosystem for the Air France and KLM brands. Based on agile methods of working, a continuous effort is directed at providing customers with a state-of-the-art digital experience. The foundation of this ecosystem is a joint API framework, covering the entire journey. During 2021, significant progress was made on the new website as well as on the mobile application, for which a uniform architecture and technology set-up has been applied for both the Air France and KLM digital channels.

Joel Goldberg, Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Wizz Air

Wizz Air remains laser focused on creating a seamless digital customer experience. The airline recognises digital transformation as the key to making travel as frictionless, safe and easy as possible in a cost-effective manner. Today, over 94% of Wizz’ distribution is done directly to customers through its digital channels. The low-cost carrier is Europe’s fourth most visited airline website and within the next two years it aims to leap into the number two spot. Over the past year, the airline’s digital team under the leadership of Joel Goldberg, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) has delivered in the areas of mobile-first experience & customer self-service and automation. The airline has reported that its ratio of mobile traffic increased significantly in the period between 2020 and 2021 and its mobile platforms continue to account for greater share of total revenue. The airline has focused on making its app easier and faster to use in order to continue to enhance mobile-first customer engagement. Meanwhile, Wizz Air was among the first airlines in Europe to offer automated refunds for cancelled flights due to the pandemic. The carrier also launched the Travel Planning Map, an interactive tool designed to help passengers stay informed on COVID-related travel restrictions. Last year, the company also implemented its very first chatbot, that will be serving its customers with speed, at scale. As part of its digital roadmap, Wizz Air aims to build a better understanding of its customers so it can offer more personalised products and services. In addition, the airline continues to improve its innovation process by adopting new infrastructure and architectures. This enables the company to not only stay a leader on cost efficiency but enables better scalability and responsiveness to customers’ needs. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, responsible for the airline’s initiatives that deepen customer engagement, drive new revenue, digitise operational processes, enable greater employee collaboration, and enhance crew experience, we believe Joel Goldberg is a worthy nominee in the FTE Airline Power List.

Airlines attend FTE Dublin for free – register today >>

Serdar Gürbüz, SVP, Customer Solutions & Analytics, Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines is continuing its digital journey that it embarked on in 2016 in order to strengthen its competitive position in the digital era. The airline’s innovation team has been at the core of this transformation and has adopted a truly agile strategy firmly focusing on testing prototypes and creating an open innovation ecosystem through collaboration and strategic partnerships. To keep up with the rapid development of technology, in 2020 the carrier established a new company, Turkish Airlines Technology Inc., as a 100% subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, in order to strengthen its contribution to the Turkish aviation ecosystem and become a global brand in technology. The airline has also turned to the startup community to achieve innovation from the outside in and in June 2020 it launched Turkish Airlines Terminal, its new technology, innovation and startup platform to inspire next generation startups to test their products and services, develop potential collaboration and contribute to the startup ecosystem. In his role as SVP, Customer Solutions & Analytics, Serdar Gürbüz is driving the airline’s airport experience through digitalisation of processes, including self-service, biometrics, automation and robotics. For instance, by having robots do repetitive and high-volume operational work with robotic process automation (RPA) technology, Turkish Airlines aims to use human resources more efficiently in value-added jobs. Gürbüz and his team are also placing a big importance on data and analytics, as a way to navigate through times of crisis and uncertainty.

John Hurley, CTO, Ryanair

Ryanair’s CTO John Hurley continues to drive the airline’s digital transformation strategy from a low-cost carrier to its ambitions of becoming the ‘Amazon of travel’. In the past few years prior to the pandemic, he has overhauled the Ryanair website, launched the MyRyanair app and developed e-commerce products such as Ryanair Rooms, the airline’s price comparison site for accommodation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryanair has launched a suite of digital customer enhancements to further improve customer service and provide easy access to flight information. Among the initiatives are a new Day of Travel app assistant, Digital Self-Service Hub and myRyanair Wallet. Using the new Day of Travel app, customers are able to get live updates and notifications about the airport, terminal and gate information. The app also provides easy access to boarding passes, certificates and other travel documents. Customers are able to use the new Digital Self-Service Hub to change flights, update passenger info, add bags, seats and other services. The airline has also improved its chat function to allow passengers to manage every aspect of their booking without calling the customer service team. The myRyanair Wallet gives passengers quick access to book flights using their wallet balance, and provides real-time status updates on refunds. Hurley also leads a team of over 400 developers working at Ryanair Labs, the airline’s digital innovation hubs based in Dublin, Madrid, Spain and Wroclaw, Poland, which continue to deliver the core digital facets of the airline’s “Always Getting Better” programme. All aspects of operations are under constant review to see where Software & Systems developed by Labs can improve operational efficiency and bring competitive advantages through automation. From driving paperless cockpit ambitions with the airline’s Pilot App projects, to providing Cabin Crew with time saving tools on their inflight devices, and providing more accurate ways to track aircraft movements at its airports, Labs is constantly looking to innovate and improve the overall performance of the Ryanair Group to meet the dual strategies of growth and cost reduction.

Airlines attend FTE Dublin for free – register today >>

Frank Meyer, Chief Digital Officer, Etihad Group

In 2021, Etihad Airways continued to invest in developing a thoughtful and digitally enabled travel experience inspired by Emirati hospitality, with health and wellness assured at every stage of the customer journey. Frank Meyer, Chief Digital Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, led the airline group to utilise technology to make air travel safer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Etihad Airways was one of the first airlines globally to trial and implement the IATA Travel Pass as a solution to simplify the storage of verified COVID-19 tests and certifications. For added convenience, Etihad Airways launched a new Home Check In facility, allowing customers to check in their bags, choose their seats and collect their boarding passes and luggage tags from their home, skipping queues at the airport. To simplify the travel process even further, Etihad introduced a Verified to Fly service that allows guests to upload their tests, passenger locator forms, vaccination certificates, and other necessary paperwork in advance of their flight to confirm their eligibility for travel. The airline continued its industry-leading Etihad Wellness programme, a key service differentiator which was developed at the outbreak of the pandemic to ensure passenger health and wellbeing at every touchpoint and provide peace of mind when travelling. The Etihad Wellness programme has continued to be championed by trained Wellness Ambassadors who provide guests with care and essential travel health information on the ground and onboard flights, as well as initiatives to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitisation, with complimentary wellness kits, and COVID-19 insurance cover for passengers. Moreover, the group is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and pioneering sustainable air travel through technology and innovation. Etihad Airways has announced that it will leverage Microsoft’s latest tools, such as advanced analytics and AI to measure and benchmark its environmental footprint, allowing the business to implement and assess carbon efficiency savings across its operations. The innovative collaboration will focus on the implementation of cutting-edge tools and technologies which will turn data into actionable insights and unlock scenarios and use cases that will help Etihad reduce its carbon footprint.

Georg Haraldsson, Chief Commercial Officer / Chief Information Officer, PLAY Airlines

2021 was a year of many great milestones for PLAY Airlines. The Icelandic low-cost airline began its flights operations, launched a number of new routes and has enjoyed a strong booking flow. The carrier proved its agility and flexibility to minimise the negative impact of the pandemic and it is now on track to realising its vision of building PLAY into a profitable airline operating a hub-and-spoke transatlantic network. Leading the airline’s digital strategy is Georg Haraldsson, Chief Commercial Officer / Chief Information Officer, PLAY Airlines, responsible for the Commercial & Digital division, which includes Digital Development, Revenue Management, Sales & Marketing and Service Delivery. Last year, the airline launched a new Internet Booking Engine (IBE) in order to build a solid platform for its digital future. Customer centricity and transparency are at the core of the project, emphasising a simple and accessible user end experience and a smooth customer journey. PLAY’s digital team works closely with several different departments throughout the airline to ensure that the new IBE serves all aspects of its complex operations. The new booking engine is the first step in PLAY taking control of its flagship store. The digital team is also planning development and improvements and the implementation of new features such as flight bundles, stopover flights and local payment options. Moreover, the startup airline is utilising digital tools such as its chatbot Playfin and a new disruption management tool to enhance the passenger experience.

Airlines attend FTE Dublin for free – register today >>

Click here to see the FTE Airport Transformation Power List EMEA nominees >> 

Article originally published here:
FTE Airline Transformation Power List EMEA 2022 unveiled

Read More

Continue Reading

Government

Problems After COVID-19 Vaccination More Prevalent Among Naturally Immune: Study

Problems After COVID-19 Vaccination More Prevalent Among Naturally Immune: Study

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis…

Published

on

Problems After COVID-19 Vaccination More Prevalent Among Naturally Immune: Study

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

People who recovered from COVID-19 and received a COVID-19 shot were more likely to suffer adverse reactions, researchers in Europe are reporting.

A medical worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a vaccination center in Ancenis-Saint-Gereon, France, on Nov. 17, 2021. (Stephane Mahe//Reuters)

Participants in the study were more likely to experience an adverse reaction after vaccination regardless of the type of shot, with one exception, the researchers found.

Across all vaccine brands, people with prior COVID-19 were 2.6 times as likely after dose one to suffer an adverse reaction, according to the new study. Such people are commonly known as having a type of protection known as natural immunity after recovery.

People with previous COVID-19 were also 1.25 times as likely after dose 2 to experience an adverse reaction.

The findings held true across all vaccine types following dose one.

Of the female participants who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, for instance, 82 percent who had COVID-19 previously experienced an adverse reaction after their first dose, compared to 59 percent of females who did not have prior COVID-19.

The only exception to the trend was among males who received a second AstraZeneca dose. The percentage of males who suffered an adverse reaction was higher, 33 percent to 24 percent, among those without a COVID-19 history.

Participants who had a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (confirmed with a positive test) experienced at least one adverse reaction more often after the 1st dose compared to participants who did not have prior COVID-19. This pattern was observed in both men and women and across vaccine brands,” Florence van Hunsel, an epidemiologist with the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb, and her co-authors wrote.

There were only slightly higher odds of the naturally immune suffering an adverse reaction following receipt of a Pfizer or Moderna booster, the researchers also found.

The researchers performed what’s known as a cohort event monitoring study, following 29,387 participants as they received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The participants live in a European country such as Belgium, France, or Slovakia.

Overall, three-quarters of the participants reported at least one adverse reaction, although some were minor such as injection site pain.

Adverse reactions described as serious were reported by 0.24 percent of people who received a first or second dose and 0.26 percent for people who received a booster. Different examples of serious reactions were not listed in the study.

Participants were only specifically asked to record a range of minor adverse reactions (ADRs). They could provide details of other reactions in free text form.

“The unsolicited events were manually assessed and coded, and the seriousness was classified based on international criteria,” researchers said.

The free text answers were not provided by researchers in the paper.

The authors note, ‘In this manuscript, the focus was not on serious ADRs and adverse events of special interest.’” Yet, in their highlights section they state, “The percentage of serious ADRs in the study is low for 1st and 2nd vaccination and booster.”

Dr. Joel Wallskog, co-chair of the group React19, which advocates for people who were injured by vaccines, told The Epoch Times: “It is intellectually dishonest to set out to study minor adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination then make conclusions about the frequency of serious adverse events. They also fail to provide the free text data.” He added that the paper showed “yet another study that is in my opinion, deficient by design.”

Ms. Hunsel did not respond to a request for comment.

She and other researchers listed limitations in the paper, including how they did not provide data broken down by country.

The paper was published by the journal Vaccine on March 6.

The study was funded by the European Medicines Agency and the Dutch government.

No authors declared conflicts of interest.

Some previous papers have also found that people with prior COVID-19 infection had more adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination, including a 2021 paper from French researchers. A U.S. study identified prior COVID-19 as a predictor of the severity of side effects.

Some other studies have determined COVID-19 vaccines confer little or no benefit to people with a history of infection, including those who had received a primary series.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends people who recovered from COVID-19 receive a COVID-19 vaccine, although a number of other health authorities have stopped recommending the shot for people who have prior COVID-19.

Another New Study

In another new paper, South Korean researchers outlined how they found people were more likely to report certain adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination than after receipt of another vaccine.

The reporting of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, or pericarditis, a related condition, was nearly 20 times as high among children as the reporting odds following receipt of all other vaccines, the researchers found.

The reporting odds were also much higher for multisystem inflammatory syndrome or Kawasaki disease among adolescent COVID-19 recipients.

Researchers analyzed reports made to VigiBase, which is run by the World Health Organization.

Based on our results, close monitoring for these rare but serious inflammatory reactions after COVID-19 vaccination among adolescents until definitive causal relationship can be established,” the researchers wrote.

The study was published by the Journal of Korean Medical Science in its March edition.

Limitations include VigiBase receiving reports of problems, with some reports going unconfirmed.

Funding came from the South Korean government. One author reported receiving grants from pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/15/2024 - 05:00

Read More

Continue Reading

Spread & Containment

‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded…

Published

on

'Excess Mortality Skyrocketed': Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack 'Criminal' COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded experimental vaccines were hastily developed for a virus which primarily killed the old and fat (and those with other obvious comorbidities), and an aggressive, global campaign to coerce billions into injecting them ensued.

Then there were the lockdowns - with some countries (New Zealand, for example) building internment camps for those who tested positive for Covid-19, and others such as China welding entire apartment buildings shut to trap people inside.

It was an egregious and unnecessary response to a virus that, while highly virulent, was survivable by the vast majority of the general population.

Oh, and the vaccines, which governments are still pushing, didn't work as advertised to the point where health officials changed the definition of "vaccine" multiple times.

Tucker Carlson recently sat down with Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist and vocal critic of vaccines. The two had a wide-ranging discussion, which included vaccine safety and efficacy, excess mortality, demographic impacts of the virus, big pharma, and the professional price Kory has paid for speaking out.

Keep reading below, or if you have roughly 50 minutes, watch it in its entirety for free on X:

"Do we have any real sense of what the cost, the physical cost to the country and world has been of those vaccines?" Carlson asked, kicking off the interview.

"I do think we have some understanding of the cost. I mean, I think, you know, you're aware of the work of of Ed Dowd, who's put together a team and looked, analytically at a lot of the epidemiologic data," Kory replied. "I mean, time with that vaccination rollout is when all of the numbers started going sideways, the excess mortality started to skyrocket."

When asked "what kind of death toll are we looking at?", Kory responded "...in 2023 alone, in the first nine months, we had what's called an excess mortality of 158,000 Americans," adding "But this is in 2023. I mean, we've  had Omicron now for two years, which is a mild variant. Not that many go to the hospital."

'Safe and Effective'

Tucker also asked Kory why the people who claimed the vaccine were "safe and effective" aren't being held criminally liable for abetting the "killing of all these Americans," to which Kory replied: "It’s my kind of belief, looking back, that [safe and effective] was a predetermined conclusion. There was no data to support that, but it was agreed upon that it would be presented as safe and effective."

Carlson and Kory then discussed the different segments of the population that experienced vaccine side effects, with Kory noting an "explosion in dying in the youngest and healthiest sectors of society," adding "And why did the employed fare far worse than those that weren't? And this particularly white collar, white collar, more than gray collar, more than blue collar."

Kory also said that Big Pharma is 'terrified' of Vitamin D because it "threatens the disease model." As journalist The Vigilant Fox notes on X, "Vitamin D showed about a 60% effectiveness against the incidence of COVID-19 in randomized control trials," and "showed about 40-50% effectiveness in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 in observational studies."

Professional costs

Kory - while risking professional suicide by speaking out, has undoubtedly helped save countless lives by advocating for alternate treatments such as Ivermectin.

Kory shared his own experiences of job loss and censorship, highlighting the challenges of advocating for a more nuanced understanding of vaccine safety in an environment often resistant to dissenting voices.

"I wrote a book called The War on Ivermectin and the the genesis of that book," he said, adding "Not only is my expertise on Ivermectin and my vast clinical experience, but and I tell the story before, but I got an email, during this journey from a guy named William B Grant, who's a professor out in California, and he wrote to me this email just one day, my life was going totally sideways because our protocols focused on Ivermectin. I was using a lot in my practice, as were tens of thousands of doctors around the world, to really good benefits. And I was getting attacked, hit jobs in the media, and he wrote me this email on and he said, Dear Dr. Kory, what they're doing to Ivermectin, they've been doing to vitamin D for decades..."

"And it's got five tactics. And these are the five tactics that all industries employ when science emerges, that's inconvenient to their interests. And so I'm just going to give you an example. Ivermectin science was extremely inconvenient to the interests of the pharmaceutical industrial complex. I mean, it threatened the vaccine campaign. It threatened vaccine hesitancy, which was public enemy number one. We know that, that everything, all the propaganda censorship was literally going after something called vaccine hesitancy."

Money makes the world go 'round

Carlson then hit on perhaps the most devious aspect of the relationship between drug companies and the medical establishment, and how special interests completely taint science to the point where public distrust of institutions has spiked in recent years.

"I think all of it starts at the level the medical journals," said Kory. "Because once you have something established in the medical journals as a, let's say, a proven fact or a generally accepted consensus, consensus comes out of the journals."

"I have dozens of rejection letters from investigators around the world who did good trials on ivermectin, tried to publish it. No thank you, no thank you, no thank you. And then the ones that do get in all purportedly prove that ivermectin didn't work," Kory continued.

"So and then when you look at the ones that actually got in and this is where like probably my biggest estrangement and why I don't recognize science and don't trust it anymore, is the trials that flew to publication in the top journals in the world were so brazenly manipulated and corrupted in the design and conduct in, many of us wrote about it. But they flew to publication, and then every time they were published, you saw these huge PR campaigns in the media. New York Times, Boston Globe, L.A. times, ivermectin doesn't work. Latest high quality, rigorous study says. I'm sitting here in my office watching these lies just ripple throughout the media sphere based on fraudulent studies published in the top journals. And that's that's that has changed. Now that's why I say I'm estranged and I don't know what to trust anymore."

Vaccine Injuries

Carlson asked Kory about his clinical experience with vaccine injuries.

"So how this is how I divide, this is just kind of my perception of vaccine injury is that when I use the term vaccine injury, I'm usually referring to what I call a single organ problem, like pericarditis, myocarditis, stroke, something like that. An autoimmune disease," he replied.

"What I specialize in my practice, is I treat patients with what we call a long Covid long vaxx. It's the same disease, just different triggers, right? One is triggered by Covid, the other one is triggered by the spike protein from the vaccine. Much more common is long vax. The only real differences between the two conditions is that the vaccinated are, on average, sicker and more disabled than the long Covids, with some pretty prominent exceptions to that."

Watch the entire interview above, and you can support Tucker Carlson's endeavors by joining the Tucker Carlson Network here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:20

Read More

Continue Reading

International

Shakira’s net worth

After 12 albums, a tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth more than 4 decades into her care…

Published

on

Shakira’s considerable net worth is no surprise, given her massive popularity in Latin America, the U.S., and elsewhere. 

In fact, the belly-dancing contralto queen is the second-wealthiest Latin-America-born pop singer of all time after Gloria Estefan. (Interestingly, Estefan actually helped a young Shakira translate her breakout album “Laundry Service” into English, hugely propelling her stateside success.)

Since releasing her first record at age 13, Shakira has spent decades recording albums in both Spanish and English and performing all over the world. Over the course of her 40+ year career, she helped thrust Latin pop music into the American mainstream, paving the way for the subsequent success of massively popular modern acts like Karol G and Bad Bunny.

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Shakira, the barefoot belly dancer of Barranquilla, was unveiled at the city's waterfront. The statue was commissioned by the city's former mayor and other leadership.

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images

In December 2023, a 21-foot-tall beachside bronze statue of the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was unveiled in her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla, making her a permanent fixture in the city’s skyline and cementing her legacy as one of Latin America’s most influential entertainers.

After 12 albums, a plethora of film and television appearances, a highly publicized tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth? What does her income look like? And how does she spend her money?

Related: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's net worth: How the new TKO Board Member built his wealth from $7

How much is Shakira worth?

In late 2023, Spanish sports and lifestyle publication Marca reported Shakira’s net worth at $400 million, citing Forbes as the figure’s source (although Forbes’ profile page for Shakira does not list a net worth — and didn’t when that article was published).

Most other sources list the singer’s wealth at an estimated $300 million, and almost all of these point to Celebrity Net Worth — a popular but dubious celebrity wealth estimation site — as the source for the figure.

A $300 million net worth would make Shakira the third-richest Latina pop star after Gloria Estefan ($500 million) and Jennifer Lopez ($400 million), and the second-richest Latin-America-born pop singer after Estefan (JLo is Puerto Rican but was born in New York).

Shakira’s income: How much does she make annually?

Entertainers like Shakira don’t have predictable paychecks like ordinary salaried professionals. Instead, annual take-home earnings vary quite a bit depending on each year’s album sales, royalties, film and television appearances, streaming revenue, and other sources of income. As one might expect, Shakira’s earnings have fluctuated quite a bit over the years.

From June 2018 to June 2019, for instance, Shakira was the 10th highest-earning female musician, grossing $35 million, according to Forbes. This wasn’t her first time gracing the top 10, though — back in 2012, she also landed the #10 spot, bringing in $20 million, according to Billboard.

In 2023, Billboard listed Shakira as the 16th-highest-grossing Latin artist of all time.

Shakira performed alongside producer Bizarrap during the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards Gala in Seville.

Photo By Maria Jose Lopez/Europa Press via Getty Images

How much does Shakira make from her concerts and tours?

A large part of Shakira’s wealth comes from her world tours, during which she sometimes sells out massive stadiums and arenas full of passionate fans eager to see her dance and sing live.

According to a 2020 report by Pollstar, she sold over 2.7 million tickets across 190 shows that grossed over $189 million between 2000 and 2020. This landed her the 19th spot on a list of female musicians ranked by touring revenue during that period. In 2023, Billboard reported a more modest touring revenue figure of $108.1 million across 120 shows.

In 2003, Shakira reportedly generated over $4 million from a single show on Valentine’s Day at Foro Sol in Mexico City. 15 years later, in 2018, Shakira grossed around $76.5 million from her El Dorado World Tour, according to Touring Data.

Related: RuPaul's net worth: Everything to know about the cultural icon and force behind 'Drag Race'

How much has Shakira made from her album sales?

According to a 2023 profile in Variety, Shakira has sold over 100 million records throughout her career. “Laundry Service,” the pop icon’s fifth studio album, was her most successful, selling over 13 million copies worldwide, according to TheRichest.

Exactly how much money Shakira has taken home from her album sales is unclear, but in 2008, it was widely reported that she signed a 10-year contract with LiveNation to the tune of between $70 and $100 million to release her subsequent albums and manage her tours.

Shakira and JLo co-headlined the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Florida.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

How much did Shakira make from her Super Bowl and World Cup performances?

Shakira co-wrote one of her biggest hits, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” after FIFA selected her to create the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. She performed the song, along with several of her existing fan-favorite tracks, during the event’s opening ceremonies. TheThings reported in 2023 that the song generated $1.4 million in revenue, citing Popnable for the figure.

A decade later, 2020’s Superbowl halftime show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez as co-headliners with guest performances by Bad Bunny and J Balvin. The 14-minute performance was widely praised as a high-energy celebration of Latin music and dance, but as is typical for Super Bowl shows, neither Shakira nor JLo was compensated beyond expenses and production costs.

The exposure value that comes with performing in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, though, is significant. It is typically the most-watched television event in the U.S. each year, and in 2020, a 30-second Super Bowl ad spot cost between $5 and $6 million.

How much did Shakira make as a coach on “The Voice?”

Shakira served as a team coach on the popular singing competition program “The Voice” during the show’s fourth and sixth seasons. On the show, celebrity musicians coach up-and-coming amateurs in a team-based competition that eventually results in a single winner. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Shakira’s salary as a coach on “The Voice” was $12 million.

Related: John Cena's net worth: The wrestler-turned-actor's investments, businesses, and more

How does Shakira spend her money?

Shakira doesn’t just make a lot of money — she spends it, too. Like many wealthy entertainers, she’s purchased her share of luxuries, but Barranquilla’s barefoot belly dancer is also a prolific philanthropist, having donated tens of millions to charitable causes throughout her career.

Private island

Back in 2006, she teamed up with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame and Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz to purchase Bonds Cay, a 550-acre island in the Bahamas, which was listed for $16 million at the time.

Along with her two partners in the purchase, Shakira planned to develop the island to feature housing, hotels, and an artists’ retreat designed to host a revolving cast of artists-in-residence. This plan didn’t come to fruition, though, and as of this article’s last update, the island was once again for sale on Vladi Private Islands.

Real estate and vehicles

Like most wealthy celebs, Shakira’s portfolio of high-end playthings also features an array of luxury properties and vehicles, including a home in Barcelona, a villa in Cyprus, a Miami mansion, and a rotating cast of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Philanthropy and charity

Shakira doesn’t just spend her massive wealth on herself; the “Queen of Latin Music” is also a dedicated philanthropist and regularly donates portions of her earnings to the Fundación Pies Descalzos, or “Barefoot Foundation,” a charity she founded in 1997 to “improve the education and social development of children in Colombia, which has suffered decades of conflict.” The foundation focuses on providing meals for children and building and improving educational infrastructure in Shakira’s hometown of Barranquilla as well as four other Colombian communities.

In addition to her efforts with the Fundación Pies Descalzos, Shakira has made a number of other notable donations over the years. In 2007, she diverted a whopping $40 million of her wealth to help rebuild community infrastructure in Peru and Nicaragua in the wake of a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shakira donated a large supply of N95 masks for healthcare workers and ventilators for hospital patients to her hometown of Barranquilla.

Back in 2010, the UN honored Shakira with a medal to recognize her dedication to social justice, at which time the Director General of the International Labour Organization described her as a “true ambassador for children and young people.”

On November 20, 2023 (which was supposed to be her first day of trial), Shakira reached a deal with the prosecution that resulted in a three-year suspended sentence and around $8 million in fines.

Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images

Shakira’s tax fraud scandal: How much did she pay?

In 2018, prosecutors in Spain initiated a tax evasion case against Shakira, alleging she lived primarily in Spain from 2012 to 2014 and therefore failed to pay around $14.4 million in taxes to the Spanish government. Spanish law requires anyone who is “domiciled” (i.e., living primarily) in Spain for more than half of the year to pay income taxes.

During the period in question, Shakira listed the Bahamas as her primary residence but did spend some time in Spain, as she was dating Gerard Piqué, a professional footballer and Spanish citizen. The couple’s first son, Milan, was also born in Barcelona during this period. 

Shakira maintained that she spent far fewer than 183 days per year in Spain during each of the years in question. In an interview with Elle Magazine, the pop star opined that “Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It's clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what."

Prosecutors in the case sought a fine of almost $26 million and a possible eight-year prison stint, but in November of 2023, Shakira took a deal to close the case, accepting a fine of around $8 million and a three-year suspended sentence to avoid going to trial. In reference to her decision to take the deal, Shakira stated, "While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favour [had the trial proceeded], I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight."

How much did the Shakira statue in Barranquilla cost?

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze likeness of Shakira was unveiled on a waterfront promenade in Barranquilla. The city’s then-mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, commissioned Colombian sculptor Yino Márquez to create the statue of the city’s treasured pop icon, along with a sculpture of the city’s coat of arms.

According to the New York Times, the two sculptures cost the city the equivalent of around $180,000. A plaque at the statue’s base reads, “A heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves the masses and bare feet that march for the good of children and humanity.” 

Related: Taylor Swift net worth: The most successful entertainer joins the billionaire's club

Read More

Continue Reading

Trending