Mullen Automotive shoots higher on good news yet again. The bears are still out in force but there are signs they are weakening. If this stock gets about $0.40 it could move up to $0.60 PDQ. 5 stocks we like better than Mullen Automotive Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) did it again. The company released more good […] Mullen Automotive shoots higher on good news yet again. The bears are still out in force but there are signs they are weakening. If this stock gets about $0.40 it could move up to $0.60 PDQ. 5 stocks we like better than Mullen Automotive Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) did it again. The company released more good news that has the market moving higher. The latest news in a string of positive events that could launch this company to success is a new pilot program at LAX. The program collaborates with Menzies and builds on the partnership formed with Loop Capital last fall. if (typeof jQuery == 'undefined') { document.write(''); } .first{clear:both;margin-left:0}.one-third{width:31.034482758621%;float:left;margin-left:3.448275862069%}.two-thirds{width:65.51724137931%;float:left}form.ebook-styles .af-element input{border:0;border-radius:0;padding:8px}form.ebook-styles .af-element{width:220px;float:left}form.ebook-styles .af-element.buttonContainer{width:115px;float:left;margin-left: 6px;}form.ebook-styles .af-element.buttonContainer input.submit{width:115px;padding:10px 6px 8px;text-transform:uppercase;border-radius:0;border:0;font-size:15px}form.ebook-styles .af-body.af-standards input.submit{width:115px}form.ebook-styles .af-element.privacyPolicy{width:100%;font-size:12px;margin:10px auto 0}form.ebook-styles .af-element.privacyPolicy p{font-size:11px;margin-bottom:0}form.ebook-styles .af-body input.text{height:40px;padding:2px 10px !important} form.ebook-styles .error, form.ebook-styles #error { color:#d00; } form.ebook-styles .formfields h1, form.ebook-styles .formfields #mg-logo, form.ebook-styles .formfields #mg-footer { display: none; } form.ebook-styles .formfields { font-size: 12px; } form.ebook-styles .formfields p { margin: 4px 0; } Get The Full Series in PDF Get the entire 10-part series on Charlie Munger in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or email to your colleagues. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Q4 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more   Find A Qualified Financial Advisor Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you're ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now. Menzies is the world’s largest airport services company, operating at 250 airports in 58 countries. Its fleet comprises 8,000 vehicles and it wants to upgrade to electric as part of its ambitious plan to reach net neutrality by 2033. What this means for Mullen and Loop is a 60-day opportunity to prove their value. Mullen will supply class-1 EV cargo test vans that will be evaluated in multiple use cases across LAX. Loop will provide the EV-charging infrastructure and fleet management software. The combination should enable the active use of EVs in virtually all scenarios, including recharging and maintenance. Among Loop’s offerings is cloud-based EVFMaaS or EV fleet management as a service which is a budding and potentially lucrative new industry. “Collaborating with suppliers, airports, and our airline customers is vital for Menzies to achieve its sustainability goals. We have committed to switching to electric vehicles wherever possible to reduce our carbon emissions; however, charging infrastructure can be a barrier, so it’s great to work with Mullen and Loop to pilot a solution at LAX. Early feedback is positive, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results from this collaboration,” said John Redmond, executive vice president of Americas, Menzies Aviation. What Does This Mean For Mullen Shareholders? So, what does this mean for Mullen shareholders? Assuming the pilot program is successful, it could result in another order for several thousand EV vehicles. That would be yet another resounding vote of confidence in the company and one that proves demand. In this scenario, Mullen Automotive may find it increasingly easier to find willing partners with the cash to ensure operations and production gets off to a good start. In this light, as speculative as it may be, the company may not have to lean into capital-raising activities like a dilutive share sale. It might also mean the share price would move higher, which is why the stock is moving higher now. The short interest in Mullen Automotive has ticked lower over the last week or so, but it remains very high at 47% and this could be driving share prices higher. The risk in the news trend is that Mullen will succeed, if not with Menzies then with one of its other ventures and this may have some short-sellers getting nervous. Penny stocks like this one can see wicked-fast price swings that take action up or down by high-double to triple digits with no apparent cause, and there are a growing number of catalysts for this one. The recent string of new hires is consistent with the idea production will start soon. The company is expected to begin delivering the first of the 6,000 vans ordered by the Randy Marion Group by the end of the quarter so the expectations are high. This, along with the first sales of the I-Go in Europe, would be another mover for the stock and one the short-sellers could not ignore. The Technical Outlook: Mullen Is A Coiled Spring The price action over the last few quarters has Mullen Automotive wound up like a tightly coiled spring. The market has been bouncing between downward-sloping resistance and upward-sloping support, which is coming to a head very soon.   The latest action has the price moving upward toward the top of the range, but short-sellers may meet it. If so, the wind-up will continue until the next news is released. If not, this stock may keep increasing, and the next target for resistance is near the $0.60 level or 50% above the current action. Should you invest $1,000 in Mullen Automotive right now? Before you consider Mullen Automotive, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Mullen Automotive wasn't on the list. While Mullen Automotive currently has a "hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. Article by Thomas Hughes, MarketBeat.....»»

The event comes three weeks after a Delta Boeing 737 and an American Boeing 777 nearly collided on the runway at New York-JFK airport. A United Boeing 787, like the one pictured, clipped the wing of a United Boeing 757 at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday, February 2.United Airlines Two United Airlines aircraft collided at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Friday. The aircraft involved were an empty Boeing 787 Dreamliner and a Boeing 757 headed for Orlando. The Florida-bound passengers were on board at the time, but no one was injured and everyone was rebooked. Two United Airlines aircraft collided at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday morning, the airline confirmed to Insider.According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a parked Boeing 757 that was going to head to Orlando was clipped by the wing of an empty Boeing 787 that was being towed into a neighboring gate. Photos of the incident show the 757's winglet was nearly gone.—Pei-Sze Cheng (@PeiSzeCheng4NY) February 3, 2023 "The left wing of United Airlines Flight 2135, a Boeing 757-200, was struck by a Boeing 787 aircraft around 8:45 a.m. Friday, at Newark Liberty International Airport," the FAA said in a statement to Insider. "The second aircraft was being relocated by a tug. The FAA will investigate." United passenger Rebecca Blum told ABC7 New York that she heard a noise and felt a "jolt" when the two aircraft collided, but said no one onboard panicked. The Orlando-bound passengers, who were on the jet at the time of the event but were uninjured, were deplaned and rebooked on different aircraft, United told Insider.Friday's event comes three weeks after a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 and an American Airlines Boeing 777 narrowly avoided a collision at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.The Delta plane was cleared and rolling for take off when the American plane crossed the same active runway. The 737 plane managed to stop within 1,000 feet of the 777, but the close call is now being investigated by both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.While these two events happened back-to-back, aircraft collisions at airports are not common. According to aviation safety website SKYbrary, "on-gate" occurrences like the two United planes are more common between one plane and support equipment, like a catering truck. Meanwhile, runway incursions like the one at New York-JFK, in which an aircraft was incorrectly situated on a runway, occurred 1,732 times in 2022, according to the FAA. That's out of millions and millions of flights each year.These typically occur at smaller airports and many can be attributed to pilot error, with the FAA saying 75% of pilot-related incidents were those operating smaller general aviation aircraft — not commercial airliners.The last fatal accident in the US involving an aircraft on the wrong runway was in 2006. A Comair Bombardier CRJ-100ER lined up on the wrong runway, which was too short to take off from, and ended up running out of pavement and hitting a wall on takeoff, killing everyone but the first officer. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

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In response to spy flight, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly postponing his trip to China, whose officials have called for cooler heads. Former President Donald Trump gets ready to speak during a Save America rally on October 1, 2022 in Warren, Michigan. TrumpEmily Elconin/Getty Images Trump called for the US to "SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON" as a suspect Chinese spy craft floats above the US. In response to the episode, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly postponing his trip to China. Other GOP officials said it was a mistake for the US to have not acted sooner. Former President Donald Trump and a growing number of GOP lawmakers on Friday called for the US to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as Beijing pushed for cooler heads. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is reportedly postponing his scheduled trip to China, according to Bloomberg News. The initial announcement of his travels and reported intentions to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping were taken as signs of easing tensions between the world's two largest powers."SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth.Other Republicans took a slightly more measured approach, arguing that it was "a mistake" not to have shot down the suspected spy balloon but not necessarily saying that it should be done now. Bloomberg reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advised President Joe Biden not to order the shoot down the balloon due to the risk of falling debris. On Wednesday, authorities shut down Billings' airport and the US military scrambled F-22 fighters to respond to the balloon's encroachment; Pentagon officials assess that it is on a reconnaissance mission near sensitive US military installations.Chairman Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who leads a new select committee focused on China, said it was mistake that the US didn't act sooner."In my opinion, though the details are murky and we haven't yet sat down with the intelligence community and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs [Gen. Mark Milley], we should have shot it down," Gallagher told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.  "And I don't think the Chinese would hesitate to shoot down an American asset in their airspace, as they have shot down several of our U2 planes in the past."China itself acknowledged that the craft is in fact its balloon. A foreign ministry spokesperson added that Beijing "regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace," but claimed that the balloon is a "civilian aircraft" primarily used for weather research. An earlier statement by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called for a "cool-headed" approach to the matter. It is worth noting that the Chinese Communist Party has misled and in some cases outright lied about its activities, as many have suspected during the COVID-19 pandemic.According to CBS News, the balloon is now floating over the Midwest after being spotted in Montana. The craft is powered by solar panels. An unnamed US official told the network that the balloon is traveling at 66,000 feet. The Pentagon, according to the report, is still confident that the airship is in fact related to surveillance. Insider's requests for comment from the Pentagon and National Security Council were not immediately returned.Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said it was "a mistake" not to have shot down the balloon."It was a mistake to not shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area," Rubio wrote on Twitter. "This is not some hot air balloon, it has a large payload of sensors roughly the size of two city buses & the ability to maneuver independently."Trump was far from the only 2024 presidential hopeful to weigh in. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who is reportedly going to announce a presidential campaign in the coming weeks, slammed the White House for "letting China walk all over us.""Shoot down the balloon. Cancel Blinken's trip," Haley said. "Hold China accountable."Haley sent her tweet before the reported postponement of Blinken's trip came to light, a sign of just how quickly the situation is continuing to change.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The Boeing 747 was not only designed for passenger and cargo use, but specially-modified versions also carried the space shuttle and the president. The first Boeing 747 at the Everett assembly line.Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images Boeing is bidding farewell to its last-ever Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The event marks the end of a revolutionary era that changed the way people travel. The enormous plane was a marvel that played many roles, like carrying the space shuttle. The Boeing 747 is one of the greatest feats of aerospace engineering and was an global success for the American planemaker.British Airways Boeing 747-400.Nicolas Economou/Getty ImagesSource: BoeingFor over 50 years, the aircraft shuttled travelers to nearly every continent across the globe, connecting people to more places than ever before.Boeing 747.BoeingSource: BoeingNo longer did customers have to stop for fuel on flights between the US and Asia or Australia — the 747 could operate these routes nonstop.Qantas used the 747 as its transpacific workhorse.REUTERS/Daniel MunozAirlines have been flying over the Pacific Ocean since the 1930s — here's how the practice evolved over the yearsIt wasn't long before the jumbo jet earned the hearts of airlines and passengers alike, becoming one the most beloved airliners in history and outliving equally popular planes like the Concorde.A British Airways and an Air France Concorde pass each other at JFK.Associated PressThe Concorde made its final flight a little more than 16 years ago and supersonic air travel has yet to return — here's a look back at its awesome historyThe jet's longtime success can be seen in the numbers, with the huge plane shuttling over 5.9 billion people across 75.5 billion miles as of 2020, which is enough to fly to the Moon and back to Earth 137,000 times.Lufthansa is one of the few airlines passengers can still fly on the 747.Lukas Wunderlich/ShutterstockSource: BoeingHowever, innovations in dual-engine planes over the years made the 747’s four fuel-hungry engines and poor economics unattractive for operators.Alexander Sidorov/EyeEm via Getty ImagesSource: InsiderWhat was once a marvel for international transport eventually became a cost liability, and most airlines worldwide have ditched the plane in favor of more efficient jets, like the Boeing 787 or the Airbus A350.Airbus A350-1000.Bryan Van Der Beek/AirbusEven more iconic planes are disappearing from the skies earlier than planned as the coronavirus continues to wreak airline havocThe coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem as carriers were already bleeding cash and needed to let go of expensive assets.Boeing 747's at Pinal Air Park, which is an aircraft graveyard.AirlineGeeks/Ryan EwingI went inside one of the US' largest aircraft storage facilities and saw how it isn't emptying out despite the rise in air travelAs a result, the 747 became a common casualty of COVID-19 as travel demand plummeted, with many airlines, like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways, saying goodbye to the iconic double-decker forever.The last British Airways 747 to take off from London Heathrow.British AirwaysThe iconic Boeing 747 is disappearing from the British Airways fleet after 49 storied years as the pandemic thrashes the airline industryBoeing also decided to retire the program, having built over 1,550 jumbos. The final 747 rolled off the assembly line in Everett, Washington, on December 6, and was delivered to its final owner, Atlas Air, on Tuesday.Boeing's last 747 rolled out of the Everett assembly line.Paul Weatherman/BoeingSource: Boeing, Boeing's last-ever 747 just rolled off the assembly line, marking the end of an era. Here's the history of how the revolutionary plane changed the world."This is the symbol of innovation for our country," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told Bloomberg at the delivery ceremony. "This airplane will fly for another fifty years, so it's not as if we're putting it to bed — it's simply we're producing our last."Boeing's last 747 rolled out of the Everett assembly line.Paul Weatherman/BoeingSource: Atlas Air, Bloomberg, Boeing's iconic 747 will leave the assembly line for the last time this year. See one of last jumbo jets the planemaker will ever build.Although the 747 is ending its nearly 53-year reign, its revolutionary design changed the industry as we know it. Here are seven things that made the Queen of the Skies truly remarkable.First Boeing 747-8F flight.Boeing1: The legendary aircraft was built on request by Pan American World Airways founder and CEO Juan Trippe.New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey (right) and Juan Trippe (left) in a Clipper cockpit with their two pilots.Bettmann/ContributorSource: Northwestern UniversityAt the time, Pan Am was already flying Boeing's quad-engine 707, which was the company's first jetliner and ushered in the jet age for air travel.Pan Am Boeing 707ullstein bild Dtl./Getty ImagesMore airlines are choosing single-aisle jets for flights from North America to Europe — see the full evolution of jet-powered transatlantic flyingBut, as demand skyrocketed, the industry needed bigger and better planes that could fly farther than any other commercial aircraft could.Pan Am 747-100.aviation-images.com/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: InsiderSo, Trippe went to Boeing in 1965 and asked for a plane more than twice the size of the 707…A Pan Am Boeing 707 next to a Pan Am Boeing 747, showing the size difference.Underwood Archives/Getty ImagesSource: Insider…and it didn't take much for the manufacturing giant to jump on the opportunity, especially after recently losing out on a contract to build the massive C-5A military transport plane.People in line to enter the 445th Airlift Wing's first C-5A Galaxy in 2005US Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Charlie MillerSource: Boeing2: The 747 was built by a team of some 50,000 Boeing employees, known as the "Incredibles."First Boeing 747 surrounded by employees and other admirers.-/Getty ImagesSource: BoeingThe workers were made up of engineers, mechanics, secretaries, and construction workers, among others, and built the plane in about 16 months in the late 1960s.The first Boeing 747 at the Everett assembly line.Bettmann/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: Boeing"We assembled the first 747 in snowstorms as they were constructing the building around us," wrote Boeing Incredible Dwight Bates in a 2016 post published on the planemaker's website.Inside the factory in Washington where Boeing built its last Boeing 747s, pictured in June 2022.Taylor Rains/InsiderSource: BoeingHe explained the conditions of being an Incredible meant sleeping at their desks and working crazy overtime hours. Not to mention, they were under immense pressure after being told they'll lose the company if they didn't get the 747 FAA-certified.Boeing Incredibles building Boeing 747s in 1969.Bernard Crochet/Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesSource: BoeingFortunately, their efforts didn’t go to waste. Led by veteran Boeing engineer Joe Sutter, who is known as the “father of the 747,” the iconic plane took its first flight in 1969 and was in commercial service with Pan Am in 1970.The flight crew after the first Pan Am 747 flight from New York to London Heathrow in 1970.AFP/Stringer via Getty ImagesSource: Boeing3: The 747 was the world's first widebody passenger aircraft and the first with a partial second level.A United Boeing 747 in the carrier's old livery.aviation-images.com/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: Museum of FlightBoeing created five different 747 variants: the 747-100, 747-200, 747-300, 747-400, and the 747-8, which were bought by dozens of airlines, like Korean Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, and Delta Air Lines.A lineup of Boeing 747s.Museum of Flight Foundation/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: InsiderFrom there, several models of each type were produced, like the 747-400F freighter and the 747-200C convertible, which can be used for both passenger and cargo operations.An EVA Air Cargo Boeing 747-400F aircraft.TIM CHONG/ReutersAs airlines say goodbye to the legendary Boeing 747 early, the plane still plays a vital role for cargo carriers and is aiding efforts to defeat COVID-19The planemaker's largest and highest-performing passenger variant is the 747-8i.A Boeing 747-8i.Stephen Brashear/Stringer via Getty ImagesSource: NerdWalletPowered by four General Electric engines, it can reach speeds of about 660 miles per hour and fly up 8,895 miles. This means the plane can zoom across three FIFA soccer fields in one second.A Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i engine.Stephen Brashear/Stringer via Getty ImagesSource: BoeingThe advanced specs have come a long way since Boeing's first 747-100, which could only fly up to 602 miles per hour across about 5,300 miles.An Iran Air Boeing 747-100.SOPA Images/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: Simple FlyingBut, the original variant's innovative widebody design paved the way for high capacity, with Pan Am's carrying 347 people. The 747-8i, by comparison, can accommodate up to 467 passengers in three classes.Inside Lufthansa's Boeing 747-8i.Stephen Brashear/Getty ImagesSource: Simple FlyingNot only did the jet feature revolutionary performance and seating, but it also came with a unique "hump" that made it easily recognizable by travelers.Maiden flight of the 747-8i.Stephen Brashear/Getty ImagesSource: Smithsonian MagazineBoeing created the iconic hump on the 747 because Trippe didn't think the plane would be a commercial hit and wanted it to be easily converted into a freighter.A Boeing 747 freighter being built in Washington in June 2022.Seattle TimesSource: Smithsonian MagazineThis meant the nose needed to be able to open, which made this an unfavorable place to put the cockpit. So, Boeing moved the flight deck higher up, which also contributed to better aerodynamics.Boeing 747-400 cargo loading.Davide Calabresi/ShutterstockSource: Smithsonian MagazineOver time, the upper deck has grown to create more room for first and business class seats and amenities.First class passengers in a BOAC Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet are served lunch.Fox Photos/Getty ImagesSource: InsiderThe only other commercial airliner to truly compete with the Queen of the Skies was the Airbus A380, which had a second level that stretched the full length of the jet.An Emirates Airbus A380.Arnold Aaron/Shutterstock.comEmirates wants Airbus to build a new version of its A380 jet. See the full history of the superjumbo jet from marvel to reject.The mammoth plane can carry up to 545 people in four classes and became a workhorse for airlines like Emirates, complete with a shower spa onboard for first class passengers.Inside the cabin of a Lufthansa A380, which can carry up to 853 passengers in a maximum capacity layout.Lufthansa.Source: Airbus, Emirates is bringing its redesigned Airbus A380 with premium economy seating and upgrades in every cabin to the US — see insideHowever, the superjumbo has also met its own end, with Airbus ending production in 2021 and airlines worldwide speeding up the A380's retirement during the pandemic.Air France retired its A380s during the pandemic.roibu/ShutterstockSource: ReutersThis was particularly due to its inefficient four engines — similar to the 747's downfall.Belish/ShutterstockDouble-decker planes are going extinct as Airbus and Boeing discontinue their largest models. Here's why airlines are abandoning 4-engine jets.4: The revolutionary Queen of the Skies made international travel accessible for more than just the rich and famous.Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i flight deck.Stephen Brashear/Getty ImagesSource: Smithsonian MagazineThe 747 was considered a step up from the 707 with its size, range, and low operating costs, which are thanks to its more powerful bypass engines that could reduce fuel consumption by 33% compared.The TWA "Star of Paris" Boeing 747 after it landed at Orly airport in 1970.-/AFP via Getty ImagesSource: Deutsche Welle, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Airline RatingsAnd, because the jet could carry twice as many people compared to its predecessor, airlines could reduce fares without sacrificing passenger comfort.Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i economy. Airlines can fit 10-abreast rows on the plane.Stephen Brashear/Getty ImagesSource: Smithsonian Magazine, Airlines RatingsThis effectively changed the way people fly, and for the first time allowed those who couldn't afford a seat on the 707 to travel to places that were previously unreachable.Passengers inside the cabin of a 747 in 1970.Gerhard Rauchwetter/Picture Alliance via Getty ImagesSource: Smithsonian Magazine5: The double-decker plane featured bars and lounges on its upper level, which was accessed via a staircase.A BOAC air hostess greets a passenger in front of a spiral staircase which leads to the upper deck lounge in a Boeing 747 MonarchFox Photos/Getty ImagesSource: Executive TravellerIn the early days of the jet age, flying was often a high-class experience with travelers dressing up for the occasion.Interior of a British European Airways' Vickers airliner showing the passenger section.Fox Images/Getty ImagesTHEN AND NOW: Photos that show how glamorous flying used to beThrough the 1960s, airlines started playing around with different cabin ideas, like business and economy, and some carriers decided to use the 747's upper level as an exclusive space reserved for premium customers.Lufthansa 747 lounge.Hutmacher/ullstein bild/GettyPan Am's first 747 had a "restaurant in the sky" for first class passengers who could sit at four-person tables with friends or strangers.Bettmann/Contributor via Getty ImagesSource: Executive Traveller, Photos show the glory days of Pan Am, a symbol of a bygone era of luxurious air travel before the airline went bust 29 years agoMeanwhile, Australian flag carrier Qantas had the Captain Cook Lounge in its 747's upper deck where premium flyers could relax, drink, or read a newspaper.QantasSource: Qantas6: Boeing built several specially-modified 747s to transport the space shuttle, the president, and parts of other commercial aircraft.Thiago B Trevisan / Shutterstock.comSource: BoeingProbably the most impressive feat is the two 747-100s that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration asked Boeing to convert into Space Carrier Aircraft.NASASource: NASAThe planes — one from American Airlines and the other from Japan Airlines — carried the shuttles from their landing sites to the Kennedy Space Center, and to other locations that were too far to travel by ground transport.NASASource: NASAThe modified jets had three strong rods protruding from the top, which is where the orbiters were attached.NASASource: NASAMoreover, most of the cabin was gutted, the pilots had special monitoring systems for the shuttle, and two extra vertical stabilizers were added to enhance the 747's "directional stability."NASASource: NASAAnother non-commercial use for the jumbo jet is presidential transport.ShutterstockSource: BoeingWhile the 707 had the job for nearly 30 years, two 747-200B variants were modified in 1990 to create Air Force One.Air Force One as a Boeing 707 carrying Eisenhower in 1959.Terry Fincher/Mirrorpix/Getty ImagesSource: BoeingHaving carried presidents like George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama, the plane can refuel midair and is considered a flying Oval Office with myriad office and conference space, as well as staterooms.President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aboard Air Force One en route to New Orleans, La., Nov. 8, 2013.The White House31 photos that show how Air Force One has changed through the yearsHowever, both VIP jets are being upgraded to the more efficient and longer-ranged 747-8i variant, though they will not be able to refuel in the air and the timeline for delivery has been pushed from 2024 to potentially 2028.Trump exiting Air Force One.Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesSource: DefenseOne, Boeing's new Air Force One jets are so late that the old ones may need to keep flying until 2028, costing taxpayers $340 million: reportAnother impressive 747 variant is the Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifter.cpaulfell / Shutterstock.comBoeing's massive oversized cargo plane just flew its first COVID-19 mission from Hong Kong to South Carolina. Take a look at the 'Dreamlifter.'The jet is one of the biggest cargo planes in the world due to its oversized fuselage and was designed to transport 787 parts — like the wings — between global assembly lines.Wings being loaded into a Dreamlifter.Kyodo/GettySource: BoeingSpecifically, the four-strong fleet each has 65,000 cubic meters of capacity, where oversized cargo is loaded through the giant plane's swing-tail door.Robert Sorbo/ReutersSource: InsiderWhile Boeing's primary customer of the Dreamlifter is itself, it was also used during the pandemic to transport COVID-related supplies, like face shields, protective eye goggles, and masks.Atlas Air operated the special mission.BoeingSource: Boeing7: The 747 is one of the only cargo aircraft with the ability to load freight directly through its nose.Atlas Air 747-8 cargo loading.Thomas Frey/picture alliance via Getty ImagesSource: BoeingThe door reduces load time for carriers as they can also simultaneously load from the back of the jet, but also allows for oversized items to be loaded without first being dismantled.Boeing 747 cargo hold.M101Studio/ShutterstockSource: InsiderAirbus' Beluga, Ukraine's Antonov An-124, and the US Air Force's C-5 Galaxy cargo planes also have nose doors, but they are not widely used by multiple global carriers as the 747 is.The Antonov An-225 was the world's largest cargo plane with nose-loading capabilities, but it was destroyed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Russian Defense Ministry/TASS/GettyThe Ukrainian manufacturer of the world's largest plane says rebuilding it would cost $3 billion. See the full history of the famous six-engine jet that was destroyed.However, with the production of the 747 complete, the nose-loading perk with be missed as more cargo carriers ditch the jet for better cost-efficient aircraft.Air France A350F rendering.FIXION/AirbusBoeing ending production of the 747 means cargo carriers will lose a key feature and be left scrambling when it's gone"The nose loader for oversized freight is what makes her so unique and capable to transport things other planes can't," a 747 cargo pilot told Insider in 2020.A Qatar Airways Boeing 747-8F.Elaine Thompson/APBoeing just unveiled the freighter variant of its new flagship 777X jet as cargo demand continues to skyrocket — take a look at the massive planeNot only will cargo operators miss the beloved 747, but so will passengers.BOAC Boeing 747Keystone/Getty ImagesAmeer Junejo, who manages a 747 converted into a hotel in Sweden, told Insider that the jet has "memories," saying pilots and couples visit his site to reminisce about their days onboard.Lufthansa is one of the few airlines passengers can still fly on the 747.Lukas Wunderlich/ShutterstockWhile it is much harder these days to fly on the jumbo jet, several can still be explored as tourist attractions, like Delta Air Lines' 747 Museum in Atlanta, Georgia…Delta Flight Museum 747.Delta Air LinesCheck out these 6 retired Boeing 747 jumbo jets that have been converted into flightless tourist attractions and entertainment venues…and the flightless British Airways 747 "party plane" in England.British Airways 747 "party plane" in England.Negus 747A retired British Airways Boeing 747 was bought for $1.35 by an English airport and converted into a flightless 'party plane' event space — see inside the renovated Queen of the SkiesRead the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Bringing the Long Island Rail Road to Manhattan's east side was expensive and slow. Other major US infrastructure projects face similar risks. People explore a new platform after the first Long Island Rail Road train arrived at Grand Central Madison last week.Seth Wenig/AP New commuter rail service to New York City's Grand Central Terminal began last week. The new station cost more than three times its initial budget and faced significant delays. It's an example of the US's broader struggle to build in recent decades. Commuters from a swath of New York City suburbs have a slick, new way to get to the east side of Manhattan by train. And it took only 50 years and $11.1 billion to make it happen. The new rail service, which began limited operations last week, delivers riders to a gleaming new station some 15 stories beneath the soaring limestone facade of Grand Central Terminal. All told, commuters using the new lines on the Long Island Rail Road could save 40 minutes round trip compared with connecting through the LIRR's main station on the city's west side.The time savings for passengers on North America's busiest commuter rail line aren't insignificant — if they materialize — yet the project's duration and price tag pose an obvious question: Was it worth it? The years of delays and exploding costs that plagued the LIRR expansion highlight a broader problem imperiling transit projects across the US: They're rarely on time or on budget. As an infusion of cash enters state coffers under President Joe Biden's infrastructure law, some analysts worry that efforts to modernize the nation's aging transportation system will face similar setbacks that leave the country far behind where it needs to be."If you look at other Western-style democracies, be it Japan, South Korea, or Western Europe, we just don't see anywhere near the kind of costs that we see in the US," Ethan Elkind, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the school's climate program, told Insider. "This is a national problem." America's slow and expensive building isn't constrained to rail projects. Some experts say the US has a broader problem of scarcity and that it's among the reasons that prices for housing, healthcare, childcare, energy, and even college have skyrocketed in recent decades. Various analyses have put the size of the US housing shortage, for instance, at somewhere between 1.5 million and 5 million homes. It's led some politicians and economists to call for an "abundance agenda" to make it easier to build more homes, train more doctors, increase access to great education, and invest more in renewable energy — all initiatives that could help drive prices lower. Construction on the terminal 10 years ago in 2013 shows the skeleton of a now-polished train platform.Mary Altaffer/APIn-progress escalators at the station in 2018. Train platforms at Grand Central Madison are well over 100 feet underground.Mary Altaffer/APPeople walk past a mural in the new Grand Central Madison last week.Seth Wenig/APThe 'most expensive mile of subway track on earth'A rundown of how the new LIRR station came to be shows how big projects can spin out of control.The idea for the expansion is roughly 50 years old, though recent construction didn't begin until around 2010. In 2001, the plan to bring LIRR trains to Manhattan's east side was estimated to cost $3.5 billion, or $1 billion for each mile of the 3.5-mile tunnel. By completion, the cost for the new station — called Grand Central Madison — had surged to more than $11 billion, or nearly $3.5 billion for each mile of track — seven times the average cost in the rest of the world. In 2017, The New York Times called it the "most expensive mile of subway track on earth" as part of an investigation into the city's transit woes.It's not just a New York problem. There are overruns from Maryland to California. A 16.2-mile metro line linking the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, was initially estimated to cost $2.4 billion. Construction costs rose to an estimated $3.4 billion in 2022, and the project, known as the Purple Line, is about five years behind schedule.In 2008, California voters approved a high-speed rail system from San Francisco to Los Angeles, in what was America's first attempt at a bullet train. The estimated cost of the project has nearly tripled since then, from $33 billion to $105 billion. It's also years behind schedule and might not be even partially open until 2030.Elkind pointed to several causes for the runaway costs: The US has many layers of federal, state, and local government involved in big infrastructure projects. This creates opportunities for officials to block projects from moving forward or extract political compromises that can come with higher costs, Elkind said.The US also has lengthy permitting processes and a slow legal system for resolving disputes. Local landowners and homeowners, environmental groups, and other parties can lodge complaints that set a project back. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, the director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment, put it this way: "The problem is that our governmental system works too well. Everybody can have input, and because everybody can have input, there's numerous opportunities for slowing it down. Then costs go up."Furchtgott-Roth, who served as a deputy assistant secretary at the Transportation Department during the Trump administration, added that federal and state project agreements requiring unionized labor could also inflate costs. Elkind said the bipartisan infrastructure law didn't include major changes to the status quo, adding that made him worried that a lot of the $550 billion in authorized new spending would be "wasted on the inefficiencies" in US planning, permitting, and construction processes. Biden joined Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey on Tuesday in New York to announce a nearly $300 million federal grant to jump-start construction on a long-delayed rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The so-called Gateway Program has been a political football for years. "No more talk," Hochul said. "We had four presidents, five governors, and a lot of talk. That's just in our state. Now things are starting to happen."Building wasn't always so much of a struggle. Between 1900 and 1904, New York City built and opened each of its original 28 subway stations. A century later, it took 17 years to construct just three new stations.Supporters of the abundance agenda say more building projects should be done in a timelier fashion and don't have to come at the expense of the environment."We can have more energy, more housing, better roads, airports, and trains, and better access to education/job training without destroying the planet," Adam Millsap, a senior fellow at the right-leaning funding organization Stand Together, previously told Insider.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Amazon will now only hire students and new grads for entry-level software positions, according to an internal memo shown to Insider. Do you have layers and layers of bosses, reader? I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and long chains of command are pretty common at tech companies. But middle managers could be the latest layoff target in tech, especially after Mark Zuckerberg's latest reported comments. After so many people were cut, those middle managers now have fewer workers to oversee. This makes them a natural next layoff target.I honestly feel bad for middle managers. As the name implies, they're stuck in the middle, neither worker nor upper-management. And they need to try keeping everyone happy (meanwhile, a study even found that they're more likely to be anxious and depressed). Yikes.But if Zuck is on point, far fewer people could hold these precarious roles — at least at Meta.Anyways, I'm just a worker trying to share 10 interesting stories a day. So let's dive into some tech.If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.Mike Blake/Reuters; Savanna Durr/Alyssa Powell/Insider1. Leaked Amazon memo reveals new hiring strategy. The e-commerce giant is only hiring students and new grads for entry-level software positions, per an internal note reviewed by Insider. The change took effect January 25, 2023.People more than 12 months out of school won't qualify anymore for the lowest software development engineering position, called SDE-1. This means hiring from student programs is now an even higher priority.The change is "global and Amazon-wide," reports Insider's ace Amazon correspondent Eugene Kim. Plus, exceptions require approval of VPs or higher.It's possibly a cost-cutting method for the infamously frugal company. This pivot targets a younger and more affordable group of workers. And it comes in the middle of a major restructuring of the company.More on Amazon's latest hiring strategy here.In other news:iStock; Rebecca Zisser/Insider2. Reddit is kicking laid off employees while they're down. The social media platform has blamed low performance for axing employees. But ex-Redditors slammed the company for its "cruel and dishonest" messaging that they fear could "kill" their chances of getting hired elsewhere. This is what they told Insider.3. Zuckerberg unveils a new era for tech. Google made cushy tech perks and chasing wild ideas vogue, writes my editor Matt Weinberger. But just as quickly as it came, Mark Zuckerberg ejected it with a reality check. Learn about the leaner tech era here.4. The 10 jobs ChatGPT will most likely replace. Experts said the new technology particularly threatens "white-collar" jobs. Financial analysts, traders, paralegals, and software engineers are among those at risk. Check out the others here.5. Salesforce just did another round of layoffs. The number of people cut is unclear. But one person told Insider that the company-wide Slack channel now has 4,000 fewer members. Another said sales and marketing were the most impacted. Here's everything you need to know about the latest cuts.Thursday's tech earnings:Apple CEO Tim Cook has been embroiled in a battle with staff over plans to mandate which days they are in the office.Brian Stukes / Contributor Getty6. Apple: The iPhone maker is the last tech giant standing. CEO Tim Cook acknowledged hurdles the company is currently facing. But its response won't include cost-cutting, layoffs, or strategy shifts. Instead, the company outlined investments in innovation and its people.7. Alphabet: Google is highlighting how important AI is as it cuts costs. The company announced that it will start disclosing investments in AI. Meanwhile, it expects to spend $500 million to reduce office space and up to $2.3 billion in severance packages. More on Google's AI future here.8. Amazon: bracing for even tougher conditions. The e-commerce giant announced that it plans to have "even faster" deliveries. Yet it's simultaneously bracing for decreased customer spending on its cloud side. CEO Andy Jassy personally shared his top priorities.Odds and ends:Mercedes-Benz EQS with Drive Pilot.Mercedes-Benz9. Mercedes just beat Tesla at its own game — self-driving. Mercedes just introduced the most advanced self-driving technology yet. It couldn't come at a worse time for Tesla after it faces struggle after struggle. Hop in for a first look at the Mercedes Drive Pilot here.10. Ticketless baby ditched at airport check-in. The tardy parents "ran toward the security checks," authorities said. They reportedly arrived after check-in closed and without a ticket for their baby. More on the abandonment issue here. Bonus: Watch this video that appears to document the moments after they deserted their infant.The latest people moves in tech:An Amazon Web Services exec who was accused of gender discrimination is leaving, according to leaked docs.This Google recruiter found out she was laid off while on maternity leave and feeding her 3-week-old baby.Curated by Diamond Naga Siu in San Diego. (Feedback or tips? Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

U.S. markets surged on Thursday led by upbeat earnings posted by Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META). Part of the rally could also be attributed to lower bond yields. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed 3.25% lower while the S&P 500 ended Thursday’s session 1.47% higher. The Dow Jones closed marginally in the red. Following are the five stocks that are drawing investors’ attention: 1. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA): Shares of Tesla closed 3.78% higher but lost 1.9% in extended trading. The company is soon expected to announce an investment in Mexico, reported Bloomberg. The EV-maker is planning to set up an assembly plant near a new Mexico City airport, which would function as an export hub for the company, ...Full story available on Benzinga.com.....»»

Stratospheric balloons can provide high-resolution photographs of the ground below for a fraction of the cost of a satellite. The US scrambled F-22 Raptors after reports Wednesday of an unidentified flying object over Montana.Chris Drzazgowsk/U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS The US is tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon first spotted over Montana, per NBC News. The balloon has been hovering over the US "for the past few days," NBC reported Thursday. "We continue to track and monitor it closely," a Pentagon spokesperson said. The US military is tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon after a bright, unidentified flying object was spotted in the skies of Montana, a senior defense official told reporters on Thursday, confirming a report published by NBC News.Video published by an NBC affiliate in Billings, Montana, shows a bright, unidentified object in the sky, which prompted flights to be diverted from the local airport on Wednesday.A senior US defense official, speaking to reporters on Thursday, said that the US considered shooting down the balloon on Wednesday but decided it was not worth the potential risk of debris falling on people and property below."Clearly, the intent of the balloon is first surveillance, and so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites," the official said. However, the US has assessed "it does not create significant value-added over and above what the [People's Republic of China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low-Earth orbit. But out of an abundance of caution we have taken additional mitigation steps."The official said there was "very high confidence" that the balloon was Chinese but did not elaborate on how that assessment was made, saying only that it was "shared across our intelligence and analytic community."According to NBC, it is believed to have flown from a chain of volcanic islands off the coast of Russia and Alaska, making its way to Montana on Wednesday."It is not the first time that you've had a balloon of this nature cross over the continental United States," the official said. "It's happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration. It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances, so that would be one distinguishing factor."There are several potential surveillance targets in the area where the balloon was spotted, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which is just one of three such bases in the US home to Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, a strategic nuclear weapon. US Space Command's Missile Warning Center is also located in neighboring Colorado.After the balloon was spotted, the US military responded by scrambling F-22 Raptors and other aircraft near Billings, prompting the civilian airport to be shuttered for some time. "But even with those protective measures taken, it was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn't drive the risk down low enough, so we didn't take the shot," the US official said.The official said the US had contacted the Chinese government through China's embassy in Washington DC and through the US Embassy in Beijing but did not describe the message that was relayed. "We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland," the official said Thursday, adding that if the US's risk assessment changes, "we will have options to deal with this balloon."Stratospheric balloons are capable of taking high-resolution photographs and potentially intercepting electronic communications for a fraction of the cost of launching a satellite. Last summer, Politico reported that the US was itself developing plans to deploy its own high-altitude balloons to, among other things, track the deployment of hypersonic missiles in China and Russia.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"What?" one seemingly surprised employee can be heard saying, while another interjected, "I'm in shock," according to a translation of the footage. A cell phone video published by N12 appears to show the moments after a baby boy was abandoned this week by his parents at an airport in Tel Aviv.N12/Mako Video appears to show the moments after a baby was ditched by his parents at a Tel Aviv airport. "She left him here!" a woman can be heard saying in the video, published by local outlet N12. The parents arrived late for their flight and didn't have a ticket for the infant, authorities said. A cell phone video appears to show the moments after a baby boy was abandoned this week by his parents at an airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, leaving staffers in "shock.""I'm in shock," a woman can be heard saying in the video, which was obtained and published by local news outlet N12. "Poor thing. She left him here! [I swear] on my mom." The 23-second video shows an infant in a carrier left at an airport check-in counter as airline staffers behind the desk gather around the baby. "What?" one seemingly surprised employee can be heard saying, while another interjected, "I'm in shock," according to the footage. The baby boy was ditched by his parents at a check-in counter at Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday after the couple arrived late for their flight and did not have a ticket for the infant to travel, according to Israeli authorities.The unidentified parents, who held Belgian passports, left their baby behind in a carrier when they raced off to try and board a Ryanair flight bound for the Belgium capital of Brussels, the Israel Airports Authority told CNN. "A couple and an infant with Belgian passports arrived for a flight at Terminal 1 without a ticket for the baby," the Israel Airports Authority said, according to the report. The agency added: "The couple also arrived late for the flight, once the check-in for the flight was closed." The parents then "left the infant seat with the baby and ran toward the security checks at Terminal 1 in an attempt to reach the boarding gate for the flight," according to the Israel Airports Authority. A spokeswoman for Ryanair told Insider that the couple "presented at check-in without a booking for their infant."The parents then headed for the security line, "leaving the infant behind at check-in," after they did not have a booking for the baby."The check-in agent at Ben Gurion Airport contacted Airport Security, who retrieved these passengers, and this is now a matter for local police," the airline spokeswoman told Insider.Ryanair says on its website that "infants can be included in a flight reservation during the online booking process" and notes, "to use a car seat for a baby on-board, you must purchase a separate seat for them."The infant was ultimately reunited with the parents by the time police arrived on the scene, and the matter is no longer being investigated, authorities told Insider."There is no active investigation due to the fact that the police officer who arrived at the scene found the parents and the infant together. After the officer's preliminary investigation and accordingly, no further investigation was needed," a spokesperson for Israel Police told Insider on Thursday. Additionally, a spokesperson for the Belgian Federal Police told Insider that the agency had no information regarding the incident.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The Pistons, who played against the Dallas Mavericks Monday night, were unable to fly out of Dallas in time to get home and play the Washington Wizards Wednesday. The Pistons were unable to leave Dallas in time to play their game at home against the Washington Wizards.Nic Antaya/Getty Images The Detroit Pistons played the Dallas Mavericks Monday night, and were unable to leave Dallas due to icy conditions. NBA games have rarely been postponed due to weather in recent years compared to the number of games missed due to COVID outbreaks. The New Orleans Pelicans have also changed travel plans in an effort to make it to Dallas to play a Thursday game. A Wednesday game between the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons was postponed after the Pistons were stranded at the Dallas airport for seven hours and couldn't make it home in time.Icy weather and low temperatures have caused thousands of flights to be canceled this week across Texas as airlines struggle with the latest winter storm to rock Texas. The Pistons had been in Dallas since early in the week for a game against the Mavericks Monday night, and originally planned to fly back to Detroit early Wednesday and to play the Wizards that night.James Edwards, who covers the Pistons for The Athletic, reported that the NBA initially planned to delay the tipoff if the Pistons could take off later in the morning or early afternoon. However, the team still was unable to leave and was forced to return to their hotel after seven hours at the airport. The game was later postponed, according to ESPN.A second game potentially could be affected this week, as the New Orleans Pelicans still have not arrived in Dallas for their Thursday night game against the Mavericks. The Pelicans stayed in Denver an extra day after playing the Nuggets Tuesday, hoping weather conditions would improve enough to allow them to fly into Dallas.Over the course of the pandemic, NBA games routinely were postponed or canceled due to COVID outbreaks among players. Historically, the NBA has postponed or canceled games in the wake of substantial news events like  the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and then-President John F. Kennedy, or during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.Winter storms can force the league to postpone games as a last resort when the safety of fans or teams is a concern. Notably, the deadly winter storm that caused billions of dollars in damage and killed dozens of Texans in February 2021, caused the postponement of multiple NBA games, as well as several college basketball and NHL games.The NBA has not yet announced the new date for Pistons-Wizards.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Cargo carrier ABX took Insider behind the scenes on a tour of its freight operation at New York's JFK International Airport. ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/Insider ABX is a cargo airline operating a fleet of 24 Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 freighters. The company leases out aircraft to transport goods for shipping companies like DHL and Amazon. Insider toured an ABX Boeing 767-300 at New York's JFK International Airport to learn more about the operation. It's no secret the world has been suffering from a painful supply chain issue brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.President Joe Biden arrives for an event focused on inflation and the supply chain at the Port of Los Angeles in June.Evan Vucci/APAs people stayed home during lockdown, e-commerce started to boom. But, a labor shortage, coupled now with shifts in demand and the ongoing war in Ukraine, caused the global movement of goods to slow down.Grocery stores have been suffering from stock shortages during supply chain crisis.ArtMarie/Getty ImagesAs a result, the need to move things quickly and efficiently became a priority, and air travel was a popular fix considering the ongoing maritime shipping delays.Touring the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.Thomas Pallini/InsiderWe chartered a boat with a logistics expert to look at port congestion up close and saw how American greed is leading to shortages and empty shelvesCompanies like Alaska Airlines and Lufthansa started converting passenger jets to freighters to help tackle the crisis.One of Lufthansa's A330s (pictured) was converted during the pandemic to carry medical supplies. The work was done by Lufthansa Technik as a special allowance during the pandemic for masks and other COVID-related goods.Lufthansa TechnikThe Federal Aviation Administration has since committed $31 million to improve cargo infrastructure at nine airports across the country.Ted Steven's Anchorage International Airport is receiving about $8 million in grants and is one of the busiest cargo hubs in the world.EQRoy/ShutterstockSource: FAAThis includes building new taxiways and increasing space at airports to "handle cargo more efficiently and help strengthen America's supply chains," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release.Atlas Air 747-8 cargo loading.Thomas Frey/picture alliance via Getty ImagesSource: FAAWhile some companies are reducing capacity to save money during a looming recession, the International Air Transport Association still expects air cargo to be a $149 billion industry in 2023 — 50% higher than pre-pandemic.EgyptAir Cargo A330-300P2F.Miglena Pencheva/ShutterstockSource: IATA"To put the yield decline in context, cargo yields grew by 52.5% in 2020, 24.2% in 2021, and 7.2% in 2022," the agency said. "Even the sizable and expected decline leaves cargo yields well above pre-COVID levels."Inside Finnair's "temporary cargo cabin," which it fitted during the pandemic.Lufthansa TechnikSource: IATAInsider went behind the scenes with cargo carrier ABX at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to learn more about the loading and unloading process— take a look.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderABX is an airline under the Air Transport Services Group, which is one of the world's largest aircraft lessors and is the biggest operator of converted Boeing 767 cargo jets.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderIn total, ABX operates a fleet of 13 Boeing 767-200 and 11 Boeing 767-300 aircraft.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderSource: Boeing, ABXInsider toured the -300 variant, which is the world's most efficient medium widebody converted freighter, per Boeing, and can carry up to 113,900 pounds of cargo.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderSource: BoeingUnlike some companies like UPS and FedEx, ABX doesn't have its own freight, nor does it label any packages. Rather, it provides aircraft, pilots, and mechanics to move goods for others.Prime Airhapabapa/Getty ImagesFor example, the carrier has contracts with both DHL and Amazon to fly cargo routes using its 767s, but all of the packages on board are handled by the shipping companies — not ABX.Amazon packages in a shipping container.Amazon/Jordan SteadSource: ABX, Air Cargo NewsAccording to Boeing, goods shipped via air are "typically high in value, time-sensitive, and perishable," and they "require speedy, reliable transit."Jaromir Chalabala/EyeEm via Getty ImagesSource: BoeingTo make this happen, ABX typically has just a two-hour turnaround time at New York-JFK to get goods in and out as quickly as possible.View of the ramp area from the ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe process starts with the taxi into the cargo handling area at the airport. According to Fasiel "Pete" Flash, ABX's line maintenance regional manager, the plane will either taxi on its own power or be towed in.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderWhile the plane was being towed, I noticed the old passenger windows and emergency doors, which were painted over during the freighter conversion, were still faintly visible.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderOnce parked, the mechanics and pilots will talk about any action or work the aircraft needs. During our tour, the 767 was considered "green" upon landing, meaning it was good to go.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderSimultaneously, the workers started unloading the freight, which had just been flown in from Cincinnati. According to Flash, they are third-party staff not employed by ABX but work for the affiliate company.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/Insider"Everything that's picked up anywhere around the world, like Asia or Europe, that hits Cincinnati is sorted there," a spokesperson told Insider. "Then, JFK-destined freight is put onto our planes and flown here."ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThere are three doors to unload and load freight: one in the front right of the jet...ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/Insider...one in the back right...ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/Insider…and one large door on the left.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe entry is high above the ground, so agents have to use giant platforms to rise and lower the freight.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe cargo hold can also be accessed via a door connected to the cockpit, and I saw agents using this entrance to go in and out during the loading process.The door was blocked by a container after the plane was loaded.Taylor Rains/InsiderTo maneuver the containers, the floor on both the plane and the lift has wheels that can turn 360 degrees, allowing the cargo to move or turn in any direction.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderOnce the cargo is out, it will be put on a truck that goes to a delivery center. From there, the boxes are sorted and delivered to each doorstep.These boxes can be dispersed out to places like Boston, Philadelphia, Albany, and everything in between.Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesFor the packages originating in the NYC area that need to be delivered to homes and businesses in another part of the US, ABX will reload the jet at JFK and fly back out.The door to the left connects to the cockpit.Taylor Rains/InsiderLoading is a similar process to unloading — containers will be raised on a platform, moved into the jet via one of the three doors, and organized inside.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThough, there are specific weight and balance processes that the loadmaster and his or her team must follow.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe loadmaster explained there is a scale used to get each container's exact weight.The yellow pad behind the red bars is the scale.Taylor Rains/InsiderEach number is entered into a computer that spits out where each container must be placed in the cargo hold to maintain proper weight and balance.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderAccording to the loadmaster, some sections, which are coded with numbers and letters, can carry more or less weight — with heavier items going towards the front of the jet.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe versatile wheels on the floor make it easy to push and pull the containers, which can weight thousands of pounds.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderI also noticed the latches that secure the containers in place. Flash told Insider that if anything moves, the plane's weight and balance could change, posing a safety risk.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderThe cargo hold was also surprisingly warm, which was a nice change to the cold, rainy weather outside. The plane is temperature controlled for scenarios like animal transport, Flash explained.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderOn the day of my tour, the agents filled the aircraft with a full load of freight, which takes about 40 minutes if everything flows well and the team is fully staffed.ABX converted Boeing 767-300 freighter tour at New York-JFK airport in January.Taylor Rains/InsiderAfter the loadmaster cross-checks the numbers with the pilots, the plane is locked up, the paperwork is signed off, and the jet is ready to go. Despite the one-hour delay from Cincinnati, the jet only departed back 35 minutes late.The jumpseats in the cockpit of the jet, which Flash said he'd ridden in for audits and other work-related trips.Taylor Rains/InsiderABX is just one of the dozens of cargo carriers operating in the US. Competitor Atlas Air, which recently received the last-ever Boeing 747, flies freight for companies like Amazon.BoeingMeanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines recently landed a lucrative contract with Amazon to fly freight using converted Airbus A330 cargo jets.EFWSee the giant Airbus A330 freighter aircraft that will power a new lucrative cargo operation for AmazonAll of these operations, along with the FAA's investment, will continue to support post-COVID supply chain issues.Quality Stock Arts/ShutterstockWhile it's true the market is slowing, it is still outpacing 2019 and Boeing estimates the global freighter fleet will need over 1,300 planes by 2041 to keep up.Boeing 777 freighters destined for FedEx at the planemaker's assembly line in June 2022.Taylor Rains/InsiderSource: BoeingNew cargo jets, like the Airbus A350F and the Boeing 777X freighters, are scheduled to hit the market by 2025 and 2027, respectively.Boeing 777X and Airbus A350F.Boeing, AirbusBoeing's new 777-8 freighter will be the largest and longest-range twin-engine cargo plane in the industry. See how it stacks up to rival Airbus' A350F.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The booming airport, a $33 billion economic driver for the region, sees millions of monthly passengers and has a cloudy future for its leadership......»»

The move is part of a global publicity campaign unveiled Thursday to revive the city's struggling tourism sector. Hong Kong will hand out 500,000 air tickets to bring in much-needed visitors as part of a global publicity campaign unveiled on Thursday. The city’s leader John Lee announced the giveaway at the launch of the Hello Hong Kong campaign at a briefing, saying it was “probably the world’s biggest welcome ever.” Lee highlighted a number of events coming up including the Rugby Sevens and city marathon in a speech given in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The government is seeking to revive the economy and repair Hong Kong’s global image which was damaged by often-violent protests in 2019, the imposition of tough security laws in 2020 and three years of self-imposed isolation during the pandemic. Gross domestic product shrank 3.5% last year, its third contraction in four years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The tickets will be distributed through Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., its budget carrier HK Express as well as Hong Kong Airlines International Holdings Ltd., Fred Lam, chief executive officer of the city’s Airport Authority, said at the briefing. The giveaway will begin at the start of March and last six months, he said, adding there will be different ways to win tickets, such as a lottery system and two-for-one purchases. Hong Kong received some 605,000 visitors last year as the city slowly dropped its Covid restrictions, up from 91,000 in 2021, according to the local tourism board. That compares with almost 56 million in 2019 before the pandemic hit. The ticket giveaway may pressure airlines. Cathay Pacific’s flight capacity at the end of last year was 32% of its pre-Covid level. Hong Kong was Asia’s busiest international airport prior to Covid. The Airport Authority purchased the tickets in 2020 as part of a HK$2 billion ($255 million) rescue package for the airline industry. The city will also hand out 80,000 air tickets to Hong Kong residents in the summer, and another 80,000 to residents of the Greater Bay Area, Lam said. Moves are underway to boost the number of visitors from the rest of the country. Testing requirements and a quota system for mainland Chinese visitors are set to be dropped, while three more border crossings with the mainland will reopen as early as Monday, the South China Morning Post reported. The border reopened last month for the first time in three years. Natixis SA estimates Hong Kong’s economy lost $27 billion in potential growth due to the effects of the pandemic and the city’s strict Covid curbs. Hong Kong’s only remaining pandemic-era restriction is mandatory mask wearing in public places. The city’s leader Lee said this week he hopes to remove the mask mandate when the winter surge is over, without giving dates. — With assistance from Jill Disis, Danny Lee and Olivia Tam......»»

One basketball coach who spent $10,000 after his team got stranded in Vegas said he had still only been partially refunded for the canceled flight. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737.George Rose/Getty Images Southwest cancelled thousands of flights in December, leaving passengers stranded over Christmas. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg gave the airline a deadline for refunds, but it came and went. Southwest has said it is still working daily to process requests for refunds and reimbursements. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg gave Southwest Airlines a deadline to issue refunds to those who were impacted by the flight cancellation chaos over Christmas, but a month later some passengers said they were still waiting.Hoards of travelers experienced flight cancelations over Christmas, but Southwest saw the worst of it. The airline experienced an operational meltdown, cancelling thousands of flights with the disruptions rippling throughout the travel industry.Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg wrote a letter to Robert Jordan, the CEO of Southwest, on December 28, calling the debacle "unacceptable" and outlining steps the airline needed to take in response. He said the law required Southwest to "provide prompt refunds" for canceled flights that are not rebooked."This means Southwest must provide refunds within seven business days if a passenger paid by credit card, and within 20 days if a passenger paid by cash, check, or other means," the letter said, while also calling on the airline to cover ground transportation, hotels, and meals for stranded passengers.But as of this week, more than a month has passed and some passengers said they are still waiting.A high school basketball team from Seattle, Washington, that got stranded in Las Vegas for five days over Christmas after Southwest canceled their flight had only received a partial refund as of Tuesday, the coaches told Insider. One coach and his wife also spent over $10,000 on incidental expenses to take care of the team and were still waiting on those reimbursement requests to be reviewed.John Erickson, a Southwest passenger who was stuck in Denver for three days after Southwest canceled his flight, told WFLA the airline told him it would take months to receive his refund.In a statement provided to Insider, Southwest rebuked the possibility it engaged in unrealistic flight schedules."Our holiday flight schedule was thoughtfully designed and offered to our Customers with the backing of a solid plan to operate it, and with ample staffing," the statement said, adding: "Our systems and processes became stressed while working to recover from multiple days of flight cancelations across 50 airports in the wake of an unprecedented storm."Southwest previously told Insider last week it was still working daily to process refund and reimbursement requests from passengers.When contacted by Insider about Southwest not meeting Buttigieg's timeframe, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said they are still investigating "Southwest Airlines' holiday debacle that stranded millions."The spokesperson said DOT "will hold Southwest accountable if it fails" to issue timely refunds or reimbursements. They added that the agency is also investigating "whether Southwest executives engaged in unrealistic scheduling of flights which under federal law is considered an unfair and deceptive practice."Passengers who have not received refunds can also file a complaint with the DOT, and Buttigieg has said the agency will follow up on every one of them to ensure they're taken care of.DOT has not been clear about how it plans to hold airlines accountable or enforce its deadlines. John Breyault, the vice president for public policy at the National Consumers League, told The New York Times last month that DOT has been hesitant to hold the airlines accountable, adding: "While Secretary Buttigieg has talked a tough talk, particularly over the past few months, we have yet to see that really translate into action."Have a news tip or a travel story to share? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"All the workers were in shock. We have never seen anything like that,. We didn't believe what we were seeing," a Ryanair staffer told local media. A picture taken on March 22, 2018 shows an overhead view of the departure hall in Ben Gurion International Airport.JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images A baby boy was ditched by his parents at a check-in counter at a Tel Aviv airport, authorities said. The parents arrived late for their flight and did not have a ticket for the infant to travel, CNN reported. The couple then raced off to try and board a Ryanair flight bound Brussels, the Israeli Airport Authority said. A baby boy was ditched by his parents at a check-in counter at a Tel Aviv airport after they arrived late for their flight and did not have a ticket for the infant to travel, Israeli authorities said. The unidentified parents who held Belgian passports left their baby behind in a carrier on Tuesday inside Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israeli Airport Authority told CNN. "A couple and an infant with Belgian passports arrived for a flight at Terminal 1 without a ticket for the baby," the Israeli Airport Authority said, according to the report. The agency added: "The couple also arrived late for the flight, once the check-in for the flight was closed." The parents then "left the infant seat with the baby and ran toward the security checks at Terminal 1 in an attempt to reach the boarding gate for the flight," according to the Israeli Airport Authority. A spokeswoman for Ryanair told CNN that the couple headed for the security line, "leaving the infant behind at check-in," after they did not have a booking for the baby. It is unclear whether the parents were unable to purchase a ticket for the baby or did not want to. "The check-in agent at Ben Gurion Airport contacted Airport Security, who retrieved these passengers, and this is now a matter for local police," the spokeswoman for the airline said. The infant was ultimately reunited with the parents by the time police arrived on the scene. "The baby was with the parents and there's no further investigation," a spokesman for Israel Police told CNN. The incident apparently left Ryanair staffers stunned. "All the workers were in shock. We have never seen anything like that. We didn't believe what we were seeing," a Ryanair manager told local news outlet N12. The parents never boarded the flight, according to Israel Hayom. Ryanair and the Israeli Airport Authority did not immediately return requests for comment by Insider on Wednesday.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The allegations put a spotlight on the relationship between India's business and political elite. In January, Gautam Adani appeared in a rare televised interview on a Hindi news channel, India TV, to answer a host of questions from a fawning show anchor about how he became Asia’s richest man. When asked about his strong rapport with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and if the government had played a role in helping build his wealth, Adani responded, “I don’t chase numbers. For me, the bigger question is, ‘What can I do for the nation?’” His answer was met with thunderous applause from the crowd, and later, he added, “This balloon will keep flying as long as India is progressing.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Adani’s comments appeared to be a nod to “India Inc”—a term that captures the country’s booming corporate and IT sectors that are major vehicles of its economic growth on the global stage. But a recent report issued by Hindenburg Research is finally bursting that balloon. The New York-based short-selling firm has accused the Adani Group of “pulling the largest con in corporate history,” alleging stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and other malfeasance. Hindenburg said the report followed a two-year investigation and was based on interviews with former executives, site visits, and the review of thousands of documents. The fallout of the allegations is already reverberating through global stock markets. By Wednesday, the news had knocked more than $90 billion off the value of Adani’s companies, as share prices tumbled and Adani lost his status as both Asia and India’s richest man. Read More: Gautam Adani Started Last Week as Asia’s Richest Man. Now, He’s Not Even India’s In response to Hindenburg’s allegations, Adani Group issued a 413-page reply that called the short-seller’s claims “stale, baseless, and discredited allegations.” Notably, the company also called the report a “calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity, and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.” In a video appearance, Adani’s embattled Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh stood in front of a giant Indian flag, drumming up nationalist support that appeared to signal a message that any foreign scrutiny of Adani was an assault on the success of India itself. Supporters of Adani and the Indian government have repeated similar claims on Twitter. After Adani Group issued its rebuttal last Thursday, hundreds of pro-Adani tweets with the hashtag, “#IndiaINCSupportsAdani,” flooded Twitter’s timeline. The saga has shone a light on the relationship between India’s business and political elite, bringing into question whether India, faced with accusations of crony capitalism, can become a global economic juggernaut like its nearest Asian competitor, China. “Adani’s difficulties only underscore the limited progress India has made in taming the excessive power of its growing band of super-rich ‘Bollygarch’ tycoons and the way in which they use political connections to their advantage,” James Crabtree, who authored The Billionaire Raj, told TIME. What are Adani’s ties with the Indian government? Adani and Modi both hail from the western state of Gujarat, where Modi was Chief Minister before he was elected as the country’s leader in 2014. Under his leadership, Gujarat’s economy experienced its fastest GDP growth, eclipsing other Indian states—a feat that was dubbed the “Gujarat model,” and which many Indian voters hoped Modi would emulate across the country. As Modi climbed through the political ranks, he also openly displayed a close friendship with Adani: he flew in Adani’s private jets during his election campaign, and again when he traveled from Gujarat to New Delhi to take office as Prime Minister. During this period, Adani’s wealth increased by nearly 230% from $1.9 billion in 2014 to more than $26 billion this year. Much of this increase is credited to the Indian government’s mass privatization drive and business-friendly policies, which saw Adani winning several government tenders and infrastructure projects in ports, airports, roads, rail, fossil fuels, and green energy across the country. Modi has called this approach “nation-building.” Narinder Nanu—AFP/Getty ImagesFarmers shout slogans before burning effigies of Narendra Modi, Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, to protest against corporate businesses following the recent passing of agriculture bills in the parliament. In 2018, a controversial decision by the Indian government allowed Adani to bid—and win—tenders for six airports. Although Adani had no prior experience operating airports, the decision turned his group into one of the country’s biggest private airport operators overnight. The move was lucrative for Adani Group but it was also met with outrage. In the southern state of Kerala, where Adani won a 50-year lease to operate the Trivandrum International Airport, the state’s finance minister called the decision an “act of brazen cronyism.” Adani addressed his relationship with the government head-on during the India TV interview, denying that Modi had bestowed any personal favors on him or his businesses. “You can talk to him about policy, discuss the interest of the country, but the policy made is for everyone, not for the Adani Group alone.” Read More: How India’s Record-Breaking Population Will Shape the World It’s a sentiment echoed by other major businesses and investors. “You can ask the government for favorable policies but you can no longer ask for individual favors,” an executive from a major international investment firm in Mumbai told the Financial Times. “You need sensible execution. It isn’t enough to just have political connections.” What does this mean more broadly for India’s economy? India’s recent economic growth has rested on a model that champions nationalist industrialists like Adani, who echoed this sentiment during his interview on India TV when he said, “what I’m seeing now is that this country is charging ahead in progress.” In India, family-run conglomerates like Adani’s have often been built out of the rapid consolidation of state assets, market monopolization, and stifled competition—which in 2021 led to the richest 1% of Indians owning more than 40% of the country’s total wealth, according to a report by Oxfam. (The figure stands at 32% in the United States.) Even if Adani may not rely heavily on the Indian government to boost his empire, many Indians have reason to fear that the wide-scale investments made by the government into his company could hurt the country’s infrastructure. “Can they build the roads they have promised, improve the ports they have been given, maintain the airports they won in a bid? Until now, nobody else has been able to do so,” Mihir Sharma, a Bloomberg columnist, wrote. Hindenburg’s allegations have also crucially raised questions about the regulatory effectiveness and accountability of Indian institutions, which usually attract foreign investment in India over its neighbor, China. Most notably, the report claims that the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, has so far failed to deliver an effective outcome on an investigation into Adani’s offshore accounts “more than a year and a half after concerns were initially raised by the media and members of Parliament.” And with the Hindenburg report’s scrutiny, the bets placed on Adani and other Indian businessmen may be backfiring. Since the start of the year, the net worths of fellow Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani, Radhakishan Damani, and Savitri Jindal have all declined this year – collectively, the four richest Indians have lost about $45 billion so far, thanks to falling share prices. It’s a huge test for Adani’s claim that “no one would be able to stop India’s position in the world today, or in the next 20 to 30 years.”.....»»

As commercial airlines abandon small cities, two start-ups are stepping in to help fix an increasingly messy air travel system in the U.S. For years leading up to the pandemic, economic good fortune was converging on “superstar” cities like San Francisco, New York, and Boston, where big companies like Amazon were setting up new offices and high-paid workers were spending money on houses, food, and services. Now that the migration to superstar cities has slowed, if not reversed, two new airlines are betting on the idea that they can build a successful national business by focusing on the rest of the country. Both launched in 2021, the two are the first new airlines to be founded in the U.S. in 14 years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The upcoming months will test their hypothesis. On Feb. 1, Avelo Airlines is launching its fourth base, this one in Wilmington, Del., restoring air service to the only state not currently served by a commercial airline. (Frontier left in June 2022.) Avelo, which was founded by former Allegiant president Andrew Levy, also has established bases in New Haven, Conn., Burbank, Calif., and Orlando. Later in February, Breeze Airways, run by David Neeleman, the onetime founder of JetBlue Airways, will launch new service to Vero Beach, Fla., Cincinnati, Ohio, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Orange County, Calif. “I tell people all the time, ‘Hey, people in Binghampton like to go to the same places as the people who live in New York and LA—there are just fewer of those people,’” says Levy, of Avelo. On the surface, going into under-served air markets seems like a good idea. There’s been no shortage of complaints about airlines of late; in October 2022, the last month for which data are available, complaints were three times higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. And the consolidation that has led to just four airlines—American, Delta, United, and Southwest—controlling about 80% of the domestic market has meant that many cities have lost consistent air service in recent years. That’s partially because the big airlines have increasingly focused on a “hub and spoke” model since the airline industry was deregulated in 1978; they center their resources on a few big airports, and travelers who want to get in between two smaller airports have to transfer in a hub to get to their destination. Cincinnati’s International Airport, for instance, which is not a hub, had 73% fewer flights in 2019 than it did in 2002. Read More: Blame the Airlines for American Inequality That also means higher ticket prices. Often, big airlines use small, regional jets to get to smaller cities, which means fewer passengers per flight, raising the operating cost of each flight—a cost which gets passed along to the customers. Breeze and Avelo have a different model, linking non-hubs directly and using bigger planes. They’re betting travelers are sick of making multiple stops and sick of the tiny regional jets that sometimes can only be accessed by a bus from a giant airplane terminal. “We’re trying to do what the big airlines aren’t doing—like getting from Huntsville, Alabama to Las Vegas twice as fast for half the price,” says Neeleman, CEO of Breeze. Historically, starting a new airline has rarely been a winning proposition. Since the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, only a few airline start-ups have succeeded, among them American West, which later merged with U.S. Airways (now part of American), JetBlue, and Virgin America, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines. “You can either bang your head against a wall or you can start an airline, and banging your head against the wall may be less painful,” says Henry Harteveldt, the president of Atmosphere Research Group, a market research firm. “Start-up airlines don’t have a great track record of financial success.” About 90% of start-ups in the wider business market fail, and airlines are among the most expensive companies to start. Start-ups have to buy airplanes, recruit skilled staff, and wade through permitting and other bureaucracy. Ticket prices are so relatively low today—you can thank the falling price of oil since the 1980s and/or deregulation—that start-up airlines can’t usually charge high enough fares to recoup their costs. Now is a particularly hard time: The volatile price of fuel since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it more expensive to be an airline in the last year. On top of that, airlines are struggling with a pilot shortage caused by big airlines offering early retirements and buyouts to pilots in the beginning of the pandemic. With few new pilots entering the industry, airlines have to pay more to attract talent. The big airlines are able to pass those costs along to consumers, but anyone with fewer flights or smaller jets have trouble absorbing those costs. Small airlines have for decades complained that bigger airlines undercut their fares in an effort to drive them out of business, but they’ve struggled to win antitrust arguments in court because lower prices are arguably good for consumers. But William McGee, a senior fellow for aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project, says there are examples of big airlines entering a market, undercutting fares, and then raising them once the smaller airlines go out of business. “Competing in the airline business is brutal, it makes a NHL hockey fight look like a garden party,” Harteveldt says. Perversely, he says, the only way to be competitive in the airline industry is to not compete with other airlines. A new airline would have to find an underserved market that the big airlines have given up on, he says, one that has a large enough population to support service but not large enough to attract the big carriers. There are very few of those cities left. All these factors explain why Breeze and Avelo’s first year or so has been challenging. Avelo had to raise a second round of money in late 2021 because business was slower than anticipated. Breeze also raised a second round in 2021. Both airlines have pulled out of routes; Avelo discontinued service from Arizona after American Airlines copied its route between Phoenix and Burbank, Calif. Avelo suspended operations at Loveland, Colo. in May of 2022, citing rising fuel costs; it also dropped out of Grand Junction, Colo. and Bozeman, Mont. in 2021. In late 2022, Breeze cut a route between Charleston and San Francisco, as well as one between Akron-Canton, Ohio and Hartford, Conn. Still, both Breeze and Avelo say that the state of air travel today presents a huge opportunity. For one thing, the rising cost of flying has led big airlines to pull out of many cities—68 since April 2020 alone—opening a space that start-ups can fill. Indeed, around 90% of Avelo’s routes are between city pairs that don’t currently have service connecting them; 95% of Breeze’s are in the same category. There are a few pandemic trends that also might benefit Breeze and Avelo. Avelo saves money by not catering flights—passengers can ask for water—and customers might not have accepted that before the pandemic, Levy says. Because Breeze flies few intercontinental flights and Avelo doesn’t fly any, they are able to recruit pilots and flight attendants who now prefer to sleep in their own beds at night and see their families more. Pilots for big airlines are often on the road, staying overnight far from home. “We have a lot of happy pilots who live in Charleston and leave in the morning and are home at night,” says Neeleman. Brittany Murray / MediaNews Group / via Getty Images Breeze had an inaugural flight from LAX to New York’s Westchester County on November 2, 2022. And as high housing costs drive some workers from the center of cities to suburbs and exurbs, airlines could see unexpected demand for air service in places where the economics didn’t work before. Breeze, for instance, serves Westchester County in New York. As some remote workers move to smaller cities, Avelo is hoping to tap into markets like Huntsville, Ala., which saw its population grow 13% since 2019, as well as New Haven, Conn.—Connecticut’s population grew slightly during the pandemic, after years of shrinking. Avelo’s hub in New Haven, which flies to Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Chicago, has been one of the most successful new launches, says Brad DiFiore, managing director with Ailevon Pacific Aviation. Avelo had the foresight to see there was a market there when no one else did. “They found New Haven, which is a big deal—it’s a pretty large market that had not been adequately served,” he says. The costs of operating out of those smaller airports is also lower for both airlines and for consumers. Airlines have to pay airports a fee to serve them, and as big airports like New York’s LaGuardia have embarked on giant capital projects, they’ve gotten more expensive. A rough estimate: LaGuardia’s fees add up to about $40 per passenger, Levy says, while New Haven’s Tweed Airport is almost free. “The difference in cost between using the main airport and using alternative airports is getting bigger and bigger,” Levy says. Were Breeze and Avelo to succeed, they could provide a lifeline to smaller communities that had been cut off from air service. Once airlines leave, business and residents often do too, moving in search of somewhere more connected to the outside world. But new airlines aren’t the only solution, DiFiore says. A company called Landline has launched bus routes between underserved air markets like Loveland, Colo., and the Denver International Airport and Duluth, Minn., and the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. The company allows customers to bundle their trips with tickets on United Airlines and Sun Country Air, and eventually, DiFiore says, Landline’s pickup locations may have TSA screening capabilities, so passengers won’t have to go through security when they get to the big airports. The service could be cheaper than air travel, but it has an even bigger obstacle to overcome than Breeze or Avelo: it depends on Americans being ok with riding a bus......»»

The Boeing 747, known as the "Queen of the Skies," revolutionized air travel since its first flight in 1969. It's now mostly a cargo plane, and the last 747 just rolled off Boeing's production lines. The last new Boeing 747 left the company’s factory on Tuesday, marking the end of an era for the iconic airplane that captured the world’s attention and brought more affordable air travel to millions of passengers. With its impressive size and graceful appearance, the 747, known as the “Queen of the Skies,” has been one of the most recognizable and versatile aircraft since its first flight in 1969. It transported NASA’s space shuttles and was the base for the U.S. president’s Air Force One aircraft, making the 747 a symbol of American innovation. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The dependable four-engine plane revolutionized the aviation industry and the air travel experience itself by carrying up to 500 passengers in a single trip, creating a more spacious and comfortable cabin and allowing airlines to offer long-haul tickets at a lower cost. But despite its popularity, by the 2010s the world began to shift toward more efficient and smaller two-engine airplanes that could fly longer distances. These planes made it possible for airlines to offer direct international routes between smaller cities due to their more compact size. Boeing introduced a more advanced two-engine 777 aircraft in the mid-90s, and faced heightened competition a decade later from the bigger Airbus A380, which could seat 250 more passengers. Demand for the 747 dropped, except for cargo operations. In the early 2010s, Boeing introduced the final model, the 747-8, which included around 50 passenger configurations and over 100 cargo configurations. While some airlines continue to use the plane for passenger flights, the 747 will likely be phased out for most passenger routes and used primarily for delivering cargo. The final 747 produced was handed over to Atlas Air, which offers airplanes and crews for both cargo and passenger operations. It will be chartered by Kuehne+Nagel, a transport company and an Atlas customer, for use by its subsidiary, Apex Logistics. But the awe-inspiring legacy of the iconic aircraft will continue: the 747 planes will still be used as Air Force One for years to come. Replacements for the current Air Force One aircraft are being built using Boeing 747-8 frames. Wally McNamee—CORBIS/Getty ImagesPresidential advisers Steve Rabinowitz and Dee Dee Myers talk on cell phones on the tarmac next to Air Force One, on April 30, 1993. Peter Parks—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople watch as the last Qantas Boeing 747 airliner prepares to take off from Sydney airport to the US on July 22, 2020. The downturn in the airline industry following travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak forced Qantas to retire its grounded 747s after flying with the Australian carrier for almost 50 years. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersOld airplanes, including Boeing 747-400s, are stored in the desert in Victorville, California March 13, 2015. In the last year, there were zero orders placed by commercial airlines for new Boeing 747s or Airbus A380s, reflecting a fundamental shift in the industry toward smaller, twin-engine planes. Thomas Frey—picture alliance/Getty ImagesAn Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane is loaded with freight for Zhengzhou Airport in Lautzenhausen, Germany, in May 2014. Jovelle Tamayo—The New York Times/ReduxThe Boeing factory, where the last 747 jumbo jet was built, in Everett, Wash., Sept. 28, 2022. The “Queen of the Skies” brought air travel to the masses, but its half-century run is coming to an end.  .....»»

3,000 Flight Disruptions Hit US As Ice Storm Sweeps Southern States Winter storm warnings and weather advisories stretched from the US Southwest to the Southeast on Tuesday as snow, sleet, and freezing rain canceled and or delayed at least 3,000 flights.  According to FlightAware's flight tracking website, 1,300 flights had been canceled, and an additional 2,000 were delayed as of Tuesday morning.  Dallas-Fort Worth International, Austin-Bergstrom International, and Dallas Love Field were three Texas airports experiencing the most flight disruptions as an ice storm slammed the state. Cancellations and delays were also seen across the country.  The National Weather Service in Fort Worth said a winter storm warning was in effect in north and western central Texas until Wednesday afternoon.  On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state's Division of Emergency Management to prepare for adverse weather conditions.  "The State of Texas is working tirelessly to ensure Texans and their communities have the resources, assistance, and support needed to respond to winter weather impacts across the state," Gov. Abbott said in a press release. The ice storm will also impact Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee through Wednesday. NWS Memphis said areas could expect ice accumulations of a quarter to one-half inch or more.  After a mild January, a blast of cold air is pouring into the Midwest through this weekend.  A cold shot is expected for the Mid-Atlantic region, but temperatures could return to average levels by Sunday or early next week.  The Northeast will also see a brief chill.  On Thursday, Punxsutawney Phil will come out of his burrow in the ground and let the US know if an early spring is ahead or six more weeks of winter.  Tyler Durden Tue, 01/31/2023 - 18:40.....»»