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☆ Airlines could soon be forced to pay you if your flight is delayed or canceled
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration is proposing a new rule to address airline passengers' rights in the US. It would require airlines to provide cash compensation for flight delays and cancellations. JetBlue and Alaska Airlines are the only carriers that offer flight credit during lengthy delays, the DOT says. No major US airline currently guarantees cash compensation for controllable delays or cancellations, the dashboard shows. For comparison, the department's 2021 proposal that would require airlines to refund passengers for delayed luggage and broken WiFi still has not taken effect.

☆ A millionaire who says flying private is as addictive as cocaine is selling his jet after learning how terrible it is for the environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Georgia businessman Stephen Prince loves flying his private jet to Nebraska and the Caribbean. But after realizing the environmental impact of flying private, he decided to sell his Cessna 650. The experience is so amazing, he said, that he often compares the addictive nature of private jet travel to that of cocaine. The multi-millionaire's private jet habit first started around six years ago, when he began chartering planes and soon bought a Mitsubishi MU-2 with a friend. The organization co-authored a report outlining the environmental and financial consequences of private jet travel.

It is the latest in a series of moves by the Biden administration to crack down on airlines and bolster passenger consumer protections. "When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,” U.S. Transportation Secretary (USDOT) Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. Most carriers voluntarily committed in August 2022 to providing hotels or meals but resisted providing cash compensation for delays. The Biden administration has sparred with U.S. airlines over who was to blame for hundreds of thousands of flight disruptions last year. In October, Reuters first reported major U.S. airlines opposed USDOT plans to update its dashboard to show whether carriers would voluntarily compensate passengers for lengthy delays within airlines' control.

☆ FAA Plans New Sky Lanes for Air Taxis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Andrew Tangel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Acting FAA chief Billy Nolen expects a widespread rollout of air taxis that will transform transportation, if regulators get it right. U.S. air-safety regulators are planning for new traffic lanes in the sky, intended to accommodate flying taxis being developed by startups and backed by major airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration expects the planned air taxis—electric vehicles designed to fly quietly—to initially buzz around American cities as soon as next year much as helicopters do today, said Billy Nolen, the agency’s acting administrator.

Starship is SpaceX's next-generation rocket crucial for the company's commercial launch business and Musk's aim to start human colonies on Mars. The U.S. offers few such options and export controls would make building a foreign launch site difficult. SpaceX has eyed another Kennedy Space Center launch site for future Starship launches, LC-49, a few miles from LC-39A. But that location is in the midst of a lengthy environmental review that could take years. Plans for that orbital launch site, Spaceport Camden, were nixed by a local referendum after a lawsuit raised concerns about its environmental impact.

☆ Wall Street's most important workers you've never thought of
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

And on Wall Street, where the volume of information continues to rise, application design and user interface is taking center stage. User interface and user experience have long been underappreciated in finance, which is ironic considering the public nature of the work. Read more about Citadel X, the $57 billion hedge fund's user experience and interface team. If you're still trying to understand the collapse of yet another regional bank, we've got you covered. The German bank is building out its investment bank as it eyes a potential return of M&A, the Financial Times reports.

☆ U.S. will not extend July 1 5G airplane retrofit deadline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sam WolfeWASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told airlines on Tuesday the Biden administration does not plan to extend a July 1 deadline for airlines to retrofit airplane altimeters to address potential interference, the department confirmed. Buttigieg told airlines on a call the department does not plan to extend the deadline and urged them to work aggressively to continue retrofitting airplanes. Last year, Verizon (VZ.N) and AT&T (T.N) voluntarily agreed to delay some C-Band 5G usage until July 1 as air carriers worked to retrofit airplane altimeters. Separately, the FAA on Tuesday proposed seven airworthiness directives (ADs) for many Boeing (BA.N) aircraft due to the potential for 5G C-band interference. They require revising aircraft flight manuals by June 30 to prohibit some landings and include specific operating procedures for calculating landing distances and certain approaches when in the presence of 5G C-band interference.

☆ Environmental groups sue U.S. over SpaceX launch license for Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 1, (Reuters) - Conservation groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, challenging its approval of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk's SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in South Texas without requiring greater environmental study. SpaceX had vigorously opposed subjecting its Starbase to an EIS review, a process that typically takes years, even decades. The FAA granted its license following a far less thorough environmental assessment and a finding that SpaceX activities at Boca Chica pose "no significant impact" on the environment. The lawsuit challenges that finding as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The lawsuit highlights a history of tension between environmentalists, who have sought to limit development at Boca Chica, and Musk, a hard-charging entrepreneur known for risk taking.

☆ GC Agenda: May 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Practical Law The Journal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

Clawback Listing StandardsPublic companies should be aware that proposed NYSE and Nasdaq clawback listing standards may be in place earlier than expected. Organizations may use biometric data in a variety of ways, including when:tracking employee time; restricting access to physical and digital assets; monitoring consumer shopping behavior; and integrating biometric data into consumer products and services. Consider whether the organization’s current policies and procedures meet applicable biometric data handling requirements, including notice, consent, retention, storage, and security obligations. Review applicable laws and obligations when contracting with service providers that handle biometric data and continuously monitor their performance. In February 2023, the NYSE and Nasdaq filed proposed new listing standards, which contemplated that they could become effective as early as April 27, 2023.

☆ The ultra-wealthy who fly private are costing average flyers who won't ever use a private plane a lot of money
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private jet travel has surged in the US over the last few years and accounts for one in every six flights. But private flyers pay just two percent of the taxes that fund the Federal Aviation Administration. Commercial flyers must pay a tax on every ticket equivalent to 7.5% of the fare price. But private flyers only pay a jet fuel tax. Private airplane travel is significantly worse for the environment than commercial flight travel, since private jets carry far fewer people.

☆ Meet the typical private jet owner: 'Overwhelmingly male,' over 50, with a net worth of $190 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Private jet use has become more popular than ever. Members of the "jet-owning oligarchy" have a median net worth of $190 million, a new report says. The typical private jet owner is a North American male over 50 who works in finance or real estate. The report describes typical private jet owners as "overwhelmingly male," North American, and over the age of 50. Full private jet owners have a median net worth of $190 million while fractional jet owners have a median net worth of $140 million, the report says, citing data from Credit Suisse and Wealth-X.

☆ FAA launches faster, high-altitude flight routes to avoid congestion along the East Coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched nearly 170 new flight routes that are shorter and faster, aiming to cut down on congestion in the eastern U.S. It's part of a seven-year effort from the FAA and airlines to redraw high-altitude route maps for planes, the agency said Monday. The FAA launched the 169 new routes last week, and is abandoning older ones, which were longer and zigzagged more. Those longer routes were designed for planes relying on ground-based radar and not the GPS that modern aircraft use. The FAA estimated that the new routes would reduce about 6,000 minutes of travel time a year.

"We could add maybe 85 or 90 destinations depending on the aircraft deliveries," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker told reporters. Airbus in March reinstated an order for 73 aircraft from Qatar Airways which it had revoked during a major legal dispute over damage to the surface of grounded A350s. Qatar Airways is also experiencing delayed delivery of Boeing 787 and 777X planes, Al Baker added. He later told reporters that Qatar Airways could pursue codeshares or exchanges of technical assistance with the new airline. High energy prices have not dented passenger demand for travel at Qatar Airways, where load factors, a measure of capacity utilisation, are in the "high 80s" Al Baker told reporters.

☆ FAA sued over SpaceX Starship launch program following April explosion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The SpaceX Starship explodes after launch for a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. The groups argue that the FAA should have conducted an in-depth environmental report, known as an environmental impact statement (EIS), before ever allowing SpaceX to move ahead with its Starship Super Heavy plans in Boca Chica. Later, "based on SpaceX's preference," the lawyers wrote, the federal agency settled on using "a considerably less thorough analysis," which enabled SpaceX to launch sooner. The exact impacts of the launch on the people, habitat and wildlife are still being evaluated by federal and state agencies, and other environmental researchers, alongside and independently from SpaceX. Boca Chica land and wildlife there, namely ocelots, are also sacred to the Carrizo-Comecrudo tribe of Texas.

CNN —Environmental groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration in federal court over SpaceX’s launch of its massive Starship rocket last month. ‘All kinds of environmental harm’Ahead of the launch on April 20, the FAA issued a finding that the launch would have no significant impact on its surrounding environment. Margolis told CNN that the SpaceX explosion proves the groups’ legal argument that the FAA erred in its decision-making. The FAA’s roleThe FAA licenses commercial rocket launches and gave the green light for the SpaceX launch attempt after more than a year of back-and-forth. When asked about potential legal backlash from environmental groups on Saturday, Musk was defiant.

☆ Environmental groups are suing the FAA over SpaceX's failed Starship rocket launch over Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Environmental groups are suing the FAA over SpaceX's giant rocket launch in April. Debris from the Starship explosion was hurled thousands of feet from the launch pad, officials said. SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded over the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 after soaring 24 miles (39 kilometers) into the sky. The launch pad is on a remote site on the southernmost tip of Texas, just below South Padre Island, and about 20 miles from Brownsville. It was the first launch of a full-size Starship, with the sci-fi-looking spacecraft on top the huge booster rocket.

☆ What’s next for SpaceX’s Starship after a dramatic first launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Starship launches for the first time on its Super Heavy booster from Texas on April 20, 2023. Soon after the launch, SpaceX began the process of cleaning up the launchpad and assessing the damage to its infrastructure. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed this week that the Starship launch started a 3.5-acre fire on land owned by Texas' Boca Chica State Park. A SpaceX Starship prototype stands in a bay at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas on April 18, 2023. As with any rocket-development program, and especially the largest ever assembled, SpaceX's timeline for the next Starship flight is likely to evolve and change.

In the test mission, SpaceX’s Starship launched toward space atop a Super Heavy rocket booster. That could be the determining factor in how long it takes the company to get a new Starship on the launch pad. Such investigations are routine and have taken place after previous — but smaller-scale — Starship test launches in South Texas. Joe Skipper/ReutersSpaceX is not permitted to make another launch attempt of a Starship vehicle until that review is complete. NASAThe US space agency was not directly involved in the Starship flight test, but it has a major stake in Starship’s overall success.

☆ FAA headquarters initially overrode its own engineers’ 737 Max grounding recommendation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Greg Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Federal Aviation Administration initially overrode its own engineers’ recommendations in 2019 to ground the Boeing 737 Max after a second fatal crash, according to a new watchdog report. “Yet Agency officials at Headquarters and the Seattle ACO opted not to do so; instead, they waited for more detailed data to arrive,” the report concluded. The inspector general report, released Friday, recommended the agency update and improve its policies for evaluating crashes and other events. The FAA told the inspector general it would make updates and develop formal training. While awaiting additional data in March 2019, FAA officials issued an official notice backing up their decision to allow the Max to continue flying.

☆ U.S. engineers recommended grounding Boeing 737 MAX soon after second crash - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Some Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) engineers recommended grounding the Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX in March 2019 after a second fatal crash and before the agency took action, a report released Friday said. The Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General said in a report that its review of emails and interviews of FAA officials revealed individual engineers recommended "grounding the airplane while the accident was being investigated based on what they perceived as similarities" between two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The report FAA officials "expressed frustration that foreign civil aviation authorities were grounding the aircraft before they had data that linked the two accidents." "We also continue to look for additional opportunities to apply lessons learned from the Boeing 737 MAX's return to service," the agency said Friday. The inspector general added the engineer's risk analysis was not completed and did not go through managerial review citing a lack of detailed flight data.

Fish and Wildlife Service. Damage to the launch pad, the floor of which was largely demolished during liftoff, was visible in photos of the aftermath. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service findings. The April 20 launch was days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted SpaceX a license to launch the Starship via its Super Heavy rocket booster. REUTERS/Joe Skipper 1 2 3The report by the Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the U.S.

The conglomerate reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $2.07 per share on revenues of $8.86 billion. Southwest Airlines — The airline company's shares slipped 3.4% following a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter. The pharmaceutical company posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.46, while analysts had estimated $2.51, according to StreetAccount. United Rentals — Shares fell 5.7% after the company's first-quarter earnings came in below expectations. CBRE — Shares of the real estate group soared 8.8% after CBRE's first-quarter earnings announcement buoyed investor sentiment.

☆ Photos show SpaceX's Starship rocket blew a crater into its launchpad and flung concrete chunks hundreds of feet during liftoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kelly Mclaughlin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

SpaceX's Starship blew a huge hole in its launchpad during takeoff last week and scattered debris. Members of the public walk through a debris field around the Starship launchpad at SpaceX's facilities near Boca Chica, Texas. It was also missing a water-deluge system, which helps further reduce energy blast around the launch site during liftoff. Rocks and other debris fly around remote cameras as SpaceX’s Starship lifts off atop its Super Heavy booster for the first time. Last week's flight was the first time SpaceX launched a Starship rocket on top of it its Super Heavy booster.

☆ SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket was too powerful for its own good
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rocks and other debris fly around remote cameras as SpaceX’s Starship lifts off atop its Super Heavy booster for the first time. Starship was too strong for its launchpadA field of debris surrounds Starship's launchpad after the rocket's launch blew up concrete beneath it. Debris litters the Starship launchpad, with damaged fuel tanks visible in the background. PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor / Getty ImagesThere were no injuries related to the Starship launch, according to the FAA. In addition to the mishap investigation, SpaceX must request a modification to its launch license in order to fly another Starship.

☆ American Airlines plane forced to return to Ohio airport after possible bird strike, FAA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An American Airlines plane bound for Arizona returned to John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The FAA told CNN that the plane might have experienced a bird strike. An American Airlines plane had to return to an airport in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday morning because of mechanical issues. American Airlines told the outlet that flight 1958 "landed normally and taxied safely to the gate under its own power." The FAA and American Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment that were sent outside regular business hours.

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