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[ad_1] A pilot performs a walkaround before a United Airlines flight Leslie Josephs/CNBC U.S. passenger airlines have added nearly 194,000 jobs since 2021 as companies went on a hiring spree after spending months in a pandemic slump, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now the industry is cooling its hiring. Airlines are close to their staffing needs but the slowdown is also coming in part because they're facing a slew of challenges. A glut of flights in the U.S. has pushed down fares and eaten into airlines' profits . Demand growth has moderated. Airplanes are arriving late from Boeing and Airbus , prompting airlines to rethink their expansions. Engines are in short supply . Some carriers are deferring airplane deliveries altogether. And labor costs have climbed after groups like pilots and mechanics inked new contracts with big raises, their first in years. Annual pay for a three-year first officer on midsized equipment at U.S. airlines averaged $170...

[ad_1] Passengers make their way through the terminal as they travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on Nov. 22, 2023. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters In air travel, minutes matter. A few moments could be the difference between making and missing a connection for passengers — and could avoid delays that ripple across the schedule for airlines. Saved time could even lead to big savings for carriers as they scramble to get a handle on costs. Major airlines are rolling out strategies that executives say could translate to lower costs and more efficient operations, even if the time savings on paper look negligible. Some of these tools will be put to the test during what's expected to be a busy holiday season , a year after a meltdown that stranded thousands of passengers at the end of 2022. Many of the improvements are being made behind the scenes. American Airlines last year started using new technology to assign flight...

[ad_1] An American Airlines 777 is loaded with cargo at Philadelphia International Airport. Leslie Josephs/CNBC Airlines' cargo revenue is slumping. That's a sign of good news for travel recovery. Delta , United and American this month each reported year-over-year declines of about 40% in their second-quarter cargo revenue. For the first half of 2023, Delta's cargo business generated $381 million, down from $561 million in the first half of 2022, while American's cargo unit brought in $420 million compared with $692 million in the first six months of last year. United brought in $760 million from cargo so far this year, down from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Meanwhile, airlines are reporting record revenue , if not earnings , thanks to the rebound in travel demand. That means the business impact of cargo, which once helped prop up airlines' revenue during the Covid pandemic travel plunge, has faded. Cargo revenue at Unite...

[ad_1] A Jet Blue aircraft takes off from Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, CA. Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images JetBlue Airways slashed its 2023 outlook and warned of a potential loss in the current quarter as travelers opt for destinations abroad and the carrier grapples with the end of its partnership with American Airlines in the Northeast. JetBlue forecast adjusted earnings per share for the full year ranging from 5 cents to 40 cents, down from an earlier estimate for per-share earnings of as much as $1. related investing news The New York-based carrier said it could post an adjusted loss of as much as 20 cents for the third quarter with revenue down 4% to 8% from the same period last year. The airline's shares tumbled more than 8% on Tuesday after reporting second-quarter results . Here's how the company performed in the period, compared with Wall Street expectations, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates: Adjusted earnings per share: 45 cents vs. 44 cents...

[ad_1] Varda's first manufacturing satellite and reentry vehicle attached to a Rocket Lab Photon bus. Rocket Lab Space startup Varda received long-awaited approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to bring its first spacecraft back to earth after a stint manufacturing drugs in space. Varda's small W-Series 1 capsule, or W-1, has been stuck in orbit since it launched eight months ago. The company has awaited regulatory authorization to make a landing attempt in Utah, at the Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range. The FAA confirmed on Wednesday it had issued the license to Varda. The FAA's approval means Varda will try to land the W-1 mission on Feb. 21. "We are incredibly proud to have this opportunity with our government partners, and appreciate their dedication to safe innovation in the United States," Varda said in a statement. The W-1 mission is a demonstration of the company's automated in-space manufacturing process. Last year, Varda ...

[ad_1] A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft lands at San Francisco International Airport in California on March 13, 2019. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images United Airlines said Monday that it has found loose bolts on door plugs of several Boeing 737 Max 9 planes during inspections spurred when a panel of that type blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight using that type of aircraft last week. Alaska Airlines later Monday said its initial inspections of the jets had turned up "loose hardware" and that, "No aircraft will be returned to service" until formal reviews are complete. "The safety of these aircraft is our priority and we will take the time and steps necessary to ensure their airworthiness, in close partnership with the FAA," Alaska Airlines said in a statement. The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday grounded dozens of 737 Max 9s after the panel blew out midflight on Alaska Flight 1282. Alaska has 65 of the Max 9 planes in it...

[ad_1] People walk in Central Park as smoke from wildfires in Canada cause hazy conditions in New York City on June 7, 2023.  Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images Smoke from Canada wildfires is set to disrupt flights again Thursday after hundreds were delayed a day earlier due to decreased visibility, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA said it will "likely need to take steps to manage the flow of traffic safely into New York City, DC, Philadelphia and Charlotte due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke." Traffic to Philadelphia International Airport was paused until 9:15 a.m., the FAA said. Hundreds of flights at LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed on Wednesday due to the heavy smoke. The FAA had briefly paused traffic altogether into LaGuardia during the day. As of about 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, there were nearly 800 flights delayed across the U.S., according to flight-tracker FlightAware . This story is developing...

[ad_1] A rendering of Telesat's low earth orbit broadband constellation Telesat Shares of Canadian telecommunications satellite operator Telesat surged on Friday after the company announced it would swap suppliers for its planned Lightspeed global internet network. Canadian space company MDA will now build the Lightspeed satellites, taking the place of French-Italian manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and resulting in "total capital cost savings" of about $2 billion, Telesat announced. The company expects to begin launching the first Lightspeed satellites in mid-2026, with global service beginning once the first 156 satellites are in orbit. The full network is planned to consist of 198 satellites. Telesat stock surged as much as much as 64% with heavy volume in early trading from its previous close at $8.45 a share, before slipping slightly to closer to 50%. "I'm incredibly proud of the Telesat team for their innovative work to further optimize ... resulting ...

[ad_1] A sign for hire is posted on the window of a Chipotle restaurant in New York, April 29, 2022. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters Job cuts are rising at some of the biggest U.S. companies , but others are still scrambling to hire workers, the result of wild swings in consumer priorities since the Covid pandemic began three years ago. Tech giants Meta , Amazon and Microsoft , along with companies ranging from Disney to Zoom , have announced job cuts over the past few weeks. In total, U.S.-based employers cut nearly 103,000 jobs in January, the most since September 2020, according to a report released earlier this month from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Meanwhile, employers added 517,000 jobs last month, nearly three times the number analysts expected. This points to a labor market that's still tight, particularly in service sectors that were hit hard earlier in the pandemic, such as restaurants and hotels. The dynamic is making it even harder to p...

[ad_1] American Airlines plane Silas Stein | picture alliance | Getty Images American Airlines pilots' union said Thursday that they agreed to a sweetened offer for a new labor contract, less than two weeks after a richer deal at rival United Airlines derailed voting at American. The new preliminary agreement includes pay matching with United, whose pilots are on track to get about 40% raises over four years, and at Delta Air Lines , whose aviators approved their contract in March , as well as other improvements. American CEO Robert Isom last week increased the company's offer by about $1 billion . "We appreciate the Allied Pilots Association for its collaborative work to reach an updated agreement on a four-year contract for American's pilots," American said in a statement. "It's a contract we're proud of and one our pilots deserve." American's pilots would start voting on the new deal in August. The deal is the latest in the trans...

[ad_1] A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX The U.S. military is raising the stakes — and widening the field — on a high-profile competition for Space Force mission contracts. The Space Force plans to buy even more rocket launches from companies in the coming years than previously expected, granting more companies a chance at securing billions in potential contracts. "This is a huge deal," Col. Doug Pentecost, the deputy program executive officer of the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command, told reporters during a briefing this week. Earlier this year the Space Force kicked off the process to buy five years' worth of launches, under a lucrative program known as National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3. Now it's boosting the scale. The U.S. sees a rising impetus to improve its military capabilities in space, spurring the need to almost triple the number of launch...

[ad_1] An American Airlines 777 is loaded with cargo at Philadelphia International Airport. Leslie Josephs/CNBC Airlines' cargo revenue is slumping. That's a sign of good news for travel recovery. Delta , United and American this month each reported year-over-year declines of about 40% in their second-quarter cargo revenue. For the first half of 2023, Delta's cargo business generated $381 million, down from $561 million in the first half of 2022, while American's cargo unit brought in $420 million compared with $692 million in the first six months of last year. United brought in $760 million from cargo so far this year, down from $1.2 billion a year earlier. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Meanwhile, airlines are reporting record revenue , if not earnings , thanks to the rebound in travel demand. That means the business impact of cargo, which once helped prop up airlines' revenue during the Covid pandemic travel plunge, has faded. Cargo revenue at Unite...