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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] 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] Travelers at LaGuardia Airport in New York on June 30, 2022. Leslie Josephs | CNBC Airfare fell 6.4% in January from a year earlier, the Labor Department said in its monthly consumer price index report on Tuesday. It might not last too long. January is typically a slower month for travel as customers take fewer trips following the New Year's holiday. Domestic travel usually picks up during school breaks and spring holidays. The drop comes even though carriers are facing capacity constraints this year, in part because of an engine recall from Pratt & Whitney , congested airspace and delayed aircraft deliveries. Meanwhile, airline executives have forecast robust demand this year, even in the domestic market, which has faced more competition from international destinations that opened up in the wake of the pandemic. Those trends could help lift fares. "The capacity decline is related to artificial constraints due to aircraft delivery delays and GTF engine issues

[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] U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed a stronger-than-expected increase in prices last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 364 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 1.4% and 2.0%, respectively. The Dow fell as much as 510 points, or 1.54%, earlier in the trading session. Boeing shares slipped more than 4% after the company temporarily halted delivery of its 787 Dreamliners over a fuselage issue. Shares of Microsoft and Home Depot also fell more than 1%. The major averages are headed for a losing week. The S&P 500 is down 2.9% and is set for its worst week since Dec. 9. The Dow is down nearly 3% this week and headed for its fourth straight losing week. The Nasdaq is 3.5% lower, and on pace for its second negative week in three. The core personal consumption expenditures price index , the Fed's preferred measurement of inflation, rose 0.6% in January and 4.7% from the p

[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] Viasat 's stock plummeted in trading on Thursday after the company disclosed its most recently launched communications satellite suffered a malfunction. The Carlsbad, California-based company on Wednesday said an "unexpected event occurred" while deploying the reflector of its Viasat-3 Americas satellite "that may materially impact" performance. The satellite launched successfully in April on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. "We're disappointed by the recent developments," Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said in a statement. Shares of Viasat fell 28.5% on Thursday to close at $30.74 a share, its biggest one-day loss since going public in December 1996. Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter . Viasat did not disclose the identity of the reflector's manufacturer in its release. Dankberg said his company is "working closely" with the manufacturer to resolve the problem. A Viasat spokespe

[ad_1] An aerial view of the engines and fuselage of an unpainted Boeing 737 MAX airplane parked in storage at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, June 1, 2022. Lindsey Wasson | Reuters Workers at Boeing aircraft parts supplier Spirit Aerosystems approved a new labor deal on Thursday, setting the stage to resume production at a Wichita, Kansas, facility after a work stoppage last week. Spirit Aerosystems, which supplies fuselages for Boeing's best-selling 737 Max aircraft as well as other parts for Boeing and other manufacturers, halted production last Thursday after workers voted against a new proposed contract and in favor of a strike. "We continue to monitor the situation as we assess any potential impacts to production and deliveries," Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing's commercial airplane unit, said in a note to staff. The company and the workers' union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, had r