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Trucking Jobs Stall as Nvidia Hardware Worth Millions Vanishes in Transit
US trucking employment stalled in October, adding to signs that the industry’s capacity is shrinking as federal regulators crack down on unqualified drivers. Truck transportation jobs held at 1,471,300, unchanged from September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. The September figure was revised down by 1,800 jobs. Payrolls are now 1,600 below a year earlier, and August was the last month to show an annual gain. Warehousing employment slipped by 300 jobs. “Any reb
22 minutes ago2 min read
Tanker Rate Spike Gives US Refiners an Edge as Washington Targets Cuba’s Fuel Fleet
Soaring tanker rates driven by the Iran conflict are turning into a competitive advantage for US Gulf Coast refiners. They are buying discounted heavy crude close to home while overseas rivals pay up to move oil across oceans. Shipping crude from the US Gulf Coast to Asia now costs 30 to 35 dollars a barrel, up from about 5 dollars a year earlier, Valero Energy Corp. executive Randy Hawkins told analysts. “The main story right now in the market is freight rates,” he said. US
3 hours ago2 min read
Airlines Hit With Fare-Data Class Actions as Horizon Pilots Sue Over Fatigue
Seven of the largest US airlines have been accused in proposed class-action lawsuits of using a shared data platform to keep airfares artificially high. The suits open a new legal front for an industry already under scrutiny over how it prices tickets. A complaint filed on Nov. 4 in federal court in Seattle names American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., JetBlue Airways Corp., and Alaska Air Group Inc.’s Alaska
23 hours ago2 min read
Rail Regulator Moves to Shield Freight Terminals From Local Curbs as Floods Halt Brightline
The US Surface Transportation Board has signaled that it will take a broader view of when federal law shields rail-served facilities from state and local restrictions. The shift could make it harder for towns to block or cap transloading terminals. In a policy statement that takes effect on Monday, the board set out a two-part test. It will ask whether a facility is used to receive or hand off common-carrier rail service. It will then ask whether a government action restricts
23 hours ago2 min read
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Terms and Conditions Apply: Spirit’s Pilots Didn’t Sign Up to Train Google
More than 3,000 pilots flew for Spirit Airlines before it stopped operating in May. Many have since found cockpits elsewhere, several hundred of them at American Arilines. What they left behind at Spirit was not just a uniform and a badge but decades of training files, fatigue reports and confidential safety submissions. Those records are now for sale, and the pilots are fighting to keep them out of Google’s hands. Google’s $10 million bid for the defunct carrier’s internal d
Oct 294 min read
Mayday for Isom? American's Pilots Seek a New Captain (and a Bigger Cut)
Pilots Turn on Isom Just as Their Contract Talks Begin The head of American Airlines’ pilot union has publicly questioned whether CEO Robert Isom is the right man to lead the carrier's turnaround, sharpening a dispute that has been building for the best part of a year. Capt. Nick Silva, president of the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American's roughly 16,000 pilots, said the pool of executives able to run an airline is small, but asked whether someone cou
Sep 253 min read
A High-Class Problem: Why America's Pilots Are Doing Just Fine
Jeff Barath retired from United Airlines last year at 65 with a problem most Americans would love to have. He has a partial pension, a brokerage account and a $3.5 million 401(k). Once his required minimum distributions kick in, his retirement income, including Social Security, will be well over $300,000 a year. That's more than he earned in most of his working years. "It's a high-class problem," according to Barath. He's right. And he's far from the only one. Four times the
Sep 223 min read
The Grey Areas of the Bargaining Table
When flight attendants at United voted on strike authorisation in August 2024, the result came back at 99.99 per cent in favour. The union announced it live from twenty informational picket lines at airports across the country, on the eve of the Labor Day travel weekend. And in the same announcement, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) reminded everyone reading that it holds a trademarked strike strategy called CHAOS, an acronym for Create Havoc Around Our System,
Sep 104 min read
‘We owe it to the victims’ families and the American flying public’ | Interview with Rep. Sharice Davids on aviation safety reform after Flight 5342
Sharice Davids is the Democratic representative for Kansas’s 3rd District, covering much of the Kansas City metropolitan area. She sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and has played a leading role in Congress's response to the midair collision of American Eagle Flight 5342 with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on 29 January 2025, in which 67 people were killed. Davids helped lead the bipartisan ALERT Act, which passed the House last month by 396 votes
May 64 min read
'MH370 disappearance shows how ruthless democracy's enemies are' | Interview with aviation journalist Jeff Wise
Jeff Wise is a journalist specializing in aviation, technology, and psychology who has written for Businessweek, Psychology Today, and...
Aug 16, 20244 min read
A High Flying Career: Flight Attendant Kara Mulder on the Evolving Landscape of Aviation
Kara Mulder, an accomplished flight attendant and the creative force behind the popular Flight Attendant Life blog, has leveraged her...
Aug 17, 20234 min read
With Summer Travel Almost Here, the FAA Remains Leaderless
In another twist in the saga of complications and chaos that has been plaguing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it has recently...
Apr 12, 20233 min read
A High-Class Problem: Why America's Pilots Are Doing Just Fine
Jeff Barath retired from United Airlines last year at 65 with a problem most Americans would love to have. He has a partial pension, a brokerage account and a $3.5 million 401(k). Once his required minimum distributions kick in, his retirement income, including Social Security, will be well over $300,000 a year. That's more than he earned in most of his working years. "It's a high-class problem," according to Barath. He's right. And he's far from the only one. Four times the
Sep 223 min read
The Grey Areas of the Bargaining Table
When flight attendants at United voted on strike authorisation in August 2024, the result came back at 99.99 per cent in favour. The union announced it live from twenty informational picket lines at airports across the country, on the eve of the Labor Day travel weekend. And in the same announcement, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) reminded everyone reading that it holds a trademarked strike strategy called CHAOS, an acronym for Create Havoc Around Our System,
Sep 104 min read
American Airlines pilots didn't wait for the calendar. They tore it up.
Nearly a year before their contract was due to become amendable, the Allied Pilots Association formally opened negotiations for a new deal, invoking a rarely used clause buried in their 2023 agreement. The trigger? A blunt declaration from union president Nick Silva, in an August 7 letter to CEO Robert Isom, that the airline "cannot agree that implementation is sufficient." Translation: you didn't finish what you promised us last time, so we're coming back to the table now. T
Sep 33 min read
Newark Airport Dispute Exposes Political Risk to US Aviation
One of America’s busiest international airports found itself at the centre of political confrontation. The Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin threatened on 28 May that the Trump administration could soon stop processing international travellers and cargo at Newark airport as local law enforcement in the Blue State of New Jersey refused to assist federal immigration officials. With fans gearing up for the FIFA World Cup this summer, questions over international
Jun 83 min read
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