If you're searching for the future of transportation, look up. Transportation startup Skyryse just completed an end-to-end autonomous helicopter flight, where the pilot never had to touch the controls.
"This is a really large step toward realizing a transportation system in the sky that can one day move us away from the cars and the crumbling infrastructure that is throughout our cities," explained Mark Groden, the company's founder and CEO.
While the helicopter, called Luna, isn't to be overlooked, it isn't the main attraction as far as Skyryse is concerned. That distinction belongs to the Skyryse Flight Stack technology, which the company hopes will revolutionize short-distance air travel. The sector is flooded right now, with as many as 130 companies looking for a piece of the pie, including big names like Uber involved. Skyryse isn't looking to beat them, but assist them.
"What we're focused on is building the technology that will lead to this transportation system," said Groden.
Reliable, widely-used short-distance air travel has seemed like something of a pipe dream until now, but Groden is quick to point out the first automated flight actually took place decades ago, when the Lockheed-1011 safely crossed the Atlantic. The idea of automated air travel isn't a new one, and the CEO believes it will expedite the process of making it a reality.
"The pragmatic approach we're taking, following existing paths that the FAA is already very keen to work with us on, will allow us to realize this in single-digit years, and far sooner than I think a lot of people expect," he said.
On Monday, Peloton CEO John Foley stepped down, 2,800 layoffs were announced, and its stock price skyrocketed. Lydia Moynihan, business reporter for the New York Post joined Cheddar News to talk about why investors are excited about this shift in power, while thousands of its workers were let go in a less than ideal manner. "One of the headlines that emerged was that even as they were being fired, Foley sort of couched it as, 'well, you know what, you're still gonna get a year's login to a Peloton subscription', as if somehow if that would make things better," Moynihan said of the soon-to-be ex-CEO. "So, even in that, it was seen as a very sort of tone-deaf move as people were being axed."
Low-cost airlines Frontier and Spirit have agreed to merge in a deal worth $6.6 billion. The new company name and other terms of the deal have not been disclosed. If approved, the merger would be the fifth-largest airline in the United States. Jonathan Root, senior vice president at Moody's, joins Closing Bell to discuss the impact this deal could have on the broader airline industry, as well as why it makes sense for both discount airlines to combine.
Jet Tila, Food Network star and author of '101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die,' joins Cheddar News to talk about his new cookbook that's helping people cook authentic Thai recipes.
Crypto is increasingly becoming a hotspot for criminals and fraud with cryptocurrency crime reaching a record-breaking high. reports show scammers took $14 billion worth of crypto in 2021 alone. The latest crypto scam is aimed at investors in Binance. Ben Armstrong, the founder of Bitboy Crypto, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
