A car pulls to the curb of Departures at La Guardia airport during the coronavirus outbreak Saturday, April 4, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York. New York is the coronavirus pandemic's U.S. epicenter. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The Trump administration is seeking to limit the drastic cuts that ailing U.S. airlines can make as they struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Transportation Department on Tuesday finalized guidance requiring airlines to maintain a minimum level of service to be eligible for some $50 billion in federal aid that was included in the $2 trillion relief package that President Trump signed March 27.
"The order is designed to ensure that covered air carriers maintain a defined minimum level of flights to communities they served prior to March 1," the department said in a statement.
The requirements will remain in place through at least September 30.
The DOT released the final version of the rule as major U.S. carriers such as American Airlines and United Airlines have instituted dramatic flight cancellations at some of the nation's busiest airports. As passenger travel has slowed to a trickle, American slashed its daily flights from John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports from 270 to 13. United has meanwhile cut its operations from 157 flights to 17.
Airlines said that they were reviewing the Transportation Department's final order to see whether they would need to seek a waiver from the agency to maintain the flight reductions. One industry insider said that a previous Transportation Department action relaxing the strict use-it-or-lose-it rules governing the lucrative takeoff slots at busy airports may cover the flight reductions that have already been implemented.
However, the DOT's final rule states that some canceled routes may need to be restarted for airlines to receive aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.
The final rules ease some of the measures in a draft proposal from last week. Budget carriers such as Allegiant, Spirit, and Sun Country, for example, had argued that the minimum service requirements would impose a disproportionate burden on their operations. The DOT appeared to recognize this feedback in adding a category that allows greater leniency for airlines that make up less than 10 percent of domestic capacity.
"The Department has determined that the impact on these carriers from the approach proposed … would be disproportionate and potentially at odds with the aims of the CARES Act," the rule says. Similarly, it states, "The Department recognizes the significant operational and financial challenges that would be imposed on carriers operating seasonal services should they be required to operate them year-round."
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
