Raphael Stevens

A Delta Air Lines flight with 80 people on board crashed on landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport Monday afternoon, officials said.
At least 15 people were injured, local officials said.
The regional jet was traveling from Minneapolis to Toronto.

First responders work at the Delta Air Lines plane crash site at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada February 17, 2025.
Arlyn Mcadorey | Reuters

At least 15 people were injured after a Delta Air Lines regional jet crashed upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport Monday afternoon, officials said.
All 80 people on board — 76 passengers and four crew members — were evacuated from the plane, a CRJ-900 regional jet, after the accident, which occurred at about 2:45 p.m. ET, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Two people were airlifted in critical condition, according to Peel Regional Paramedic Services.

Emergency crews responded at the scene. Flights to the airport were temporarily halted but resumed as of 5 p.m. ET.
Delta said in a statement it was cancelling the remainder of its flights to and from Toronto Monday and issuing travel waivers to affected passengers.
“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in the statement. “I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site.”
Delta Flight 4819, operated by the carrier’s regional subsidiary Endeavor, originated in Delta’s hub of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport.
The Toronto airport said it had been expecting a busy day and a storm that dumped more than 8 inches of snow on the region, with an expected 130,000 travelers on board around 1,000 flights.

Weather reports showed wind of between 20 mph and 30 mph Monday, with gusts of up to 40 mph.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will lead the crash investigation, the FAA said. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media X that FAA investigators were en route to Toronto and that he is working with his Canadian counterparts to assist in the investigation.
The accident comes weeks after a fatal midair collision in January at Washington D.C.’s Reagan International Airport, which killed all 64 people on an American Airlines regional jet and another three people on board an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
Separately, the FAA was recently hit by layoffs spearheaded by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, with several hundred air traffic controllers receiving firing notices over the weekend.
A U.S. Department of Transportation spokesperson told NBC News the FAA “continues to hire and onboard” air traffic controllers and that the agency has “retained employees” who perform critical safety functions. More

Southwest said it would cut about 15% of its corporate workforce, or 1,750 jobs.
The airline has been under pressure to cut costs.
CEO Bob Jordan said it was the company’s first large-scale layoff.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane taxis along the tarmac at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia on December 13, 2024.
Daniel Slim | Afp | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines said Monday that it is cutting about 15% of corporate jobs, or about 1,750 people, a move its CEO called “unprecedented” as the company scrambles to cut costs.
The company said it expects savings from the cuts of $210 million this year and about $300 million in 2026. The layoffs will be mostly done by the end of the second quarter and include some senior leadership roles, CEO Bob Jordan said in a staff note, which was seen by CNBC.

“This decision is unprecedented in our 53-year history, and change requires that we make difficult decisions,” Jordan said in a news release. “We are at a pivotal moment as we transform Southwest Airlines into a leaner, faster, and more agile organization.”
Southwest’s decision to slash jobs comes several months after a settlement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which won five Southwest board seats, short of control. The firm had also pushed for Jordan to be replaced as CEO, though it was not successful.
Other recent cost-cutting measures at Southwest included a hiring freeze, a pause to the internship program and an end to team-building “rallies,” a company tradition that dated back to 1985, CNBC previously reported. It has also aggressively cut unprofitable routes.
Last year, Southwest outlined a plan to increase profits that included ditching its more than 50-year-old open seating model in favor of assigned seats and creating a section with extra legroom. It also recently launched overnight flights for the first time.
“We must ensure we fund the right work, reduce duplicative efforts, and have a lean organizational structure that drives clarity, pace, and urgency,” Jordan said in his memo on Monday.
The layoffs take effect in late April, Jordan said, adding that most affected employees will not work but will still receive salary, benefits and bonus until then. More

Movie theaters have embraced commemorative popcorn buckets, using these specialty items to drive concession purchases, create a sense of urgency to see big movies on opening weekend and add value to the theatrical experience.
Cinemas started adopting specialty popcorn buckets in 2019, but the “Dune: Part Two” popcorn bucket fueled a new age.
Exhibitors have found that popcorn buckets not only help the bottom line, but add value to the overall moviegoing experience.

Popcorn buckets are pictured during the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert movie world premiere at AMC The Grove in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, 2023.
Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images

For decades, popcorn has been a staple of the movie theater experience and exhibitors’ bottom lines. Now, the receptacle it comes in is becoming just as important.
As recently as three years ago, AMC Entertainment didn’t sell any merchandise. Last year it hawked novelty popcorn buckets, drink sippers and T-shirts to the tune of about $65 million in revenue.

“It started with us in a big way with our own movie, ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,’ that we released in October of 2023 and we sold just an incredible number of popcorn buckets,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron. “That sparked us to do it almost all the time … just literally every month.”
Other theater chains like Cinemark, Marcus, Regal and B&B Theatres have also embraced popcorn buckets, using these specialty items to drive concession purchases, create a sense of urgency to see big movies on opening weekend and add value to the theatrical experience.
“Post-Covid, we realized that the eventizing of cinema has never really been as important as it is now,” said Paul Farnsworth, executive director of communication and content at B&B Theatres. “We recognized during that time that the greatest casualty for our industry was people just fell out of the habit of going to movies.”
Hollywood production issues led to fewer theatrical releases and smaller ticket sales in 2024, with box office receipts down 3.4% from 2023 to $8.74 billion. Farnsworth noted that unique popcorn buckets can add value to a customer’s trip to the movies and creates a memory of the trip that can be taken home, propped up on a display shelf or repurposed for movie nights in.
“It is very good for the bottom line,” he said. “The big value for us is that people come in and there’s these fun things they get to take home and they’re taking pictures with them in the theater. There’s immense value in that.”

For Cinemark, the proof of concept came with the release of “Scream VI” in 2023.

Cinemark’s Ghostface popcorn bucket from 2023’s “Scream VI.”

“We made a ‘Scream’ popcorn bucket and it completely caught us by surprise,” said Sean Gamble, CEO of Cinemark. “This thing just had this huge uptake. We sold out of the thing immediately and we were basically selling them to people online afterwards.”

Not just a movie theater snack

Commemorative popcorn buckets have long been a part of theme park merchandising, driving revenue of the likes of Disney and Universal both domestically and internationally. However, U.S.-based movie theaters were late to adopt the trend.
Marketing and merchandise company Zinc has been designing and manufacturing branded popcorn buckets and drink sippers for over a decade internationally, but turned its attention stateside in 2016.
“Theaters were reticent because the cups didn’t fit in the holders,” said Rod Mason, vice president of business development at Zinc Group, one of the biggest players in the premium popcorn space.
A shift came in 2019 with an R2-D2 popcorn bucket created for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Mason said.
“AMC took a punt on it,” he explained. “They took multiple tens of thousands of pieces. They sold through it in about three or four days at an incredibly high price. Nothing like that had ever been done before, and it was like ‘OK, well, this works.'”
A revamped version of the droid popcorn bucket was re-released for the 25th anniversary screenings of “Star Wars: Episode 1 — A Phantom Menace.”
The popcorn bucket and drink cup combo sold for $49.99.
However, the true watershed moment for the niche market came nearly five years later with a now-infamous popcorn bucket in honor of “Dune: Part Two,” released in last March. The bucket was modeled after the sandworms featured in the film but inspired crude comparisons to an adult product.
“The beauty of the ‘Dune’ bucket was it just wasn’t intended to be viral,” Mason said.
The $24.99 bucket sold out and found momentum on secondary markets. Receipts from eBay show these popcorn buckets sold for between $50 and $210 apiece on the reseller site.
“The popularity of the popcorn buckets on social media combined with the perception of limited supply of the popcorn buckets leads to a feeling of ‘fear of missing out’ among consumers who are driven to buy the buckets when [they] see them available,” said Lindsay Brookshier, content director at online Disney guide MickeyVist.com.
The “Dune” bucket inspired “Deadpool & Wolverine” actor and producer Ryan Reynolds to design a cheeky popcorn bucket for the release of his film.
“Years from now they will look back at 2024 as when the War of the Popcorn Buckets began,” Reynolds wrote on X to promote the concession container, which was shaped like Wolverine’s head with its mouth wide open to house the popcorn.

 The “Deadpool & Wolverine” popcorn bucket is seen during 2024 Comic-Con International on July 25, 2024 in San Diego, California.
Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

The $29.99 bucket was exclusively available at AMC and was released the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con and the “Deadpool & Wolverine” film release.

More unique popcorn buckets to come

Studios and theaters have been more proactive about working with companies like Zinc to create unique popcorn buckets for moviegoers.
“It’s a very competitive business,” said Mason. “Everyone is trying to outdo, and not just the companies like us, but also the companies that are buying it. They’re trying to make sure that they have the coolest item … that competition has been magnified over the last 12 months because there’s so many eyes on this segment of the business.”

Cinemark’s Colosseum shaped popcorn bucket for Paramount’s “Gladiator II.”

And the movie industry is about to have an influx of blockbuster titles now that production delays from the pandemic and dual Hollywood strikes are in the rearview mirror.
Following “Captain America: Brave New World,” which debuted Friday, the 2025 calendar has “Thunderbolts*,” ” Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Jurassic World Rebirth,” “Superman,” “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “Wicked: For Good,” “Zootopia 2,” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
And 2026 has equally promising tie-ins for popcorn buckets with a “Super Mario Bros.” sequel, “Avengers: Doomsday,” “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” “Toy Story 5,” “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,” “Minions 3,” “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” “Ice Age 6” and “Shrek 5.”
“We’ve missed out on a couple,” B&B’s Farnsworth said. “We didn’t have that crazy ‘Dune’ one. But that was kind of one of the hinge points for us. It was like, ‘Alright, we really have to pay attention.'”
B&B, the fifth-largest cinema chain in America with 58 locations, still has to be very intentional about which products it offers and how many it purchases. Films like “Wicked,” with a massive built-in audience craving merchandise, are a safer bet. But theaters have a very short window to sell the specialty items.
“Unlike our normal popcorn bags, which are evergreen, if you don’t sell the [product], you’re probably not going to sell them a month after the movie,” Farnsworth said.
Meanwhile, AMC is investing more heavily.
“One of the big things that we’re doing in 2025 is we’re significantly increasing the quantities,” Aron said, noting that AMC was already placing orders for 100,000 units or more. “We’re buying, because there’s no need for us to sell out on opening day. There’s plenty of people coming to see that movie for weeks and weeks.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

Many restaurants reported improving sales in the fourth quarter, but executives warned that the first quarter will be weak.
Freezing temperatures, wildfires and a still-cautious consumer led to lower sales in January.
Chipotle, Wendy’s and McDonald’s are among the chains predicting stronger results in the second half of the year.

A McDonald’s restaurant in El Sobrante, California, on Oct. 23, 2024.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In like a lion, out like a lamb.
That’s how restaurant executives envision 2025 after a rough start to the year, largely caused by freezing temperatures, wildfires and consumer caution.

Many restaurant chains, like Restaurant Brands’ Burger King and Popeyes, said sales improved in the fourth quarter as value offerings brought back diners who had been cooking at home instead. Even McDonald’s domestic traffic grew, despite a 1.4% decline in U.S. same-store sales.
But the trend reversed in January.
“We’ve started the year facing some overall industry traffic headwinds, exacerbated by significant weather events across the country,” Wendy’s CFO Kenneth Cook said on the company’s conference call on Thursday.
Fast-food net sales rose 3.4% in January, compared with the year-ago period, but the growth was down slightly from December’s spike of 4.9%, according to restaurant market research firm Revenue Management Solutions. Traffic for breakfast and lunch both declined during the month.
“I think consumers are still wary,” Subway U.S. President Doug Fry told CNBC. “I think they’re waiting to see how the economy goes, but they’re also not willing to sacrifice that quality and portion size and the quantity of what they’re eating. They want to find that best value for the dollar they spend.”

Traffic and sales growth are expected to pick up as the year progresses, in part due to the easy comparisons to last year’s declines. Industry traffic was negative every month except November, and sales slid over the summer, which is typically a high point for restaurants.
“We expect year-over-year comparisons to ease into the summer months,” Restaurant Brands CFO Sami Siddiqui said.

January blues

A customer holds a bag of food outside of a Chipotle restaurant in New York on Jan. 12, 2024.
Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

January always brings colder temperatures, but this year it also included wildfires in Los Angeles and new uncertainty after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Chipotle Mexican Grill estimates that the wildfires hurt its January same-store traffic growth by 400 basis points, or 4%.
Overall, traffic to Chipotle restaurants open at least a year fell 2% in January compared with a year ago, hurt by the weather and New Year’s Day falling on a Wednesday. Chipotle CFO Adam Rymer told analysts that the company believes its first-quarter same-store sales will be roughly flat.
Looking to the second quarter, Chipotle also expects weaker same-store sales as it faces comparisons to last year’s popular promotions. While the company predicts stronger sales in the second half of the year, its weak forecast for the coming months led to a 4% decline in the stock.
For now, restaurants aren’t predicting any major impact on their businesses from the Trump administration’s trade war. Chipotle, which imports roughly half of its avocado supply from Mexico, downplayed concerns about how currently suspended tariffs of 25% would raise food costs. The company, along with Wendy’s and McDonald’s, did not include any impact from the new 10% duties on China and potential levies on Mexico and Canada in its outlook.
But consumers are worrying about tariffs and the potential pressure on their wallets.
U.S. consumer sentiment hit a seven-month low in February as households fear rising prices over the next year. Already, inflation in January was hotter than expected, with away-from-home food prices rising 3.4% over the last 12 months, according to the Department of Labor.

Second-half comeback

For the chains plotting a comeback, sales are expected to improve later this year.
For example, McDonald’s is still waiting for its sales to rebound fully after an E. coli outbreak linked to its Quarter Pounder burgers began weighing on sales in mid-October. The fast-food giant is predicting that demand will recover by the beginning of the second quarter, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company’s conference call on Monday.
Plus, if overall consumer health strengthens, McDonald’s predicts even more sales gains.
“Should the underlying environment improve beyond our initial expectations, especially with respect to lower-income consumers, we would expect to benefit disproportionately relative to our competitors,” McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden said.

People are seen leaving a Starbucks in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images

Then there’s Starbucks, which will need a much longer timeline to turn around its business. The coffee chain’s same-store sales have fallen for four straight quarters as consumers opt to buy their caffeinated drinks elsewhere.
Starbucks suspended its outlook for fiscal 2025, so it didn’t provide any insight into its expected sales for the year. However, Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri told investors that the company’s earnings are expected to improve in the second half of its fiscal year.
“[Earnings per share] is expected to be the lowest in [the fiscal second quarter] on an absolute basis due to seasonality, the organization restructuring I just spoke about and elevated investments, with year-over-year pressure also intensifying in the quarter,” she said in late January. “EPS is then expected to improve in the latter half of the fiscal year 2025, both sequentially and year-over-year.” More