Business

Starbucks said Monday it will start covering eligible travel expenses for employees seeking abortions or gender-affirming procedures.
A handful of companies are offering to reimburse workers for travel costs related to abortions following the leak of a draft Supreme Court ruling that would strike down Roe v. Wade.
As of mid-March, 154 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures, seeking to limit access to health care, sports, bathrooms and education, according to NBC News.

Starbucks coffee shop logo seen at one of their stores.
Stephen Zenner | LightRocket | Getty Images

Starbucks said Monday it will start covering eligible travel expenses for employees seeking abortions or gender-affirming procedures.
The coffee chain joins Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce in offering to reimburse workers for travel costs related to abortions following the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that ensured the right to undergo the procedure. Other large companies, like Walmart and Disney, have overwhelmingly chosen to stay silent on the draft opinion.

Starbucks has a reputation for championing liberal causes, like vocally supporting same-sex marriage and hiring refugees. That also extends to transgender rights. Its health insurance has covered gender reassignment surgery since 2012 and a wider array of gender-affirming procedures, like hair transplants or breast reductions, since 2018.
As of mid-March, 154 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures, seeking to limit access to health care, sports, bathrooms and education, according to NBC News.
Employees enrolled in Starbucks’ insurance plan and seeking access to abortion or gender-affirming procedures will be eligible for reimbursement of travel costs if those services aren’t available within 100 miles of their home. The benefit will also extend to any dependents enrolled in Starbucks health care.
A representative for Starbucks said the company is still working on additional details, such as when the benefit kicks in. The company has 240,000 U.S. employees.

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McDonald’s said it will sell its business in Russia, a little more than two months after it paused operations in the country due to its invasion of Ukraine.
The company said its “continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values.”
McDonald’s first opened in Russia 32 years ago. It has more than 800 restaurants and 62,000 employees in Russia. The company said it is seeking a local buyer.

A view shows a McDonald’s restaurant in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 8, 2022.
Anton Vaganov | Reuters

McDonald’s said Monday that it will sell its business in Russia, a little more than two months after it paused operations in the country due to its invasion of Ukraine.
“The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald’s to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values,” the company said in a news release. Russian forces, directed by President Vladimir Putin, have been accused of an array of war crimes during their assault on Ukraine.

McDonald’s exit from Russia is a bitter end to an era that once promised hope. The company, among the most recognizable symbols of American capitalism, opened its first restaurant in Russia more than 32 years ago as the communist Soviet regime was falling apart and Western businesses and ideas infiltrated the Iron Curtain. Hundreds of people lined up to get a chance to sample McDonald’s burgers and fries at the Pushkin Square location in Moscow.
“If you can’t go to America, come to McDonald’s in Moscow,” was a McDonald’s ad slogan at the time in Russia, according to The Washington Post.
Now, McDonald’s has more than 800 restaurants and 62,000 employees in Russia. The company said it is seeking a local buyer.
“We have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our values,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in Monday’s release. “And our commitment to our values means that we can no longer keep the Arches shining there.”
McDonald’s announcement Monday is a stark indication of how much the Western world has turned against Putin’s regime. At first, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, McDonald’s kept silent about the attack. Then, after public outcry and pressure, McDonald’s and major U.S. brands such as Starbucks and Coca-Cola paused their business in Russia.

McDonald’s said Monday that it would start the process of “de-Arching” restaurants in Russia, meaning it would remove its name, logos, menus and branding from those locations. It will retain its trademarks in Russia, however, the company added.
The company also said it would attempt to make sure its employees in the country would continue getting paid until a deal closes, and that it would attempt to help them hold on to their jobs under the new owners.
McDonald’s said its restaurants in Ukraine, which has been under attack by Moscow’s forces since late February, remain closed. The company said it is continuing to pay full salaries to its employees in that country, as well.
Russia and Ukraine had accounted for about 2% of McDonald’s systemwide sales, and approximately 9% of its revenue and 3% of its operating income.
McDonald’s said it expects to record a primarily noncash charge of about $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion related to its decision to leave the Russian market. In March, the company said its temporary shutdown would cost it about $50 million a month, or 5 cents to 6 cents per share.

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The Irish low-cost airline terminated talks over a substantial order of Boeing 737 Max 10 jets worth tens of billions of dollars in September 2021, after failing to agree on pricing.
O’Leary told CNBC following Ryanair’s full-year results that the company had been “very disappointed with the performance” of Boeing from a commercial perspective over the last 12 months.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary pictured during a press conference of Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, Wednesday 02 March 2022 in Brussels.
Nicolas Maeterlinck | AFP | Getty Images

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called for a shakeup of management at U.S. aircraft giant Boeing, after delivery delays and a period of fractious negotiations between the two companies.
The Irish low-cost airline terminated talks over a substantial order of Boeing 737 Max 10 jets worth tens of billions of dollars in September 2021, after failing to agree on pricing. Executives from both companies are due to return to the table in the coming weeks.

Ryanair is Europe’s largest customer of the narrow-body 737 Max, and had spoken of a fresh order potentially worth around £33 billion for up to 250 of the larger, 230-seat Max 10.
O’Leary told CNBC following Ryanair’s full-year results on Monday that the company had been “very disappointed with the performance” of Boeing from a commercial perspective over the last 12 months.
“I saw some commentary recently that Boeing management has lost their way, and I find it hard to disagree with those sentiments,” O’Leary said.
“They’ve been late on the aircraft deliveries, we’ve heard nothing from them on the Max 10, despite the fact that we broke off negotiations with them last September.”
Boeing reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and below-consensus revenue for the first quarter of 2022, posting a net loss of $1.2 billion.

The U.S. titan has enjoyed resurgent demand for its stalwart 737 Max, which returned to service in late 2020 after being sidelined following two fatal crashes. However, production issues and certification delays have dragged on other aircraft programs.
“Boeing needs a management reboot, certainly on the aircraft civilian side,” O’Leary said.
“They need to get some management in there that’s going to resolve the aircraft delivery delays and sort out the production challenges facing not just the Max, but also the Max 10, and the 787 as well.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Following the breakdown of talks in September, a Boeing spokesperson said Ryanair is a “long-standing partner” and that Boeing is “committed to supporting them.”
Ryanair on Monday posted a 355 million euro ($369.06 million) net loss for the 12 months to the end of March, with the Covid-19 pandemic still weighing on international travel.
The company said it was unable to provide accurate forward profit guidance due to the uncertainties surrounding the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, but that it hopes for a return to “reasonable profitability” this year.

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The European Union is set to drop its mask mandate for passengers on flights and in airports from Monday, following updated guidelines from the bloc’s Aviation Safety Agency.
The recommendation for mandatory wearing of medical masks in airports and on board a flight is set to be lifted on May 16, the EASA and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said.
However, they noted that a face mask is still one of the best protections against the transmission of Covid-19.

Even pilots have had to wear masks on board. Here, a first officer wears a protective face mask as he conducts preflight checks inside the cockpit on board a passenger aircraft operated by Wizz Air at Liszt Ferenc airport in Budapest, Hungary.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The European Union is set to drop its mask mandate for passengers on flights and in airports from Monday, following an update to guidelines for the aviation industry.
The recommendation for mandatory wearing of medical masks in airports and on board a flight is being lifted on May 16, EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said last week, while noting that a face mask is still one of the best protections against the transmission of Covid-19.

The updated guidance takes into account the latest developments in the pandemic, “in particular the levels of vaccination and naturally acquired immunity, and the accompanying lifting of restrictions in a growing number of European countries,” the EASA said in a statement.
The move is a big step forward and broadly aligns with public transport rules across Europe, according to EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky.
“For passengers and air crews, this is a big step forward in the normalisation of air travel. Passengers should however behave responsibly and respect the choices of others around them. And a passenger who is coughing and sneezing should strongly consider wearing a face mask, for the reassurance of those seated nearby.”  
Meanwhile, the ECDC’s Director Andrea Ammon said that “while risks do remain, we have seen that non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccines have allowed our lives to begin to return to normal.”
There are hopes that the removal of mask-wearing mandates will be a shot in the arm to an aviation and tourism industry hit hard over the last two years, as a significant number of people have put off travelling while there have been extra layers of Covid requirements, from Covid tests and vaccinations to passenger locator forms and mask wearing on board aircraft.

Now, many countries have dropped Covid testing requirements for fully vaccinated travelers and passenger locator forms as significant numbers of their populations are fully vaccinated and boosted.

Rules may vary by airline

However, individual airlines can still choose to recommend or require mask-wearing on board the EASA said, with rules likely to continue to vary by airline beyond Monday.
For example, flights to or from a destination where mask-wearing is still required on public transport should continue to encourage mask wearing, according to the recommendations. Vulnerable passengers should continue to wear a face mask regardless of the rules, the EASA added, and social distancing should be encouraged in indoor areas at the airport where possible.
New Covid variants continue to emerge and the pandemic has not been declared officially over, with parts of the world still seeing large Covid outbreaks. Health officials have urged governments to remain cautious, insisting that a new Covid strain could come along that’s more virulent and dangerous than the last.
“New VOCs [variants of concern] are frequently discovered with varied degrees of immunity escape and severity of symptoms,” the EASA said. Airport staff, crew members and passengers should be particularly alert to the recommendations and requirements of the national authorities of the state of country they are visiting, it added. 

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Wildfire risk is increasing, likely due to global warming, and its destruction is becoming ever more expensive.
New technology from a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, First Street Foundation, is mapping the threat with house-by-house specificity.
First Street gives every home a unique score and unique probabilities of risk.

Laguna Niguel, California May 11, 2022- Firefighters battle a brush fire at Coronado Pointe in Laguna Niguel Wednesday. 
Wally Skalij | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Raging New Mexico and California wildfires may offer an ominous outlook for a growing swath of America, and not just in the West.
Wildfire risk is increasing, likely due to global warming, and its destruction is becoming ever more expensive. Of the wildfires that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tracked since 1980, 66% of the damage has occurred in the last five years. Insured damage from wildfires last year totaled $5 billion, according to a Yale University report, marking the seventh consecutive year of insured losses above $2 billion.

Wildfire risk modeling is more crucial than ever to help protect lives and property, and new technology from a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, First Street Foundation, is mapping the threat with house-by-house specificity.
First Street uses everything from property tax data to satellite imagery and assigns a wildfire risk score that factors in construction type, roof type, weather and exposure to natural fuels like trees and grass.
“We calculate every individual property and structure’s risk across the country, be it a commercial building, or be it an individual’s home,” said Matthew Eby, founder and executive director of First Street Foundation. “What you’re able to see from that is that one home might have the same probability as another of being in a wildfire, but be much more susceptible to burning down.”
Certain homes may be more vulnerable because of their building materials, the defensible space around them or the roof type, for example. The company models the immediate risk to Americans’ homes and then adjusts for projected climate change.
“We can then use supercomputers to simulate 100 million scenarios of wildfire today, and then another 100 million scenarios 30 years in the future with the forecasted weather conditions,” Eby said.

First Street gives every home a unique score and unique probabilities of risk. It did the same for water threats, working with Realtor.com to put a flood score on every property on the home-selling website. That feature is now the second-most clicked map on Realtor.com, behind school district data on K-12 performance.
“The reaction to flood has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s really helpful in being able to make informed decisions and to understand what it is to protect your home,” said Sara Brinton, lead project manager with Realtor.com.
Potential buyers and homeowners who find their flood and fire scores on Realtor.com can click a link for more information on First Street’s site to find out how best to protect their homes. 
“On a on a monthly basis, we see tens of millions of impressions against our flood factor data,” said Eby.
More than 71% of recent homebuyers took natural disasters into account when considering where to move, according to a recent survey from Realtor.com and analytics company HarrisX. About half of respondents reported being more concerned about natural disasters today than they were five years ago.
The First Street fire model pays particular attention to what it calls the “wildland urban interface,” where housing developments butt up against wooded areas.

Arrows pointing outwards

At least 10 million properties rank somewhere between “major” and “extreme” wildfire risk, according to First Street. While flood risk grows by about 25% over a span of 30 years, wildfire risk overall is doubling and jumping more than 200% in places you might not expect, like New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas.
That change helps explains why big firms, like Nuveen Real Estate, are buying the data to inform their investments.
“The First Street data is helping us get that really close look at how will the building be impacted? And more importantly, how can we reflect this increasing risk in our underwriting?” said Jessica Long, head of sustainability for Nuveen’s U.S. real estate portfolio. “We use the data as part of new investment screening as well as part of our annual business-planning process.”
For homeowners, the information not only guides them in buying a home, but it can also help in protecting one they already own. The fire score, for example, can help inform minor changes to reduce that risk, like adjusting landscaping or ventilation. Experts say it’s much easier to protect a home from wildfire than from major flooding.  
When First Street introduced its flood-score feature, the data was met with concern that it would lower the value of homes with higher risk. Realtor.com’s Brinton said there have been very few complaints, but added, “In a few places we see homes appreciating somewhat more slowly in areas with high flood-risk scores.”

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Executive Edge

The S&P 500 Index closed Friday down over 16% from its 52-week high, with the Nasdaq Composite already in a bear market.
Investors such as Cathie Wood who have doubled down on losing stocks based on conviction in the long-term outlook could see more losses along the way before ever being proven correct.
Thinking like a hedge fund trader provides some lessons on navigating a bear market.

It seemed like everyone was in a buying mood on Friday, except Elon Musk. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke a six-day losing streak, the Nasdaq Composite turned in its second positive session in a row, and the S&P 500 was up over 2%, a small step back from the brink of a bear market, ending the week 16.50% off its 52-week high. The reprieve for equities could continue, but any single-day or short-term stock gains in this market are tenuous. The Dow was down for its seventh-consecutive week for the first time since 2001.
“We saw the exact same thing in 2000 and 2001,” says Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research. “You knew asset prices were going down, but trading action always gave you just enough hope. … I’ve had so many flashbacks to 2000 in the past three months. … If you haven’t seen it before, it’s very hard to go through, and you don’t forget.”

For many investors who flooded into stocks since the pandemic as the bull market again seemed to have only one direction, this may be their first time dancing with the bear for an extended period. For Colas, who earlier in his career worked at the former hedge fund of Steve Cohen, SAC Capital, there are a few lessons he learned from those years which “saved a lot of heartache.”

People with umbrellas pass by bull and bear outside Frankfurt’s stock exchange during heavy rain in Frankfurt, Germany.
Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters

To start, the standing philosophy at the trading firm was to never short a new high and never buy a new low. As investors who have only ever experienced a bull market are now learning, momentum is a powerful force in both directions. This doesn’t mean investors should take any particular stocks off their radar, but stabilization in stocks isn’t going to be measured in a day or two of trading. Investors should be monitoring stocks for signs of stabilization over one to three months. An exception: a stock that rallies on bad news may be one in which the market is signaling that all the bad news is already priced in.
But for the moment, Colas said, making a big bet on a single stock as a buy-in-the-dip opportunity isn’t the best way to proceed. “The No. 1 rule is lose as little as possible,” he said. “That’s the goal, because it’s not like you’re going to kill it, and investing to lose as little as possible … when we get the turn, you want to have as much money as possible.”
Here are a few more of the principles he has at the top of his stock-buying list right now and how they relate to the current market environment.

The importance of the VIX at 36

Volatility is the defining feature of the stock market right now, and the clearest signal that investors can look to as far as the selling being exhausted is the VIX volatility index. A VIX at 36 is two standards deviations away from its mean since 1990. “That’s a meaningful difference,” Colas said. “When the VIX gets to 36 we are well and truly oversold, we’ve had the hardcore panic mode,” he said. But the VIX hasn’t reached that level yet during the most recent bout of selling.

In fact, the stock market has only experienced one 36-plus VIX close this year. That was on March 7, and that was a viable entry point for traders because stocks ended up rallying by 11% — before the situation again deteriorated. “Even if you bought that close, you needed to be nimble,” Colas said. The VIX is saying that the washout in stocks isn’t over yet. “We’re dancing in between the rain drops of the storm,” he said.
Short-term bounces are often more a reflection of short squeezes than an all-clear signal. “Short squeezes in bear markets are vicious, and it’s easier trading than being short,” he said.
Look at some of the recent action in the pandemic “meme stocks” such as GameStop and AMC, as well as pandemic consumer winners such as Carvana, and Colas says that buying those rallies “is a tough way to make a living, a tough way to trade,” but back in 2002, traders did look to the heavily-shorted names, the stocks most sold into earnings.

Whether Apple, Tesla or any other, stocks won’t love you back

For investors who made a fortune in the recent bull market riding Apple or Tesla higher, it is a time to be “incredibly selective,” Colas says, and even with the stocks you’ve come to love the most, remember that they don’t love you back.
This is another way of reminding investors of the most important rule for investing amid volatility: take the emotion out of it. “Trade the market you have, not the one you want,” he said.
Many investors learned that lesson the hard way through Apple, which was down more than 6% in the past week alone. Year-to-date, Apple had dipped into its own bear market before Friday’s rebound.
“Apple had one job to do in this market, and that was not implode,” Colas said.
Everyone from mom-and-pop investors to Warren Buffett saw Apple as “the one great place to be” and watching it break down as quickly as it did shows that the stock market’s closest equivalent to a safe haven trade is over. “We’ve gone from mild risk-off to extreme risk-off and it doesn’t matter if Apple is a great company,” Colas said. “Liquidity is not great and there is a flight to safety across any asset class you can name … the financial assets people are looking for are the safest things out there and Apple is still a great company, but it’s a stock.”
And with valuations in the tech sector as high as they have been, it’s not a slam dunk to dive in.
“You can buy it at $140 [$147 after Friday] and it still has a $2.3 trillion market cap. It’s still worth more than the entire energy sector. That’s hard,” Colas said. “Tech still has some pretty crazy valuations.”

S&P 500 sectors in a better position to rally

On a sector basis, Colas is looking more to energy, because “it’s still working,” he says, and as far as growth trades, health care as the best “safety trade” even if that comes with a caveat. Based on its relative valuation and weight in the S&P 500, “It’s a good place to be if we get a rally and to not lose as much,” he said.
History says that during periods like this, health-care stocks will get larger bids because growth investors bailing out of tech need to cycle into another sector and over the years the options they have available to turn to have narrowed. For example, not too long ago there were “growthy” retail names that investors would turn to amid volatility, but the rise of online retail killed that trade.
Colas stressed that there isn’t any evidence yet that growth investors are cycling into anything. “We’re not seeing health care yet, but as growth investors sticks their heads up again, there are not many other sectors,” he said.

What Cathie Wood buying a blue-chip means

Even as Apple capitulated to the selling, Colas said there is always a case to make for blue-chip stocks in a bear market. Autos, which Colas covered on Wall Street for decade, are one example of how to think about blue-chips for long-term investors.
The first lesson from Ford in this market, though, may be its dumping of Rivian shares the first chance it got.
“Ford does one thing well, and that is stay alive, and right now it’s batten down hatches,” Colas said. “Hit the sell button and get some liquidity. They see what’s coming and they want to be prepared to keep investing in the EV and ICE business.”
Whatever happens to Rivian, Ford and GM are likely to be around for a while, and in fact, guess who just bought GM for the first time: Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood.
This doesn’t mean Wood has necessarily soured on her favorite stock of all, top holding Tesla, but it does suggest a portfolio manager who may be acknowledging that not all stocks rebound on a similar timeline. ARK, whose flagship fund Ark Innovation, is down as much as the Nasdaq was peak to trough between 2000 and 2002, has some ground to make up.
“I don’t have a point of view on whether Cathie is a good or bad stock picker, but it was smart of her to look at a GM, not because it is a great stock ….I wouldn’t touch it here, but regardless, we know it will be around in 10 years aside from some cataclysmic bankruptcy,” Colas said. “I don’t know if Teladoc or Square will,” he added about a few of Wood’s top stock picks.
One big disconnect between many in the market and Wood right now is her conviction that the multi-year disruptive themes she bet heavily on are still in place and will be proven correct in the end. But buying a blue-chip like GM can help to extend the duration of that disruptive vision. GM, in a sense, is a second order stock buy “without having to bet the farm on the ones that are not profitable,” Colas said.
Even in a market that doesn’t love any stock, longer-term there are names to trust. After the Nasdaq bottomed in 2002, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple ended up being among the great trades of the 2002-2021 period.
Bear markets don’t end in a “V,” but rather an exhausted flat line that can last a long time, and stocks that do end up working don’t all work at the same time. GM might benefit before Tesla even if Tesla is at a $1.5 trillion three years from now. “That’s the value of a portfolio at different stages and there will be stuff you just get wrong,” Colas said.
The GM buy could be a signal that Wood will make more trades to diversity the duration in her funds, but investors will need to watch where she takes the portfolio in the next few months. And if it remains a conviction bet on the most disruptive, money-losing companies, “I like the QQQs,” Colas said. “We don’t know what will be in ARK, but we know what will be QQQs,” he said. “I would much rather own the QQQs,” Colas said, referring to the Nasdaq 100 ETF.
Even that has to come with a caveat right now. “I don’t know if big tech will be the comeback kids the same way it was, because valuations are so much higher,” Colas said. Microsoft is worth more than several sectors with the S&P 500 (real estate and utilities), and Amazon valued at over two Walmarts, “but you don’t have to be betting on Teladoc and Square,” he said.
“We knew they were good companies, and who knows where the stocks go, but fundamentals are sound and if you have to trust you’ve picked the next Apple and Amazon, that’s a hard trade,” he added.

Where Wall Street will still get more bearish

There are plenty of reasons in the macroeconomic lens to remain skeptical of any rally, from the Federal Reserve’s ability to manage inflation to the growth outlook in Europe and China, which all have a range of outcomes so wide that the market has to incorporate the possibility of a global recession to a greater extent than it normally would. But one key market data point where this isn’t being incorporated yet is earnings estimates for the S&P 500. “They are just too high, ridiculously too high,” Colas said.
The fact that the forward price-to-earnings ratios aren’t getting cheaper is telling investors that the market still has work to do in bringing numbers down. Currently, Wall Street is forecasting 10% sequential growth in earnings from the S&P 500, which, Colas said, doesn’t happen in this environment. “Not with 7%-9% inflation and 1%-2% GDP growth. The street is wrong, the numbers are wrong, and they have to come down.” More

The pandemic exacerbated a pilot shortage by slowing down training, hiring and a creating a wave of early retirements.
Airlines offered pilots early retirements to cut labor bills during the depths of the pandemic.
The process to become airline-qualified in the U.S. is lengthy and expensive, making the barrier to entry high.

Airline pilots walk through the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on December 27, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

The United States is facing its worst pilot shortage in recent memory, forcing airlines to cut flights just as travelers are returning after more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The crisis has the industry scrambling for solutions.

At least one lawmaker is said to be considering legislation that could raise the federally-mandated retirement age for airline pilots from 65 to 67 or higher to extend aviators’ time in the skies.
A regional airline proposed reducing flight-hour requirements before joining a U.S. carrier, and airlines are rethinking training programs to lower the barrier to entry. Earlier this year, Delta Air Lines joined other big carriers in dropping a four-year degree from its pilot hiring requirements.
Several U.S. airlines, including Frontier, are recruiting some pilots from Australia. American Airlines is selling bus tickets for some short routes.
But some airline executives warn the shortage could take years to solve.
“The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on a quarterly earnings call in April.

Kirby estimated the regional airlines United works with currently have about 150 airplanes grounded because of the pilot shortage.

Roots of the crisis

The Covid pandemic halted pilot hiring as training and licensing slowed. Airlines handed out early retirement packages to thousands of pilots and other employees aimed to cut labor bills when travel demand cratered during the depths of crisis.
“I feel like I walked away at the pinnacle,” said one former captain for a major U.S. airline who took an early retirement package in 2020.
Now airlines are desperate to hire and train pilots, but the rush may take too long to avoid flight cuts.
Major U.S. airlines are trying to hire more than 12,000 pilots combined this year alone, more than double the previous record in annual hiring, according to Kit Darby, a pilot pay consultant and a retired United captain.
The shortage is particularly acute at regional carriers that feed major airlines’ hubs from smaller cities. While hiring and retention bonuses have returned at those airlines, pay is lower there than at majors, and they are recruiting aggressively from those smaller carriers.
Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, which flies for American and United, lost nearly $43 million in the last quarter as flight cuts mounted.
“We never fathomed attrition levels like this,” said Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “If we don’t fly our airplanes we lose money. You saw our quarterly numbers.”
It takes Mesa an estimated 120 days to replace a pilot who gives two weeks’ notice to go to another airline, according to Ornstein.
“We could use 200 pilots right now,” he said.
Some carriers like Frontier and regional airline SkyWest are recruiting pilots from Australia under a special visa to help ease the shortfall, but the numbers are small compared with their overall ranks and hiring goals.
Regional carrier Republic Airways, which flies for American, Delta and United, last month petitioned the U.S. government to allow pilots to fly for the airline with 750 hours, half of the 1,500 currently required, if they go through the carrier’s training program. There are already exemptions to the 1,500-hour rule, such as for U.S.-military trained pilots and those who attend two- and four-year programs that include flight training.
The proposal has received pushback from family members of victims of 2009’s Colgan Air 3407 crash, the last fatal U.S. passenger commercial airline crash. The tragedy killed all 49 people on board and one on the ground, and ushered in the so-called 1,500-hour rule, aimed at ensuring pilot experience.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is considering introducing congressional legislation that could raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age to at least 67 from the current age of 65, according to people familiar with Graham’s plans. About a third of the airline-qualified pilots in the U.S. are between the ages of 51 and 59, and 13% of the country’s airline pilots will reach retirement age within the five years, according to the Regional Airline Association.
Graham’s office did not respond requests for comment.

Growth curtailed

Pilot and other worker shortages have forced airlines to rethink their growth plans. JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines are among carriers that have recently trimmed capacity.
SkyWest, for its part, told the Transportation Department it plans to drop service to 29 smaller cities that the government subsidizes through the Essential Air Service.
Service reductions could isolate smaller U.S. cities but Darby, the pilot pay consultant, said it could mean an opening for smaller competitors that don’t rely on regional airlines as much as major network airlines.
“If they don’t fly it, maybe a smaller airline will,” he said.
One of the biggest hurdles to bringing in new pilots is the cost of schooling. While salaries for widebody captains at major airlines can exceed $350,000 a year, getting qualified takes years.
At ATP Flight School, the largest in the country, it costs close to $92,000 for a seven-month, full-time program to get initial licenses. It can then take about 18 months or longer for pilots to build up enough hours to fly, often by instructing student pilots or sometimes by flying banners near beaches.
“It’s not a car wash,” Darby said. “You can’t just get someone to come in from the street.”
In December, United started teaching the first students at its own flight school, the United Aviate Academy, in Goodyear, Arizona, with a goal of training 5,000 pilots there by 2030. United says it aims for half of that number to be women or people of color. The company covers the cost of pilots’ training up to the point of receiving their private pilots’ license, which it estimates to be around $17,000 per student.
Other carriers have turned to low-interest loans or other initiatives to ease the financial burden on students.
“There’s no quick fix,” Darby said.

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Dwyane Wade, the retired three-time NBA champion, has investments in media companies and consumer products.
Wade, 40, purchased an equity stake in two sports teams, and he’s hosting a TV show. Wade is also taking a chance with the volatile NFT marketplace.
“If you look at my basketball career, my business career has gone very similar,” he said.

Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade addresses the crowd during his jersey retirement ceremony at American Airlines Arena on February 22, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
Michael Reaves | Getty Images

Dwyane Wade likes taking chances when it comes to business.
The retired three-time NBA champion has investments in media companies and consumer products. Wade, 40, purchased an equity stake in two sports teams, and he’s hosting a TV show. Wade is also taking a chance with the volatile NFT marketplace.

“I’ve always taken chances,” Wade told CNBC in an interview. “I’ve always been a guy that’s done things a little different than everybody.”
Wade is working with Budweiser Zero on an NFT collection that will go on sale May 24. Wade co-founded the alcohol- and sugar-free beverage in 2020. The NFTs will sell for $180 each and give buyers opportunities to win prizes, including autographed Wade sneakers and a chance to watch a Utah Jazz game with him. Wade is a minority owner in the NBA franchise.
“This is an opportunity to be a part of a young brand that is trying to build a fan base and provide great experiences,” he said, calling the NFT collection another option for fans “to do something unique and something cool.”
Yet the NFT collection is rolling out during a down cycle for digital assets. Daily sales of NFTs have declined more than 90% since September 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal. It also comes amid a sell-off around cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin.
But Wade doesn’t mind taking a chance on the space.

“If you look at my basketball career, my business career has gone very similar,” he said.

Wade’s pivotal business decision

Wade, who retired from basketball in 2019, accumulated nearly $200 million in earnings during his 16-year NBA career, according to Spotrac, a website that tracks sports contacts. Forbes estimates he makes $17 million annually in endorsements.
“It’s different,” said Wade when asked about retirement. Wade said he figured out how to apply “the same things that made me special athlete” to his post-career during the pandemic.
He set the tone for his post-retirement years with a pivotal business move during the prime of his career.
As a rookie in 2003, Wade signed with sneaker brand Converse. Then he made a big move over to Nike’s Michael Jordan brand in 2009, pairing him with fellow NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, among others.
Then, in 2012, China-based sports apparel company Li-Ning approached Wade about starting his own shoe line. They offered him an equity stake. Wade, who called the offer his “most important deal from a business standpoint,” took the chance and left the Jordan brand for Li-Ning. 
“Thank you for laying the blueprint,” Wade said he told Jordan. “I’m going to try and do my own version of it.”
Jordan, in turn, told Wade that he “understood and respected” the move, according to Wade.
Eventually, in 2018, Wade signed a lifetime deal with Li-Ning for an undisclosed amount. Younger NBA stars such as New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler joined him on the brand. Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell also signed with the sneaker line.
“It’s a slow build,” said Wade said. “Athletes are taking chances doing something a little different.”
He added: “I’m not trying to recreate anything,” Wade explained. “I’m trying to have a sneaker and apparel business that players are wearing for many years. I want to build something that’s a legacy for my family.”

Dwayne Wade
Issac Baldizon | NBAE | Getty Images

Building on the momentum

Wade kept pressing into new business areas after he retired.
Wade started a wine company called “Wade Cellars.” He has a stake in the media company Players TV. He and his wife, actor Gabrielle Union, co-founded Proudly, a company that makes baby products. He said the start-up company “came from a need.”
Wade said, “We have a 3-year-old daughter and going to 80 different stores to grab products. We said, ‘This doesn’t work for us. How can we build what works for us — the minorities in our world and communities?'”
In April, Proudly released its product line, including baby wash and lotion. The company will eventually offer diapers. 
On the sports ownership front, Wade also took a small stake in the NBA’s Utah Jazz in April 2021 and joined Blackstone executive David Blitzer as a co-owner in MLS club Real Salt Lake. Wade didn’t disclose the value of his stakes but said it’s a small percentage. 
Wade said becoming a majority team owner is “the ultimate goal” for him. But there may be limits to his risk-taking appetite in this scenario.
“But maybe I’m going to go through this process and tell myself, ‘No, you don’t want those headaches,'” he said.

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