The competition to be the worst two words in the English language is extremely hard-fought. Surprise party. Cruise holiday. Rice pudding. Keen golfer. The list goes on and on. But right up there is “sandwich lunch”. Separately, each of these words contains lots of promise. In combination they spell unmitigated disaster. More
In May Equinox, a luxury gym, launched a membership that costs $40,000 per year—half the median household income in America, where the chain is based. The plan includes blood tests, a sleep coach and a nutritionist, as well as access to the group’s swanky clubs. Julia Klim of Equinox explains why people pay: “You can buy a Chanel bag every year, but health and looking well is the ultimate luxury symbol.” More
Northvolt had all the trappings of an industrial champion. Capital had poured in from Wall Street titans such as Goldman Sachs and BlackRock. Assorted governments had blessed its plans with generous grants and big customers had vouched for its technology. But on September 23rd the seven-year-old Swedish battery-maker announced that it would suspend work on one of its new manufacturing plants, slow the expansion of its research and development (R&D) unit and lay off a fifth of its workforce. It was the second round of cutbacks in a month. More
Southwest Airlines raised its third-quarter revenue forecast on Thursday and detailed a host of changes to its business model.
The carrier also said it would add Bob Fornaro, who previously led Spirit Airlines, to its board of directors.
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines raised its third-quarter revenue forecast on Thursday, announced its board authorized $2.5 billion in share buybacks and detailed a host of changes to its business model as it seeks to fend off activist Elliott Investment Management.
The airline said it expects unit revenue to rise as much as 3% in the third quarter over the same period last year, up from a previous forecast of a decline of as much as 2%, helped in part by rebooking passengers who were originally flying on airlines affected by July’s CrowdStrike outage.
The carrier also said it would add Bob Fornaro, a well-respected industry veteran who previously led Spirit Airlines, to its board of directors. Southwest and Fornaro go back more than a decade. He had served as CEO of AirTran, the airline Southwest combined with in 2011, and was a consultant to Southwest after the merger.
Southwest executives are presenting their vision for the company’s future at the airline’s Dallas headquarters on Thursday in an investor day presentation. CEO Bob Jordan and Southwest’s other senior leaders are under increasing pressure from Elliott, which has called for a leadership change at the carrier.
Southwest executives will try to convince investors that it is on the right track to boost profits and increase revenue. Over the summer, it unveiled dramatic changes to its more than half-century-old business model, including assigned and extra-legroom seats, which could generate more revenue for the carrier.
Like with many changes in the airline industry, they won’t happen overnight. Seats with extra legroom won’t debut until 2026, as the carrier requires Federal Aviation Administration approval and time to retrofit aircraft, according to a slide from Thursday investor’s presentation. It estimated that the new cabins, in which about a third of the seats will have additional legroom, will generate $1.7 billion in earnings before interest and taxes in 2027.
The new seats will have at least 34 inches of legroom, compared with a standard pitch of 31 inches, the airline said.
Southwest on Thursday also said it is firm on its long-standing policy of allowing customers to check two pieces of luggage for free, saying it “generates market share gains in excess of potential lost revenue from bag fees.”
The airline is facing a shortfall of new aircraft because of delays from Boeing, including a not-yet-certified 737 Max 7, the smallest plane in the family. Without a smaller aircraft, Southwest has cut unprofitable routes that might have been better served by airplanes with fewer seats to meet demand.
On Wednesday, Southwest told staff it will slash its service in Atlanta next year and could cut more than 300 flight attendants and pilots from the city in an effort to reduce costs.
Earlier this month, Southwest’s executive chairman and former CEO Gary Kelly said he would step down by the end of next year. Elliott later told Southwest mechanics’ union that it still wanted a leadership change at the top of the carrier. The firm didn’t immediately comment on Southwest’s strategy presentation it released Thursday.
— CNBC’s Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.
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Anchor Hoda Kotb announced she will be leaving NBC’s TODAY show early next year, in a letter to staff on Thursday.
Kotb first joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent for “Dateline” before leading the fourth hour of TODAY in 2007.
The veteran journalist said she will not be leaving NBC, though she did not specify in what role she will stay.
Hoda Kotb on the set of the TODAY Show on Friday, April 12, 2024,
Nathan Congleton | Nbcuniversal | Getty Images
Hoda Kotb will be leaving her role as a co-anchor on NBC’s “TODAY” show early next year, she announced in a letter to staff on Thursday.
“As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” she wrote. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”
Kotb first joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent, regularly appearing on “Dateline.” In 2007, she became the inaugural host of the fourth hour of “TODAY,” later joined by Kathie Lee Gifford and then Jenna Bush Hager. She also became the co-anchor of the show’s 7:00 a.m. ET hour with Savannah Guthrie in 2018. They were the first all-women pair to anchor the news program.
In the letter, the veteran journalist thanked the “TODAY” staff and wrote that her 60th birthday celebration on the show in August was a sign that she was ready for her next chapter.
Kotb said she will be staying within NBCUniversal, though she did not specify in what capacity.
“Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart,” she wrote. “I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and NBC, which broadcasts TODAY. More
A few weeks ago people within OpenAI were keen to assure your correspondent that the maker of ChatGPT had matured, following the coup almost a year ago against Sam Altman and the counter-coup shortly afterwards that reinstated him as CEO. But on September 25th not even Mr Altman could sustain the fiction. “We are not a normal company,” he tweeted, admitting he was caught out by the abrupt decision to quit by Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer (pictured with Mr Altman last year). More
Southwest Airlines is planning to reduce service next year to and from Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport.
The carrier said it could cut more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, according to a memo seen by CNBC.
Southwest isn’t laying the crews off, but they will likely have to bid to work from other cities.
A Southwest Airlines plane takes off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is planning to reduce service to and from Atlanta next year, cutting more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, according to a company memo seen by CNBC.
The changes come a day before Southwest’s investor day, when executives will map out the company’s plan to cut costs and grow revenue as pressure mounts from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
Southwest told staff it isn’t closing its crew base in Atlanta. Instead, it will reduce staffing by as many as 200 flight attendants and as many as 140 pilots, for the April 2025 bid month.
The airline also isn’t laying the crews off, but they will likely have to bid to work from other cities.
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Southwest will reduce its Atlanta presence to 11 gates next year from 18, according to a separate memo from the pilots’ union.
It will service 21 cities from Atlanta starting next April, down from 37 in March, the carrier said.
“Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability,” Southwest said in its memo. “This decision in no way reflects our Employees’ performance, and we’re proud of the Hospitality and the efforts they have made and will continue to make with our Customers in ATL.”
The unions that represent Southwest’s pilot and flight attendants railed against the airline for the staffing and service cuts.
“Southwest Airlines management is failing Employees while impacting Customers. Management continues to make decisions that lack full transparency, sufficient communication with Union leadership, and most alarmingly, a lack of focus on what has made the airline great, the Employees,” said Bill Bernal, the flight attendants’ union president.
A Southwest spokesman confirmed the changes and said the carrier will “continue to optimize our network to meet customer demand, best utilize our fleet, and maximize revenue opportunities.”
Travelers check in at a Southwest counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The airline had already pulled out of certain airports, some of which it experimented with during the pandemic to focus on more profitable service.
Southwest is not only facing changing booking patterns and oversupplied parts of the U.S. market but aircraft delays from Boeing, whose yet-to-be-certified 737 Max 7 airplanes are years behind schedule
The airline’s COO, Andrew Watterson, told staff last week that it will have to make “difficult decisions” to boost profits.
The reduction in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Lines home hub, is the latest development for the airline. In July, Southwest announced it plans to get rid of open seating and offer extra legroom on its airplanes, the biggest changes in its more than half-century of flying.
Also on Wednesday, Southwest released an expanded schedule, selling tickets through June 4. In addition to the planned cuts in Atlanta, the carrier said it will boost service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It will also start offering overnight flights from Hawaii, beginning April 8. Those include service from Honolulu to Las Vegas and Phoenix; Kona, Hawaii, to Las Vegas; and Maui, Hawaii, to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
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Intel has spent two decades missing the next big thing. The chipmaker’s dominant PC business blinded it to the opportunity from mobile phones in the 2000s. More recently, the firm was slow to adopt extreme-ultraviolet lithography, an expensive chipmaking process that was originally funded by Intel itself. Now Nvidia dominates the white-hot market for designing artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, becoming the world’s most valuable semiconductor company. Investors in Intel have voted with their feet (see chart). More
