Business

FedEx Announces Launch of Student Ambassador Program

Courtesy of LeMoyne-Owen College,  The world’s largest express transportation company, today announced the launch of the FedEx-HBCU Student Ambassador Program. The program demonstrates a continued commitment to help prepare students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to be future leaders with opportunities to learn about the FedEx enterprise from executives, build leadership and career-ready skills, and participate in unique experiences, while also helping expand the company’s pipeline for diverse talent. Student participants were selected from the following HBCUs: • Jackson State University (Jackson, Miss.) • Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tenn.) • LeMoyne-Owen College (Memphis, Tenn.) • Mississippi Valley State

Biden’s $1 billion bet to make beef cheaper: When will prices fall?

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner and Matt Egan, The White House on Monday offered a solution to surging meat prices: an action plan that includes investing $1 billion of American Rescue Plan funds to boost competition in the industry and promises to ramp up regulation and enforcement of anticompetition laws. But some experts say the move is unlikely to offer relief at the grocery store right away. The Biden Administration’s investment, which includes grants, loans, money for training, new labeling rules and ways for farmers to report anti-competitive concerns, is designed to spark competition in the meat processing industry, which is dominated by a small number

AT&T and Verizon agree to postpone 5G rollout near airports by 2 weeks

By Brian Fung, AT&T and Verizon have agreed to postpone their planned rollouts of 5G infrastructure near airports by two weeks, averting — for now — feared widespread disruptions to air travel and shipping as well as a potential legal battle over the matter. Both carriers confirmed late Monday evening that they will hold off on activating 5G services near airports until January 19, and that in the meantime, officials will continue working on adapting French-style restrictions on 5G to the United States. “At Secretary [of Transportation Pete] Buttigieg’s request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of

Holiday flight cancellations soar with Covid-19 disruptions and bad weather

By Gregory Wallace and Matt McFarland, Thousands of US flights were canceled over New Year’s weekend as a combination of Covid-19 disruptions and wintry weather slowed travel. Flight cancellations have trended up steadily since Christmas Eve, hitting a new peak Saturday as millions travel over the holidays. Data from the website FlightAware shows more than 4,731 flights were canceled globally on Saturday — by far the largest day of cancellations since the meltdown began Christmas Eve. At least 2,739 of the cancellations were within, into or out of the United States. Sunday cancellations in the United States already number 2,600 flights, FlightAware showed, and global cancellations reached

Apple closes all New York stores to browsing as Omicron cases surge

By Jordan Valinsky, Apple has closed all of its New York store locations to browsing because of a surge in Covid-19 cases. The roughly one dozen locations in the city will be limited to picking up online orders and walk-in services such as Genius Bar support. “We regularly monitor conditions and we will adjust both our health measures and store services to support the wellbeing of customers and employees,” the company said in a statement. Two weeks ago, Apple once again began requiring anyone inside its US retail stores to wear a mask as concerns mount over rising Covid-19 cases and the

Travel nightmare continues: Another 2,200 flights canceled Tuesday

By Chris Liakos and Sonnet Swire, Thousands of flights have been canceled over the past several days as Covid cases surge across the globe. On Tuesday, another 2,200 flights have been canceled, with nearly 700 of them within, into or out of the United States, according to tracking website FlightAware. More than 2,000 flights have been delayed. Monday was an even bigger nightmare for travelers, with more than 2,800 flights canceled, and 11,000 delayed. Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas. In the United States, more than 1,200 flights were canceled and more

A political fight over 5G could upend air travel: What you should know

By Brian Fung, From mask requirements to waived change fees, the pandemic has dramatically changed what it’s like to fly. But beginning early next year, even more changes could be coming to air travel — ones that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. These changes could lead to flight delays or diversions affecting tens of millions of passengers across hundreds of thousands of flights, according to aviation industry estimates. It all comes down to a political fight over 5G, the next-generation cell service technology that’s begun to be supported in the latest smartphones. Here’s what you need to know: The

Boeing and Airbus want Biden administration to delay rollout of 5G cell service, citing safety concerns

By Pete Muntean, The world’s biggest commercial airplane manufacturers are telling the Biden Administration to delay the rollout of 5G cell service next month. Boeing CEO David Calhoun and Airbus Americas CEO Jeffery Knittel sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to say the January 5 rollout could cause interference that could “adversely affect the ability of aircraft to safely operate.” At issue are instruments known as radar altimeters that pilots of commercial airliners need to make safe landings in low visibility conditions. An industry analysis says interference could affect hundreds of thousands of flights each year, delaying flights or causing

Black tech entrepreneurs struggle to find funding in Britain. Now they’re looking abroad

By Walé Azeez, Black tech entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom say they have to rely on foreign investors to get their businesses off the ground. More than a year after the Black Lives Matter protests prompted the UK government to investigate discrimination against Black business owners, British venture capital firms continue to neglect Black and ethnic minority founders despite a booming startup scene. “It is clear that the UK is not the place to try and get funding for your startup,” says Rich Serunjogi, founder of Business Score, which matches e-commerce companies with working capital financing. “Only the very best [UK] VCs are interested.

Two major airline CEOs question the need for masks on planes

By Chris Isidore, The CEOs of two of the nation’s major airlines say they don’t think wearing masks on planes does much to help limit exposure to Covid. The comments from American Airlines CEO Doug Parker — the nation’s largest carrier — and Southwest CEO Gary Kelly came during a hearing about the financial support that airlines received from the federal government in 2020 and 2021. But the topic of masks arose via a question from Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking Republican on the Senate committee holding the hearing. “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in

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