Author: openjargon

• Some restaurants are connecting callers to an AI voice service to place DoorDash and Uber Eats orders.
• Voice AI company Kea takes customers' orders in phone calls and sends them to delivery aggregators.
• Many people now place delivery orders online, but Kea's founder says restaurants sometimes struggle to handle phone orders.

A new voice AI service means diners can place delivery orders with services like DoorDash and Uber Eats via phone call.

Rather than having to order on an app or website, customers calling restaurants that use a product developed by Kea, a voice AI company, can simply say what they want to order. Kea then sends their order to a delivery aggregator.

"It's so much better and easier to just say something and have it done versus let me download an app, let me add everything to the cart, let me customize it, let me add my credit card to it, and then press all those buttons," Adam Ahmad, Kea's CEO and founder, told Business Insider.

Before the app revolution, restaurants relied on phone calls for delivery orders. In 2023, more than 85% of Domino's US sales were made digitally. But there are still use cases for ordering by phone rather than using a website or app, Ahmad said.

"They're maybe driving the kids back from school and it just makes sense to hit that call button," he said, describing it as a "30-second interaction."

When customers call to order delivery from a restaurant that uses Kea's service, they'll be linked to the voice AI, which restaurants can choose from a variety of accents. The AI guides them through the transactions, including suggesting add-ons and recommending items they got in previous orders, Ahmad said.

You can hear an example of how the software works on Kea's website.

"It's not like Siri or Alexa where it's kind of stopping you and making you repeat yourself," he said. "It's very fluid in its interaction."

And if the AI has problems understanding the customer – or vice versa – they can be transferred to a Kea human agent who'll complete the order, Ahmad said. About a quarter of calls made to Kea are transferred to its human agents, Ahmad said.

Kea told BI that it had agents in nine countries but that the majority were based in the US.

Kea uses an algorithm developed by Olo to determine which delivery services are available nearby and choose the best one for each customer based on the cost and estimated time of arrival, Ahmad said. The delivery platforms that Kea can refer orders to are DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, Grubhub, and Favor, Ahmad said.

"We'll upsell them throughout the call and then at the very end of the call, they have the option to leave a tip for the driver," Ahmad said. "And at that time, an ETA is provided to them and the order gets placed directly into the system."

Customers don't need to have the delivery provider's app to use Kea's service, Ahmad said. They'd still be sent a link to track their driver, he said.

"We're not, of course, the delivery provider – we're sort of just processing the voice order," Ahmad said.

Ahmad incorporated Kea back in 2018, "before this whole large language model craze," he said. The new delivery-service tie-in aside, Kea has operated a so-called "cashier in the cloud" service for years, which takes pickup orders and answers basic questions like opening hours when customers ring restaurants, Ahmad said.

Kea said that the pizza chains it worked with — which it said it couldn't name due to NDAs — were already using the AI delivery function. It plans to offer the service to its other restaurants later this month, it said. Kea takes a percentage of the orders it takes for restaurants.

Chains that Kea works with include Wayback Burger, Newk's Eatery, and California Fish Grill. Kea declined to say how many restaurants it operated in, but said it was "in the hundreds."

"A lot of them are high volume takeout places, pizza places," Ahmad said. "These are folks that have three to five phone lines at their restaurants and they simply cannot answer all the calls at once. It's just way too cumbersome. And so we're really focusing on those brands first, the ones that just have a lot of incoming phone traffic and ultimately helping them with answering every single phone call versus putting people on hold."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/14wWDm9
via IFTTT

• Russian soldiers want to get injured as they see it as the only way to go home, Ukraine said.
• It said Russia's death toll has convinced soldiers they have no chance of surviving.
• "Therefore, the invaders dream of being injured," Ukraine's National Resistance Center said.

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine now see getting injured as their only chance to leave the front lines and go home to see their families, according to Ukraine.

Ukraine's National Resistance Center said that many Russian soldiers have lost hope that they will be given time away from the front, as Russia doesn't have enough soldiers there.

"Therefore, the invaders dream of being injured," it said.

"In this way, there is a chance to start work in a place of permanent dislocation, and then, if you are lucky, to escape. There are simply no other options to get a 'vacation' and see relatives," it added.

The National Resistance Center, part of Ukraine's military dedicated to teaching civilians how to fight back, said Russia's high death toll had convinced soldiers that they had no hope of surviving and going home.

"The invaders are convinced that injury is an option not only to rest, but also to simply survive," it said. "After all, they lost countless soldiers on the battlefield."

Ukraine is also experiencing its own issues with allowing soldiers to leave the front lines.

Ukraine's parliament this week scrapped demobilization plans that would have given soldiers who spent long periods on the front the opportunity to go home on rotation.

Ukraine, which has a much smaller population than Russia, has struggled with manpower shortages, and some soldiers said their units have only become smaller, as people leave with injuries or are killed, and few fresh recruits arrive.

Earlier this year, Oleksandr, a battalion commander, told the Washington Post that Ukrainian infantry were being kept in their posts for too long.

"They need to be replaced by someone," he said.

Reports from earlier in the fighting have pointed to Russian soldiers deliberately injuring themselves.

A Russian paratrooper who fought in Ukraine said in August 2022 that some troops shot themselves in the leg to try to get away and also to get a $50,000 payout.

Audio published by Ukraine in 2022 supposedly showed a Russian soldier in Ukraine telling his mother in a phone call that his superior had shot himself to get out of fighting.

The wives of some Russian soldiers have also accused the country of keeping their men at the front lines indefinitely.

Many Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine with little training.

Captured soldiers and Western intelligence also point to Russia using tactics that don't prioritize keeping soldiers alive, including using "meat wave" tactics to try to overwhelm Ukrainian forces.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/guvydYF
via IFTTT

• The NFL will play two nationally televised games on Christmas this year.
• Previously, the NFL avoided games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but the TV ratings were huge.
• This move could lead to more mid-week games, potentially increasing revenue for the NFL.

The NFL is already deeply entwined with Thanksgiving, and now it wants to be a bigger part of Christmas.

The NFL announced in March that it will play two nationally televised games on Christmas this year.

While the league has played games on December 25 before, this year is unusual because the holiday falls on a Wednesday, a day the league typically avoids. And, after 2024, the NFL will have had the same number of games on Christmas in the last two years as it did between 1973 and 2003. If that trajectory continues, NFL games on Christmas could be an annual tradition moving forward, and the move could have a huge impact on how millions of Americans spend the holiday.

Previously, the NFL only played on Christmas when it fell on one of the traditional days for NFL games — Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The NFL typically avoids games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to avoid short-week scenarios where teams don't have enough rest between games and might be at a higher risk of injury.

But the TV ratings for past Christmas games were huge.

The NFL put up massive TV numbers on Christmas

The NFL's three Christmas games in 2023 averaged 29.2 million viewers, according to CBS, which broadcasts the game. Those featured some of the most popular teams in the league — and Taylor Swift — including the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders, and the eventual Super Bowl champions, Kansas City Chiefs.

The 2023 Christmas games were three of the 19 most-watched programs on TV last year, according to Nielsen. However, they still trailed the Turkey Day games as those averaged 33 million viewers and had two of the top seven TV programs of the year.

Without knowing yet which teams will be playing in the games and their time slots, it is difficult to predict how big they will compare to last Christmas' and Thanksgiving games, said Jon Lewis, founder of the sports media news and information site Sports Media Watch.

"I do think viewership should remain elevated, but last year was a particularly good stroke of luck with the matchups," Lewis told Business Insider.

If the NFL is the big winner on Christmas, it will come at the expense of the NBA, which has long been the main annual sports draw on the holiday, with games featuring the best teams and many of the most popular players.

However, the NBA games are not nearly as popular in US households on the holidays compared to the NFL, and the gap is widening. In 2023, the five NBA games played on Christmas averaged 2.9 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That was down 30% from 2022.

The NFL won't stop at Christmas

With the NFL breaking from the tradition of avoiding Tuesday and Wednesday games, it not only could mean games on Christmas every year, but it could also be the first step in leading to more mid-week games.

More mid-week national TV games were an idea the league seemed to start warming up to last year.

In March 2023, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told the media that short-week games do not lead to more injuries. He referenced the league's success in moving games to non-traditional days due to COVID-19 outbreaks on teams in 2020, including one game that was moved to a Wednesday.

"My instinct meshes with what Roger Goodell said when he invoked what happened during the pandemic," Mike Florio, NBC's NFL analyst, said on "Pro Football Talk" following Goodell's comments in 2023. "In five to 10 years, they are going to be playing games on Tuesday night and Wednesday night every week."

If the NFL schedules more games, it could lead to more income for the league.

ESPN, which will air 21 national games in 2024, pays the league $2.7 billion annually. On the other hand, CBS aired 107 games in 2023, but only six were national TV games. That network pays the NFL $2.1 billion a year.

In total, the NFL is paid about $10 billion a year for TV deals with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and Amazon.

While additional games could lead to more revenue, Lewis is skeptical that the Christmas games will draw bigger audiences than the Thanksgiving matches.

"I don't see Christmas overtaking Thanksgiving anytime soon, as the latter remains a comfortably bigger draw," Lewis said.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/xhrL3QE
via IFTTT

• For many, retirement is synonymous with bad health, loneliness, and the end of life.
• The switch from a career to retirement can be a psychological hurdle for many, boomers admit.
• But these five retirees told Business Insider about why people's perceptions of retirement are wrong.

Helen Brown had worked hard for her career.

She worked in computer science — a notoriously difficult industry for women in the 90s — while battling chronic fatigue and migraines. Last year, Brown's illnesses meant the 60-year-old had to step back from work.

"Trying to be a woman in the computing world was not easy," Brown told Business Insider. At 60, she still felt at the top of her game and enjoyed her work, "I wanted to feel valued because it had been such a struggle. And then to have to give it up…"

For many, retirement is still synonymous with loneliness, boredom, and, to put it frankly, death.

Five boomers who spoke to Business Insider about their retirement say those stereotypes are far from the truth for most older people. Though the change in routine can be challenging and health concerns are never far, they say retirement is pretty great.

Getting over the psychological hurdle

The retired boomers told BI that transitioning from working to retirement can be difficult.

Feeling a loss of identity is common among new retirees as their daily lives and responsibilities change. Around 28% of retired people have depression, according to a review of eleven recent medical studies on the topic. Compared to 5% of adults globally who suffer from depression, per a report by the WHO.

Retirees adjusting to a new way of life have the added concern that their savings may not suffice as the economy changes or if unforeseen health problems arise.

Brown said she initially felt lost when she entered retirement. But she applied the same lessons she learned while battling her illness: "You can either give up or say, 'Right, I'll show you.'"

Brown created a timetable so that she didn't slide into her feelings. Her day starts with a few hours of studying through the Open University, then watercolors, yoga, gardening, or walking the dog, and finally, playing computer games with her husband in the evening.

Clive Hook, 65, also experienced an initial shock when he retired in late 2019.

He'd spent his career traveling for work, leading a "quasi-rockstar existence" running leadership courses for major companies. Slowing down in retirement meant losing the personal driver and luxurious trips and returning to domesticity.

Hook told BI that the complete loss of structure was the toughest change. It left him and his wife feeling purposeless.

"Not having a real reason to do anything. It was really hard," Hook said. "We got to a point where we didn't know what day of the week it was. It made us feel useless."

He decided to explore things that brought him joy. Hook joined a choir and, within the year, found himself busy with choir committees, charitable causes, and learning three languages. He also teaches leadership to NHS nurses rather than CEOs.

There's a misconception that life becomes boring in retirement, Hook told BI. In fact, life is so busy that it feels like a full-time job.

Retirement is for reveling

For Jackie Harrison, retirement has lived up to her high expectations: "I thought it was going to be a holiday and it has."

Harrison had worked as a librarian until she was 65 and happily retired in 2018. Now, she goes on holiday three times a year, visits family, practices tai chi and yoga, walks for around two hours daily, and goes to the gym.

"It's just the freedom of being able to do what we want and not having to do things we don't want," Harrison said of people in retirement.

Sandra Falconer, a retired teacher in her mid-70s, agrees.

"It's the freedom. The freedom of not having to go to meetings, not having to do the rush hour dash."

Falconer told BI she revels in saying no to anything she no longer wants to do. She retired from teaching at 63 but continued part-time work for five years. The former teacher was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014 but still practices tai chi and has joined several local projects.

Falconer, who never had much time for writing as a teacher, is now a member of a poetry collective highlighting poverty and injustice and has been shortlisted for a literary prize.

Others told BI that retirement has given them the space to discover themselves in a way they hadn't had time to while working.

"It's almost like going back into childhood again with that sort of discovery," said Helen Brown. "There's a weight off your shoulders, not having to be at work and to go through that sort of stress."

Boomers have to battle ageism and stereotypes

Though they're enjoying life, the boomers who spoke to BI said misconceptions and stereotypes about retirement can be damaging.

"In other cultures, as you get older, you get wiser. In our culture, as you get older, you get more stupid," Clive Hook lamented.

Some have been shouted at in the street by teenagers; others said their skills are constantly underestimated, or they feel like they're sidelined by health services.

"Kick that into touch, mate, because that view that you have in your head is outdated," snaps back Kathy Feest, a boomer with an advocatory spirit and no time for stereotypes.

Sandra Falconer believes the media and people's own fears of growing old are to blame for negative stereotypes. The danger is that some will just accept the label; Falconer added, "If you treat somebody as if they're invisible, they begin to feel as if they are."

"I have never accepted stereotypes. In fact, underneath this jumper, I'm wearing a T-shirt that one of my daughters bought me that says, assuming that I'm just a little old lady was your first mistake."

Attitude is key to a successful retirement

Kathy Feest was forced into retirement at a younger age than expected after a boat accident left her spine shattered. She was 54.

"I wasn't ready to quit. I was too young," Feest told BI. After rebuilding her life, Feest has run courses to help others find their way through retirement.

People often claim there's nothing they want to do, but Feest said finding a purpose and pursuing it in retirement is crucial."You really do know. You're just covering it up in one way or another. And you don't get off the hook just because you have osteoarthritis." She said people must actively search for what they want out of life.

"It's a misconception that it's the end of life. It's the beginning of a new phase of life."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/glntu1p
via IFTTT

• Ben Lang, 30, is a Notion super fan.
• He was roasted online after he revealed that he was using Notion to manage his marriage.
• Lang told BI that while he does enjoy the memes, Notion definitely isn't controlling his life. 

Ben Lang, 30, is a huge fan of the note-taking software Notion.

Lang was one of the startup's first employees, and he spent around five years leading Notion's community efforts.

But while most users use Notion to track their finances or plan their projects, Lang uses the software to manage something a little closer to the heart: His marriage.

"My wife and I use Notion religiously to manage our day-to-day life. Here's a screenshot of our set-up," Lang wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on April 6.

The template includes a section for budgeting and holiday planning. There's also a repository of "life"-related planning items, including tabs to create a repository of "our principles" and "learnings."

Lang told BI in an interview on Friday that he and his wife are indeed using the template, which he says more than 2,300 people have downloaded as of press time.

Lang said he first introduced his wife to Notion when they were planning their wedding, and they've used it together ever since.

"I would say I'm definitely the one who drives the structure of the page and how we use Notion," Lang said.

"There are times where I'll ask her to add something in the Notion, and there are also times where she'll ask me to add something in the Notion," he added.

While some online commenters were interested in using the template to manage their relationships, others made fun of Lang's page. They likened the Notion-based planning of one's married life to OKRs and high-stakes performance reviews.

"My friend's husband is currently on a PIP I think this will help him a lot," another user joked, referencing the performance-improvement plans tech workers are placed on when their performance is deemed lackluster.

The roasting also found its way to Lang, who told BI that he was "entertained" by all the memes and jokes that people were coming up with about his work.

"I think people who saw what we were doing either thought it was ridiculous, or it was so wholesome and amazing that we were investing in our relationship," Lang told BI. "So people either loved it or hated it."

That was when Lang decided to embrace the humor.

"I was entertained by the people hating it and all their memes. So I figured what I would do is, I would just make a parody of their responses," Lang told BI.

On April 9, Lang posted a screenshot of what he said was an updated copy of his Notion template. This joke template had new elements — like a section that tracks "Quarterly OKRs" and another tab for "360 performance reviews."

Jokes aside, Lang told BI some of his haters have the wrong idea about his Notion use and presume that the page dictates and controls all aspects of his marriage.

"They could be thinking, 'Oh, there's this couple who are controlled by this Notion page and it's how they live their life every moment.' In reality, that's not how it is," Lang said.

"The way we see it, this is just a very useful home base for us to track things, to log and remember things, and to plan things," he said. "It by no means is controlling our lives or is taking away the spontaneity and joy of life that some might think."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/m3gEITc
via IFTTT

• Trump struck out 0-3 during three visits this week to a Manhattan appellate courthouse.
• Three judges rejected all three of his bids for an immediate delay of his hush money trial.
• Barring an unforseen, nonlegal emergency, jury selection will begin Monday, experts predict.

Someone is out of Trump cards.

Former President Donald Trump has run out of legal options to delay Monday's start of his Manhattan hush-money trial, legal experts predict.

Trump's lawyers struck out 0-3 this week, when three Manhattan appellate judges rejected three separate emergency delay bids during arguments on Monday, on Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Barring an unforeseen, nonlegal emergency, jury selection in Trump's first of four criminal cases will begin as scheduled on Monday morning in Supreme Court in lower Manhattan, experts said.

"I think they've run out of steam here," as far as pretrial delay bids go, Barry Kamins, a retired New York Supreme Court justice, said with a laugh on Thursday.

"I think the only thing that would stop the trial now would be a question of health — meaning if Mr. Trump came down with some condition or there's some health reason," he told Business Insider.

"But that would be looked at very carefully," said Kamins, a former chief of policy and planning for the state court system, and now a partner at Aidala Bertuna & Kamins.

"I don't see any other legal options for delaying the trial other than a health issue" on the part of the defendant, he added. "And that would only delay the trial a few days or weeks at most."

Mid-trial legal delays are also unlikely

Trump still has three appellate efforts underway, challenging state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan's gag order, his ability to preside impartially over the hush money trial, and his recent efforts to rein in 11th-hour pretrial motions.

The defense and Manhattan prosecutors will file paper arguments on these three efforts over the next two weeks. The cases are proceeding on an expedited schedule, so three full panels of appellate judges could issue three decisions by month's end, maybe even by opening statements.

But even if Trump wins — and that's a long shot — it's highly unlikely any of these three appellate decisions would stop or even pause the trial, experts also said.

And if he loses the three decisions, the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, would be highly unlikely to interrupt an ongoing trial, should its judges even agree to hear the cases.

"They don't have to take it at all, and I'd be surprised if they took it in the middle of a trial," said Paul Shechtman, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, where he served as chief of appeals.

Ditto the US Supreme Court, where Trump could ultimately end up, given that all three appellate efforts raise Constitutional issues, Schechtman said.

These challenges would all be matters for after the trial, not during, agreed Kamins and attorney Michel Paradis, who teaches national security and Constitutional law at Columbia Law School.

"It's very, very unusual to stay a criminal trial," when it's already in progress, Paradis said.

But though Trump's lawyers failed to stop the trial, their efforts may not be wasted down the road.

Trump's lawyers have complained, so far unsuccessfully, that his First Amendment right to campaign for office and his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial have been denied.

By raising constitutional issues now, in these failed delay bids, Trump's attorneys are laying the groundwork to challenge his conviction in the state's and the nation's highest courts, Paradis said.

"One way or another, by dropping the word 'Constitution' in all their pleadings, Trump's legal team is hitting the wickets they need to take this to either the New York Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court," he said.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/06LkPZj
via IFTTT

• Ziwei Li used her severance from Lyft to reinvent her career narrative.
• She invested in career counseling, started her own business, and invested in hobbies.
• Li also used mindful travel to help transition from one role to another.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ziwei Li, a 28-year-old LA-based former Lyft employee and founder and CEO of Wei Good Food. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I led food delivery partnerships at Lyft for one year. Then the role was eliminated when the company decided to shut down its delivery business during its layoffs in November 2022. The layoff impacted 13% of Lyft's workforce, and my team was broadly affected.

I was taken aback by the layoff, but also a little relieved. It didn't seem like anyone on the team knew it was coming. My manager was in shock and didn't seem to know what to say.

My severance package, which was 10-week salary, became a pivotal resource not just to weather the immediate storm of my job loss but also to start a new career narrative. Up until the layoff, I'd been working on Wei Good Food as a fun side hustle on nights and weekends, dreaming about a day when I could take it full-time. The layoff felt like a sign from the universe to pursue that.

The joint account I share with my husband definitely alleviated things, and my severance was able to support us for about eight months. Here are the best ways I spent my severance package.

1. Career Counseling

I worked with a career coach to talk through my past work experiences, issues I faced, and what I hoped to accomplish in the future. It felt similar to therapy but specifically focused on my professional life.

Career coaches usually charge $200 to $600 an hour, but I was able to access a discounted rate through an MBA program I was already enrolled in before the layoffs. During monthly sessions, my coach helped me understand myself and how to position myself for success. We talked about my strengths and weaknesses, and what roles would use my natural skills.

Talking with a professional helped me to see that I'd accomplished more in my career than I gave myself credit for, which gave me the confidence to start my own business.

The coach also helped me see patterns around my bad habits like not prioritizing rest until my health suffered. The insights I gained and the plans I made during these sessions ultimately steered me toward a more fulfilling career path.

2. Starting a business

I'd always felt tied to the traditional career path and didn't feel ready to act on my business ideas. Suddenly I had the means to start my own business and a chance to see if I'd be happy as an entrepreneur.

I used this cushion as seed funding. I'd been making and selling chili oil as a passion project while I was still working in my corporate job. I started making this product during the pandemic and tinkered with it until I created a version I liked.

I put $3,000 from the severance package directly toward the business for basic costs to get my idea off the ground. First, I officially incorporated the company with the state of California. I also set aside money for the annual California franchise tax. Then I invested in building the brand and leased a commercial kitchen space to produce at scale.

I'd always been interested in the food and beverage industry but never worked in it — in my corporate role. My severance package gave me the chance to attend conferences and events and make connections that guided my next career move. I allocated around $1,000 of my severance funds for registration, travel, and accommodations.

I also used severance funds to join professional organizations related to my new field, giving me networking opportunities and industry resources.

3. Investing in my hobbies

I've got a couple of things I'm passionate about, but when I had my corporate job, I often didn't splurge on them because they're just hobbies.

After getting a severance package and more free time, indulging in these pastimes and creative projects felt like a well-deserved treat, giving me a renewed sense of purpose.

I'd always enjoyed baking but didn't have an outlet for all the baked goods I'd make and didn't want to spend money on baking if everything would go to waste. So I found a local nonprofit that would bake birthday treats for underserved kids, and after receiving my severance, bought more baking equipment, cake decorating tools, and classes to learn how to decorate a cake.

I spent about $200 on everything, and spending more time and money on my hobby felt nice.

4. Mindful travel

I used mindful travel as another strategy to help with my mental transition from one role to another.

I used a small part of my severance to take a quick weekend trip to San Diego, a three-hour drive from LA, to recharge after the emotional turbulence of my layoff and think about my next steps. I thought of this trip as self-care and an investment in my mental and emotional health.

My husband and I booked a hotel near La Jolla and spent the next couple of days going to the beach, visiting the San Diego Zoo, and eating at local restaurants. The hotel cost about $150 per night, and the total cost of the trip, including lodging, dining, and activities, was about $800.

Sitting with my thoughts during travel helped me reconnect with myself and what genuinely interests me. It was rejuvenating and served as a form of "strategic contemplation" of the next step of my career.

My layoff led to unexpected opportunities

Before being laid off, my day-to-day life forced me to focus on the next task or meeting. But this layoff was a deliberate step toward self-reinvention and showed me the transformative power of unexpected opportunities.

My severance package became a pivotal resource not just to weather the immediate storm of my job loss, but for starting a new career narrative.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/KX9PJ5I
via IFTTT

• Global airlines are governed by nine "freedoms of the air," drafted 80 years ago in 1944.
• These dictate how airlines can operate in foreign nations, with some more complicated than others.
• The fifth freedom can give airlines a competitive edge and help capitalize on demand.

Over the past 100 years of shuttling people around the globe in metal flying machines, the world's aviation network has grown into a vast web of intersecting routes that connect nearly every corner of the globe.

Because of the complexities of crossing international borders, commercial carriers follow what is known as the "freedoms of the air" — or the right for an airline to operate within a nation other than its own.

These building blocks of aviation make international connectivity possible. 

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, there are five official freedoms and four other "so-called" rights, that have been outlined in agreements between countries. ICAO is an agency of the United Nations that sets standards for the global aviation industry.

Drafted in 1944 during what is known as the Chicago Convention, the laws were written as world governments relaxed their grip on airline networks and pricing. This liberalization, however, meant countries with bigger airlines would likely dominate the skies — prompting ICAO to implement strict route regulations.

The governing freedoms not only promote more competition and choice but also allow airlines to optimize routes and increase efficiency, according to FlightRadar24. 

Most international carriers except for a very small few follow the basic freedoms of allowing airlines of one state to fly over or land in another, and vice versa.

Open Skies agreements simplify these international routes, like the one between the European Union and the US that allows any airline registered in either market to fly between the two.

Some freedoms are more complicated, but provide interesting and diverse route options to travelers.

The fifth and eighth freedoms of the air

Beyond the first four freedoms, there is one more officially recognized right, as well as the four "so-called" rights. The latter four were not officially drafted during the 1944 Chicago Convention but are regularly accepted and practiced worldwide.

According to ICAO, the fifth freedom gives an airline of one nation the right to fly between two other countries, so long as the one-stop routes start or end in its home country and all parties agree.

Among the most well-known fifth freedom routes are Emirates' flights from New York-JFK to Milan and Newark to Athens, both flying onward to the carrier's base in Dubai.

Similarly, Singapore Airlines flies between New York and Singapore via a stop in Frankfurt, and Australian flag carrier Qantas flies between Sydney and New York via Auckland, New Zealand, according to Google Flights.

United Airlines' delayed fifth freedom route will fly between the US mainland and Cebu, Philippines, via Tokyo starting in October, the carrier told Business Insider on Monday. It was supposed to start in July — before the FAA launched an investigation after a string of safety incidents at United.

These unique routes can be efficient for airlines trying to serve destinations that a plane can't reach nonstop, like Emirates' fifth freedom between Mexico City and Dubai via Barcelona or Latam Airlines' route between Sydney and Santiago, Chile, via Auckland. 

Still, carriers will make stops on otherwise attainable direct flights because they can capitalize on the high-demand market on both legs — filling more seats and making more money.

Customers may also view carriers like Emirates and Singapore as a more luxe offering than the competing US and EU carriers across the Atlantic.

On the other hand, an airline that wants to serve a low-demand market can better fill the plane by adding a fifth-freedom leg to a nearby city, like Dutch flag carrier KLM's flight between Amsterdam and Santiago via Buenos Aires. 

Among ICAO's most interesting "so-called" rights is the eighth freedom, which gives an airline the right to fly between two cities in a country that isn't its own— but the domestic leg seats cannot be sold as the entire journey must start or end in the foreign airline's home nation.

Qantas used to fly an eighth freedom route between New York and Sydney via Los Angeles — but only those originating or destined for Australia could fly on the domestic cross-country leg, Forbes reported.

Also no longer flying, per Cirium data, African carrier Air Senegal, for example, launched a flight from Dakar to Baltimore with a layover in New York in 2021. The domestic leg seats couldn't be sold.

Here's a closer look at the freedoms of the air.

"Five Freedom Agreements"

First Freedom

This allows an airline of one nation to fly over another without landing.

Second Freedom

This allows an airline of one nation the right to land in another territory for a technical stop. Think refueling or an inflight mechanical issue that prompted an unplanned emergency landing.

Third Freedom

This allows an airline of one nation to carry passengers to a foreign state, and vice versa.

Fourth Freedom

This allows the airline of one nation to take on passengers originating in another. The fourth freedom is simply the reverse of the third freedom.

Fifth Freedom

This allows an airline of one nation to carry passengers between two countries other than its own so long as the route starts or ends in the carrier's home state.

"So-called" rights

Six Freedom

This allows an airline to carry passengers from one nation to another via its home state. This represents the typical hub-and-spoke network used by global airlines.

Seventh Freedom

The seventh freedom is similar to the fifth freedom but takes out the limitation of where the route must start or end. Instead, an airline has the right to fly between two nations other than its own without flying onward to its home base.

The EU's single-aviation market, for example, grants airlines the right to fly to and from any EU country, like Ireland-based Ryanair that flies between Rome and Vilnius, Lithuania.

Eighth Freedom

This allows an airline to fly between two cities in a foreign country so long as all passengers originate or are destined for the airline's home state.

Ninth Freedom

This cabotage freedom allows an airline of one nation to fly between two points in a separate single country. This does not exist in the US, but it does in the EU — like easyJet's back-and-forth nonstop between Paris and Nice, for example.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/j8YrO2h
via IFTTT

• Biden announced another $7.4 billion in student-debt relief for 277,000 borrowers.
• It impacts borrowers on the SAVE plan, along with others on income-driven repayment plans and PSLF.
• The new relief comes just after Biden released new details for his broader student-debt relief plan.

Another batch of student-loan borrowers has been approved for debt cancellation.

On Friday, President Joe Biden and the Education Department announced that 277,000 more borrowers will get $7.4 billion in debt relief. It results from a new provision in the SAVE income-driven repayment plan that allows for a shorter timeline to loan forgiveness for some borrowers, along with ongoing fixes to other income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

"Today we are helping 277,000 borrowers who have been making payments on their student loans for at least a decade," Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement. "They have paid what they can afford, and they have earned loan forgiveness for the balance of their loan."

Specifically, according to the Education Department's press release, $3.6 billion of the relief will go to 206,800 borrowers enrolled in SAVE. The provision allows relief for borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less and have made as few as 10 years of qualifying payments, contrasting the 20-year threshold for other income-driven repayment plans.

Additionally, the rest of the relief is going to borrowers on income-driven repayment plans or PSLF as a result of the one-time account adjustments and administrative fixes to the plans to bring borrowers' payment counts up to date.

According to the Education Department, impacted borrowers will begin receiving emails on Friday informing them of their relief, and their servicers will process the relief in the coming weeks.

This latest batch of debt relief approvals comes just days after Biden announced new details for his broader attempt at student-loan forgiveness using the Higher Education Act of 1965. While the plan is still subject to change, the latest details outline relief intended to benefit over 30 million borrowers, including those whose balances have grown due to unpaid interest and those who have made at least 20 years of payments but have yet to receive relief.

The regulatory text for that broader plan is set to be published in the coming months, after which there will be a period for public comment. Biden's administration expects to implement the plan as early as this fall — but it faces uncertainty due to the possibility of legal challenges that could block the relief, as they did with Biden's first attempt at loan forgiveness.

Two groups of GOP state attorneys general have also filed separate lawsuits over the past few weeks to block the SAVE plan, calling the shortened timeline to relief unconstitutional.

Still, the administration is moving forward with more targeted efforts for debt cancellation through its fixes to repayment plans, recently announcing $1.2 billion in relief for 153,000 borrowers through the SAVE plan.

"From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity," Biden said in a statement. "I will never stop working to cancel student debt — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us."

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/8rhwCNm
via IFTTT

• Nvidia is in a bubble, stocks will falter, and a recession will hit this year, Jesse Felder said.
• The markets guru said the microchip frenzy would fade, and stock-market returns would drop off.
• Prepare for slower growth, higher unemployment, and sticky inflation and interest rates, he said.

Nvidia hype is a bubble that will burst, stocks will disappoint for the next decade or longer, and a recession will strike this year, Jesse Felder said.

The veteran analyst behind "The Felder Report" made his case on the latest "Thoughtful Money" podcast episode.

He warned the microchip buying frenzy wouldn't last, the market's outsize returns would dry up, and the economy might sink into stagflation.

Living in a fantasy

Stocks have surged to record highs this year as investors wager that AI, rate cuts, and steady economic growth will bolster corporate profits.

Felder, who managed money for around two decades before launching his market research firm, cautioned that stocks have become so expensive that their future returns are bound to be underwhelming.

"Prices of financial assets are going to perform a lot worse than they have over the last 10, 15 years," he said.

Hoping for further outperformance is "extrapolating the unsustainable — it's the definition of a bubble," he said.

"That's exactly what's going on with the stock prices of Nvidia and Micron," he continued, warning it can be "extraordinarily painful" to buy high-flying stocks as they can suffer massive crashes.

The semiconductor industry is cyclical, meaning it swings from boom to bust over time, he said. Overexcited AI companies have ordered double or triple the amount of chips they need from suppliers like Nvidia in their rush to secure them, meaning the market will be flooded, he continued.

"Everything goes in the toilet, that's the history of these companies," Felder said.

Chipmakers like Nvidia could even swing from explosive growth in revenues and profits to declines, which could mean "some real pain for a lot of these stock prices that have discounted a fantastical future," Felder said.

The markets guru also called out the recent surge in insiders selling their companies' stock as a red flag, pointing to Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon as examples.

"This is a very, very dangerous equity environment," he said.

Economic trouble

Many on Wall Street expect the US economy to escape a recession, inflation and interest rates to drop this year, and unemployment to remain near historic lows.

However, Felder expects "much more of a stagflationary type of a scenario than a soft-landing or even a no-landing scenario."

The ex-trader and former hedge fund boss said the economy probably wouldn't be "trashed" like it was during the pandemic or Great Recession.

There's likely to be more of a "slow burn" than a "real painful dip" in growth, he said. Joblessness might tick higher, and the economy might only shrink in real terms as inflation more than offsets nominal growth, he noted.

Felder pointed to ageing populations in many Western countries, and deglobalization trends like reshoring, as two structural forces that will likely stop inflation from falling too far.

He also cited vast amounts of government spending, the rising cost of servicing the national debt, and the Fed potentially relaxing its 2% inflation target as other inflation drivers.

"It's overwhelming evidence that inflation's going to remain elevated relative to recent history," Felder said.

If he's right, that's likely to mean interest rates stay higher for longer, the economy grows slower and might even contract, and assets like stocks perform worse than many experts predict.

from All Content from Business Insider https://ift.tt/BHzTecj
via IFTTT