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• Alphabet shares surged in Friday's premarket after a blowout earnings report for the Google owner.
• Microsoft racked up more modest gains after doubling down on its AI spending spree.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were set to open higher thanks to the Big Tech giants' strong results.

Alphabet stock surged ahead of Friday's opening bell as investors cheered the Google owner's blowout first-quarter earnings.

Shares were up 11% to almost $174 shortly before 5 a.m. ET. If those gains hold until the opening bell, its valuation will top $2 trillion for the first time.

The stock climbed higher after Alphabet posted earnings for the three months to March 31 after Thursday's close with profits and revenue that both smashed analysts' forecasts. 

The announcement that it would follow the lead of rivals including Microsoft, Apple, and Meta by issuing its first dividend also served as a green light for the market.

"Alphabet joining the ranks of tech companies paying dividends is a sign of the times," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said. "Big tech firms have enjoyed stellar growth over the past decade and while most remain highly innovative, their cash flows have become so strong that there's oodles of money left over post-reinvestment in the business to reward shareholders."

Meanwhile, Microsoft stock made more modest gains after it reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday afternoon.

Shares were up almost in pre-market trading, putting its market capitalization on course to jump about $11 billion at the opening bell back above $3 trillion. It first hit that milestone back in January following a 207% surge over the past five years.  

Microsoft said it plans to ramp up spending on artificial intelligence and cloud services to take advantage of the AI boom.

CFO Amy Hood said on a post-earnings call with analysts that spending would increase "materially," adding that the company's AI capacity hadn't kept pace with soaring demand.

Microsoft has emerged as one of the major winners from the AI boom due to its close relationship with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.

"The path to AI monetization is clearest for Microsoft," Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

"Its substantial AI investments have driven gains in its formidable cloud business, and its other products are also easily kitted out with AI additions. While there are rumblings of tech-spending pullbacks, the overriding message is that Microsoft remains potentially the biggest beneficiary of AI demand over the longer-term, when compared to its immediate peers," she added.

The two "Magnificent Seven" stocks' big gains looked set to power broader indexes higher.

S&P 500 futures climbed 0.7% in early-morning trading, while futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.9%.

Meanwhile, investors will also be eyeing the Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal consumption expenditures inflation gauge, with the March reading due to be released later.

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• Four people who moved to new places share their regrets and what they'd do differently.
• One person Business Insider that they would spend more time in their new destination before moving.
• Another said they regretted underestimating the importance of living near their friends and family.

Relocating to a new state or country can be good for your work-life balance, career and finances.

But switching cities, trying out rural life or experiencing a completely different culture can come with surprises.

Business Insider spoke with four people who shared their biggest regret and what they learned from it.

1) Spending too little time in your new destination before moving

Amanda Loudin, a remote worker, moved from her home in Maryland to Boulder, Colorado, during the COVID-19 pandemic. She relocated because she loved outdoor activities and wanted to be near the mountains.

Loudin found it harder than she'd anticipated to find friends and a community — and returned to Maryland two years after she moved.

She told Business Insider she found people in Boulder more introverted than in Maryland. "My neighbors didn't invite me to cookouts, I found no regular running groups that didn't require paying to play, and I didn't fall into fun conversations at the dog park," Loudin said.

Loudin said she'd visited Boulder several times before her move and tried out living there for a month. After relocating, she realized her previous visits were closer to vacations, and she wished she'd spent more time in Boulder before deciding to move.

"More time for real-life experience — efforts to find peers and friends, running partners, and the like — could have helped me learn it wasn't right for me," she said.

2) Not finding more affordable housing

Wendy Wang and her husband moved from Pennsylvania to Silicon Valley, California, in 2020 to work for a tech startup.

She told BI she found the transition difficult. Her work-life balance suffered, and she struggled to find a sense of community.

Wang said that the cost of housing, transport, and groceries was much higher than the national average in the US. It meant they couldn't afford to buy a house and had to rent a two-bedroom apartment for $3,500 a month, not including utilities.

"This financial strain was a constant in our lives, adding to the stress of demanding jobs," she said, adding that she wished she'd looked into more affordable housing outside the city before making the move.

Wang returned to Pennsylvania with her husband two years after they moved to California. Back in Pennsylvania, the couple could afford to buy a four-bedroom house with a mortgage that costs less than their rent in Silicon Valley.

"Living without constant financial worry has given us the freedom to enjoy life," she said.

3) Not doing enough research

Eric Michiels moved from Atlanta to Denver in 2021 with his wife and two kids. He moved for work, but also said the idea of spending more time in nature was appealing.

Michiels told BI that the weather was colder and less predictable than he'd imagined.

"The winters were especially terrible for us," he said. "I remember being informed by our apartment complex that the temperature would drop below negative 5 degrees for three days in a row and to be prepared if the power went out."

He struggled to make long-lasting friendships and said Denver lacked the "Southern hospitality" he'd found in Atlanta. "After I left one church I visited, no one ever spoke to me or followed up."

He said he felt "naive" and he wished he'd done more research before he moved.

After two years in Colorado, Michiels and his family moved again — this time to Spain in 2023. He got a digital nomad visa and said, in many ways, he prefers Spain to living in Colorado.

4) Prioritizing location over amenities or community

Jackie Branholm moved from New York City to Denver in 2019 with her now-husband. They wanted to try a new city before they settled down.

The couple loved living in Denver and decided to buy their first house there after a year, but they were priced out of the city. "During our search, we fell in love with the idea of living in the mountains with our growing family," Branholm told BI.

They bought an old fixer-upper in a small mountain town 45 minutes from Denver. However, the couple was unprepared for mountain living. "What we loved about the town when we visited on the weekends was not the same experience as a resident," Branholm said.

She told BI living in the small mountain town was beautiful and great for outdoor activities but "logistically and physically isolating." "If we wanted to go to Target or the grocery store, we had to drive at least 20 minutes," she added.

The couple felt cut off from their Denver friends, cafés, and bars. After giving birth to their firstborn, Branholm said the isolation became unbearable.

"Ultimately, we realized how and who we spent our time with was more important than where we lived. Even though we loved going outside and hiking, our priorities changed when we had our son. We wanted life to be easier."

Branholm and her husband moved back to New York to be closer to family in 2023. She said the experience taught them the value of convenience and proximity to friends and family.

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• The bottom 20% of American earners have been left out of the economic boom, Jamie Dimon said.
• Their incomes have hardly budged for 20 years, fueling societal problems, the JPMorgan CEO said.
• People can't get a mortgage or afford a home, and communities have been hit by drug abuse and crime.

The US economy may be the envy of the world, but many Americans are deeply discontent. One reason is they've largely missed out on the boom times, Jamie Dimon says.

"The bottom 20% of America have not done particularly well over the last 20 years," the JPMorgan CEO told The Wall Street Journal this week. "Incomes barely went up."

"Suicide, fentanyl, crime, inflation — there are a lot of negative effects," he continued. "Some people can't get mortgages, can't buy their home."

Dimon likely meant that stagnant wages have fueled rates of depression, drug abuse, and crime as people feel they just can't get ahead.

That may be particularly true when they're paying more for food, energy, and housing due to inflation — and have higher monthly payments on their credit cards and cars due to higher interest rates.

Those painful issues have translated into widespread disillusionment with the US economy. A full 51% of respondents to a New York Times survey in late February rated the economy as poor, and another 23% described it as only fair. Moreover, 40% or those surveyed said the economy was worse than a year earlier.

Economic growth has slowed from 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1.6% last quarter, official data showed this week. But a recession is yet to strike, unemployment remains historically low at under 4%, and inflation has dropped from more than 9% two summers ago to below 4% in recent months.

Record home prices and booming markets are often good news for homeowners with stock portfolios. But they don't benefit others to the same degree — and can even hurt them if rising house prices drive up rents and companies raise prices to bolster profits and boost shares.

"There's parts of society who's kind of struggling, parts of society who's not," Dimon said. "You can see why that has people upset."

The billionaire banker also emphasized the current situation isn't as rosy as many think. He warned of stubborn inflation, interest rates staying higher for longer, and a potential recession — echoing comments he made in his annual letter, to analysts, and in recent interviews.

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• If ByteDance is actually forced to sell TikTok, it might not include the app's algorithm.
• But that might not be a huge issue for a new owner. "For You" recommendations could be recreated.
• TikTok has said it won't sell — and will fight the ban in court.

The ink is dry on the "TikTok ban" bill, and there's already talk about what a forced sale could look like: Would TikTok's owners agree to sell? And if so, would they strip out the addicting and seemingly all-knowing algorithm first?

TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is already considering selling the app without its algorithm, The Information reported Thursday. (ByteDance denied this.)

The idea of TikTok being sold without the secret sauce that makes its "For You" pages might seem like a disaster for a new owner. Like buying a Ferrari without an engine — you'd just have a red car and some nice leather seats.

But … what if that's not exactly true? What if the TikTok algorithm doesn't really matter that much?

The magic of TikTok's 'For You' page

TikTok's "For You" page seemed mind-blowing and mysterious back in 2020. It showed something radically different from the recommendation feeds of other social platforms like Instagram.

Instead of relying on you following certain accounts, it quickly tailored a feed to you based on actions other than who you followed. It considered things like how long you lingered on a certain video. Watching a lot of videos with cows eating grass in a field? Expect to be served up a lot more of that. You could have a completely personalized feed without ever following another user.

Now that we all kind of know how the algorithm works, if a new owner bought TikTok and wanted to build a new version of the "For You" page, perhaps it wouldn't be a completely impossible task. It's kind of like those Bon Appetit videos where chefs would try to recreate junk food like Ruffles potato chips — it's a stroke of genius to invent Ruffles in the first place, but if a talented cook already knows what a Ruffle looks and tastes likes like, they can do an approximation of it.

Of course, computer engineering isn't quite the same as cooking. As The Information pointed out, a significant hurdle is that a new buyer would be stuck trying to hire machine-learning engineers in a competitive market for talented tech workers.

And if it's just a matter of spending money to hire new engineers, that would be one thing. But if it were as simple as throwing money at the problem, then why hasn't Meta been able to make Reels as good as TikTok?

Probably for a million tiny reasons, ranging from luck to company culture. I would posit that a key element that makes TikTok so enjoyable is something that would come with the sale: its user base.

Yes, the magic of the "For You" page is what drew so many people in, to begin with, but TikTok created its own culture that is distinct from Instagram or YouTube, and that's what makes it hard for Reels or Shorts to replicate.

Just look at what happened with Threads

For another comparison, consider Threads vs. X, aka Twitter: Threads now has more daily active users than X, but I don't think anyone would say that the vibes are the same on the two apps.

Plenty would argue they prefer Threads because it has fewer of the toxic qualities of X, but it's undeniable that X still has the crackle and juice that can never be replicated. X is a great example of a company where a change of ownership certainly made the product worse and lost money and users, but you've also got, in Elon Musk, a new owner who has made so many bad decisions about how to run the platform that it would be impossible to replicate that mess.

There's also another thing that could be a drag on TikTok that doesn't even have to do with the algorithm. It's likely that the next year of waiting for a potential sale of TikTok will cause a talent drain and low morale across all parts of the company, including non-technical roles. There are tons of tiny things that make TikTok so fun to use aside from the next video showing up in your feed — and that means tons of tiny ways for it to get worse.

Selling TikTok without the algorithm — whatever that actually means — is not ideal, but it might not be the one thing that sends TikTok down a path toward MySpace status.

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• An entrepreneur has converted a 56-year-old Boeing 727 into an Airbnb in Bristol, England.
• Named PYTCHAir, the jet was bought without wings, engines, or a tail — but kept its lavish interior.
• The Airbnb can host at least four people and is about $438 a night with a minimum two-night stay.

Most commercial airplanes end their life in aircraft "graveyards," where they are disassembled and discarded or recycled.

Some, however, are rescued by entrepreneurs and repurposed into everything from hotels and restaurants to dive sites and art installations.

The latest converted airplane is a 56-year-old Boeing 727 in Bristol, England, that's been repurposed as an Airbnb and is now owned by British-Australian businessman Johnny Palmer.

Known as PYTCHAir, the luxe jet is already getting bookings into May and June.

Palmer declined to share with BI the cost of the now colorfully painted aircraft but said he got a discount because the 727 didn't have wings, engines, or a tail.

With or without wings, the magic lives inside the plane, Palmer said. It has a lavish interior previously outfitted by an ultrawealthy owner. Palmer said he has since restored PYTCHAir into a livable space with a kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms.

"We've treated this as a restoration project rather than ripping everything out and changing it — and why would you?" he said. "It's beautiful; it's totally raw 1980s billionaire kitsch."

The Airbnb requires a minimum two-night stay and starts at 350 British pounds — or about $438 — a night, so at least $876 for a two-night stay.

PYTCHAir started life as a commercial jet flying for Japan Airlines and defunct German leisure carrier Hapag-Lloyd Flug between 1968 and 1981.

The Boeing 727 tri-jet is a rarity in the skies these days and is mostly used only by world militaries and cargo companies.

Iran Aseman Airlines was the last passenger carrier to operate a 727 when it flew two hours between the domestic cities of Zahedan and Tehran in 2019.

The plane was converted into a private jet in 1981 by an unknown owner. Palmer told BI the original cabin has an Arabian flare.

Palmer said the interior design, including some of the shapes used, suggested that a Saudi family might have originally outfitted the plane.

The Airbnb listing described the interior as having "walnut paneling, gold details, and crystals" that "adorn this exquisite space ideal for nights away."

The plane jumped to a few more ultrawealthy owners before ending up wingless in a scrapyard in England, where Palmer bought it.

The aircraft, which was just a fuselage, was acquired from Cotswold Airport in Kemble, England. The on-site "boneyard" breaks down old airliners and sells off the avionics and engines.

The airport is also home to a retired British Airways Boeing 747 that has been converted into a "party plane" for birthdays and other private events.

He was then faced with the task of moving the plane from Cotswold to its home in Bristol.

Palmer said the plane was transported via the M5 motorway and required a police escort.

"They closed the motorway for us to go down," he said. "That was fine for us but not so good for the motorists stacked up behind."

Palmer said the high-class interior was left in its original configuration and that he brought in a car detailer to wash, polish, and vacuum.

He said he spent "tens of thousands" of dollars to restore the interior, on top of the cost of the jet itself.

Palmer said if the aircraft-to-Airbnb conversion proves financially viable, he'd consider adding another converted airplane to his fleet.

But the lighting, sound, and plumbing needed work, he said.

To get the jet up and running, Palmer said he repaired the lights, fitted the aircraft with a new sound system and high-speed internet, and replaced its 110-volt electrical system with a 240-volt one.

And he had to create a structure from shipping containers to hold the jet in place.

According to PYTCHAir's website, the containers are stacked high to give the aircraft a sense of flying above the clouds. The company said the structure is "vastly over-engineered" and gets regular safety checks.

"Taking inspiration from the world of aviation, the tops of the shipping containers have been turned into a runway, and the rear air stairs open out onto a landing pad," PYTCHAir said.

Once fixed up, the plane operated as a multi-use space for things like parties and meetings before becoming a full-time Airbnb.

Palmer said that PYTCHAir has been in operation for three years. Before it was turned into an Airbnb, it was previously used as a film set, a meeting space, and even for sleepovers with his wife and kids.

Palmer converted the 727 into an Airbnb earlier this year. It has a minimum two-night stay at about $438 per night — or around $876 for a two-night booking.

He said he wanted to put the plane on Airbnb to share it with the world.

"The initial novel and weirdness of the aircraft has kind of worn off a little bit for me," Palmer said. "So, I thought now I can share it with more people and maybe get a few quid in for its running costs, maintenance, and ongoing improvements," he said, using British slang for money.

According to Palmer, the 727 can comfortably accommodate up to four people, but he said more can hypothetically fit.

He suggested people max their parties at four people to have the best experience in the space.

"I'm still refining the offering and getting the experience really, really good," Palmer said, noting that he may tweak the pricing. "This is something I'm passionate about."

The sleeping options include a separate bedroom with a king bed, a bunk bed, a pull-out couch, and a few sofas.

The main four sleeping options are the king bed, the sofa, and the lower bunk in the crew rest area.

Aside from those, there's also a pull-out couch in one of the two lounges that's another sleeping option. And there's another couch in the main bedroom that could be slept on, he said.

However, the upper twin bed is particularly cramped due to the shape of the ceiling.

The cramped berth, which Palmer said is rarely ever used, is where the crew could sleep during flights when the 727 was still flying commercially.

The jet also features two main living spaces that can be used for lounging, working, or dining.

The living rooms have couches, tables, chairs, sound equipment, and televisions.

Palmer said he designed the televisions in the main lounge to double as mirrors.

There is no shortage of comfortable work and living space.

The 727 narrowbody offers some 70 feet of cabin length and 12 feet of width to work with, per Boeing specs.

There's also a kitchen on board, complete with a dishwasher, two ovens, and a small refrigerator.

The kitchen is located toward the front of the plane, across from the crew rest beds, and behind the cockpit.

An ensuite bathroom and two half-baths make for a total of three toilets and one shower.

One communal bathroom is at the front of the aircraft next to the cockpit, one is mid-plane, and the more private third is attached to the bedroom and has a shower.

There are sinks and mirrors throughout the cabin.

Among the coolest spaces on the 727 is the cockpit, which Palmer said has some of the original lighting restored.

PYTCHAir wants to restore as much of the jet as possible, including its systems, avionics, and lights.

For those who don't want to stay overnight at PYTCHAir, Palmer said he welcomes visitors to see the plane during the day.

"I want to make it accessible, so anyone interested in seeing planes, especially little kids, can just send us a message, then we'll show them around and let them play and get selfies," he said.

Palmer's decked-out Boeing jet isn't the world's only scrapped plane given a second life. One 727-turned hotel lives in a jungle in Costa Rica.

A 727 in Quepos, Costa Rica, has been converted into the Hotel Costa Verde and features bedrooms, a kitchenette, a deck, and plenty of sitting space.

A giant Boeing 747 hostel-hotel complete with four engine rooms sits in Sweden.

JumboStay sits next door to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm and features both dorm-style rooms and private rooms in the main cabin, the stairwell, and the engines.

Meanwhile, at least half a dozen old commercial planes have ended up in a deep grave as man-made diving sites.

The sunken planes off the coast of countries including Bahrain, Canada, and Turkey promote diving tourism and include aircraft like an Airbus A300, a Boeing 737-200, and a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

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• Ford is reaping the benefits of its bet on hybrids. 
• The automaker recorded surging hybrid sales in the last quarter, even as demand for EVs slowed.
• Ford slowed its EV push, postponing investment into manufacturing facilities and delaying new models. 

Ford's bet on hybrids looks like it's paying off.

The Detroit automaker announced in its earnings on Wednesday that hybrid sales rose 36% in the first quarter of 2024, with CEO Jim Farley telling investors that the company is now the third largest seller of hybrids in the US behind Toyota and Honda.

By comparison, the company's pure EV business has struggled.

Losses at Ford Model e, the company's dedicated electric vehicle unit, grew to $1.3 billion in the first three months of 2024 as demand for electric vehicles slowed and manufacturers engaged in a brutal price war.

"We made a lot of capacity decisions several years ago on hybrids, and I'm very thankful we did," said Farley in the company's Q1 earnings call.

Unlike rivals such as General Motors and Volkswagen, Ford continued to invest in its hybrid lineup even as it built up its EV business over the past few years — and now that EV demand is slowing partly because of the lack of affordable models, it looks like that strategy is paying off.

Hybrids, once dismissed by EV enthusiasts like Elon Musk as a "phase," are experiencing a boom in popularity as US customers seek cheaper options.

Data from online autos marketplace Edmunds reported by The New York Times found that, on average, buyers were paying $42,500 for hybrids in November 2023 compared with $60,500 for electric vehicles.

Toyota, which has been famously wary of the EV transition, has reported surging sales of its majority-hybrid US lineup, with the Japanese carmaker's hybrid and EV sales growing by 84% in February.

Ford's crosstown rival General Motors, meanwhile, has reversed its "all-in" electric vehicle strategy and pledged to bring back hybrids into its North American vehicle lineup.

Not to be outdone, Ford is also doubling down on hybrids, even as it cuts back on some EV investments.

The company announced earlier this month that it would delay the release of its new electric SUV from 2025 to 2027 and instead focus on expanding its hybrid lineup in North America by the end of the decade.

Ford vice president Jim Baumbick previously told Business Insider that hybrids would continue to play a role in the company's strategy for "an extended time," saying Ford's mixed approach gave customers "freedom of choice."

One company that is not thrilled about the hybrid renaissance is Tesla.

In its most recent earnings presentation, the Elon Musk-run EV giant, which famously shuns hybrids, blamed the enthusiasm for partially battery-powered cars for depressing global sales of pure EVs.

"The EV adoption rate globally is under pressure, and a lot of other auto manufacturers are pulling back on EVs and pursuing plug-in hybrids instead," said Musk in the company's earnings call.

"We believe this is not the right strategy, and electric vehicles will ultimately dominate the market," he added.

Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

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• Chipotle's CFO said that says that fewer customers are ordering ahead as its service speeds up.
• "When the lines are moving well … people like to come in and select their meal along the front line," he said.
• A key metric for the chain is how many entrées each restaurant makes in its peak 15 minutes.

Chipotle says that its service is becoming so much speedier that fewer customers are bothering to order ahead on its app.

During the pandemic, many fast-food and fast-casual chains rolled out ways for customers to order ahead so that customers could skip the line. For diners, this means less time waiting around in the restaurant. For companies, this means less labor is needed for taking orders.

But a big part of the experience of getting food from Chipotle is moving down the counter and customizing your burrito or bowl as you go.

When lines at its restaurants are moving more quickly, customers opt to do this rather than ordering ahead on its app or website, CFO Jack Hartung told investors.

"We're actually also seeing a little bit of shift from some of the order-ahead," he said. "Those folks are shifting into the … in-store channel as well. Again, when the lines are moving well, when the restaurant is running well, people like to come in and select their meal along the front line."

Digital sales — those placed via the Chipotle website, app, or third-party delivery services — made up 36.5% of total food and drink revenue in the quarter.

Digital sales have hoovered around this point since the third quarter of 2023 but are down from 39.3% and 38% in the first and second quarters of 2023, respectively. This figure is impacted by a number of other trends that influence customer dining behavior, however.

CEO Brian Niccol told analysts at the company's third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that its restaurants were, on average, making close to 25 entrées during the peak 15 minutes of the day, a key metric for the chain.

This was up by nearly two entrées compared to 2023, "with each month showing an acceleration," Niccol said. Hartung told BI that its restaurants were "approaching the mid-to-high 20s."

Niccol on Wednesday attributed it to improvements in staffing and scheduling as well as new software that the company rolled out in January that gives restaurants real-time visibility on how fast their service is.

But the number of entrées made varies massively by restaurant. Hartung said that some lower-volume restaurants made about 15 entrées on average during their peak 15 minutes, while Niccol said that its restaurant in Boston's financial district made more than 40 entrées, sometimes reaching as high as 80, during its peak 15 minutes. Chipotle didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about whether the Boston restaurant had a higher staff ratio than its other locations.

As well as speeding up the assembly of burritos and bowls, Chipotle has also invested in technology to make some food preparation quicker, such as its Autocado, which cuts, cores, and peels avocados. 

Chipotle is also testing an automated kitchen line to prepare burrito bowls for digital orders. It plans to bring both pieces of tech to some of its restaurants later this year, Niccol said.

Is fast food getting too expensive? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.

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• It's not just Boeing. Airlines are facing big losses as well.
• Southwest Airlines and American Airlines posted losses in the first quarter of 2024.
• Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said Boeing's aircraft delivery delays "are very painful."

Boeing isn't the only company grappling with turmoil in the aviation industry.

On Thursday, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines reported losses in their quarterly earnings call.

Southwest Airlines said it would be ceasing flights to four airports —Bellingham International Airport, Cozumel International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport — from early August after a $231 million loss in the first quarter of 2024.

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC the decision to cease flights had "nothing to do" with Boeing's aircraft delivery delays. But the delays, Jordan said, did hurt Southwest in other ways.

"Now the Boeing delays are very painful. They cause us to replan, they hurt us on the revenue front, they cause us to be inefficient, and we're working all of that," he told CNBC on Thursday.

Besides reducing flights, Southwest also said it would cut down on hiring. The airline said it expects to end this year with about 2,000 fewer employees than at the end of 2023.

American Airlines, meanwhile, posted a loss of $312 million in its first quarter amid growing labor costs.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told CNBC on Thursday that while they will receive about seven fewer aircraft from Boeing due to the delays, the reduction in capacity will not have a "material impact" on the airline.

But Isom did express his disappointment at Boeing during his company's earnings call.

"I've talked to everyone at Boeing that I can possibly address and the message is the same: Get your act together," Isom told investors on Thursday.

When asked about Isom's remarks, Boeing pointed BI to a comment made by its CFO Brian West on March 20 at the Bank of America Global Industrials Conference. West told conference attendees then that Boeing was "in regular, very transparent communications" with their clients.

"The most important thing we do is communicate with them. And they have been supportive of everything we're trying to do to enhance safety and quality for the industry," West said.

Representatives for Southwest Airlines and American Airlines didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

Boeing has come under fire recently following repeated quality control lapses. On January 5, a plug door flew off a two-month-old Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaskan Airlines flight from Oregon to California.

On Wednesday, Boeing said during its earnings call that it had burned through $3.9 billion in cash in the first quarter of 2024. The company also posted a net loss of $355 million in its latest quarter.

"Near term, yes, we are in a tough moment," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a letter to employees on the same day.

"Lower deliveries can be difficult for our customers and for our financials. But safety and quality must and will come above all else," he continued.

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• Robusta coffee futures hit a 16-year high because of a prolonged drought in Vietnam.
• Vietnam and Brazil, the top robusta producers, face climate issues affecting harvest and supply.
• Vietnamese farmers are also holding onto their beans, hoping to sell them for higher prices.

Lattes may get pricier, as a key indicator for the price of the bean in espresso just hit a record high.

The robusta coffee variety is the basis for both espresso and instant coffee. Vietnam makes the most robusta, followed by Brazil.

A long, El Niño-induced drought in Vietnam pushed up the price of robusta futures on Wednesday to the highest in at least 16 years, Bloomberg reported.

Vietnam produces more than a third of the world's robusta, per the US Department of Agriculture. In December, the agency predicted Brazil would harvest less robusta this year because of climate issues, while Vietnam would export less because of lower total supplies from last year. This year's drought in Vietnam could continue the low-supply cycle, hurting next year's production.

Last month, Vietnam's coffee association said exports could decline as much as 20% in the 12 months ending in September, compared with the same period last year.

"We can't tell when prices will peak," Tran Thi Lan Anh, deputy director of Vietnamese exporter Vinh Hiep Co., told Bloomberg. She said farmers and brokers think the cost of the beans could rise 15% per kilogram from current prices.

Robusta's price has also been pushed up by hoarding. Some Vietnamese farmers aren't selling their coffee beans, holding onto as much as 13% of this year's harvest in hopes of selling the beans for more later, Bloomberg reported.

Vietnam is increasingly importing cheaper robusta from Brazil to satisfy soaring local demand from coffee drinkers, Bloomberg reported in March.

And as disposable income rises across Asia, consumers are buying more coffee, too. Asian countries consumed 15% more coffee last year than in 2018 — the largest jump of any region — but still much less than Europe consumed, per data from the International Coffee Organization.

Higher bean prices will take a while to reach consumers — so the cost of your mocha is safe for now.

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• Ryan Watson was on vacation when he was charged with illegally carrying ammo into Turks and Caicos.
• He and his wife, Valerie, say the four bullets in their duffel bag were unknowingly left there from a hunting trip.
• Watson now faces 12 years in prison, alongside several US tourists who say they made the same mistake.

An Oklahoma man traveling with his wife in the Caribbean territory of Turks and Caicos faces 12 years in prison after four rounds of ammunition were found in his luggage.

Ryan and Valerie Watson arrived in Turks and Caicos earlier this month to celebrate his 40th birthday with several other couples, their families said in a GoFundMe. NBC Boston reported that the Watsons arrived on April 7.

But the pair, who have two young children, were arrested in the self-governed British territory after airport security found the four bullets in their carry-on duffel bag.

Their families' GoFundMe said the ammo had been left in the bag unintentionally, and was from a prior deer hunting trip.

"They were hunting ammunition rounds that I use for white-tailed deer, and I recognized them, and I thought: 'Oh, what a mistake.' I had no idea that they were in there," Ryan Watson told NBC News.

Valerie Watson was released from the charges on Tuesday and flew back to Oklahoma to reunite with her children.

But her husband remains in Turks and Caicos, and was granted $15,000 bail the day after by the local supreme court, according to a police statement.

He now faces 12 years in prison, which is the minimum custodial sentence for bringing firearms or ammunition into Turks and Caicos.

Ryan Watson must stay on the islands and report twice a week to a local police station while waiting for his hearing, which is set for June 7.

Meanwhile, his family is trying to raise $300,000 for his legal fees and housing in the Caribbean.

"Isolated from their family, friends, and children, they face mounting legal fees, living expenses, and the overwhelming stress of their situation," their GoFundMe reads. "The emotional and financial toll is immense, and they are at risk of losing everything."

"We were trying to pack board shorts and flip flops," Valerie Watson told CBS News. "Packing ammunition was not at all our intent."

The Watsons did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider through their GoFundMe.

Eight US tourists prosecuted since February

It is illegal to bring firearms or ammunition into Turks and Caicos, and penalties apply regardless of the offender's status or country of origin, according to the local attorney general's chambers.

Several tourists caught under this law were previously let off with just a fine, while at least one was given a prison sentence under the minimum limit.

But in February, a court of appeal ordered that all offenders be given at least the minimum sentence of 12 years in prison.

At least eight tourists from the US have since been prosecuted under this rule, per the attorney general's chambers.

Another American tourist, 31-year-old Tyler Wenrich, was charged on Tuesday with possessing ammunition after he arrived in Turks and Caicos on a cruise ship, according to local police.

"While going through a security checkpoint, it was discovered Mr Wenrich allegedly had ammunition in his possession," a police statement said.

Amid the recent spate of tourist arrests, the US State Department published a September advisory warning US citizens that it wouldn't be able to secure their release if they brought firearms and ammo into Turks and Caicos.

"We strongly encourage you to carefully check your luggage for stray ammunition or forgotten weapons before departing for TCI," the advisory said.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Tourism is a key revenue for Turks and Caicos, and in 2019 provided about $787 million, or 65% of the island's GDP, to the territory, per a 2023 report by the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce.

The Caribbean archipelago is a popular port of call for US cruise ships, and this year has seen a 127% jump in tourist arrivals — the largest increase in the world — compared to 2019, the United Nations World Tourism Organization said in February.

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