Hey Snackers,
Some like their eggs sunny-side up; some like them cup-side-in. Cup Noodles, the instant-ramen company that fuels college students across the US, has launched breakfast in a cup. The ramen noodles are flavored as maple pancakes, sausage, and egg.
The Nasdaq entered bull-market territory yesterday as the first quarter of the year wraps up. The tech-heavy index closed up more than 20% from its December low. Wall Street's “fear gauge” VIX index fell as volatility expectations cooled along with bank worries.
JetBlue’s axing up to 10% of its NYC routes as airport shortages cloud a busy travel season
NYC’s rush hour… has moved from the streets to the skies. The FAA announced plans last week to reduce airport congestion in NYC and DC this summer by cutting flights into the hubs. A big issue: NY’s air-traffic-control staff (which is hired by the FAA) is at only 54% of capacity, compared to a national average of 81%. Now JetBlue plans to cut a chunk of its flights just before peak flying season.
Smaller apple: JetBlue’s prepping to axe up to 10% of its flights in busy airports like JFK and LaGuardia. That could mean fewer route options for your summer vacay.
True blues: JetBlue could take a bigger financial hit than rivals who aren’t based in NYC, because nearly 60% of its flights go in and out of the NY area daily.
Request received: Delta and United also offered to cut some of their NY-based flights, but only if regulators promise to give the routes back after the busy season.
Four-hour flight… an hour on the tarmac. Last year about 2.7% of all US flights were canceled, the highest rate in a decade (apart from pandemic 2020) — and JetBlue had the highest percentage of cancellations. Weather was a key factor, but staffing shortages didn’t help. To improve reliability, Delta and American have agreed to multiyear raises for their pilots, while JetBlue splurged on new staff and planes. But even if the airlines are better staffed, it’ll be hard to fly high without enough FAA airport employees to get ’em off the ground.
Sometimes you have to off-load to take off… While fewer routes would mean fewer options (and likely higher prices), airlines are trying to avoid more cancellations and delays by being proactive. By making congestion-fighting cuts now, they could avoid angry customers later. Last summer, 350 flights/day were delayed in NY, partly because of the air-traffic-control shortage. Congestion would be 45% worse this year without industry-wide cuts, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said, citing the FAA.
The MLB agrees to a hefty pay bump with the minor league, investing in its talent pipeline
Working the count… no strikes. Major League Baseball players usually get the spotlight, but this week the minor league’s making headlines. The players making up the MLB’s 5.5K-person minor-league system tentatively struck a collective-bargaining agreement with the league, a milestone in baseball history. Players and owners could ratify the five-year deal by as soon as today.
Peanuts to Cracker Jacks: The agreement’s most drastic change is minimum player pay, which will at least double. Season salaries will jump from $4.8K to $19.8K at the lowest level, and from $17.5K to $38.5K at the highest level before the majors.
Strike one: Last year minor leaguers used social media to express disdain about their paychecks and living conditions, with some saying they stayed in cramped apartments with several players sleeping on air mattresses.
Whiff: In July the MLB agreed to pay $185M to settle a federal class-action suit brought by minor leaguers over wage violations.
Bullpen billions… Despite last season’s World Series drawing its second-lowest TV audience ever (and a 99-day player lockout), the MLB hit a revenue record, pulling in a ballpark $10.8B. The league’s national media-rights renewals with Fox, TBS, and Disney’s ESPN brought in $1.8B, a $250M/season boost from previous deals. On the streaming side, new deals with Apple and NBCUniversal’s Peacock brought in an additional $115M. Sponsorship agreements were up too.
You can’t ignore the talent pipeline… In the corporate world, businesses invest heavily in recruiting, internships, and training to keep their talent supply chains healthy. To succeed, the sports world has to do the same. While it's estimated that only 10% of minor leaguers will play in the majors, the 120-team system is the foundation for talent in the highly lucrative league. Players like José Bautista have transitioned from farm-team obscurity to MLB leaders.
The Crypto Catch-Up…
🤖 Techy… Ethereum's Shanghai update is expected to take place on April 12. If successful, validators who staked ether will be able to withdraw (and sell) the millions of ETH currently locked up as collateral — potentially affecting prices.
💰 Costly… Matt Damon said he took the (now infamous) "fortune favours the brave" ad gig to raise money for his clean-water nonprofit. The 2021 Crypto.com commercial premiered shortly before a crypto-wide selloff.
🤔 Sus… The CFTC sued Binance, accusing the world’s largest crypto exchange of illegally letting US customers trade crypto derivatives (which the regulator says it has authority over). If it prevails, the CFTC could force Binance to abandon the US market.
What else we’re Snackin’
Scroll: Arkansas sued Meta and TikTok, claiming their social-media apps hurt users’ mental health. Last week Utah passed strict social-media laws aimed at protecting minors, and Congress is looking at similar legislation.
Halt: 1.4K+ tech leaders and experts, including Elon Musk and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, called for a six-month pause in the race to train AI tools, saying that ignoring caution could lead to “loss of control of our civilization.”
Charged: EVgo stock powered up 22% yesterday after the EV-charging network crushed Wall Street’s quarterly expectations. But production might be hampered by new rules that require US-made chargers for some federally funded projects.
Sour: As TikTok-ban momentum heats up in Washington, Chinese parent ByteDance is gaining steam with another viral app: Lemon8, an Instagram-esque platform, hit the US App Store’s Top Charts this week.
AdAI: Microsoft said it’s exploring sticking ads in responses from its ChatGPT-fueled Bing search, and users have already spotted some. AI servers are costly to run, but monetization introduces fresh concerns.
Friday
- Consumer sentiment index
Authors of this Snacks own ethereum and shares: of Apple, Delta, Disney and Microsoft
ID: 2822700