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Airlines warn flight cancellations will continue even after shutdown ends

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Airlines warn flight cancellations will continue even after shutdown ends


A board shows two cancelled American Airlines flights and three on time at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., Nov. 7, 2025.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

Flight disruptions that have marred air travel for millions of people in recent weeks could continue even after the government shutdown ends, airlines and the secretary of Transportation said.

The Senate on Monday night passed a bill that could end the longest federal government shutdown in history, sending it to the House for a vote.

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that won’t be an immediate fix.

“We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel but it depends on controllers coming back to work,” Duffy said at a press conference at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Duffy also warned severe disruptions over the past few days could get much worse without a deal.

The Senate vote came as staffing shortages of air traffic controllers, who are required to work without their regular paychecks in the shutdown, have delayed or canceled thousands of flights, with issues worsening in recent days. Controllers missed their second full paychecks of the shutdown this week, and some have taken up second jobs and are working with increasing levels of stress, government and union officials have said.

Even if the House passes the bill that will fund the federal government through January, airlines said they will need time to readjust.

Read more CNBC airline news

“Airlines’ reduced flight schedules cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government reopens,” Airlines for America, a lobbying group for airlines including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, said late Monday. “It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days. With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season around the corner, the time to act is now to help mitigate any further impacts to Americans.”

Airlines will need time to reconfigure schedules and position planes and crews, something they were forced to quickly address with last week’s required flight cuts.

More than 5 million travelers have been affected by airline staffing issues since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, Airlines for America said . The disruptions have sent some passengers looking for alternatives, from buses to rental cars and even private jets.

Last Friday, the Trump administration started requiring commercial airlines to cut 4% of their domestic flights at 40 busy U.S. airports, with larger reductions on the way if the shutdown doesn’t end, as officials blamed the strain on air traffic controllers.

Aviation groups have said that record numbers of travelers are expected for the Thanksgiving period, with the holiday just over two weeks away.

Just over 5% of the scheduled 22,811 U.S. departures were canceled on Tuesday, a relatively light day for travel generally, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That’s down from an 8.7% cancellation rate on Monday, or 2,239 flights, and 2,633 cancellations on Sunday, or 10.2% of the schedule. Delays had also piled up with staffing shortages and bad weather at major hubs, including Chicago O’Hare.

The shutdown, like the one in late 2018 to early 2019, has thrust aviation’s strains into the spotlight. The previous shutdown, however, ended hours after a shortfall of air traffic controllers snarled air traffic in the New York area.

Aviation groups on Tuesday urged lawmakers to not only end the shutdown but to provide more Department of Transportation funding to help modernize air traffic control and hire more controllers, who were in short supply even before the shutdown began.

“The government shutdown has disrupted that work and slowed the strong momentum we have built for modernization,” the Modern Skies Coalition, which includes major airline, airport and aerospace groups such as Boeing, GE Aerospace and others, as well as labor unions, wrote in an open letter to Congress.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to dock pay of air traffic controllers who are absent. “All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses for any air traffic controllers who weren’t absent during the shutdown.

Duffy said he supported Trump’s idea and that he was concerned about the dedication and “patriotism” of controllers who haven’t shown up for work. “If we have controllers who systemically weren’t doing their job, we will take action,” he said.

Duffy said controllers would receive about 70% of their pay within two days of the shutdown ending.

A day earlier, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union, said it took about 2½ months before the workers were made whole in the shutdown that ended in 2019.

Duffy said the shutdown has made air traffic controller staffing more challenging, with 15 to 20 of them retiring a day instead of around four retiring a day before the government closure. He said the country is roughly 2,000 controllers short of what the system needs.

“The job of keeping aviation safe and secure is tough every day, but forcing federal employees to do it without pay is unacceptable,” the Modern Skies Coalition wrote in its open letter. “We owe public servants at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other agencies supporting aviation, like the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection, a debt of gratitude and a swift ending to this shutdown.”



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Four ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh, Centre tells Lok Sabha – The Times of India

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Four ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh, Centre tells Lok Sabha – The Times of India


The Centre is pushing port-led infrastructure expansion in Andhra Pradesh, with four ports currently under construction, even as it steps up nationwide port modernisation and efficiency measures.As per information shared on Friday in Parliament, the ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh are Mulapeta Port (formerly Bhavanapadu Port) in Srikakulam district, Machilipatnam Port in Krishna district, Ramayapatnam Port in SPSR Nellore district, and Kakinada SEZ Port in Kakinada district.The government said it is undertaking measures such as mechanisation of berths and terminals, digitalisation and logistics integration, new berth construction, capital dredging for larger vessels, and connectivity upgrades across road, rail and waterways.It has also rolled out initiatives including elimination of manual forms, direct port delivery and entry, container scanners, e-delivery of documents and payments, RFID-based gate automation and Maritime Single Window platform SagarSetu 2.0 to cut vessel turnaround time.Two new ports — Vadhavan Port in Maharashtra and Galathea Bay Port in Andaman and Nicobar Islands — have been notified as major ports. At present, 12 major ports operate under the central government, while 68 other-than-major ports are under state governments.Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided across five pillars including port modernisation, connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development and inland water transport.The government has also launched HaritSagar green port guidelines, the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP), and the Cruise Bharat Mission to promote sustainability and cruise tourism.The information was given by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.At present, 12 major ports operate under the administrative control of the central government, while 68 operational other-than-major ports are under state governments.The government said it has launched multiple national programmes for port development, expansion and upgradation. Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided under five pillars — port modernisation, port connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development, and coastal shipping and inland water transport.Green and sustainability-linked initiatives have also been introduced. The government has launched HaritSagar green port guidelines to promote environment-friendly port ecosystems and initiated the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP) to shift harbour tugs towards greener fuel alternatives.Further, the Cruise Bharat Mission has been launched to prioritise cruise tourism development across the country.



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Anthropic At $380 Billion Surpasses India’s Top IT Firms Combined As AI Fears Rock Stocks

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Anthropic At 0 Billion Surpasses India’s Top IT Firms Combined As AI Fears Rock Stocks


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Anthropic’s AI tools have triggered a sharp decline in Indian IT stocks like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, eroding Rs 3,11,873 crore in market value.

Anthropic's valuation surpassed combined value of total IT firms in India

Anthropic’s valuation surpassed combined value of total IT firms in India

The entire Information Technology (IT) industry in India is battering with the existential threat, which comes on the heels of rising generative AI, posing doubts over the viability of their business model.

Stocks of the IT industries, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, etc., hit brutally over the past week. This was triggered with the launch of new AI tools by Anthropic’s Claude for Cowork, which is like an office teammate helping the user to do tasks such as file sorting, reading legal drafts, etc.

Anthropic’s Valuation vs Nifty IT Index

Anthropic’s phenomenal valuation rise has surpassed the combined value of India’s top IT firms. Standing at a valuation of $380 billion, the US-based AI company has eclipsed India’s Nifty IT index, whose market cap was at $296.4 billion by the time of writing this report.

Investors are accelerating their exit from technology stocks as concerns intensify that advanced artificial intelligence tools could disrupt core segments of the global software and IT services industry.

This week alone, TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies dragged 9-11 per cent.

The sharp correction has wiped out substantial investor wealth. Based on intraday lows, the combined market capitalisation of the top five domestic IT companies has eroded by nearly Rs 3,11,873 crore this week.

TCS emerged as the biggest laggard, losing Rs 1,28,800 crore in market value, with its market capitalisation slipping to Rs 9,35,253 crore. The fall also pushed it to the fifth-most valued listed company from the fourth position.

Infosys has seen its market capitalisation shrink by Rs 91,431 crore following a 15 per cent decline this week. HCL Technologies has lost Rs 53,647 crore in market value over the past five trading sessions. Wipro and Tech Mahindra have also recorded declines, with their market capitalisations falling by Rs 22,762 crore and Rs 15,233 crore, respectively, during the same period.

Company Name Mcap ($Billion)
Tata Consultancy Services 107.4
Infosys 61.2
HCL Technologies 43.6
Wipro 24.8
Tech Mahindra 16.6
LTIMindtree 16.7
Persistent Systems 9.5
Oracle Financial Services Soft 6.4
Coforge 5
Mphasis 5.2
Total 296.4
Source: Bloomberg

Anthropic’s Recent Funding Round

Anthropic has recently raised $30 billion in Series G funding led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380 billion post-money, as announced by the company in the press release.

The investment will fuel the frontier research, product development, and infrastructure expansions that have made Anthropic the market leader in enterprise AI and coding.

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IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots after December’s crew crunch – The Times of India

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IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots after December’s crew crunch – The Times of India


IndiGo, the country’s largest airline is set to go on a hiring spree, bringing over 1,000 pilots on board. This comes after the aviation giant faced massive operational disruption last December, when the company was forced to cancel more than 5,000 flights within seven days.The fresh intake will span trainee first officers, senior first officers and commanders. A recruitment notice shows the carrier is also ready to accept applicants without time on the Airbus A320, the workhorse aircraft across its network, ET reported.Under the updated framework, the number of landings permitted between 12 am and 6 am has been limited, while the mandatory weekly rest period for pilots has gone up.A review carried out by the irectorate General of Civil Aviation concluded that the airline had neither hired in line with the new rules nor accelerated its training capacity. This, the probe noted, resulted in pilots being stretched through repeated reassignments, lengthier duty spans and greater use of deadheading, in which crew are moved as passengers to operate flights elsewhere.

Stepping up expansion

A senior official, as cited by ET, maintained that IndiGo is now lining up a steady supply of cockpit crew to keep pace with rapid aircraft additions. The airline’s in-house system is currently upgrading about 20–25 first officers to captain each month. Now, alongside hiring, the carrier has begun adjusting its network planning to create more breathing space in daily operations. From almost no buffer in December, the margin has been raised to 3% this month. Standby crew availability has also been lifted to a minimum of 15%.Fleet expansion is continuing at a brisk rate, with roughly four aircraft joining the airline every month on average.Training remains a long lead activity. Trainee first officers require around six months before they are cleared to operate, while promotion to captaincy demands at least 1,500 hours of flying, though airlines may prescribe stricter benchmarks.While the regulator’s baseline requirement is three sets of pilots per aircraft, including one captain and one first officer, IndiGo’s intense utilisation levels push its need to well over twice that figure.Figures placed during the inquiry into the December episode showed the airline needed 2,422 captains but had 2,357.

DGCA findings

After the disruption, the watchdog stepped in with temporary relaxations, suspending night-duty restriction rules until February 10.In its assessment, the DGCA said there was an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources, which significantly reduced roster buffer margins.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that the airline structured its crew schedules to extract the longest possible duty hours, leaning heavily on deadheading, tail swaps and stretched work patterns while leaving very little room for recovery. It noted that such planning weakened roster integrity and hurt operational resilience.



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