American Airlines scraps 950 flights in July
American Airlines Group Inc. dropped about 1% of its scheduled daily flights for July after a faster-than-expected surge in summer travel led to crew shortages.
The airline will cancel 950 flights during the first 13 days of July, after it scrapped more than 400 flights over the weekend and into Monday on what it cited as poor weather conditions at its Miami and Chicago hubs that exacerbated a shortfall in pilots. In some cases, delays caused by storms exhausted its group of reserve pilots.
The sudden jump in demand fueled by people tired of staying close to home has strained airlines' ability to rebuild operations cut back amid the onset of the pandemic last year. Pilots who took leave and those who were switched to new types of planes have had to be retrained as flight demand has recovered to near-2019 levels.
American added flights back faster than its primary competitors and is operating at about 10% below its 2019 seat capacity, according to records from flight-data firm OAG. Delta Air Lines Inc. is more than 20% behind pre-pandemic capacity and United Airlines Holdings Inc. is more than 30% below. American didn't immediately comment on the difference.
Varsity to return to Athens, Georgia
A day after The Varsity served its last chili dog in its longtime Athens location, the Georgia restaurant said that it plans a return to the college town.
The restaurant closed Sunday. By Monday, signs had been removed from the location. The Varsity had occupied since 1964, The Athens Banner-Herald reported. The restaurant had operated in other Athens locations since 1932.
"We are incredibly grateful for the many years of support from our customers in Athens and we look forward to serving them again soon at a new location in the Athens area," the company wrote on social media.
The Gordy family, which owns the Atlanta-based fast food chain, has won permission from Athens-Clarke County to tear down the current restaurant for redevelopment.
The Varsity still operates multiple Atlanta-area locations, including its flagship near Georgia Tech.
Fed says economy, inflation are rising
The economy is growing at a healthy clip, and that has accelerated inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says in written testimony to be delivered Tuesday at a congressional oversight hearing.
Still, Powell reiterated his view that inflation's recent jump to a 13-year high would prove temporary.
"Inflation has increased notably in recent months," Powell said in the prepared remarks. He blamed the rise on several factors, including sharp price declines last year at the onset of the pandemic, which make inflation figures now, compared with a year ago, look much larger. Higher gas prices, and rapid increases in consumer spending as the economy reopens, coupled with supply bottlenecks, have also contributed to rising costs.
"As these transitory supply effects abate, inflation is expected to drop back toward our longer-run goal," Powell said, referring to the 2% inflation rate the Fed typically targets. Currently, however, the Fed is seeking to push inflation slightly above 2% to make up for the roughly nine years that it has come in below that level.
Chinese banks step up cryptocurrency ban
BEIJING - China's biggest banks have promised to refuse to help customers trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after the central bank said executives were told to step up enforcement of a government ban.
Regulators appear to be worried that despite a 2013 ban on Chinese institutions handling cryptocurrencies, the state-run financial system might be exposed indirectly to risks. The four major state-owned banks and payment service Alipay promised to step up monitoring of customers and block use of their accounts to buy or trade crypto-currencies.
Promoters of crypto-currencies say they allow anonymity and more flexibility, but Chinese regulators warn that might facilitate criminal activity.
- Compiled by Dave Flessner