
WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request after it experienced trouble with its flight operating system, or FOS. The airline blamed technology from one of its vendors. As a result, flights were delayed across American’s major hubs, with only 37% of the airline's 3,901 domestic and international flights leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Nineteen flights were canceled. Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the FOS system. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said. Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said. Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” He said officials were watching for any cascading effects, such as staffing problems. On social media, however, customers expressed frustrations about delays that caused them or their family members to miss connecting flights. One person asked if American planned to hold flights for passengers to make connections, while others complained about the lack of assistance they said they received from the airline or gate agents. Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 36% — were arriving at their destinations as scheduled. Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays, Cirium said. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 4,058 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed, with 76 flights canceled. The site had not posted any American Airlines flights on Tuesday morning, but showed in the afternoon that 961 American flights were delayed. Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive. An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays. The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. “Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company. Associated Press writers David Koenig, Mae Anderson and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.PKK's dark economy: How drug money fuels terror and politics
Safety and reliability are two important Internet search criteria, and ”car safety” averages 794,000 searches on Google worldwide. According to Confused.com , a UK car insurance comparison company, the safest car manufacturers for 2025 have been identified, based on past data. This analysis is based on vehicle safety ratings and consumer complaints to identify the safest and least complained-about car brands. The data set examined related to vehicle safety ratings and consumer complaints data sourced from the UK National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for 2,317 vehicles released since 2014. The top 5 safest car manufacturers are : • Volvo • Subaru • Tesla • Genesis • Polestar Each brand in the top 5 achieved a 100 percent safety score, meaning all of their cars received only 5-star ratings for overall vehicle safety. This rating is based on a comprehensive analysis of crash tests, including frontal impact, side impact, and rollover resistance, as well as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). These brands excel in a wide range of safety features; and from collision prevention systems to driver distraction detection. When it comes to overall safety , electric vehicle (EV) brands are leading, with Polestar and Tesla both offering electric vehicles and releasing only 5-star safety-rated cars in the last decade. EVs tend to be safer than most combustion engine cars. They perform well in crash tests—lacking a heavy front engine allows for more spacious crumple zones and better weight distribution, which can help prevent flipping. Both brands offer a wide range of safety features, including radars and sensors for detecting external risks and onboard technology to protect the driver if there is a crash. Volvo and Genesis are the least complained-about car brands, study shows. Customer complaints are a helpful way to gauge how well-liked and how safe a car is. The analysis revealed that Volvo and Genesis tie for first place as the least complained-about car brands, based on the average number of total complaints per car for each brand. The analysis highlighted common consumer concerns, including car faults and technology issues [1]. Polestar took second place, with Lexus following closely behind in third. Audi, Mitsubishi, and Smart also ranked among the top 10 brands with the fewest complaints. Each of the brands in the top 10 had fewer than 100 complaints per car tested. 2024 car models have had the highest percentage of 5* ratings to date Apart from a couple of blips, the number of cars with a 5-star rating has been increasing over the last 10 years. Therefore, in general, cars from 2024 are have more 5-star safety ratings than previous years. This is due to the return of quality materials and an advancement in technology. 2024 has seen a rise in all sorts of technological advancements, from the shift to more EVs received 44 percent fewer complaints than ICE vehicles When comparing electric cars (EV) to internal combustion engine cars (ICE), EVs had a much higher percentage of 5-star rated models. EVs score over 91 percent in safety, with ICE cars falling behind by 69 percent. While more ICE vehicles are analysed due to EVs being relatively new, this highlights that EVs are entering the automotive space with safety as a top priority. Additionally, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles received the highest number of complaints from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, averaging 161 per car tested year-to-date. However, electric vehicles (EVs) fare much better with an average of just 91 complaints per car—a 44 percent reduction compared to ICE vehicles. Hybrid vehicles take the lead as the least complained-about fuel type, averaging just 62 complaints per car, a 62 percent reduction compared to ICE vehicles and 32% fewer complaints than EVs. Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robbins LLP reminds investors that a class action was filed on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ: SYM) securities between February 8, 2024 and November 26, 2024. Symbotic is an automation technology company that engages in the production of a robotics and automation-based product movement technology platform. For more information, submit a form , email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003. The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that Symbotic Inc. (SYM) Failed to Disclose Material Weaknesses in its Internal Control Over Financial Reporting According to the complaint, on November 27, 2024, the Company filed with the SEC a Form 8-K/A, in which the Company revealed it had "identified errors in its revenue recognition related to cost overruns on certain deployments that will not be billable, which additionally impacted system revenue, income (loss) before income tax, net income (loss) and gross margin recognized in the second, third, and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2024." Further, the Company indicated that its previously issued financial statements for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 and the Company’s supplemental presentation, should no longer be relied upon. On this news, the price of Symbotic stock fell over 35%, to close at $24 per share on November 27, 2024. What Now : You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Symbotic Inc. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must submit their application to the court by February 3, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here . All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. About Robbins LLP : Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions; Robbins LLP does. A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002. Since our inception, we have obtained over $1 billion for shareholders. To be notified if a class action against Symbotic Inc. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3edbf291-c5a4-45f0-a769-259266b2c15b