Hertz’s CEO to step down as car renter unwinds EV bet
Hertz is replacing its chief executive officer with Gil West, the former COO of General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit.
‘Trust, but verify' helps dealer group cut customers' service wait times
Auto Services Unlimited’s low-cost auditing practice has cut wait times significantly and is scalable, the chain’s fixed operations director says.
Tesla settles race bias claims by Black former worker after $3 million verdict
Tesla has settled a long running lawsuit by a Black former factory worker who claimed he was subjected to severe racial harassment, according to a court filing Friday, as the electric carmaker faces a series of other discrimination lawsuits.
Airfares have dropped. Here’s why they could go even lower in 2024
By Sally French | NerdWallet
Inflation has hit most of the economy, but that’s hardly the case with airfare. Not only are airfares down 6% year-over-year based on January 2024 prices, but they’re even down 15% versus a decade ago. That’s according to consumer price index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published in February. Some experts predict airfares to international destinations will drop even lower in 2024.
According to the American Express Global Business Travel Air Monitor 2024 report, prices on certain international routes may drop as much as 12%.
Here’s how AmEx GBT anticipates average economy airfares will change in 2024 versus 2023, for a sampling of regions:
- South America to North America: Drop by 11.9%.
- North America to Central America: Drop by 7.8%.
- North America to Asia: Drop by 7.5%.
- Asia to North America: Drop by 5.2%.
- North America to Europe: Drop by 3.5%.
- Europe to North America: Drop by 1.2%.
So, why are airfares dropping?
Existing airlines are offering more flights and routes
2023 was a huge year for travel, with several records broken. The U.S. State Department issued a record 24 million passport books and cards during the 2023 fiscal year, signaling increased interest in travel abroad.
Katy Nastro, a spokesperson for airfare tracking website Going, has seen an increase in international flights booked as well.
Prosecutors seek from 40 to 50 years in prison for Sam Bankman-Fried for cryptocurrency fraud
By LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s orchestration of one of history’s largest financial frauds in his quest to dominate the cryptocurrency world deserves a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years, federal prosecutors on Friday told a federal judge.
Prosecutors made the recommendation in papers filed in Manhattan federal court in advance of a March 28 sentencing, where a judge will also consider a 100-year prison sentence recommended by the court’s probation officers and a request by defense lawyers for leniency and a term of imprisonment not to exceed single digits.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November on fraud and conspiracy charges after his dramatic fall from a year earlier when he and his companies seemed to be riding a crest of success that had resulted in a Super Bowl advertisement and celebrity endorsements from stars like quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.
Some of his biggest successes, though, resulted from stealing at least $10 billion from investors and customers between 2017 and 2022 to buy luxury real estate, make risky investments, dispense outsized charitable donations and political contributions and to buy praise from celebrities, prosecutors said.