Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year due to ongoing financial difficulties, lease disputes, and operational challenges, despite previous restructuring efforts and industry headwinds. The airline plans to reduce costs, redesign its network, and optimize its fleet, while negotiations with creditors and lessors continue. The bankruptcy does not impact current operations or ticket sales.
Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr is stepping down after the company's significant losses from its bet on Tesla and other EVs. The rental firm will reduce its EV fleet from 60,000 to 20,000 and use the funds to bolster its combustion-engine vehicle fleet. Former Delta Airlines and GM's Cruise self-driving unit COO, Gil West, will succeed Scherr as CEO. Scherr believes his work helped the company remain competitive in a changing automotive landscape.
Hertz reported a wider-than-expected Q4 loss due to its large Tesla fleet, with CEO Stephen Scherr citing high depreciation and repair costs for EVs as major factors. The company plans to reduce its EV fleet and pause all EV purchases, including a deal with Polestar, while focusing on higher utilization of traditional vehicles. Despite the setbacks, Hertz remains committed to EVs and aims to redeploy them strategically, but its decisions will have implications for Tesla's growth targets and the broader adoption of EVs.
German software company SAP will stop using Tesla for its 29,000-vehicle fleet due to difficulties in planning caused by Tesla's frequent price changes and early deliveries, as reported by German business daily Handelsblatt. This decision has contributed to a 3% drop in Tesla's stock in early trade, with a 26% decrease in value so far this year.
Hertz, after previously positioning itself as a champion of electric vehicles with plans to expand its fleet of plug-in models, is now selling about a third of its global electric-vehicle fleet, approximately 20,000 EVs in the U.S., citing weaker demand and higher operating costs, and using some of the proceeds to purchase internal-combustion-engine vehicles.
Hertz plans to sell about a third of its global electric vehicle (EV) fleet and use the proceeds to buy gasoline-powered cars due to higher expenses and lower demand for EVs. The company cites increased costs related to collision and damage, as well as eroding resale values for EVs, as reasons for the shift. This move is expected to improve Hertz's net income in 2024 and 2025. The impact on GM, from which Hertz had ordered 175,000 EVs, remains unclear.
Hertz plans to sell about 20,000 electric vehicles from its U.S. fleet, reducing its global EV fleet by one-third, in order to better balance supply and demand. The company expects the sales to occur throughout 2024 and aims to reinvest in gas-powered vehicles, following its previous announcement to acquire 100,000 Teslas to expand its EV fleet.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to sell 20,000 electric vehicles (EVs) and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options. The sales of EVs began last month and will continue over the course of 2024, with Hertz recording a non-cash charge of about $245 million related to incremental net depreciation expense in its fourth-quarter results.
AT&T has announced plans to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) from Rivian as part of its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2035. The telecom giant will buy Rivian's commercial vans and R1 EVs for its fleet, while also becoming the exclusive connectivity provider for Rivian vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. The pilot program aims to evaluate the benefits of using EVs in terms of safety, cost reduction, and carbon footprint reduction. The news boosted Rivian's stock by 14%.
The US Navy's deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups are positioned worldwide as of July 10, 2023. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is in the Indian Ocean, the America Amphibious Ready Group is in the Coral Sea, the McFaul guided-missile destroyer is in the Persian Gulf, the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is in the Ionian Sea, the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group is set to depart for deployment, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is operating off the southeastern U.S. Other naval formations are also deployed globally.
FedEx plans to retire 29 aircraft from its fleet this year, including nine additional MD-11 freighters. However, the company's mainline fleet will grow by 10 aircraft this year as Boeing planes ordered years ago are delivered. FedEx reduced global flight hours by 12% year over year during the fourth quarter, and the overall fleet size decreased by 10 units during the fiscal year. FedEx currently has 700 aircraft, including 407 mainline aircraft and 293 feeder aircraft.
Aether Studios has released a new trailer for Rivals 2, revealing Dungeons of Aether protagonist Fleet as a playable character. Additionally, the game’s Steam page is now available, confirming PC will be amongst the previously stated “as many platforms as possible” the game will be available for. Rivals 2 is a platform fighting game known for its competitive depth and accessible gameplay, and the sequel pushes both the franchise and the platform fighter genre forward with new additions such as shields, ledges, grabs, and throws.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro sees fighting climate change as a top priority for the Navy, even as the Biden administration proposes shrinking the fleet by two ships and worries grow about how the U.S. Navy stacks up to China. The proposed budget for 2024 calls for shrinking the Navy fleet, which has set a goal of having 355 manned ships, below the roughly 298 ships it has available now. Del Toro stressed the importance of using the Navy to fight climate change in the Bahamas and noted the many approaching climate-related events in which the Navy will participate.
