South

Opinion | Southwest Airlines Suddenly Reduces Emissions

Published

2 years ago

December 29, 2022

Press Room

Opinion | Southwest Airlines Suddenly Reduces Emissions

The flight board exhibits cancelled Southwest Airways flights at Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport in Pennsylvania on Thursday.

Picture:

BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS

Has the administration at

Southwest Airways

spent an excessive amount of time making an attempt to please “stakeholders” with an environmental agenda and never sufficient time serving clients who want dependable air journey?

As for the wave of cancellations that left hundreds of Southwest clients stranded over the previous week, the failure seems to lie within the firm’s comparatively primitive info expertise. The Journal’s Alison Sider reviews:

When Southwest Airways Co. reassigns crews after flight disruptions, it usually depends on a system known as SkySolver. This Christmas, SkySolver not solely didn’t remedy a lot, it additionally helped create the worst trade meltdown in latest reminiscence.

Airline executives and labor leaders level to insufficient expertise methods, particularly SkySolver, as one purpose why a brutal winter storm changed into a debacle. SkySolver was overwhelmed by the dimensions of the duty of finding out which pilots and flight attendants may work which flights, Southwest executives mentioned. Crew schedulers as an alternative needed to comb via information by hand.

Ms. Sider has extra from Southwest Chief Government Officer

Bob Jordan

“We’ve talked slightly over the past yr about the necessity to modernize the operation and make investments,” Mr. Jordan wrote Monday in a memo to staff. “This is the reason.”

In a November assembly with reporters, the CEO famous the airline had expanded quicker than its expertise. “I do suppose the dimensions and the expansion of the airline bought forward of the instruments that we now have,” he mentioned.

This isn’t the primary time {that a} disruption has ballooned at Southwest, and the provider’s battle to place its operations again collectively exhibits how its more and more sophisticated community wants a greater expertise basis.

It could appear stunning that such a vital want was not prioritized at a enterprise that has achieved a lot success over so a few years. In October of 2021, the airline mentioned {that a} rash of flight cancellations that month was “primarily created by climate and different exterior constraints,” but different airways didn’t endure such extreme issues. What’s clear is that as with the present mess, Southwest struggled to have air crews and airplanes in the identical place on the proper time.

Maybe the occasions of October 2021 may have motivated pressing motion to avert a disaster by upgrading the airline’s expertise. However there are lots of calls for on the time of the fashionable company supervisor. Inside a number of days of the mass cancellations, the corporate issued a press launch from its Dallas headquarters:

Southwest Airways Co. (NYSE: LUV) at the moment introduced a sequence of near-term objectives, actions, and initiatives in help of a 10-year plan to keep up carbon neutrality to 2019 ranges whereas persevering with to develop its operations.

The Firm plans to attain these aims via the next actions:

Scale back its carbon emissions per obtainable seat mile (together with scope 1 and scope 2 emissions) by no less than 20 % by 2030 via fleet modernization, route optimization, and different initiatives.

Exchange 10 % of its whole jet gasoline consumption with sustainable aviation gasoline (SAF) by 2030…

There was way more to this formidable technological enterprise, as the discharge famous:

The scope of Southwest’s Sustainability efforts extends properly past a ten-year time horizon. The last word goal is to attain carbon neutrality by 2050, and there may be important work underway directed at this final goal… “Southwest is making sustainability a precedence with the intention to proceed connecting Prospects to what’s vital of their lives whereas striving to attain our carbon neutrality objectives,” mentioned
Stacy Malphurs,
Advertisement

Vice President of Provide Chain Administration & Environmental Sustainability for Southwest…

… partnerships will play an important function in Southwest’s sustainability efforts, together with authorities help and collaboration all through your entire worth chain, together with:

Making a $10 million dedication to Yale’s Heart for Pure Carbon Seize to analysis technological developments and discover new options to cut back internet greenhouse gasoline emissions and to Yale’s College of the Surroundings to discover the present state of sustainability, technique, coverage, and economics.

Couldn’t the Southwest IT division have used one other $10 million? The airline’s clients and buyers might need to opine on this query. However wait, the airline with the antiquated scheduling expertise wasn’t performed pursuing its imaginative and prescient for climate-related expertise. One other press launch in October 2021 introduced:

Southwest Airways Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the “Firm”) at the moment introduced it has turn into a member of the Aviation Local weather Taskforce (ACT), a brand new nonprofit based with a objective to sort out the problem of decreasing carbon emissions in aviation.

“Sustainability is a precedence for our enterprise, and at Southwest, we take our dedication to environmental stewardship severely,” mentioned Bob Jordan, Government Vice President and incoming CEO at Southwest Airways. “We’re honored to be a founding member of the Aviation Local weather Taskforce and to collaborate with this modern group on methods we are able to work towards decarbonizing aviation and advancing the vital science to help that goal.”

Prospects could also be hoping that Mr. Jordan will concentrate on being a pacesetter in on-time arrivals. On the firm’s investor day only a few weeks in the past, Mr. Jordan had extra progress to report:

… we launched using sustainable aviation gasoline, or SAF, in our operations in January, and we’re the primary business airline to convey SAF to the Oakland Airport in August. We developed and revealed a proper SAF coverage that guides our procurement of SAF and places us on the correct path in direction of changing 10% of our whole gasoline consumption with SAF by 2030. We secured SAF offtake agreements, and we’re investing in SAFFiRE Renewables as part of a division of energy-backed undertaking to develop and produce scalable SAF.

We stay dedicated to decreasing our carbon emissions depth by no less than 20% by 2030 in addition to sustaining carbon-neutral progress annually, all relative to 2019 ranges.

Wouldn’t it have been good if extra institutional buyers had been pressuring Mr. Jordan to improve his IT as an alternative of his ESG reporting?

***

This week Mr. Freeman is internet hosting “The Night Edit” every weeknight on the Fox Enterprise Community at 6 pm ET.

***

James Freeman is the co-author of “The Price: Trump, China and American Revival.”

***

Observe James Freeman on Twitter.

Subscribe to the Better of the Net electronic mail.

To recommend objects, please electronic mail greatest@wsj.com.

(Lisa Rossi helps compile Better of the Net.)

***

Source link

Click to comment

Miami, FL

Triple shooting in NW Miami-Dade under investigation

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Triple shooting in NW Miami-Dade under investigation – CBS Miami

Watch CBS News

Miami-Dade police are investigating a triple shooting that injured three people Thursday night in Northwest Miami-Dade.

Source link

Dallas, TX

On Nov. 22, 1963, Dallas became ground zero for conspiracy thinking

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

On Nov. 22, 1963, Dallas became ground zero for conspiracy thinking

In 2013, Mayor Mike Rawling shepherded into existence “the 50th,” the first-ever city-sponsored Nov. 22 event held in Dealey Plaza. Finally, Dallas citizens had a civically sanctioned event that allowed them permission to publicly honor a fallen president. At the time, Rawlings discreetly sidestepped the most controversial of the issues attached to the assassination: Who actually killed John Kennedy?

Today in Dallas, more than six decades after the fact, it is important that we finally and unapologetically address that issue: There was no great conspiracy. Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed the president. Jack Ruby acted alone when he shot Oswald. The Warren Commission got it right. It is well past time for this historical reckoning, and it is particularly important that it be pronounced here.

In Dallas, we’ve borne an immense historical burden because of our conspiracy-mongering past. In the aftermath of the assassination, the whole city became a pariah, its citizens treated like accomplices to the murder. We were labeled “the City of Hate,” and it took us decades to recover from the toxic fallout.

A month before Kennedy’s visit, Time magazine had already labeled Dallas “A City Disgraced.” This followed the ugly incident at Adlai Stevenson’s Dallas appearance and recalled the embarrassing 1960 “Mink Coat Mob” incident, where Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson were jostled and spat upon.

By 1963, Dallas had proved itself, in the eyes of the rest of America, as a hotbed of virulent Red Scare paranoia that could not tolerate civil debate. Kennedy’s advisers warned him not to visit Dallas because of the likelihood of violence. Kennedy himself explained to his staff as he made his final approach to Dallas: “We’re heading into nut country today.”

When he left Dallas, he was in a coffin, and the script for our ostracization had already been written.

Nut Country

Today, our entire nation is in danger of becoming “Nut Country.” Those 1963 events in Dallas have become the origin point of a newer, more infectious strain of conspiracy paranoia.

Today our contemporary culture has become so mired in conspiracy thinking that our ability to confront the greatest challenges of our age is threatened. The World Health Organization has called it an “infodemic.” A study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2020 found that at least 800 people may have died due to coronavirus-related misinformation during the first three months of 2020. We are less prepared to respond to the next pandemic, climate change or the misinformation that plagues our elections than ever before. All of this, to a large extent, because of the brain-fog produced by conspiracy beliefs.

Conspiracy narratives are attractive; they help simplify a mystifying world. Take a few established facts, weave them into a comprehensive narrative — taking whatever leaps of logic and dismissing any inconvenient counter evidence necessary — and there you have it: a complex situation reduced to a simple parable.

Jim Marrs provides a good illustration of this process. The former Fort Worth journalist’s 1993 book, Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, became a “go-to” conspiracy guide. As he sold more books, he expanded his focus, eventually concocting an entire conspiracy universe, involving the Trilateral Commission, Freemasons, the pyramids of Giza and space aliens.

Marrs’ big career break occurred when he linked up with Oliver Stone for the 1991 film JFK. As Stone transformed Dealey Plaza into a huge stage set for his grand conspiracy spectacle, he and Marrs used New Orleans prosecutor Jim Garrison’s 1967 Clay Shaw conspiracy case as their template for demonstrating a massive government JFK cover-up.

The actual Shaw case was dismissed by the jury in less than an hour, and Garrison’s lack of supporting evidence was considered a great embarrassment by even conspiracy buffs. Hugh Aynesworth wrote in Newsweek: “If only no one were living through it — and standing trial for it — the case against Shaw would be a merry kind of parody of conspiracy theories, a can-you-top-this of arbitrarily conjoined improbabilities.”

Nonetheless, Stone’s film was a Hollywood blockbuster. If the big JFK assassination conspiracy did not exist in fact, Stone and Marrs had ensured its existence in Hollywood myth.

Mainstream conspiracies

Three decades after the assassination, JFK conspiracy theorizing had gone mainstream. With the advent of the internet in the 1990s, the world of conspiracy speculation was supercharged. As a new generation of hyperconnected conspiracist thinkers was figuring out new ways to spread and monetize their work, the Kennedy conspiracy fable became the template for an amazingly versatile, all-purpose conspiracy system available for any ideology. It became a powerful and influential American myth.

Of course, conspiracies do exist. At any one time there are a number of significant conspiracy cases winding their way through our legal system. Prominent past cases include business fraud against Enron, a number of criminal cases brought against organized crime groups, and the conspiracy charges brought against the accomplices of John Wilkes Booth in the death of Abraham Lincoln. Even with rigorous demands of veracity and rules of evidence, it is possible to prove actual conspiracy in our legal system.

On the other hand, it is also possible to disprove bogus conspiracy accusations. Garrison’s case against Clay Shaw is a case in point. As are the scores of cases alleging the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Conspiracy theories, because they rely on missing information, do not often survive the scrutiny of the legal process.

Today, the court of public opinion is often divorced from systems of fact-checking. Our conspiracy theories bounce around in a super-heated media environment where there are fewer guardrails against misinformation than anytime in the past, and fewer procedures for validating evidence.

JFK researchers have performed a thoroughgoing critique of every aspect of the Warren Commission Report, but they have never disproved its basic assertions. You can watch the Zapruder film 1,000 times and each time it shows the results of the shots fired by Lee Havey Oswald from this sixth-floor perch. You can muck around in the gruesome photographic documentation of Kennedy’s autopsy and the same is true. We don’t need to exhume Oswald’s body from the grave again. It is well past time to end this macabre game-playing. Enough of “what could have happened”; it is time to reckon with what did.

There is no nefarious secret government that controls our lives. We live in a very messy democracy that is often difficult to understand. The true danger of conspiracy theories is that they inevitably manufacture an evil “other,” a secret cabal of adversaries intent on doing harm. This scapegoating often strips political or ideological opponents of their humanity, reducing them to villains rather than fellow citizens whom we might engage in dialogue.

Today, despite so much that unites us as Americans, we are a dangerously divided nation. Conspiracy thinking has contributed to this.

We do indeed live in an age when skepticism is a vital survival tool, but conspiracy thinking turns rational skepticism on its head, replacing facts with dangerous misinformation. President Kennedy did not die as the result of a conspiracy. His death was a tragedy, and that requires a deeper type of wisdom to fathom.

City of Truth

It is time to recognize the price this city has paid for its nurturing of conspiracy thinking and clearly pronounce: the JFK conspiracy theorists have utterly failed to make their case. After all this time, there is not a single JFK conspiracy theory that offers enough evidence to warrant serious consideration.

What history does show is that misplaced doubt about Kennedy’s death has contributed to the ever-expanding plague of conspiracy thinking that currently confounds our democracy.

Today, Dealey Plaza remains a mecca for conspiracy tourism. Each year it is the pilgrimage point for the Nov. 22 JFK Remembrance. Last year’s event was typical.

As 12:30 approached, the exact moment Kennedy was shot, one of the last speakers stepped to the podium. Judyth Vary Baker, who proclaims herself Oswald’s secret lover, recounted Oswald’s aborted mission to deliver a bioweapon to kill Fidel Castro and how Oswald was actually trying to save the president. It was also important, she said, to remember the government has a proven cure for cancer but is withholding it from the public to ensure higher profits for the medical industry.

Among the 200 or so attendees milled a newer generation of conspiracy thinkers. Many of these QAnon adherents wore distinctive T-shirts featuring images of John Kennedy, his son John, and Donald Trump, illustrating their theory that the two Kennedys would soon be resurrected to aid Trump in his battle with his political enemies who commonly kidnap children and feast on their blood.

At the JFK vigil, there was a striking divergence of views, but everyone was united in their conviction that our democracy has been stolen.

I suggest that on the 61st anniversary of the assassination, we find a better message. We can take up President Kennedy’s challenge to do something for our country and commence the hard work of taking care of the truth. We can take a huge stride toward reclaiming our democracy and the common ground of civil discourse by swearing off our growing addiction to conspiracy thinking.

Tim Cloward is author of “The City That Killed the President: A Cultural History of Dallas and the Assassination.”

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

Source link

Atlanta, GA

Things to do this weekend in metro Atlanta | Nov. 22-24, 2024

Published

3 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Things to do this weekend in metro Atlanta | Nov. 22-24, 2024

article

ATLANTA – Looking for fun and festive ways to spend your time in and around metro Atlanta this weekend? Whether you’re in the mood for dazzling holiday lights, live music, engaging art events, or a little holiday shopping, this list has something for everyone.

Holidays

WildWoods AGLOW

When: Now–Feb. 23 (select nights)
Where: Fernbank Museum, 767 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta
What: A multi-sensory experience blending real environments with glowing displays and original music. Discover large dandelions, dragonflies, bat displays, glowing garden towers, and more.
How Much: Starting at $23.95
More Info

Holidays at Georgia Aquarium

When: Now–Jan. 2
Where: Georgia Aquarium, 222 Baker Street NW, Atlanta
What: Festive holiday music, winter-inspired projections, a 40-foot live tree, photos with Santa, a holiday-themed dolphin presentation, and more.
How Much: Starting at $39.99
More Info

IllumiNights at the Zoo

When: Now–Jan. 19
Where: Zoo Atlanta, 800 Cherokee Ave. SE, Atlanta
What: A nighttime wonderland with lanterns, hot cocoa, roasted marshmallows, and more.
How Much: Starting at $20.99
More Info

Georgia Festival of Trees

When: Nov. 23–Dec. 1
Where: Gas South Arena, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth
What: A festival with fully decorated Christmas trees, live entertainment, Santa visits, a boutique gift shop, and more. Proceeds benefit local charities.
How Much: Starting at $15
More Info

Merry Grinchmas Market

When: 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Nov. 23–24
Where: Catoosa Colonnade Event Center, 264 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold
What: Over 100 vendors offering unique gifts, food trucks, free pictures with Santa, the Grinch, and Cindy Lou Who.
How Much: $5 general admission for adults
More Info

12th Annual Christmas Parade, Jingle Market & Tree Lighting

When: 2–8 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: Dawsonville City Hall, 415 GA-53, Dawsonville
What: A festive market, parade, food trucks, and a tree lighting at dusk.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Mable House Lights The Night

When: 4 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: Mable House Arts Center, 5239 Floyd Road SW, Mableton
What: Kicking off a 12-day celebration with a makers market, live entertainment, refreshments, and a tree lighting.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Light Up Trilith

When: 4–8 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: Town at Trilith, 305 Trilith Parkway, Fayetteville
What: Live music, festive activities, Santa visits, food trucks, and a tree lighting at 8 p.m.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Light the Station

When: 6–9 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: Atlantic Station, 1380 Atlantic Drive NW, Atlanta
What: A parade with floats, bands, stilt walkers, ice skating, a DJ, and the lighting of a 50-foot Christmas tree.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Atlanta Christkindl Market

When: Nov. 23–Jan. 5
Where: Buckhead Village District and Galleria on the Park
What: German-inspired food, handcrafted goods, and Santa appearances.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Misfits Toys Market

When: 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: Harmony Park, 380 Mead Road, Decatur
What: Handmade goods, oddities, crafts, and a DJ.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Holiday in the Park

When: Nov. 23–Jan. 5 (select nights)
Where: Six Flags Over Georgia, 275 Riverside Parkway SW, Austell
What: Over 1 million LED lights, festive shows, holiday treats, rides, and Santa visits.
How Much: $40+
More Info

Dunwoody Village Holiday Celebration

When: 4–6:30 p.m., Nov. 24
Where: Dunwoody Village, Downtown Dunwoody
What: Performances, family-friendly activities, free Santa photos, a tree lighting, and a lantern parade.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Music

The Reflex

When: 7 p.m., Nov. 22
Where: MadLife Stage & Studios, 8722 Main Street, Woodstock
What: An Atlanta-based Duran Duran tribute band.
How Much: Starting at $29.50
More Info

The Lone Bellow

When: 7 p.m., Nov. 22
Where: Eddie’s Attic, 515 N. McDonough Street, Decatur
What: Folk rock band with a fan-curated setlist as part of their “By Request Only” tour.
How Much: $40 general admission
More Info

The Fab Four

When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 22
Where: Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta
What: An ultimate tribute to The Beatles.
How Much: Starting at $35
More Info

Stephen Wilson Jr.

When: 8 p.m., Nov. 22
Where: Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta
What: Americana artist on his “Son of Dad” tour.
How Much: Starting at $29
More Info

Jabroni Fest 9

When: Nov. 22–23
Where: Boggs Social & Supply, 1310 White Street SW, Atlanta
What: Performances by multiple bands, including The Carolyn, Seafulls, Chimes, and others.
How Much: $20 for a one-day pass, $30 for a two-day pass
More Info

Manchester Orchestra

When: 7 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: The Eastern, 800 Old Flat Shoals Road SE, Atlanta
What: Celebrating the 15th anniversary of their album Mean Everything to Nothing during their “Stuffing XIV” tour.
How Much: Starting at $49.50
More Info

Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time

When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: State Farm Arena, 1 State Farm Drive, Atlanta
What: Mariah Carey celebrates the 30th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album.
How Much: Starting at $79.95
More Info

Musiq Soulchild

When: 7 p.m. & 10 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: City Winery, 650 North Ave. NE, Atlanta
What: One of the most influential R&B singers of this generation.
How Much: Starting at $75
More Info

Cowboy – Tribute to Kid Rock

When: 9:45 p.m., Nov. 23
Where: 37 Main, 37 East Main Street, Buford
What: Kid Rock tribute band performing across major venues and biker events.
How Much: $10+
More Info

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas

When: 3 p.m., Nov. 24
Where: Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta
What: Enjoy timeless Christmas classics performed by Mannheim Steamroller.
How Much: Starting at $49.50
More Info

Comedy

Lucas Zelnick

When: Nov. 21–24 (multiple shows)
Where: The Punchline, 3652 Roswell Road NE, Atlanta
What: New York native Lucas Zelnick rose to fame on social media and now tours as a comedian.
How Much: Starting at $28
More Info

Art

The Art of Competition Tour

When: Nov. 23
Where: ABV Gallery, 1206 Metropolitan Ave. SE, Atlanta
What: A live art battle featuring DJs, drinks, and more.
How Much: Starting at $18
More Info

Theater

Beauty and the Beast Jr.

When: 7 p.m., Nov. 22
Where: Roswell Cultural Center, 950 Forrest Street, Roswell
What: Roswell Youth Theatre presents the junior version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
How Much: $16.50+
More Info

Other

Laughs, Llamas, and Pajamas

When: 6–8 p.m., Nov. 21
Where: Uptown Atlanta, 575 Morosgo Drive NE, Atlanta
What: Llamas in pajamas, a comedy show, children’s activities, crafts, and more.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Upper Deck Golf at Truist Park

When: Nov. 21–23
Where: Truist Park
What: Play golf from the upper level of Truist Park while enjoying music, food, and drinks. Tee times are available throughout the day.
How Much: Starting at $89.99
More Info

Cobb County Gem & Mineral Society Annual Show

When: Nov. 22–24
Where: Cobb County Civic Center, 548 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta
What: Rocks, gemstones, fossils, beads, jewelry, and supplies from over 30 professional dealers.
How Much: Free admission
More Info

Acworth Turkey Chase

When: Nov. 23
Where: Downtown Acworth
What: Includes the Little Pilgrim Trot, a 2K walk, and a 5K run. A qualifier for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
How Much: Starting at $10 for Little Pilgrim Trot, $20 for untimed fun run, $30 for timed run
More Info

Source link