Connect Airlines eyes Pittsburgh as potential regional hub, aims to revive premium air travel
Connect Airlines CEO John Thomas told a panel Wednesday at the FTE Future Travel Experience conference at Carnegie Mellon University that Pittsburgh was in the airline's plans for carrying business and connecting travelers. The startup aims to use more spacious and better appointed turboprop aircraft instead of the noisy, cramped regional jets common on short- and medium-haul routes.
Connect's initial strategy,if approved for airline certification, is to fly three daily flights a day from downtown Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport to Philadelphia International Airport and Chicago-O'Hare International Airport. It hopes to begin in a few months, although the airline has been in development for several years.
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Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Recent lawsuits put Tesla's self-driving technology on trial
This spring, Elon Musk announced he was leaving his role at the White House to refocus on Tesla amid falling vehicle sales and a brand reputation crisis. But as Musk works to turn Tesla around with a successful robotaxi venture, recent lawsuits have complicated his efforts and raised questions about the company's self-driving technology. Last month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles sued the company, alleging false advertising about its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features and seeking to suspend sales of Teslas in the state. More bad news came this month when a Miami jury ruled that Tesla was partly responsible for a fatal crash involving its Autopilot system and must pay the victims $240 million. Though Tesla has previously faced similar suits, this one was the first to reach a jury verdict and not be settled out of court. The case could open the door to further claims against the company, experts said. 'If and when the dam breaks, and they get held liable, Tesla could be in a lot of financial trouble,' said Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor Raj Rajkumar, who specializes in autonomous driving. Meanwhile, Tesla shareholders have been growing restless. A few days after the Miami verdict, a shareholder lawsuit accused Musk of inflating the company's stock by exaggerating the readiness of its robotaxi program, which launched this summer in Austin, Texas, where the company is headquartered. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Though some investors and bullish analysts maintain that Musk will eventually deliver on his promises, the cases have renewed questions about the tech mogul's credibility and whether he can perfect a technology that is key to the company's future. 'In Austin, the cars were clearly not as capable as Musk was claiming,' analyst Karl Brauer said. 'If he can't get the robotaxi working relatively quickly, it's going to be a problem for him.' The scrutiny comes at a pivotal moment for Tesla, which has seen shares fall nearly 12% since January and automotive revenues drop 16% in the second quarter from a year earlier. The company has been hindered by rising competition from rivals and brand damage triggered by Musk's role in the Trump administration. In Florida in 2019, George McGee had his Model S in Autopilot mode when the vehicle ran off the road and failed to stop before striking a young couple out stargazing. The crash killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured her boyfriend. McGee had been distracted by his cellphone and put too much trust in the Autopilot system to safely drive the car, he said. Evidence presented at trial showed that McGee was not engaged in driving for at least 20 seconds before the crash. This month, the Miami jury found Tesla partly responsible for the accident, concluding that Tesla and Musk misled consumers about the capabilities of Autopilot. 'Years prior to this accident, Elon was in the public eye saying that this technology is safer than a human driver,' prosecuting attorney Doug Eaton said in an interview. 'The consumer expectation is based on the manner in which the car is marketed. Elon sold a car that didn't exist.' McGee was overly reliant on Autopilot to avoid disaster because of false claims Musk has made about the technology, some dating back a decade, attorneys argued in the trial. Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference in 2015, Musk said he viewed autonomous driving as a 'solved problem.' Despite those claims, Autopilot is classified as a driver assistance system, not a self-driving system. It cannot be used without the supervision of a human driver. 'The ordinary consumer expected this system to do a lot more than it could or did do, because of the way that Tesla marketed this technology and the way Elon Musk spoke about this technology,' said Adam Boumel, another attorney representing the victims. In a statement, Tesla said that the verdict was wrong and that the vehicle was not to blame because the driver 'admitted and accepted responsibility' for the accident. The most recent lawsuit filed against Musk by Tesla shareholders specifically concerns the robotaxis in Austin, which rely on technology derived from Autopilot. Filed in Texas by Denise Morand and on behalf of other shareholders on Aug. 4, the suit accuses Tesla and Musk of making 'materially false and misleading statements regarding the company's business, operations, and prospects.' Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja and his predecessor Zachary Kirkhorn are also listed as defendants. 'Tesla overstated the effectiveness of its autonomous driving technology' and downplayed the risk that the robotaxi would operate dangerously, the complaint said. 'Accordingly, Tesla's business and/or financial prospects were overstated.' Tesla's robotaxi rollout in Austin has been riddled with glitches, including instances of the vehicles violating traffic laws and even driving into oncoming traffic. For his part, Musk has dismissed the shareholder claims. He responded to the lawsuit on X, saying it was likely not filed by real investors but by class-action lawyers 'grifting for their percentage of the verdict.' Investors should know by now that Musk often makes ambitious and unrealistic claims, said William Riggs, director of the Autonomous Vehicles and the City Initiative at the University of San Francisco. But the world's richest man has also made leaps forward in vehicle electrification, space exploration and other frontiers, and can't be underestimated. 'He does these kinds of aggressive, radical things,' Riggs said of Musk. 'Sometimes, he surprises us all.' The recent litigation has shined a light on both the perils and potential of Tesla's autonomous driving technology. Tesla has rolled out multiple systems using versions of its self-driving tech, including Autopilot and a purportedly more advanced Full Self-Driving mode. It's unclear whether Full Self-Driving is powering the robotaxis in Austin, or whether it will be used in Musk's promised Cybercab. According to engineers, Tesla's technology qualifies as Level 2 automation, based on a five-level scale established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. At Level 2, the driver is fully responsible for controlling the vehicle while receiving continuous automated assistance in steering, acceleration and braking. Tesla's robotaxis in Austin are not permitted to operate without a safety driver in the front passenger seat who can stop the vehicle in case of emergency. 'The quality of the performance of the vehicle is not that great,' Riggs said. 'It'll be a while before the performance level gets to the performance level of a Waymo or even that of a Cruise,' he said. Cruise, General Motors' robotaxi effort, suspended all operations in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian in San Francisco and dragged her 20 feet. Riggs predicted it could take two to five years for Tesla to launch a safe fleet of self-drivng taxis, though Musk has indicated that it's right around the corner. Tesla's autonomous technology is behind those of its rivals partly because Musk wants to forgo expensive hardware used in other self-driving cars, said Rajkumar, of Carnegie Mellon University. Waymo vehicles are built with a type of laser radar called lidar, as well as cameras, sonar and GPS. Musk is taking a software-based approach reliant on cameras and artificial intelligence alone. 'We know that AI is not perfect,' Rajkumar said. 'When you have an imperfect system on which people's lives depend, things will go wrong.'
Fast Company
6 days ago
- Fast Company
How to create an out of office plan so you can go on vacation guilt-free
Effective planning before you go on vacation can make your time off more relaxing and enjoyable. Unsurprisingly, research reveals that vacations are beneficial for your mental and physical well-being and most employees return more creative and productive. However, to maximize your chances of having a restful vacation, it's helpful to have a game plan in place to make sure your responsibilities are covered when you're gone and you're setting yourself up for an easy return. 'To truly relax, professionals need thoughtful preparation, which helps them offload details from working memory and relax,' says Anita Williams Woolley, professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh. Here's what experts suggest. Determine your goals Take the time to delve into both short-term goals and long-term objectives you're responsible for managing. Woolley suggests these action points regarding work goals to address before signing off for your PTO. Clarify and prioritize immediate tasks to complete before you leave—be realistic about what you can get done. Confirm what your team should handle (or ignore) during your absence. Outline your return plan, including contingencies in case of delays. Create an alignment plan Before your absence, create a plan to help your team handle your responsibilities while you're gone. Woolley advises including strategies for obstacles or issues that may arise while you're away. Here's what she recommends: Clearly assign responsibilities. One suggestion is a vacation task list, where your specific duties are divided up among other team members. Make sure everyone understands what they are responsible for. Agree on which issues are urgent and warrant contacting you, empowering your team to handle everything else. Identify critical risks and provide explicit guidance on how to handle emergencies without you. Notify your team Be sure to let your colleagues and clients know when you will be out of your office. Woolley says: Be proactive. Alert your team you're going to be on vacation instead of a colleague or client receiving a bounce-back email announcing you're out of the office. Inform everyone who needs to know about your absence. Select a trusted 'gatekeeper' who's someone who decides when to contact you and serves as a central reference for others. The day before your vacation Although you're excited for your break, be sure to wrap up any loose ends. Annie Rosencrans, people and culture director at HiBob in New York, provides these tips: Send final follow-up emails, close out minor tasks, and tie up easy wins. Avoid pushing nonurgent new work to others right before you leave, and instead table them for when you get back. Cancel, decline, or reschedule meetings on the calendar for your time away. Set up your out of office (OOO) messages on email, Slack, and other communication platforms. Set yourself up for an easy return Establishing a plan before you leave for vacation can reduce pre-trip anxiety and ensure that you and your team are set up for success during your time away, says Rosencrans. 'A structured plan gives employees time to transition both practically and emotionally out of work mode,' she continues. 'When executed well, this approach creates clarity, accountability, and space to truly disconnect. It also offers teammates confidence that nothing will fall through the cracks in your absence.' Woolley at Carnegie Mellon advises organizing your workspace and priorities ahead of time, ensuring your goals guide your first days back, rather than an overflowing inbox. She recommends setting yourself up for an easier return: 'Park on a downhill slope.' Be assured, with some mindful planning, you can enjoy your vacation with less anxiety. Rosencrans asserts how time off isn't just a perk, it's a performance strategy. 'The more intentionally we approach it, the better we protect well-being and long-term productivity,' she explains. 'And no one should feel guilty for unplugging. If we normalize structured, respectful pre-vacation planning, we make space for real rest and that's something every employee deserves.'
Business Wire
7 days ago
- Business Wire
Experts from Witherite Law Group say Autonomous Trucks are Not Ready for Texas Roads
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attorney and truck safety advocate Amy Witherite warns that autonomous trucks still face serious safety gaps—acknowledged by their own developers, confirmed by independent studies, and underscored by industry experts. Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun has called her company's simulator-based approach 'provably safe,' saying real-world testing in the millions of miles 'is nowhere near what would be required to provide the rigorous evidence necessary for a comprehensive safety case.' Professor Philip Koopman of Carnegie Mellon University, one of the world's leading autonomous vehicle safety researchers, cautions that true safety requires ultra-reliability: 'Safety isn't about working right most of the time. Safety is all about the rare case where it doesn't work properly. It has to work 99.999999999% of the time. AV companies are still working on the first few nines, with a bunch more nines to go.' Witherite says those two statements highlight the gap between marketing promises and operational reality: 'Even the most advanced companies admit they're far from testing at the scale needed to prove safety under real-world conditions. Experts are telling us this technology is still working out the basics—so putting it on Texas highways is reckless.' This comes as Aurora Innovation begins nighttime runs of its self-driving trucks on the Dallas–Houston route—still with a human observer in the cab 'though no manual intervention is required'—and Texas A&M Transportation Institute warns that AI-driven systems remain limited by their programming, sensor range, and narrowly defined operational design domains. Meanwhile, FMCSA's 2023 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics shows Texas is not only the deadliest state for large truck crashes in raw numbers—with 821 fatalities in 2021—but also has a per-mile fatality rate of 0.29 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well above the U.S. average of 0.19. While a few states have even higher per-mile rates, Texas still ranks in the higher-risk tier nationally and far exceeds states like California despite having a smaller population. In 2023 alone, Texas recorded 650 deadly large-truck crashes—52% more than California, the next highest state. 'Texas can't afford to be the test track for unproven technology,' Witherite said. 'We already have the highest truck crash fatality numbers in the country and a safety rate worse than the national average. Until autonomous trucks can meet the extreme reliability experts demand, they have no place in live traffic.' Amy Witherite is the founding attorney of Witherite Law Group and a nationally recognized traffic safety advocate. She has represented hundreds of families affected by trucking collisions. Call 1 800 Truck Wreck or visit to learn more.
