A massive winter storm system pummelling the eastern United States has triggered the worst wave of flight cancellations since the COVID-19 crisis, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and exposing persistent fragilities in the nation's air travel infrastructure despite years of promised improvements. More than 8,500 flights were canceled across American airports between Monday and Wednesday, with an additional 15,000 delayed as blizzard conditions swept from the Mid-

STG Logistics became the largest trucking company to seek bankruptcy protection in 2026 when it filed for Chapter 11 reorganization January 12th, carrying more than $1 billion in debt onto the growing pile of freight industry casualties. The 41-year-old intermodal and logistics giant entered into a restructuring support agreement with equity sponsors and lenders that eliminates roughly 91 percent of its debt whilst providing $150 million in fresh capital to keep operations ru

The largest US airlines recently unveiled their 2025 financial results, delivering headlines that suggest another chapter in American economic resilience. United Airlines recorded revenue of $59.1 billion last year, while American Airlines brought in $54.6 billion, both company records. Delta Air Lines projects 20% earnings growth through 2026, driven predominantly by premium cabin demand as corporate and high-income travellers sustain spending. The aviation industry has embr

Amtrak has implemented sweeping service reductions along one of the East Coast's busiest rail corridors, eliminating a daily Norfolk-to-Washington train and replacing it with express buses as construction intensifies on Virginia's Long Bridge Project—a four-year effort to eliminate one of the region's most notorious rail bottlenecks. Effective January 12th, the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority's construction schedule requires extensive daytime work windows that have forced A

America's container shipping sector is entering what analysts are calling a reckoning, with freight rates from East Asia plummeting as carriers' attempts to impose price increases collapse under weak demand and persistent overcapacity. Rates from China to the US West Coast tumbled 12 percent this week, while East Coast routes fell 11 percent, continuing a steady decline since early January that has caught carriers off-guard. The drops come despite industry efforts to implemen

2025 was a year of uncertainty and disruption, and one question was whether the Environmental Protection Agency would proceed with or delay the 2027 heavy-duty truck emissions regulations. Late in the year, we heard from the American Trucking Associations that the 2027 nitrogen-oxide (NOx) emissions limits will partially go into effect in 2027. There’s been no official announcement from EPA, but the general expectation is that the agency will announce changes to the rule by m

Airlines are battening down the hatches ahead of what looks to be the biggest winter storm of the season so far. Forecasters are predicting accumulating snow and ice could affect a wide swath of the country late this week and well into the weekend. AccuWeather on Wednesday warned of "widespread, severe impacts" from an Arctic blast slated to snarl travel from Texas and Oklahoma to major East Coast cities ranging from Atlanta to Charlotte, Washington and the Northeast. If thos

Market-share data, lack of full merger agreement, TRRA transaction cited in STB ruling that application is incomplete The Surface Transportation Board on Friday 16 January issued a setback to Union Pacific’s effort to acquire Norfolk Southern, rejecting the railroads’ merger application as incomplete — although that move offers little clue to the eventual prospects for the first transcontinental merger. The decision will slow the merger process, requiring the two railroads to

Southern California's container terminals face a looming capacity crunch as new immigration enforcement policies threaten to strip the nation's busiest freight gateway of up to a quarter of its truck drivers, industry analysts warn. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimates that up to 5% of all commercial driver's license holders nationwide could be removed from the workforce due to immigration-related policies implemented in early 2026, according to Maersk's

It’s shaping up to be another tough year in 2026 for US freight. With a big hand from a Department of Transportation crackdown on foreign drivers, the trucking industry is finally getting a handle on the overcapacity that has plagued the industry since the end of the pandemic and has kept freight rates low. But constraining supply alone won’t reverse the industry’s fortunes. The demand side of the equation still looks anemic for 2026 after the goods economy was thrown into a

Delta as usual announced strong quarterly results and positive expectations, underscoring both with a new order for thirty Boeing 787-10 aircraft. “We’re excited to buy the 787,” CEO Ed Bastian said on a Tuesday call with reporters. “We’re the last of the U.S. majors to be finally acquiring that aircraft. It’s been a longtime since we took a Boeing widebody. “We look at the dash ten and realize it’s going to have great utility, particularly in the transatlantic and South Amer

Human errors and track defects caused more than 3,000 rail accidents over the last decade, killing 23 people and injuring nearly 1,200. Yet federal railroad regulators failed to implement most of the safety recommendations that emerged from accident investigations. That’s according to an original analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. Behind those numbers, the Howard Center found, is a powerful industry that uses its money an

Meet the New Year, same as the Old Year.  The effects of rising tariffs are expected to tamp down import demand, the leading retail industry trade group predicts, as policy-driven uncertainty rolls on into 2026. The recent months of year-over-year declines in import cargo volume through the busiest U.S. container ports is expected to continue in the New Year, according to data from the National Retail Federation’s Global Port Tracker. Volume totaled 2.07 million twenty foot e

The US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, also left stranded tourists wondering how to get home — or to their next destination — after the FAA temporarily closed airspace over the Caribbean. Julie Hurwitz was one of many left with a travel-induced headache after airlines canceled more than 425 flights in and out of the Caribbean on Saturday, with over half of them to and from Puerto Rico according to

The California Department of Motor Vehicles said this week that it is delaying the cancellation of thousands of migrant truck driver licenses. The announcement means approximately 17,000 migrant truck drivers won’t have their commercial licenses revoked on Jan. 5. Instead, they can remain on the roads and will have another two months to re-test and re-apply. The decision comes amid pressure from the U.S. Department of Transportation , which announced in November 2025 that it

Experts from Wärtsilä Marine, a leader in maritime technology, have identified 4 trends that will shape the shipping industry by 2026. From new decarbonization strategies to the integration of digital technologies, shipowners and operators must adapt to remain competitive and sustainable. Life cycle optimisation Fleet renewal will no longer depend solely on the age of the vessels; instead, the maritime industry is taking a more holistic approach to the life cycle of each ves

Passengers on two planes that took off from Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport earlier this month had a hair-raising experience after the pilots had to perform an emergency manoeuvre to prevent a potential mid-air collision. The reason for this near-catastrophic accident? It appears that the pilots of one of the planes accidentally turned right just after takeoff when they had actually been instructed to turn left. While the incident occurred on December 18, details

Captain Tammie Jo Shults Honored with Texas Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Captain Tammie Jo Shults, the retired Southwest Airlines pilot who heroically saved 148 lives during a catastrophic mid-flight emergency in 2018, was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame on April 11, 2025. The honor recognizes not only her legendary emergency landing but also her pioneering career as one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in United States Navy history. "It feels surreal

When 71% of United Airlines flight attendants rejected their tentative contract in July, they sent a clear message: a 27% pay increase doesn't cut it when you've lost 25% of your purchasing power to inflation over five years of working without a raise. Now United flight attendants are discovering what happens when you vote "no" and send negotiators back to the table. Federal mediation talks between United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) took an une

As we close out 2025, it's been an extraordinary year in aviation. From historic aircraft orders and supersonic breakthroughs to regulatory reforms and sustainability milestones, the industry has witnessed remarkable developments across commercial, general, and advanced aviation. Whether you're an aviation professional, enthusiast, or frequent flyer, this Altitude quiz will test how closely you've followed the year's biggest stories. Pour yourself a festive drink, settle in,