Crypto News: It takes time to restart a Boeing factory

After a bitter seven-week strike, Boeing's workers are starting to finally return to the assembly lines. But don't expect to see a flood of new planes anytime soon. Bloomberg's aviation boss Benedikt Kammel and senior reporter Siddharth Philip explain. Plus: What President-elect Donald Trump will mean for housing and the makeup of federal courts. And why you should watch the Washington Commanders on Sunday. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up.

In 2018, still more than a year before the pandemic, Boeing Co.'s trio of assembly plants across the US together churned out an average of more than 60 planes a month. This October the company managed less than a handful.

That's because 33,000 workers at the manufacturer's Seattle hub had walked off the job on Sept. 13, demanding a pay raise approaching 40%, bigger bonuses and reinstatement of a pension plan that was canceled a decade ago. Late Monday night, the striking workers agreed to a deal giving them a 38% boost in pay spread over four years, a $12,000 signing bonus and some retirement perks (though no pension).

Even as airlines worldwide clamor for planes, don't expect those factories to reach their pre-pandemic production levels anytime soon. The strike may finally be over, but re-choreographing the intricate ballet needed to get the right parts in the right place at the right time won't be easy. And many suppliers are struggling with layoffs and capital squeezes of their own. Boeing faces a tough year, with executives predicting that it will burn through an additional $4 billion this quarter and that outflows will continue into 2025 when its factories return to a steady tempo. "It's much harder to turn this on than it is to turn it off," Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg said in October when the company reported dismal quarterly earnings.

Union members and supporters on Oct. 15 at a rally in Seattle. Photographer: Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg

And it will take time to repair the damaged relationship between senior management and the shop floor. For many union members, the strike was about far more than the pocketbook concerns that dominated headlines, and there's a risk that some have already found other jobs and simply won't come back. There was a sense of injustice over the low wages locked in by a 10-year contract signed in 2014—when Boeing was focused on extracting maximum cash—that sapped any leverage the union had for a decade. There's widespread anger at a company that has spent handsomely on its senior leaders: Former CEO Dave Calhoun took home almost $33 million last year, and Ortberg has a package that could yield as much as $22 million.

None of this bodes well for a company that was already in dire straits before the strike (fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 grounded 737s for months, and in January a door plug blew out, narrowly avoiding another catastrophe). It's unlikely the financial picture will improve much before the second half of next year, underscoring just how long Boeing will need to get its house back in order. That's a painful lesson for the manufacturer and its battle-hardened workers—but at least they have a pay bump to show for it.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear he's ready to defend the US central bank from political pressure, saying he wouldn't resign if asked to.
Tesla is now offering the option to lease its polarizing Cybertruck, with prices starting at $999 a month.
US consumer sentiment climbed to a seven-month high, boosted by Americans' optimism about the future of the economy and their finances.

A construction site in unincorporated Orange County, California. Photographer: Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

Donald Trump is walking into a housing crisis. Since the 1960s, the price of homeownership has risen twice as fast as inflation, and rents have climbed five times faster than wages. A collapse in housing construction has squeezed supply, and homelessness has reached record highs. Voters this year consistently named housing as one of the top financial issues they face.

Given his background as a real estate developer, the president-elect might seem like a logical ally of the nationwide push to reduce barriers to new housing. "This pressure has been building for decades," says Kevin DeGood, director of infrastructure policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "Now, all of a sudden, it has burst onto the national scene."

But housing policy experts don't expect much from Trump, whose views on the issue don't follow any discernible school of economic thought. In a July interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Trump struck a YIMBYish tone, describing zoning as "a killer." But his rhetoric has also been full of NIMBYish dog whistles. "The woke left is waging full-scale war on the suburbs, and their Marxist crusade is coming for your neighborhood, your tax dollars, your public safety and your home," he said in a 2023 video, echoing his 2020 campaign, which took aim at Democrats' efforts to unwind zoning codes that enforce racial segregation.

Laura Bliss explains how the president-elect has tied his immigration views to housing policy: Trump's a Developer, But Don't Expect Him to Solve the Housing Crisis

Donald Trump rapidly filled a swath of vacancies in the US judiciary in his first term, dramatically reshaping the federal bench with right-leaning judges. Now he has a chance to cement his influence, particularly over the appeals courts that rule on some of the most important and divisive issues in American society.

There are currently only two vacancies on those courts, known as circuits. But over the coming presidential term, out of 177 active circuit judges, 34 Republican-appointed and 29 Democratic-appointed appellate judges could retire, according to data gathered by Russell Wheeler, a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies program.

That should allow the president-elect to decisively shift the balance by replacing those who were appointed by Democrats, says Wheeler. "The judiciary is likely in for some turbulence."

Appeals courts decide on pressing and far-reaching issues, from financial regulations to abortion. Sabrina Willmer, Madlin Mekelburg and Erik Larson write about the possible appointments: Trump Set to Move Courts Further Right, Deepening Judicial Clout

Illustration: Nathan McKee for Bloomberg Businessweek

It's a good time to be a football fan in Washington, DC. In 2022 the team went through a much-needed rebrand: The franchise is now known as the Commanders after spending decades as the Redskins. They're 7-2, which is the most wins they've had through nine games since 1996 and good enough for first place in their division. With the second selection in this year's draft, the Commanders picked quarterback Jayden Daniels from Louisiana State University, who's had one of the best NFL quarterback ratings and is a strong contender for rookie of the year.

The man at the center of this turnaround is Josh Harris, a co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc.—and an owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's New Jersey Devils and a general partner with the English Premier League's Crystal Palace. Harris bought the Commanders last year from Daniel Snyder, who was, to put it mildly, extremely disliked. Under Snyder, the team had two playoff wins in 24 seasons, which is the same number of NFL-led investigations into the organization.

"The Snyder era was 20-plus years of constant mediocrity," says Eric Glazer, a Commanders fan whose family has had season tickets for 30 years. "It feels like Josh Harris owns the team for the fans as opposed to Dan Snyder owning the team for himself."

Randall Williams writes in today's Field Day column how the new owner and a rookie quarterback playing like an All-Pro have transformed a moribund franchise: Why the Washington Commanders Are the Most Exciting Team in the NFL

$8 million

That's how much of his own money Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie spent on his campaign for San Francisco mayor. Lurie positioned himself as a political outsider who could best tackle the city's homelessness and drug and crime problems. He defeated incumbent London Breed.

"He's going to be richer and more powerful than ever."

Louise Sunshine

Former Trump Organization executive vice president

From his social media network to real estate and crypto, the former president's return to the White House will give him power to leverage his array of assets.

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