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      Southwest Airlines Agrees to Board Changes After Pressure From Elliott

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      The airline has been under pressure from the hedge fund Elliott to replace its top management and make other changes to increase its profits.Southwest Airlines on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its board of directors, including the planned departure of its executive chairman, Gary Kelly, after a meeting with a hedge fund that has called for sweeping changes at the company.The board announced the changes while expressing unanimous support for the airline’s chief executive, Bob Jordan, who with Mr. Kelly had been the target of sharp criticism from the hedge fund, Elliott Investment Management. In a statement, the airline said its board was “confident that there is no better leader” for Southwest than Mr. Jordan, who became chief executive in February 2022.“Bob has a proven track record over decades and, most importantly, he has what it takes to lead Southwest through a significant transformation and usher in a new era of profitable growth, innovation and industry leadership,” Mr. Kelly, who was chief executive before Mr. Jordan took over, said in a letter to shareholders.Southwest presented its plan to Elliott at a meeting in New York on Monday. It was not clear whether the overhaul would satisfy Elliott, which has a roughly 11 percent stake in the company. Elliott has called for both Mr. Kelly and Mr. Jordan to step down and has sought to replace most of the directors on the company’s board.Shares of Southwest were down nearly 3 percent in morning trading on Tuesday.“We are pleased that the board is beginning to recognize the degree of change that will be required at Southwest, and we hope to engage with the remaining directors to align on the further necessary changes,” Elliott said in a statement. “The need for thoughtful, deliberate change at Southwest remains urgent, and we believe the highly qualified nominees we have put forward are the right people to steady the board and chart a new course for the airline.”Mr. Kelly, who was the airline’s chief executive for nearly two decades before Mr. Jordan took over, said that he planned to retire after the airline’s annual meeting in the spring. Six other mostly longstanding board members plan to step down after a meeting in November.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hotel Workers Nationwide Go on Strike: What to Know if You’re Traveling Soon

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      Though hotel chains say they’ll continue to operate normally, travelers could see disruptions as employees walked off the job in cities from Boston to Honolulu. Here’s what to know.Over the busy Labor Day weekend, thousands of front-desk workers, housekeepers and other employees at more than a dozen hotels across the country walked off the job on early Sunday after failing to come to an agreement in contract negotiations.The strikes — which as of Sunday morning were called at hotels in Boston; Greenwich, Conn.; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle and in Hawaii — were scheduled to last three days, just as many travelers’ holiday weekend plans were in full swing. More hotel workers in other cities could also soon announce strikes.The strike comes as thousands of workers at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Omni properties across the country — in about 12 cities stretching from Honolulu to Boston — have been engaged in contentious talks since at least May.The workers, members of Unite Here, which represents many segments of the hospitality industry, have been pushing for higher wages and to address pandemic-era staffing and service cuts that have left some employees feeling overwhelmed.“The hotel industry has rebounded from the pandemic, and room rates are at record highs,” Gwen Mills, Unite Here’s international president, said in a statement before the strike. “But hotel workers can’t afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to. Too many hotel workers have to work two or sometimes three jobs in order to make ends meet.”The affected hotels say they plan to stay open, perhaps with modified services, but they may not always notify travelers that a strike is happening. So inquire ahead of time, or you may be surprised to find a spirited picket line in front of your hotel when you arrive.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Waterline Breaks Force Grand Canyon to Halt Hotel Stays on South Rim

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      The popular destination has put strict water restrictions into effect before one of summer’s busiest weekends.Citing recent breaks in its waterline, Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona announced Wednesday that it would temporarily halt overnight hotel stays on the South Rim of the park starting Thursday afternoon, just before the busy Labor Day weekend.The park also announced strict water restrictions on the South Rim after four recent significant breaks in the 12-and-a-half-mile-long Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water from the canyon for use in the park.The park has been dealing with water supply problems since July 8, according to the Park Service, saying that “currently, no water is being pumped to either the South or North Rim.”It was not immediately clear how long the closure would last. Joelle Baird, the park’s spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.“The goal is to restore full operational status for overnight guests on the South Rim as quickly as possible,” the Parks Service said in the statement.But Xanterra, which operates hotels inside the park, said on its website that no overnight guests would be allowed to stay inside the park from Aug. 29 through Sept. 4.The closure, which comes at the height of the park’s busy summer season, affects overnight accommodations, such as hotel and camp sites inside the park. Hotels outside of the park, in the town of Tusayan, will not be affected.The closure affects the four hotels in the park that are owned by Xanterra Travel Collection: El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, and Phantom Ranch. It also affects Yavapai Lodge, a hotel about half a mile from the South Rim, and Trailer Village, an RV park.The El Tovar Hotel, on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, is one of the hotels that will be closed to overnight guests because of water restrictions in the park.George Rose/Getty ImagesThere are just over 900 lodging units on the South Rim, according to the Park Service.Visitors will be allowed only to go “dry camping,” the Park Service said, adding that there would be no spigot access at campgrounds. Faucets in bathrooms will stay in use, the Park Service said.Campfires, including warming fires and charcoal barbecues, will not be allowed.On the North Rim — the lesser visited part of the Canyon — a lodge and camp grounds will remain open. Also known as the “other side” of the Grand Canyon, the North Rim attracts about one tenth of all park visitors, according to the National Park Service. About six million people a year visit the park.It is not the first time the Transcanyon Waterline has experienced problems. The waterline, built in the 1960s, has outlived its expected life span, according to the Park Service, and requires a lot of expensive repairs. Since 2010, there have been more than 85 breaks that have disrupted water delivery to the park.The park will continue to be open during the day, and food and beverage services will be up and running. The post office will remain open during the day. More

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      Is Your Flight Delayed by the Tech Outage? Here’s What You Need to Know.

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      While service is slowly recovering, flights have been delayed and canceled worldwide. Here’s information on the most affected airlines and airports, passengers’ rights and how to reach airline customer service.Travel plans across the world were thrown into disarray on Friday, as a global technology outage disrupted businesses and services — including air travel — leaving thousands of flights canceled or delayed across the United States and beyond.While service was slowly recovering by midmorning Eastern time, the ripple effect was still snarling travel plans as delayed and canceled flights created a buildup of passengers waiting at airports, and some planes and crews out of position.“The anxiety is getting up a little,” said Adonis Ajayi, 35, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Friday morning. Mr. Ajayi was on his way to Key West, Fla., for a long weekend and said he had been checking social media constantly for flight updates — his flight had been delayed for nearly three hours. “I’ve never seen anything of this scale.”The outage was caused by a flawed update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, whose software is used globally by scores of industries to protect Microsoft systems. Messages posted on social media by travelers worldwide showed flights grounded, some terminal monitors down and crowds of stranded passengers waiting at airport gates and customer service desks. Some passengers at one airport in India had to stand in long lines to obtain handwritten boarding passes.Which airports have been hit the worst?In the United States, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world’s busiest airport, appeared to have the most flights affected by the outage on Friday morning, with more than 230 incoming and outgoing flights canceled and more than 370 flights delayed, according to FlightAware, a real-time flight tracker.Many other airports, including hubs in New York, Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., also appeared to experience significant disruption.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Can You Name the Locations in These Classic Novels?

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      A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. With the summer travel season in mind, this week’s quiz highlights five classic 20th-century novels that are set in locations that were, still are or have become popular vacation destinations over the years. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading. More

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      A Tourist From New Mexico Is Killed by an Elephant in Zambia

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      The incident came months after another tourist was killed in Zambia when an elephant charged her group. One wildlife expert said the attacks were most likely “freak accidents.”A tourist from New Mexico was killed in Zambia when an elephant charged her, according to the police commissioner who investigated the incident. She is the second tourist to be fatally attacked by an elephant in the southern African country this year.The woman who was killed, Juliana G. Letourneau, 64, of Albuquerque, had just visited Victoria Falls, a 350-foot waterfall that straddles the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and was heading back to her hotel on Wednesday when the group that she was traveling with encountered a herd of elephants on the road.She and others stepped out of their vehicle to observe the animals, said Auxensio Daka, the police commissioner for the southern province of Zambia, in a telephone interview on Saturday.“They stopped to watch the elephants, and unfortunately one of them charged towards them as they were standing there watching,” Mr. Daka said.Mr. Daka said that Ms. Letourneau was taken to a clinic in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park near Livingstone, Zambia, where she was declared dead on arrival. Her injuries included deep wounds on the right shoulder blade and forehead, a fractured left ankle and a slightly depressed chest, according to a police statement.No other injuries were reported from the encounter with the elephant.Ms. Letourneau’s brother said on Saturday that he had no details about the incident, and declined to be interviewed. Other relatives could not be reached.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Are Planes Safe Right Now? How to Understand Flight Disruptions.

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      You should expect the unexpected while flying, but few disruptions should provoke serious concern, aviation experts say.Smoke in the cabin. A tire blowout. A cracked windshield. No shortage of problems can affect a flight, fueling traveler anxiety and contributing to thousands of daily delays and cancellations around the world.But for all of the frustration and alarm such events cause, it can be difficult to interpret and understand their severity. Here’s how aviation safety experts say travelers should think about disruptions when they occur.Problems happen.Several alarming air travel incidents have made headlines in recent weeks — a sharp plunge toward an ocean, an unnerving wobble that damaged the tail of a plane and an aborted departure after an apparent engine fire.But the most common mishaps and malfunctions, even if hair-raising, are not typically severe, experts said.A hydraulic leak, for example, is a familiar occurrence that pilots take seriously, but it is not as disruptive as it may sound. That’s because planes have backup hydraulic systems, which are used to power equipment like the landing gear, brakes, wing flaps and flight controls, allowing planes to take off, fly and land. A plane veering off a runway, in what is known as a runway excursion, makes for captivating video and a possibly terrifying experience for those on board. But it doesn’t necessarily cause significant damage to an airplane or threaten the safety of those on board.The same is true of the wide range of mechanical or maintenance issues that can come up before takeoff, which might force a pilot to hold a plane at its gate or return to the gate from taxiing. Those incidents are important to understand and address, but they are often minor, experts said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More