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In order to keep US aviation operational through the government shutdown, air traffic controllers have been working without pay. But for the people involved in inspecting our planes to ensure they follow Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety standards, the situation is more complicated. While principal aviation inspectors were told to keep working, assistant-level inspectors and other support staff were sent home and then had to be recalled, several sources tell Fast Company. In some cases, the government is still cycling them in and out of service, adding to the overall disruption. The approach puts even more pressure on the airline industry, which is already struggling to maintain flight schedules amid whats likely to be the longest-ever government closure. Sources tell Fast Company that the public should not feel the impact of the disruptions, and that the workers will continue to fulfill their responsibilities. Still, the situation highlights another group of people crucial to a functional commercial-aviation system, working without pay under somewhat chaotic circumstances. The approach to inspector staffing also comes amid growing concerns about the shutdowns impact on air travel. Dave Spero, the president of Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, an AFL-CIO linked union that represents these workers, confirmed that aircraft inspectors have now been recalled by the FAA. The union doesnt have solid data yet, but says that some offices seem to be operating business-as-usual, while others are using their discretionary authority to furlough and recall employees on a day to day basis, Spero says. The situation is impacting about 1,200 workers who focus on flight standards and another 60 who work on aircraft certifications, according to the union. Because training isnt considered essential during a government, newer aircraft safety inspectors are still furloughed. An official with the Department of Transportation also said that some aircraft inspectors were not automatically exempted during the shutdown and that some were being recalled to inspect planes, before again being furloughed. Shutdown strains Last month, a bevy of groups in the aviation space warned leaders in Congress that, amid a shutdown, FAA workers cannot perform their duties that support aviation safety, aircraft certification, and the integration of new entrants. It also serves as a reminder that the shutdown isnt just straining the professionals that monitor the skysand save us from collisions at airportsbut the people who inspect aircraft, too. An FAA document describes these workers, who carry the title aviation safety inspectors as the people who administer, investigate and enforce safety regulations and standards for the production, operation, maintenance and modification of all aircraft flying today. These workers can have a wide range of responsibilities involved in ensuring that aircraft are safe, Spero emphasizes. For instance, aircraft inspectors help ensure cabin and crew safety, and conduct oversight of Boeing vehicles. They are assigned to offices that work with the commercial airlines, as well as delivery fleets operated by FedEx and UPS. Another aviation-safety professional familiar with the matter confirmed that Transportation officials had resorted to cycling some inspectors on and off duty. During the earlier parts of the shutdown, senior leadership, field office managers, and principal aviation safety inspectors were told to work without pay during the shutdown, they say. Aviation safety is considered a critical mission, so maintaining oversight in those areas was essential, the person says. After a few weeks, senior leadership at the FAA then expanded the number of employees recalled to work, including field office supervisors and the inspectors who provide direct assistance to the principal aviation safety inspectors. In simpler terms, those assisting inspectors are like associate or support safety inspectors who help carry out inspections, certifications, and oversight tasks under the guidance of the senior inspector responsible for a particular group of operators or maintenance facilities, the person said. Supervisors have the authority to recall administrative professionals as needed in order to continue work on inspection and compliance, the person says. But it can be a complex process: We must formally recall administrative employees to work, track their time, and then officially furlough them again once theyve completed their assigned days, which can range from one to seven days per week depending on operational needs, the person explains. Additional details about the situation werent immediately available, including how many workers are cycling between recall and furlough status or which aviation offices require more of these inspectors to return to work. Leaders at the FAAs Aviation Safety office did not respond to Fast Companys questions. In response to questions from Fast Company, the FAA media office sent an automated response: As Secretary Duffy has said, there have been increased staffing shortages across the system. When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations. Of course, even before the shutdown, there were growing concerns about the safety of aircraft, particularly those made by Boeing, following a string of serious accidents.
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Its already been an exciting Major League Baseball season. And that excitement is clearly translating into the business and advertising side as well. Earlier this summer, Variety reported that ads for the MLB All-Star Game, which took place in July, sold out over a month in advance. On Monday night during Game 3 of the World Series, when the Los Angeles Dodgers won against the Toronto Blue Jayswhich gave L.A. a 2-1 series lead and featured another significant performance from Shohei Ohtanithe game went to 18 innings and lasted six hours and 39 minutes. So what happens to ads when a game has extra innings? When a large tentpole tournament or a championship game like the Super Bowl goes into overtime, it often turns into a bidding war between advertisers. But baseball is a unique animal and in a league of its own. Its different compared with the NFL’s Super Bowl, given the complexity of the sports structure and due to unplanned breaks and pitcher changes, which have to be accounted for. According to a source familiar with the matter, Monday nights game had so many breaks that Fox, which is broadcasting the series, went through its entire national inventory by the 13th inning, running out of spots because it went on for so long. From there, the network ran several promos from that point on until the 18th inning. While a normal game usually runs around 76 commercials, the source said that around 108 spots ran on Monday night. What typically happens from a ratings perspective is that the network can cut off the game and split it into two sets of viewership numbers: one where it starts at the beginning of the game at around 5:15 p.m. ET and goes until 12:30 a.m. ET. And then theres the entire game from start to finish: Monday nights Game 3 ended around 3 a.m. ET. The longer the game goes on, viewers will start to go to bed and the ratings will typically dropso it doesnt necessarily help to continue running new spots at that point in the game. They ran into an anomaly, the source told Fast Company. However, something similar happened seven years ago in 2018, when the Dodgers and Red Sox had an 18-inning game during Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, and the network had to split viewership into two games, according to our source. While the viewership numbers from Monday nights 18-inning Game 3 have yet to be released, Fox reported that it averaged 13.3 million viewers from Game 1 on Friday, down 13% from last year, while 11.6 million watched Game 2 on Saturday, which is down 16%. At the same time, with the Blue Jays in the series, TV ratings are generally up when combined with Canadas viewership. Fox declined to share specific numbers around commercials in this years World Series tournament, but in Varietys report from July, a source told the publication at the time that Fox had been seeking between $750,000 and $800,000 for a 30-second commercial in the All-Star Game.
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Meta recorded a nearly $16 billion one-time charge in the third quarter related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, and said its capital expenditure next year would be “notably larger” than in 2025. Shares of the company fell around 6% after the bell. Excluding the charge, Meta said its third-quarter net income would have increased by $15.93 billion to $18.64 billion, compared to the reported net income of $2.71 billion. The social media company now expects capital expenditure to be between $70 billion and $72 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $66 billion to $72 billion. Meta continues to benefit from its massive user base. The company’s powerful AI-optimized ad platform helps marketers automate campaigns, improve the quality of video ads, translate ads, and generate persona-based images to target different customer segments. The company has launched ads on its messaging platform WhatsApp and social network Threads, directly competing with platforms such as Elon Musk’s X, while Instagram’s Reels continue to jostle with ByteDance’s TikTok and YouTube Shorts for ad revenue in the short-video market. Meta has been doubling down on AI, with a target of achieving superintelligence, a theoretical milestone where machines could outthink humans. To that end, Meta reorganized its AI efforts under the Superintelligence Labs unit in June, following senior staff departures and a poor reception for its Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally led an aggressive talent hiring spree and has said that the company would spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build several massive AI data centers for superintelligence. The company is among the top buyers of Nvidia’s sought-after AI chips. The company struck a $27 billion financing deal last week with Blue Owl Capital, Meta’s largest-ever private capital agreement, to fund a massive data center project in Richland Parish, Louisiana, known as “Hyperion.” In a surprise move, Meta said last week it would cut around 600 jobs out of the several thousand employees within its AI unit to streamline decision-making and increase the responsibility, scope and impact of each role. The company’s aggressive AI investments are creating significant cost pressures, even as it anticipates long-term benefits and revenue growth. Major tech companies including Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta, Microsoft and CoreWeave are on track to spend $400 billion on AI infrastructure this year, Morgan Stanley estimates. These investments that come amid economic uncertainty have fueled fears of an AI bubble, putting pressure on CEOs to deliver measurable results, as the move could trigger losses, job cuts and boardroom shake-ups. Jaspreet Singh, Reuters
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