In partnership with

Greetings N2K reader!

Elise Danielle Thralow won this week’s world famous News Haiku™ competition about Peloton’s seat post failures causing injuries with this beauty:

“I’m thrilled and honored to win again,” Elise emailed me. “I must also publicly acknowledge Elizabeth Mansolillo. Her line, ‘Please enjoy this post,’ is touching in the way it lingers and makes me weep.“ Congratulations, Elise! Here’s your celebratory gif, which can also double as our Monday morning mantra, Cheddheads…

This week’s world famous News Haiku™ competition is about the last U.S. penny ever being minted (it’s true, they are no more!). Send me your entry — to our spiffy new email address, haiku at cheddar dot com — by noon ET on Thursday for consideration by your Cheddar peers. And now for something completely different!

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

• Do you really NEED a private jet?

• Blue Origin sticks mega-rocket landing and, even m …

• Apple cracks down on apps sharing data with A.I.

• Inside America’s cooling job market

• Trump admin scraps Biden-era plan for airline dela …

• Poll of the day: The K-shaped economy

What’s the stock market up to, eh?

$SPX ( ▼ 0.05% ) $DJI ( ▼ 0.65% ) $NDX ( ▲ 0.13% )

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

Wheels Up, Blue Origin, $LNKD ( 0.0% ) , $AAPL ( ▼ 0.2% )  

Do you really NEED a private jet?

The recent turmoil in commercial air travel has been a hot topic, but fear not, help is on the way — provided you’re already sitting on a massive pile of wealth. We recently met with George Mattson, CEO of Wheels Up, one of the leading private global aviation companies. And boy, are private global aviation companies doing great.

Mattson was quick to reassure us that while the fragility of the system exposed by the government shutdown has led to “horror stories of people who were forced to drive across the country instead of flying,” his company has actually seen a spike in bookings.

Why? Because private jet travelers still need to, want to, and can afford to fly to 5,000 airports in the U.S., not the just under 500 that the commercial carriers do. Addressing the "K-shaped economy" — a pronounced economic trend where different groups of people experience vastly different outcomes, with high-income earners and companies recovering and growing while lower- and middle-income groups are struggling — Mattson noted that the segment they operate in is "really healthy," buoyed by both "markets at all-time highs" and a delightful new trend.

The K-shaped economy is an “experience-based economy,” Mattson explained, with a new "younger generation of folks who have accumulated substantial wealth" now viewing private aviation as "even more compelling as a convenience."

Please let us know what you think of the K-shaped economy in today’s poll.

Some 90% of Mattson’s clientele also fly commercial, so it’s very much a porque-no-los-dos.gif situation. Next time your commercial flight is canceled, google “how much will it cost me to get where I need to go on a private jet?”

The answer, when it comes to Wheels Up, is:

• Annual Fee: $8,500 (the initiation fee of $9,995 is typically waived if you put down a deposit).

• Initial Fund Deposit: A minimum of $100,000 is required to gain access to guaranteed availability and capped rates.

Then Google “rental car,” because you could get a beauty for that money.

Song of the day: Charlie XCX, ‘Chains of Love’

Charli XCX’s new song is a big, achingly romantic ballad that combines strings with head-warping electronic effects. Just what you need when you’re thinking about a private jet you can’t afford

Blue Origin sticks mega-rocket landing and, even more unbelievably, Musk congratulates Bezos

Evidently, Elon Musk has gotten over being dissed by both Joyce Carol Oates and Billie Eilish (for hoarding money while nearing trillionaire status). I think he got over this by congratulating a fellow billionaire on landing his mega rocket.

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has reached a historic milestone in the commercial space race, having successfully landed its enormous New Glenn rocket booster on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. The achievement makes Blue Origin only the second company, after SpaceX, to master the technology of landing and reusing orbital-class rocket boosters. Musk congratulated Bezos and his team on the accomplishment, tweeting: “Congratulations @JeffBezos and the @BlueOrigin team!”

See, Joyce, he can be gracious! See, Billie?

The New Glenn rocket booster — standing over 320 feet tall and powered by seven BE-4 engines — touched down on the droneship Jacklyn shortly after launching from Cape Canaveral. The mission also included the deployment of NASA’s ESCAPADE satellites, designed to study the Martian atmosphere. Reflecting on this achievement, Dave “Bizkit” Limp, Blue Origin's CEO, said, “We achieved full mission success today, and I am so proud of the team. Never before in history has a booster this large nailed the landing on the second try.”

The success marks a crucial step for Blue Origin in its quest to compete with SpaceX's dominance in reusable rocket technology.

Quote of the Day

Apple cracks down on apps sharing data with A.I.

Apple has introduced significant changes to its App Review Guidelines, explicitly requiring apps to disclose and obtain user consent before sharing personal data with third-party AI systems. The move is part of Apple’s ongoing effort to prioritize user privacy and build trust within its ecosystem. According to the updated rule, developers must now “clearly disclose where personal data will be shared with third parties, including with third-party AI, and obtain explicit permission before doing so.”

The update is an extension of Apple’s compliance with global data privacy laws, and violators risk removal from the App Store. The timing of the revision is notable, as it arrives ahead of Apple’s 2026 introduction of an AI-enhanced Siri, leveraging Google’s Gemini technology.

Industry observers believe the new rule could significantly impact app developers.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👎️ 

Definitely not.

Inside America’s cooling job market

Recent data from LinkedIn suggests a continuous, albeit moderate, slowdown in the U.S. job market. Kory Kantenga at LinkedIn noted that while hiring and quits have slowed, "overall things are actually holding up pretty steady." However: "Hiring on LinkedIn is down about 24% compared to prior to the pandemic. So even though things aren't cooling very rapidly right now, they are already pretty cool."

Kantenga sees the tech sector layoffs as "a bit more specific" to the industry, attributing the current state to "very much the macro economy" rather than AI-driven displacement, which is a key trend to watch heading into 2026.

So, where is the momentum? Kantenga points to Healthcare as the "most robust industry," with 80% of jobs added this year coming from healthcare and social services. On the flip side, manufacturing continues to be "slow" until interest rates drop further.

For job seekers navigating this competitive environment, the calculus has definitely shifted. The number of job postings per applicant is back to pre-pandemic levels, and job seekers are now "putting in about twice as many applications" as before the pandemic. My wife applied to 1,200 jobs to get one earlier this year, compared to five the time before and one the time before that. So I’d say Kory Kantenga is kinda WRONG. But she’s got the data, and I’m just full of emotion. Right?

Kantenga offers two key strategies: Rely on your network— "when we ask our members who do they go to for information, it's their network first and foremost" — and “understand the trends” to find pockets of opportunity.

Like “working” on OnlyFans. I gather that’s lucrative? And basically it’s like driving an Uber these days if you can suspend all moral judgement. #TheGigEconomy

Trump admin scraps Biden-era plan for airline delay compensation

The Trump administration has officially withdrawn a Biden-era proposal that would have required airlines to compensate passengers in cash for flight delays or cancellations within their control. The now-scrapped regulation, introduced last year, promised travelers up to $775 in cash alongside meals, lodging, and other necessities for interruptions lasting over three hours.

In a filing on Friday, the Transportation Department stated that federal law did not authorize such compensation requirements. Instead, the agency said it would allow airlines to “compete on the services and compensation that they provide to passengers.” 

Airlines, unsurprisingly, welcomed the move. A spokesperson for Airlines for America (A4A), an industry trade association, argued that airlines already provide “automatic refunds for significant delays and cancellations” along with reimbursements for necessities, emphasizing that stricter rules could ultimately lead to higher ticket prices.

Critics, however, view this shift as a setback for passenger rights. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, called the decision “a gift to the airline industry,” condemning it for placing profits over traveler protections.

According to William “OMG” McGee of the American Economic Liberties Project, the administration’s rollbacks are part of a broader trend: “There’s not a regulation that they don’t either want to weaken or eliminate,” he said.

With U.S. travelers left without the protections seen in the EU, where similar rules award up to $700 for lengthy delays, many are questioning how passengers will be defended against airline disruptions in the future. Although if you Google “rental car” again, I do think you’ll be heavily rewarded. #NotFinancialAdvice

Poll of the day: The K-shaped economy

Need2Know is covered by Cheddar’s Terms of Service.