Airlines played the slots — and lost

Across Europe, empty planes are flying back and forth from airport to airport thanks to a bizarre rule that requires airlines to use at least 80% of their scheduled “flight slots” or risk losing them.

There’s a huge secondary economy for flight slots

Since airports can only support so many flights in a given day, they issue a finite number of the slots. Some airports even employ 3rd-party coordinators to manage their slots because competition is so fierce.

To keep the market competitive, a “use it or lose it” policy requires airlines to use 80% of their slots.

The slot system sounds good in theory…

But it has caused airlines to adopt some problematic practices. Some examples:

• Slot resale: Airlines buy and sell slots between themselves as if they were a currency. In February 2016, Oman Air paid Air France-KLM $75m for a pair of prime early morning slots. 
• Slot sitting: When airlines can’t find buyers for their slots, they sometimes give them away for free to partner airlines so they can hold on to them in the long term. In this case, airlines don’t make any money… but they don’t lose any money, either.
• Ghost flights: In worst-case scenarios, airlines send empty planes to fill their slots. Airlines lose money on these empty flights… but not as much as they would if they lost their slots.

But now coronavirus has exposed a problem

Drastically decreased demand caused by coronavirus concerns has forced several airlines to fly ghost flights to avoid losing slots. 

In some cases, the ghost flights weren’t enough: UK airline Flybe declared bankruptcy last week due to the strain. The airline industry as a whole could lose as much as $113B due to decreased demand.

Critics say that UK authorities and slot coordinators should relax rules to prevent airlines from losing money — and wasting jet fuel that damages the environment. 

It wouldn’t be the first time: The industry suspended the “use it or lose it” rule after both 9/11 and the financial crisis. 

Last week, Kickstarter suspended a controversial campaign that had boards flippin’ and pieces flyin’ in the world of online chess.

Here’s what went down, courtesy of Vice: A company called REGIUM launched a campaign for a flashy internet-connected board that let people throw pawns with their online rivals — using real pieces moved by electromagnets. 

A promo video showed Team Black’s bishops makin’ moves all on their own.

But chess-perts said they saw something else…

…signs that the pieces in the video were moved by stop motion, not magnets.

The team behind Lichess, a chess platform and community, posted a Zapruder-level film analysis that laid out the case for stop-motion subterfuge. They also poked holes in claims on REGIUM’s site and in its marketing.

The strife didn’t stop at stop motion

Chess24.com said “an army of online investigators” raised “multiple red flags” about Regium. Among the most bizarre accusations — that the engineers listed on the company’s website were actually just headshots from thispersondoesnotexist.com.

In response to Vice’s questions, REGIUM denied the claims about its engineers and said the sleuths were making “delirious” accusations.

Shamrock Shake-down: Here’s a peek at what’s in McDonald’s green cuisine

Spring is here, and that means one thing: Shamrock Shakes are back! 

Everybody’s favorite emerald edible may look pretty damn good, but a quick peek at the stat sheet tells a different story. See for yourself:

Shamrock Shake (Large) – Nutrition Facts

• Calories: 790
• Sugar: 112g
• Carbs: 130g (47% Daily Value)
• Saturated Fat: 14g (70% Daily Value)

In summary? Plenty tasty, but kind of waste-y when it comes to nutrition — and if you’re looking to lose weight this spring, maybe not the wisest choice. 

Dropping lb’s is hard, but Noom is here to help

Before you succumb to the temptation of Shamrock Shakes, endless March Madness wings, and a zillion St. Paddy’s Day beers, give your body the gift of Noom. 

This new wellness app was designed by a team of behavioral psychologists. What’s that mean? It means that instead of telling you to only eat broccoli, they actually work on changing your behavior. 

And that, friends, is the recipe for sustainable weight loss.

Want in? Take this 30-second evaluation today and get a head start on your summer.

Hitman-for-hire services are flourishing on the dark web, and they’re advertising at disturbingly low prices. The website Azerbaijani Eagles promises to commit a murder for just $5,000.

There’s just 1 problem: Researchers at Michigan State University have concluded that these hitmen services are scams. 

Hired hits do occasionally happen in the real world. But none of the 24 sites covered in the research have ever been linked to a real-life murder. 

Calling yourself a killer has never been so trendy

At least 1 group adamantly opposes the scam theory: the hitmen themselves.

The 18th Street Mafia promises that it “can provide video proof of our services, with time stamps,” adding that “such proof is not possible for fake services.”

The proof is apparently hard to come by: When the The New York Times reached out, the Mafia didn’t reply. 

Left on read by your dark-web assassin

To be clear: We here at The Hustle are not eager to cast too much shade on hitman services. But there’s a good reason to be skeptical.

Say you actually try to hire one of these sites. You fork over $18,000 — apparently the going rate for a hit in England. Nothing happens. What are you gonna do, call the cops?

One Illinois nurse was sentenced to 12 years for trying to hire a member of the Sicilian Hitmen International Network. Her case shows law enforcement probably won’t have much sympathy if your hired gun ghosts you.

Convincing a city to drop money on DJing classes for its underserved schools isn’t easy. So when Phi Pham strides into meetings with city officials, the founder of Building Beats comes with proof that DJing teaches life skills. 

Students uploading their music to SoundCloud? Teaches an entrepreneurial spirit. Performing at assemblies? That’s public speaking. Giving and receiving feedback with peers? A master class in conflict resolution.

As a nonprofit, Building Beats has a lean staff of only 3 full-timers. But by making clever use of free beat-making programs like Soundtrap, it’s squaring off against robotics, chess, and dance programs to land contracts in a niche after-school market.

Pham farms out projects to a group of 19 instructors who double as DJs or musicians in their daily lives. Contracts with schools make up 80% of his revenue, and almost all expenses are salaries. 

Building Beats has its sights set on delivering cost-effective programs to schools across New York City — and, soon, Los Angeles and D.C. So far, it’s striking a chord: In many high-poverty schools where Pham has landed, Building Beats is the only music class offered.

• Founders: Phi Pham 
• Employees: 3
• Years in business: 7
• Cost to launch: $5,000 
• Funding methods: Crowdfunding, friends/family contributions
• 1st-year revenue: $25k
• Current annual revenue: $400k

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