CNBC.com’s MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day’s top business news headlines. On today’s show, CNBC.com’s Brad Howard takes a tour of a U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship, as older LCS ships are decommissioned. Plus, WeWork goes public via SPAC.
Inside the Littoral Combat Ship, one of the Navy’s most controversial warships
The USS Freedom — the first Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS — was decommissioned after only 13 years in the fleet. This move appears to be at odds with the U.S. Navy’s goal of building up a force of 355 ships.
The LCS is designed for littoral areas, or water closer to shore. Larger ships have trouble operating in these areas because of the shallow water. But engine issues, mission module problems and the evolving state of the world have put the future of the ship in choppy waters.
Several older Littoral Combat Ships are also being decommissioned due to the high cost of upgrading them.
“The bottom line is, it’s a zero-sum game. Every dollar you spend to keep those [LCS’] going is $1 you can spend on these other, I think, higher priorities” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
WeWork shares jump more than 13% in public markets debut after SPAC merger
Shares of WeWork closed up 13.49% on Thursday after the company went public through a special purpose acquisition company more than two years after its failed IPO.
The office-leasing company scrapped plans for an IPO in 2019 after investors raised concerns over its business model and corporate governance and its founder and then-CEO Adam Neumann.
Plans for the merger with BowX Acquisition Corp. were first announced in March, in a deal that reportedly valued the company at roughly $9 billion.
The valuation is a sharp drop from 2019, when WeWork was initially valued at a steep $47 billion by SoftBank Group. Its valuation slowly lowered as news of the company’s finances unraveled and investor demand wained.
Southwest Airlines trims flights again to manage staffing crunch
Southwest Airlines said mass flight cancellations and delays that disrupted travel for tens of thousands of customers earlier this month cost it $75 million and that it plans to further trim its schedule.
The Dallas-based airline on Thursday cut its December capacity to 92% of what it flew in the same month of 2019, down from a plan to fly 95% of its schedule two years ago.
Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights between Oct. 8 and Oct. 13. It blamed the meltdown on bad weather in Florida and air traffic control issues, which was compounded by staffing shortages. Its closest rivals, including those in Florida, had relatively minimal cancellations.
The revenue hit, announced in quarterly results, came from flight cancellations, customer refunds and “gestures of goodwill,” Southwest said.
