Why business leaders need a ‘wake-up call’ to take burnout seriously right now, experts say

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(NEW YORK) — Amid the coronavirus pandemic, another health crisis has been lurking.

It affects people of all backgrounds and in some cases can have profound impacts on their health.

Burnout in the American workforce, which surveys indicate was a widespread problem even before the pandemic, is an issue that employers and managers can no longer afford to ignore as many companies contemplate return-to-office strategies and the future of work in general.

“This is a historic time; we’ve never been through anything like this. Our mental health and our physical health are really being taxed,” Darcy Gruttadaro, the director of the American Psychological Association Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health, told ABC News. “If there was ever a time to raise these issues, it’s now.”

“If you’re experiencing burnout and you’re trying to ignore it, that will eventually catch up with you,” Gruttadaro warned.

Burnout is also killing people, new data indicates. Last month, the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization said that working long hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29% increase since 2000. In a statement accompanying the study, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus linked the COVID-19 pandemic to “blurring the boundaries between home and work,” which resulted in longer hours for many — and thus a higher risk of premature death.

And if that isn’t enough for business leaders to take action, experts note that burnout is also linked to plummeting productivity, poor retention and other factors that can impact a company’s bottom line.

Data shows that pandemic-battered workers are now leaving their jobs at some of the highest rates ever. The share of workers who left their jobs in April was 2.7%, marking the highest “quits rate” since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping records, according to data released by the agency earlier this month.

Here is what experts say defines burnout, why it’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, and what can be done to address it:

What burnout is and why it’s been magnified by the pandemic

While the term has been used colloquially for decades, the World Health Organization used three factors — energy depletion or exhaustion, distance or cynicism to one’s job and reduced professional efficacy — to define burnout as an occupational phenomenon for the first time in 2019. It is not classified as a medical condition.

“Burnout is when an individual is experiencing high levels of stress — and usually a person becomes cynical and kind of distant from their job. They just really are not feeling good about their job at all,” Gruttadaro said. “And then the third big area is their efficiency or their ability to perform their job really drops.”

It does not just have to do with workload, however, but also whether there is a sense of fairness in the workplace and the amount of control workers have over their tasks. While the self-help industry and employers may place the blame on the individual, experts say it usually has more to do with the workplace than a specific employee.

High levels of stress associated with burnout can manifest in people experiencing depression, anxiety, substance use, heart disease, obesity and a number of other illnesses, according to Gruttadaro.

Reports of depression and anxiety amid the pandemic have spiked significantly, she added, and overdose deaths have also soared — likely showing that many are turning to substance use in high numbers.

The pandemic has been linked to higher rates of burnout for both essential workers and white-collar office workers, many of whom had the privilege of continuing their jobs remotely.

For essential workers, the pandemic brought a myriad of new and chronic stressors related to trying to stay healthy and safe while working on site or getting to and from work, as well as many new restrictions and changes outside of their control at work.

For those who have been working remotely, many reported working longer hours — marked by days spent eating lunch at their desks or working through the time they would have spent commuting. As a shift to remote work blurred the boundaries between being on and off the clock, some data indicates work productivity actually ticked up during the health crisis.

New caregiving responsibilities as schools and day cares shuttered throughout the past year also disproportionately impacted mothers, leading to an alarming exodus of women in the workforce — many of whom cited “burnout” as the reason for leaving or downshifting their careers, one study found.

“Burnout is essentially saying there’s something not healthy, or not fair, in a lot of different places,” Christina Maslach, a professor emerita of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and a core researcher at the school’s Healthy Workplaces Center, told ABC News.

Maslach noted a feeling of unfairness — in pay, treatment and work assignments — within the workplace is especially linked to burnout.

That sense of unfairness can lead to negative feelings and cynicism toward your work, which often means “that people, in trying to cope with that, are doing the bare minimum rather than their very best,” Maslach added.

Maslach pioneered research on burnout, creating the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a research measure that was a key contributor to the WHO’s later work on burnout.

While there is a common fallacy that burnout and stress is a personal weakness or flaw, Maslach said it usually has to do with an unhealthy work environment rather than an individual not being able to take care of themself.

“It’s rarely something that affects an individual alone; it’s not just about workload,” she added. “It’s about how much control that you have and it’s also affected by the extent to which you get recognized and rewarded for doing good things as opposed to ‘a good day is a day when nothing bad happens.'”

What can be done to address burnout

Maslach warned that many of the solutions to burnout touted by the self-care industry and beyond deal more with coping rather than prevention, and sustainable solutions would require overhauls that tend to be very job-specific but address the root causes of what makes a workplace stressful and exhausting.

“It’s analogous to the canary in the coal mine,” Maslach said. “When the canary goes down in the coal mine and is having trouble breathing, and not surviving and not doing well, you don’t worry about how to make the canary stronger and tougher; you say what’s going wrong in the mine? Why are the fumes getting so toxic that a community can’t survive?”

Gruttadaro said that one thing employers can certainly do, however, is recognize that leadership matters with regards to burnout.

“Leadership sets the culture and organization,” she said, which is why it is so critical to make sure that “managers and leaders are modeling good behavior and not sending emails very late at night, not sending weekend emails all the time.”

Effective communication between managers and workers is also key, Gruttadaro said, such as having check-ins where workers can feel comfortable voicing their concerns to their managers and not just through human resources departments.

Microsoft’s annual 2021 Work Trend Index report warned that business leaders are “out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call.” The report found high levels of overwork and exhaustion among employees, but a major disconnect compared to managers. Some 61% of business leaders say they are “thriving” — 23 percentage points higher than those without decision-making authority.

At the individual level, Gruttadaro recommended doing what you can control — such as “setting healthy boundaries” — and if you’re working remotely to try and mimic the hours you would do if you were still going into the office.

When it comes specifically to dealing with stress management, Gruttadaro emphasized that exercise and sleep are essential, as well as engaging with activities that you enjoy.

“There are likely to be higher incidence of burnout at jobs in which people don’t have as much control over the activities they do during the day as part of their job,” Gruttadaro added. “So the more that employers offer opportunities for people to find meaning and purpose in their work, and really feel like they’re making a difference and they have some control and there’s a certain level of fairness associated with the way they’re treated during the day — these are all elements of a healthier work environment.”

Some companies, including Bumble, LinkedIn, and Hootsuite, have responded to post-pandemic burnout recently by giving all staff an entire week off.

Maslach added that the present time provides the ideal opportunity for organizations to get creative with solutions that aren’t just treating the symptoms of burnout but creating a work environment that people actually want to be a part of.

“The changes in the pandemic I think underscored an important bottom line, which is the importance of a healthy workplace,” she said. “We have to rethink what makes for healthier environments in which people can do productive, meaningful and valuable kind of work.”

“And if anything, the pandemic is pointing out you could do things differently,” Maslach said. “Let’s get creative, let’s rethink this.”

“It may not be the ‘same old, same old’ going back to normal workplaces,” she said. “How do we learn from this and figure out better ways of doing what we do?”

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Disney makes stride toward inclusivity with new park greetings

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(NEW YORK) — Guests visiting Disney Parks in recent days might have noticed being greeted a little differently when waiting for a performance or show.

As a step towards inclusivity, Disney Parks has announced it’s removing the mention of, “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,” from its automated announcements, including for the nighttime shows.

This change is one of many ways Disney is working to promote a more inclusive experience for all guests and families.

Changes to Disney’s language have already begun to roll out and will continue to change across Disney Parks globally.

“We want our guests to see their own backgrounds and traditions reflected in the stories, experiences and products they encounter in their interactions with Disney,” Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D’Amaro recently said in a statement.

“Inclusion is essential to our culture and leads us forward as we continue to realize our rich legacy of engaging storytelling, exceptional service, and Disney magic,” D’Amaro added.

Disney is the parent company of ABC news.

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Chanel launches bath collection with iconic No. 5 scent

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(NEW YORK) — Chanel No. 5 lovers can now bathe themselves in the iconic scent — literally.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Chanel No. 5, the brand has launched a collection of bath products.

“To celebrate No. 5 and its one hundred years of celebrity, CHANEL has developed CHANEL FACTORY 5, a revolutionary experience that has made it possible to produce a completely new collection, with No. 5 as its sole ingredient,” the company wrote in a press release.

Chanel Factory 5 includes 17 limited-edition products from soap to body lotion.

All products in the collection include the signature rose and jasmine No. 5 scent.

“Through this concept, we want to return to the creation process of the first N°5 packaging. At the time, it was a simple laboratory bottle, a functional object that became luxurious and iconic. There was already this notion of transforming a common, ultra-functional object into a precious one,” Thomas Du Pré De Saint Maur, head of global creative resources for fragrance and beauty, said in a statement.

The line is available on Chanel’s website and ranges from $45 to $138.

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New York City is getting the world’s first Bumble café and wine bar

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(NEW YORK) — Bumble will be opening its first-ever café and wine bar in New York City this summer.

A partnership between the dating app and restaurant Pasquale Jones of Delicious Hospitality Group, Bumble Brew Café and Wine Bar will open in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood on July 24. According to a statement by Bumble, it’ll be a space for “the community to gather, for genuine connections to be built, and for guests to interact.”

“At Bumble, we’re fueled by bringing people together to build genuine connections — both on and off the app,” said Julia Smith, head of brand partnerships at Bumble. “We hope that people can gather at Bumble Brew and connect over an espresso or delicious meal, whether it’s with friends, a potential partner, or a new business connection.”

Designed by FLOAT Studio, the 3,760-square-foot restaurant will have an 80-seat dining room, a cocktail bar, and patio and private dining. The Italian-inspired menu was created by chef Ryan Hardy, and will feature vegetables, handmade pasta and shareable plates.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with Bumble and open a new space in our community, especially after this challenging year,” said Hardy. “We’ve always designed our restaurants so that people can connect over delicious food and drinks in a fun and energetic environment, so our mission aligned perfectly with Bumble.”

In line with how Bumble lets women make the first move with messaging on the app, the music will be mostly comprised of women artists.

The idea to open up a permanent location was inspired by the success of the Bumble Hive pop-ups, which act as a physical embodiment of the app where visitors can meet new people while enjoying food and entertainment.

“We’ve seen a resounding response to the Bumble Hive pop-ups we’ve hosted around the world and noticed a clear appetite for a permanent space where people could connect,” Smith said.

Bumble Brew will initially be open for breakfast Wednesday through Sunday, from 8 a.m. to noon. It’ll expand its hours to include lunch service on July 31 and dinner on Aug. 7.

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Richard Branson announces he’ll join 1st fully crewed spaceflight

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(NEW YORK) — Richard Branson announced Thursday he will be joining the crew of his next spaceflight with Virgin Galactic, besting fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to space.

The first fully crewed spaceflight for SpaceShipTwo Unity will take place July 11, pending weather and technical checks.

Branson, 70, will join the crew to “evaluate the private astronaut experience and will undergo the same training, preparation and flight as Virgin Galactic’s future astronauts,” according to a press release. Branson announced last week that Virgin Galactic was given the OK by the Federal Aviation Administration to launch customers into space.

“I truly believe that space belongs to all of us,” Branson said in a statement. “After 17 years of research, engineering and innovation, the new commercial space industry is poised to open the universe to humankind and change the world for good. It’s one thing to have a dream of making space more accessible to all; it’s another for an incredible team to collectively turn that dream into reality.”

The mission, dubbed Unity 22, will be a 20-second test flight for VSS Unity. It’s the company’s fourth crewed spaceflight. Unity’s pilots will be Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, both of whom have flown Unity previously.

Unity is launched from a separate “mothership” aircraft called VMS Eve.

Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is expected to join the crew of Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft’s first flight on July 20.

Bezos announced on Wednesday that accompanying him, and his brother, on New Shepard will be pioneering female pilot Wally Funk.

Joining Branson on his flight will be Beth Moses, Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor; Colin Bennett, the company’s lead operations engineer; and Sirisha Bandla, the company’s vice president of government affairs and research operations. Moses was also on the ship’s first test flight.

The British-born Branson founded Virgin Group in the 1970s and has delved into everything from music to cellphones and airlines.

Branson will turn 71 exactly one week after the flight.

ABC News’ Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.

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What to know about a global minimum tax rate as 130 nations reach historic agreement

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday that some 130 countries have agreed to a new 15% global minimum tax rate for corporations.

Yellen called it a “historic day for economic diplomacy” in a statement, adding that Biden “has spoken about a ‘foreign policy for the middle class,’ and today’s agreement is what that looks like in practice.”

While the agreement was signed by finance ministers from all of the Group of 20 nations and some 130 in total, representing more than 90% of global GDP, it still needs to make it through the legislative bodies of each country — meaning it’s far from a done deal.

Still, the news represents one of the biggest potential reforms in international tax policy in decades. Here is what to know about a global minimum tax rate and how it is expected to impact U.S. businesses and workers.

What is a global minimum tax rate?

A global minimum tax rate is the minimum amount large, international corporations have to pay. The aim is to prevent companies from dodging tax payments by relocating operations or headquarters to another nation with lower rates.

In the U.S., the corporate tax rate is 21% due to former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which were implemented in an attempt to keep businesses from fleeing to nations with lower rates. Biden has proposed raising it to 28%.

Ireland, meanwhile, has a corporate tax rate of just 12.5% as part of its own bid to attract business, often at the expense of other European Union nations. Ireland was not listed among the 130 signatories of Thursday’s agreement that was arranged by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Why a global minimum tax rate?

The OECD estimates that some $240 billion is lost annually to tax avoidance by multinational companies.

Biden said a minimum rate would help prevent companies from exploiting loopholes, with Yellen noting the additional funds collected could be used to help the middle class in areas including education.

“Multinational corporations will no longer be able to pit countries against one another in a bid to push tax rates down and protect their profits at the expense of public revenue,” the president said in a statement Thursday. “They will no longer be able to avoid paying their fair share by hiding profits generated in the United States, or any other country, in lower-tax jurisdictions.”

Yellen said in a separate statement that the “global race to the bottom” as nations compete to lower their tax rates has “deprived countries of funding for important investments like infrastructure, education, and efforts to combat the pandemic.”

Enforcing a 15% minimum tax rate among nations who agree to the plan could generate $150 billion in additional revenue, according to OECD estimates. Moreover, the agreement would provide additional benefits through ensuring stability and certainty for taxpayers and governments.

Advocates, especially in the private sector, have argued that tax competition is beneficial to overall economic growth. The head of the OECD said setting a floor on tax rates doesn’t eliminate competition.

“This package does not eliminate tax competition, as it should not, but it does set multilaterally agreed limitations on it,” Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said in a statement. “It also accommodates the various interests across the negotiating table, including those of small economies and developing jurisdictions.”

When would this happen?

Further details on the plan are expected to be hammered out at the G-20 summit in October, with participating nations targeting 2023 for implementation.

“It is in everyone’s interest that we reach a final agreement among all Inclusive Framework Members [139 countries] as scheduled later this year,” Cormann said.

Could this lead to further tax reform?

America’s labyrinthine tax codes have recently come under scrutiny after a ProPublica report in June unveiled how some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals avoid paying taxes on their wealth gains using entirely legal accounting maneuvers.

Although a separate issue, Biden and Yellen signaled that domestic tax reform could be next.

“We have a chance now to build a global and domestic tax system that lets American workers and businesses compete and win in the world economy,” Yellen stated.

Biden, meanwhile, called on lawmakers to implement his tax plan that, among other things, raises corporate rates to 28%.

“Building on this agreement will also require us to take action here at home,” Biden stated. “It’s imperative that we reform our own corporate tax laws, as I proposed in my Made in America tax plan.”

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Pioneering female pilot will fly to space at age 82 on first crewed Blue Origin flight

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(NEW YORK) — Wally Funk, a pioneering female pilot who dreamed of being an astronaut in the 1960s, will fly to space later this month with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the first crewed flight for his space-faring firm Blue Origin.

The flight will fulfill a lifelong dream for Funk, 82, and make her the oldest person ever to fly to space.

Funk’s dreams of becoming an astronaut date back to the original U.S.-Soviet Space Race era, when she was the youngest graduate of the privately-funded Woman in Space Program that later became known as the “Mercury 13” due to its 13 women participants. Female pilots went through the same physiological and psychological tests as the astronauts selected by NASA for Project Mercury. The women, however, never ended up flying to space.

In an Instagram video shared by Bezos revealing the news Thursday, Funk said she already knows the first thing she will say upon landing back on Earth: “Honey, that was the best thing that ever happened to me!”

“Back in the 60s, I was in the Mercury 13 program. They asked me, ‘Do you want to be an astronaut?’ I said, ‘Yes,'” Funk said in the video. “They told me that I had done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys. So, I got a hold of NASA — four times — I said, ‘I want to become an astronaut,’ but nobody would take me.”

“I didn’t think that I would ever get to go up,” she added. “They said, ‘Wally, you’re a girl, you can’t do that!’ I said, ‘Guess what, doesn’t matter what you are, you can still do it if you want to do it, and I like to do things that nobody has ever done.'”

Despite not becoming a NASA astronaut, Funk still blazed trails for women in flight. She was the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector and later the first woman National Transportation Safety Board investigator. She has amassed some 19,600 flying hours and taught more than 3,000 people how to fly.

The crew for the New Shepard spacecraft’s first flight consists of Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos (Jeff’s brother), Funk, and one unnamed private citizen who paid $28 million in an auction for Blue Origin’s final seat. Blue Origin has perviously said the name of the auction winner will be released in the coming weeks.

The inaugural crewed flight for Blue Origin is scheduled for July 20. In total, the flight is only about 11 minutes and approximately four minutes will be spent above the so-called Karman line that is defined as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

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Former Victoria’s Secret model Bridget Malcolm call out brand for ‘performative allyship’

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(NEW YORK) — Model Bridget Malcolm took to social media to reflect on her unpleasant past experiences with Victoria’s Secret.

After finding a size 30A bra she wore while modeling for the lingerie brand’s 2016 fashion show, she tried it on for a TikTok video. She also shared that she is now a size 34B, which she said is “healthy for me.”

Once Malcolm puts her past runway bra on, she shows how ill-fitted it is now and discusses how she was rejected from a 2017 show by Victoria’s Secret former Chief Marketing Officer Edward Razek.

“He said my body did not look good enough,” she captioned the clip. Malcolm also mentioned that at that point she wore a size 30B bra.

Later in the now-viral video that’s been viewed more than 2.5 million times, the model and mental health advocate included a photo of herself from the past show saying “the sadness behind my eyes from the 2016 show breaks my heart.”

Malcolm concluded the video calling Victoria’s Secret out for “performative allyship” and how she views the brand’s recent efforts for inclusive change as “too little, too late.”

The post has been liked more than 307,000 times, with many TikTok users sharing their thoughts. “I don’t get why models ‘have’ to be like this or like that,” said thetinglez.

“Models are supposed to show stuff for the human and every human is different,” she continued.

In response to Malcolm’s displeasing experience with Victoria’s Secret, a brand spokesperson told GMA, “There is a new leadership team at Victoria’s Secret who is fully committed to the continued transformation of the brand with a focus on creating an inclusive environment for our associates, customers and partners to celebrate, uplift and champion all women,” in a statement.

This statement also follows the company’s major brand revamp announced in June.

The retailer’s new direction includes a new diverse VS Collective with ambassadors such as actress and entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas, transgender Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio, LGBTQIA+ activist and professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and several others.

Through this new platform, the brand plans to create new associate programs, evolutionary product collections, compelling and inspiring content, and rally support for causes vital to women.

In addition to a more diverse collective of ambassadors, Victoria’s Secret told Good Morning America the company’s storefronts will take a new direction and mannequins will be displayed with diverse body types.

After 23 years, the lingerie retailer recently canceled its annual fashion show and has moved forward in a new direction without its infamous “Angels.”

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How two executives started new airlines as aviation’s biggest crisis hit

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(NEW YORK) — As coronavirus concerns decimated the demand for travel and the aviation industry was faced with its biggest crisis in history, two former airline executives were about to do the unthinkable: start an airline.

Major U.S. airline CEOs were just trying to stop the bleeding and save their companies, while Andrew Levy, 51, and David Neeleman, 61, were just starting up — launching the first two new U.S. airlines in more than a decade — during a global pandemic.

They are both betting their low prices and smaller, no-hassle airport destinations will be enough to win over customers during the summer post-lockdown travel surge.

Levy described starting Avelo Airlines as an “itch” that he’s “wanted scratched for a really long time.” It started 27 years ago when he began working with the founders of now-defunct ValuJet.

“They built this phenomenal business that just grew like crazy and I had a front-row seat to watch it all,” he told ABC News. “I got to see capitalism at work in front of me, and see what happens when we take risks and we progress with hard work. I thought I want to be like those guys, I want to be the ones who start with the company.”

In January 2020, taking what he learned from Allegiant and United, Levy got the green light from the Department of Transportation to start Avelo.

Then, COVID-19 hit.

“It was a little bit of a shock for all of us,” Levy said about watching the number of fliers dwindle, but “I probably was less affected by that than many of my investors. I kind of was always optimistic that it would come roaring back.”

At its lowest point, less than 100,000 people were flying each day nationwide. Airlines scrambled to pull flights out of smaller airports, causing some, like Hollywood Burbank Airport, to lose service.

“We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go in there because of COVID,” he said. “So many airlines cutback service there, and as a result we can go in there at a level of service with airplanes that we couldn’t have done a couple of years ago.”

Avelo began service in April and plans to fly 11 routes between Burbank and vacation destinations this summer, mostly on the West Coast, for as little as $19.

David Neeleman’s Breeze Airways launched a month later and will carry leisure travelers in the eastern and southern parts of the country. Breeze’s fares start at $39.

“There’s a ton of pent-up demand,” Neeleman told ABC News, “and there’s a lot of money people didn’t spend during the pandemic.”

The JetBlue founder only had 55 people on the payroll at Breeze when demand plummeted.

“We had the foot on the gas and the brake at the same time,” he said. “And I said we just have to ease into this and there’s no reason to launch an airline at the heat of the pandemic. You have to have some kind of vision or foresight to look ahead, and try not to seize up in the moment when things are at their worst.”

His team worked with regulators virtually “spread out all over on Zoom.”

“Just getting an airline certified under normal circumstances is a feat that is very difficult,” he said, “and has rarely been done over the last 20 years.”

Neeleman’s vision for Breeze is getting travelers to their destination “twice as fast for half the price” choosing to establish non-stop routes between smaller airports like Hartford, Connecticut, and Charleston, South Carolina, that would have otherwise required a layover.

“When you don’t have to worry about your flight getting canceled or delayed or missing your connection and all the stress that goes with it, then people just travel more often,” Neeleman said.

Like other low-cost carriers, Breeze and Avelo will both charge for baggage fees and additional legroom.

“Our mission is to inspire travel,” Levy said. “We want to inspire travel by making it easy to do so, and that is really low fares, but also just a convenient, pleasant experience.”

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Robinhood to pay record-high sum of nearly $70 million to settle regulator’s probe

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(NEW YORK) — The online brokerage that promised to “de-mystify finance for all” agreed Wednesday to pay nearly $70 million to resolve allegations it misled millions of customers, approved trades for thousands of ineligible customers and failed to supervise technology that accepted customer orders.

The sanctions are the largest financial penalty ever ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which said it reflected the “scope and seriousness” of Robinhood’s violations.

The investing platform will pay regulators $57 million, along with $12.6 million in restitution with interest to thousands of harmed customers.

“This action sends a clear message — all FINRA member firms, regardless of their size or business model, must comply with the rules that govern the brokerage industry, rules which are designed to protect investors and the integrity of our markets. Compliance with these rules is not optional and cannot be sacrificed for the sake of innovation or a willingness to ‘break things’ and fix them later,” said FINRA’s Jessica Hopper in a statement announcing the regulatory enforcement action.

Robinhood attracted regulatory scrutiny earlier this year when investors used it to speculate on GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other so-called meme stocks that seemed to increase in value based on social media frenzy without the underlying financials. However, FINRA suggested its investigation stretched back five years.

During certain periods since September 2016, the firm has negligently communicated false and misleading information to its customers, FINRA claimed, concerning whether customers could place trades on margin, how much cash was in customers’ accounts, how much buying power or “negative buying power” customers had, the risk of loss customers faced in certain options transactions and whether customers faced margin calls.

FINRA pointed to the suicide of one Robinhood user who in a note found after his death, “expressed confusion as to how he could have used margin to purchase securities because, he believed, he had not ‘turned on’ margin in his account.” Robinhood also displayed to this individual, as well as others, inaccurate negative cash balances, FINRA said.

The regulating authority also accused Robinhood of failing to exercise due diligence before approving customers to place options trades, relying instead on algorithms with limited oversight. The firm also failed to supervise the technology it relied on to provide its broker-dealer services, FINRA said.

In settling the matter through the fine, Robinhood neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.

“Robinhood has invested heavily in improving platform stability, enhancing our educational resources, and building out our customer support and legal and compliance teams,” Robinhood spokesperson Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsay told ABC News. “We are glad to put this matter behind us and look forward to continuing to focus on our customers and democratizing finance for all.”

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