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MIAMI – The Boeing 737 Max’s first commercial US flight in two fatal crashes resulted in the aircraft landing around the world on Tuesday in March 2019.

American Airlines Flight 718 took off from Miami International Airport at around 10:40 a.m. for New York’s LaGuardia Airport, where it landed at 1:08 p.m. a little earlier than planned.

“We’re flying a Boeing 737 Max,” announced Captain Sean Roskey over the plane’s PA system before the plane was pushed back from the gate in Miami to applause from passengers including the President of American Airlines, some commuters and others belonged to other employees. “I have the greatest confidence in this aircraft. In fact, my wife is on board.” The mother of Moraima Maldonado, the first officer, was also on board.

The 172-seat aircraft had 87 passengers on board, said an American Airlines spokeswoman. The Max flight back to Miami late Tuesday was almost full, she said. The flight to New York was uneventful, even though the WiFi service was not available for the first half hour.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline offers a round-trip flight between the two airports once a day and plans to increase service to other cities in the coming weeks. Between mid-February and early March, up to 91 flights per day are offered.

United Airlines plans to launch Max flights on February 11th from its Denver and Houston hubs. Southwest Airlines expects Max’s flights to resume in March.

Brazilian airline Gol, which operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, was the first airline to restart the jets earlier this month. The planes, which are more fuel efficient than previous models, are at the center of the plans of airlines around the world, of which over 3,000 are on order.

The milestone flights began a little over a month since the Federal Aviation Administration released the Max again. This ended the largest foundation in the history of aviation and several safety-relevant changes that Boeing had made to the aircraft, its bestseller.

The pilots of both crashes – Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in Ethiopia in March 2019 – fought an automated flight control system that was falsely activated. All 346 people on the two flights were killed. Changes included making the flight control system less aggressive, providing more redundancy, and providing additional pilot training that included a session in a flight simulator

“I think what happened to the Max has increased the intensity for which we all have to pay attention to safety,” US President Robert Isom told reporters before the flight. “For safety reasons, I can tell you at American that we won’t accept an aircraft without putting it through its paces.”

Around 1,400 of American Airlines’ 2,700 Boeing 737 pilots were trained on the Max, said Alan Johnson, senior manager of fleet training and standards at American Airlines. American Airlines is in the process of recalling 1,000 additional 737 pilots on leave under billions as additional government aid to the warring industry. They’re all trained on the Max, Johnson said.

Damn post-crash investigations uncovered issues with the aircraft’s development, design, and certification by US regulatory agencies, and tarnished the reputation of Boeing and the FAA, which have long been the gold standard for aviation safety. The crashes also led to new laws tightening the FAA’s oversight of aircraft certification.

Family members of several victims have urged regulators in the US and abroad not to lift their bans on the jets, which the planes are considered unsafe. “Public trust is a deserved privilege, not a claim,” said Zipporah Kuria, whose father was killed on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019.

American and other airlines that operate the Max have stated that customers who have booked on the plane and are uncomfortable on the plane can switch flights without paying a fee when options are available.

The airline failed to notice passengers asking to switch from flying 737 Max planes to other planes, Isom said.

In a further step, which is intended to increase transparency, the American announcements made by the gate agents changed on December 21st to include the aircraft type in the entire network.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told CNBC last month that he was “100% confident” on the jets and that repeating the scenarios that led to the two crashes was “impossible”. Dickson, a former Delta Air Lines pilot, flew the plane himself in September.

Airline executives recently flew on the planes to increase public confidence.

Analysts expect a high level of control over the jets when they return to commercial fleets. An Air Canada 737 Max brought to Montreal from a warehouse in Marana, Arizona with no passengers on board was diverted to Tucson, Arizona last week after pilots received an engine warning. Boeing has set up a special team to monitor 737 Max flights around the world around the clock, said a manufacturer’s spokesman who was on the flight.

“The truth is that whenever there is a problem with the 737, even if it is a coffee maker, it will be news,” said Henry Harteveldt, former airline manager and president of the Atmosphere Research Group, one Travel advisory company. He said that while some travelers might opt ​​for other aircraft at first if there aren’t any major issues, “it is just viewed as a different aircraft”.

American Airlines Flight 718, the first US Boeing 737 MAX commercial flight since regulators lifted a 20-month primer in November, will take off from Miami, Florida on December 29, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

The plane is returning to a dismal air travel market due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Airlines cut capacity this year, in stark contrast to 2019 when they called for the jets to return to meet passenger demand.

“In some ways, the best thing for the 737 Max was that it took them 20 months to get the planes back in service, and for almost a year now we’ve had news about the coronavirus, which has drawn more attention than travel the 737 Max, “said Harteveldt.

The airlines and Boeing hope that most passengers will remain unimpressed.

“Schedule and price, that’s the most important thing,” said Honey Torrealba, a 26-year-old social media manager from San Antonio who flew to New York on Max Tuesday.

American ordered 76 aircraft and had 24 in its fleet at the time of landing. The pandemic and lengthy landing had caused airlines to cancel or postpone hundreds of orders, causing Boeing to lose $ 3.5 billion this year. The pandemic and grounding have hit jetliner prices too, and some airlines have recognized a buying opportunity. Alaska Airlines, for example, increased its order for 45 aircraft by 23 last week, which is a big bet on the Max. Earlier this month, European low-cost airline Ryanair added 75 Max jets to its 135 aircraft order.

Boeing’s stock closed less than 0.1% at $ 216.25 while American Airlines’ shares fell 1.3% to end at $ 15.86. Despite a recent rally this quarter sparked by the emergency approval of two vaccines, Boeing stocks are still down 34% this year and Americans are down nearly 45%.

Letizia Le Fur | ONOKY | Getty Images

While the federal Covid bill addresses a key concern for small businesses with unsuccessful credit, those businesses could still face a tax hit – this time on their government returns.

In addition to promising stimulus checks for American households and increasing unemployment benefits by $ 300, the new Covid bill offers help for sick small businesses in the form of a second loan from the Paycheck Protection Program.

In general, borrowers may be eligible for PPP lending if at least 60% of the proceeds are used for wages and salaries. Partial lending may be available to those who fall below the threshold.

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Any amounts not wiped off must be repaid and are subject to an interest rate of 1%.

Legislature has also addressed a long-standing problem in the relief bill: it allows PPP borrowers to apply for tax deductions for the expenses they covered with loan proceeds – a move the Finance Department and IRS previously referred to as a “double dip” because forgiveness is tax free.

Small businesses shouldn’t be celebrating just yet.

Unresolved year-end tax planning issues emerge – including the fact that states can prevent PPP borrowers from claiming deductions from state tax returns or from clearing balances tax-free.

“There is still significant uncertainty,” said Jared Walczak, vice president of government projects at the tax foundation. “Many states still have to clarify their position.”

Roles vs. static conformity

When it comes to tax planning, the federal code is only part of the story.

States will differ in how they approach the Internal Revenue Code, including whether or not they make changes to federal law.

Some states, like New Jersey, have their own rules for determining income. Others correspond to the federal code on a so-called static or rolling basis.

With static conformity, the states adhere to the code from a certain date. With rolling compliance, they adopt changes to the tax code as soon as they occur.

These differences can create a discrepancy between the definition of your income on your income tax return and your state tax return.

It also means that states may take a different path in interpreting Covid relief efforts, including potentially not allowing tax-free PPP forgiveness or blocking deductions associated with PPP.

There remains considerable uncertainty. Many states have not yet clarified their position.

Jared Walczak

Vice President for State Projects at the Tax Foundation

Another motivating factor for states that decide against the bill: their battered coffers due to the pandemic. Government sales and income tax revenues have declined due to layoffs and companies closing their doors.

“When a state is really pushed for money, it’s a place to go,” said Ed Zollars, CPA and partner at Thomas, Zollars & Lynch in Phoenix and an instructor at Kaplan Financial Education.

“When you need to raise money, you find something at the federal level that you can’t agree with,” he said.

A waiting game

Currently, California does not allow any deductions for expenses paid on issued PPP loans under state law. The companies there have to reduce their deductions to their government returns.

North Carolina excludes issued PPP loans from taxable income, but entrepreneurs are unable to deduct these covered expenses.

It remains to be seen how other states will act, which will add a wrench to year-end tax planning for small businesses.

This complicates the situation for entrepreneurs who still have to pay estimated taxes even if they renew and wait for more clarity from their state.

“We need states to tell us what to do,” said Dan Herron, CPA and director of Elemental Wealth Advisors in San Luis Obispo, California.

“A lot of people would rather hold onto the money and pay it later when they have an idea of ​​how much they owe – that money is cash for their business,” he said.

In just a few days, the United States is unlikely to meet its goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year as the nation launches a historic US campaign to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people against the coronavirus in mid-next year.

Two Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have now received emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, paving the way for the first handful of frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable long-term carers to be vaccinated against the virus.

The Trump administration’s vaccination program, Operation Warp Speed, called for 40 million doses of vaccines to be provided between the two companies by the end of the year, which would have been enough for about 20 million people, as each drug requires two vaccinations at different intervals.

By Tuesday, however, it appeared to be falling far short of that target: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a little over 11.4 million doses had been given since December 13, but only about 2.1 million had been given were. The CDC found a number of reasons for the significant difference in the number of distributed doses that remained to be administered.

Part of the problem is a delay in data reporting, the agency said, while other issues are with how jurisdictions manage their assignments. The federal government’s partnership with large pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens, which are tasked with vaccinating long-term care residents, is still pending, according to the CDC.

But even if it counts too little, the United States is still “below where we want to be,” said White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, opposite CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.

“I think when we get into January we will see an increase in momentum,” said Fauci, adding that he hopes the pressure will be enough to “catch up to the planned pace, which we have over a month or so.” Had spoken a month ago two. “

Still, just a few months ago, the federal government’s forecast of how many doses would be available was much higher than the eventual 40 million threshold. In October, during a keynote address at a Goldman Sachs virtual event, Secretary for Health and Human Services Alex Azar said that up to 100 million doses could be available. An HHS spokesperson was not immediately available for a request for comment.

There were also notable hurdles along the way. President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 vaccine tsar Moncef Slaoui admitted to reporters last week that the 20 million target “is unlikely to be met” and the surge in vaccinations is “slower than we expected”.

U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, who oversees the logistics for Operation Warp Speed, made repeated apologies shortly after the Pfizer vaccine was first distributed after some state officials reported that the dose allocation had been cut, and it was not made clear who was to blame.

“The mistake I made is not really understanding – again my responsibility – what steps are needed to make sure the vaccine is releasable,” Perna said at a press conference.

In a statement to CNBC, Pfizer stated that each batch of their vaccines must receive “Certificates of Analysis” at least 48 hours prior to distribution under the company’s emergency approval from the FDA. While it was not clear whether the certificates were the reason for the discrepancy between the numbers Perna originally gave to the states, those estimates were trimmed because the cans were not available for release.

“We were too ambitious with our first rollout,” said Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner. “Here’s what happened. Here’s what we’re going to do to fix it. We should hear that.”

It just gets harder from here

The slower-than-expected initial rollout affects this early on as “this should be the easy part,” Wen said.

Because doses of approved vaccines are so scarce, the federal government encouraged states to initially only vaccinate health care workers and long-term care residents, meaning hospitals and pharmacies that have partnered with long-term care facilities are responsible for administering shots .

If the government gives a wider segment of the population the chance to get the shot, vaccine doses will have to be given outside of hospitals and nursing homes, which could create more challenges, said Wen, emergency doctor and public health professor at George Washington University.

“When we talk about people in the community who come to places like pharmacies, doctor’s offices … that’s the hard part,” Wen said in a telephone interview.

True number probably “much higher”

State and local officials expected some early hiccups, which is partly why the government decided to start with healthcare workers, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, Chief Medical Officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, in a telephone interview.

“There are kinks that need fixing and this has probably been a good population to work on,” he said, adding that prep is a quick process. “It was just quick preparation for this launch, and states and locals are getting a lot of the information they need at the last minute.”

So far, however, Plescia has added that he has not heard of a “great snafus” and that he expects the pace of vaccinations to really pick up in January. Plescia said he believes the actual number of doses given is also “significantly higher” than the number published by the CDC.

That’s because the CDC likely relies on state vaccine records that are way out of date, he said. The quality of government registers varies from country to country, but “I wouldn’t call even the best IT systems of the 21st century,” he said. The Christmas and New Year holidays are also likely to affect hospitals’ ability to vaccinate their staff.

“We are in the middle of one of the biggest national holidays of the year and everyone has had a pretty difficult year. I think people are really taking time out,” he said. “That will certainly slow down demand.”

For example, the Riverside Health System in Virginia began vaccinating its frontline health workers on December 16, but decided to limit the number of appointments in the first few days, Riverside chief pharmacy officer Cindy Williams previously told CNBC in a telephone interview. This would allow the health system to determine how much demand there would be and get a sense of how their strategy would work, she said.

“We found that we were far more efficient than we expected,” said Williams, adding that in some cases, Riverside Health has tripled the number of appointments in a given period. Williams said they would not hold appointments on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and planned to resume vaccinations on Monday.

“We’re speeding things up pretty quickly and we’re also finding that the team members were very willing to sign up for the clinics,” said Williams.

Some good news

States and local jurisdictions got some good news this week after Trump signed the coronavirus support and government funding package on Sunday: $ 8.75 billion in additional funding for their vaccine distribution programs.

The money, which meets the demands of the national organizations, would help pay additional staff for vaccination clinics, sufficient resources for the safe storage of cans at extremely low temperatures, needles and other critical supplies, and increased communication efforts to convince people, among other things the safety of the drugs.

The financing has been a long time coming. For months, state and local health departments have been asking Congress to allocate more than $ 8 billion in additional funding to carry out its vaccine distribution plans, which were finalized in October and presented to the CDC.

“This money is late,” said Adriane Casalotti, director of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

“This should have been done in spring and summer so people can do some of the build before the vaccines are available. Now they are trying to do the build while vaccines are available,” Casalotti said.

CNBC’s “College Voices 2020” is a series of CNBC Fall Interns from universities across the country about growing up, college education, and getting started in these extraordinary times. Janelle Finch is a senior at the University of Missouri in Colombia specializing in journalism with a focus on TV / radio reporting and anchoring in Spanish and sociology with minors. The series is edited by Cindy Perman.

Hispanic | E + | Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic has left many students in the limbo of unemployment – they have been sent home from school and many of their internships or part-time jobs to pay for school have been canceled. In the meantime, bills still had to be paid. So they had to look for new ways to generate income without leaving their homes.

The unemployment rate for young people (16-24 years) is currently 11.5%, after a whopping 27.4% in April at the height of the pandemic lockdown, but according to the Ministry of Labor it is still almost twice as high as the overall unemployment rate.

Students got creative while out of work and having a pandemic: when they weren’t getting the latest Netflix releases (you remember “Tiger King”, don’t you?) They discovered new hobbies and rekindled old ones – everything from sewing to make hair and candles for braiding. And for some, those hobbies turned into a sideline that brought in the much-needed income.

Etsy, an online ecommerce marketplace for homemade goods, doubled its sales from 2019 as the demand for masks, jewelry, candles and other handcrafted goods increased through pandemic and lockdown. The number of active sellers on the platform rose 42% year over year to nearly 4,000, Etsy said in its third quarter earnings report. According to Rival Shopify, the number of new companies on its platform rose 71% between April and June alone compared to the start of the year.

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Jonnette Oakes, a graduate student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said the motivation to start your own business is her mother and her love for the craft. Oakes said her mother’s sewing skills inspired her to create bespoke clothing for herself, which eventually became shadedbyJonnette t-shirt company in May 2020. Oakes said her business started out as a general interest in creating fashion and wanted to spend her time in quarantine. In order to reach more eyes, Oakes started selling their products on Etsy. In her first three months, she served over 30 clients and made an average monthly profit of $ 250. Today she channels her production processes through her own website. In the future, she hope to turn her business into personal business. Balancing life as an academic advisor, PhD student, and executive director isn’t easy, but Oakes agrees that her love of fashion keeps her business alive.

“Honestly, when I’m working on my business, I consider it my form of self-care,” Oakes said.

Running a side business is a great way to make extra cash – be it to pay student loans and other bills, or just to spend extra cash – though some can even go full-time performances.

Working in the gig economy offers a number of different opportunities for additional income. According to a CareerBuilder survey, more than a third (39%) of young people (18 to 24 years old) have a side appearance.

So where do you start

The first step is to find out what your skills are, and then come up with ideas from there, says Chris Guillebeau in his book, Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days.

“I think a lot of people think they need to get out there and learn new skills,” Guillebeau said in an interview with CNBC. “I try to help people understand that the skills they already have are enough.”

A good place to start is to do a Google search, said Stacy Francis, financial advisor and founder of Francis Financial.

“Start by wondering what my specialty is,” said Francis. Then do some searches to see what opportunities might arise. Jobs may already be available – or it may give you an idea to create your own.

This is exactly what Brittany Bygrave, 3-year-old owner of Noia Butters, did when she started her own business.

“I started my business because I love natural beauty,” said Bygrave. “That has always been my passion and motivation.”

Bygrave is a 2019 graduate of North Carolina, A&T. As a junior college student, she went freelance selling homemade body butter from her dormitory. She said the idea came from a desire to support communities that had no access to natural self-care products.

Bygrave said while there is money in side businesses, young business owners shouldn’t expect much profit in the first few months. After three years in her business, Bygrave said she could make between $ 300 and $ 700 a month. Her best month was earlier this year when there was a national call to action to support black-owned businesses during the Black Lives Matter movement. She said she made $ 2,000 in one month and was also recognized by well-known media representatives. Bygrave said her advice to young business people is to remember your “why”.

“Start your business with a focus,” said Bygrave. “Have faith and think about why you started!”

Syracuse graduate Lianza Reyes saw them as a “why” when she started her business – she wanted to be creative and create a source of income to cover school expenses. Reyes, a 13-year-old writer, decided to sell custom poems in the fall of 2019 to help pay for her graduate school applications. When she saw that people were investing in her writing, she decided to put more money into her craft by offering different cardboard and frame options. LinesbyLianza was born in July 2020. Today Reyes makes an average of $ 75 a month. This money goes towards rent, groceries, her business and her hometown of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

“I hired a few people from my home country to do line drawings and postcards to back up my poetry,” Reyes said. “This adds to the profile of my and your business.”

Reyes agrees that passion drives young businesses. However, she said burnout is “very real” and she needs to consider how much of herself she can give on a project before taking a client’s request.

Reyes said that in addition to running her own business, she also has a part-time job. While it’s not always the easiest balance for Reyes, she said that being a writer and getting people to see her craft is well worth the extra work.

If creating your own products and selling them online isn’t your thing, there are tons of other sideline options – all you have to do is think about what skills you have and what appeals to you. Arizona State University has identified the 9 best sideline things college students can take advantage of while still in school:

1. Walking the dog

2. Start a blog or vlog (video blog)

3. Test new apps and websites

4. Virtual assistant

5. Help people with their to-do list

6. Sell your clothes

7. Become an online tutor

8. Take surveys

9. Freelance work

And there’s no reason why you can’t try more than one of these ideas – see what you like best and what makes you the most money.

An important step, says Guillebeau, is promoting your company at every opportunity. Many creators are not always good at this – but this is how you spread the word and get more business. An easy way to do this is to set up a Facebook page.

In addition to paying your bills, Francis said starting a business in college can be a great way to save money. As a 20-year-old, retirement isn’t usually a priority, but as you invest your money, it grows over time. The sooner you start, the more money you have.

“If you put money into a savings account or Roth IRA now, you can save ‘fourfold’ in the future,” Francis said. “Secondary jobs must be able to work for young entrepreneurs now and in the future.”

“You don’t have to be a modern Steve Jobs,” Reyes said. “Just pick something you’re passionate about and run with it.”