Delta offers ‘no strings’ $30,000 to each passenger in Toronto crash landing

Delta Air Lines Inc. is offering $30,000 to every passenger aboard a regional jet flight that came to rest upside down after crash landing at a Toronto airport earlier this week.

The payments are “a good-faith gesture” that have “no strings attached and does not affect rights,” Morgan Durrant, a Delta spokesman, said Wednesday.

Carriers in the past have made similar payments, such as $5,000 to help passengers replace possessions lost on US Airways’ “Miracle on the Hudson” flight in 2009.

There were no fatalities among the 76 passengers and four crew members in the accident Monday at Toronto-Pearson International Airport, although 21 people were injured.

Canadian aviation safety officials have recovered the cockpit voice and data recorders from the Bombardier CRJ900 plane and are trying to determine a cause.

Unions sue over federal worker firings

Unions for federal workers have filed a lawsuit to block the mass firings of probationary federal employees by President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging that officials are exploiting and misusing the probationary period to eliminate staff across government agencies.

The unions allege in the complaint filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California that the firings “represent one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”

The lawsuit says the administration’s Office of Personnel Management acted unlawfully by directing federal agencies to use a standardized termination notice falsely claiming performance issues. The unions seek an injunction to stop more firings and to rescind those that have already happened.

The complaint contends that the firings were made on false pretenses and violate federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act.

30-year mortgage rates slips to 8-week low

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the fifth week in a row to its lowest level since late December, a welcome boost for prospective homebuyers in what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for home sales.

The average rate fell to 6.85% from 6.87% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.9%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages eased to 6.04% from 6.09% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.29%, Freddie Mac said.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years, extending a national home sales slump that began in 2022 as mortgage rates began to climb from their pandemic-era lows.

Panera Bread founder dies at 81

Ken Rosenthal, the man behind Panera Bread, died at his Scottsdale home Feb. 14 from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 81 years old.

The Missouri native didn’t know how to cook eggs when he opened St. Louis Bread Co. in 1987.

His family say it was a labor of love that started after he visited the bakery-cafe Le Boulanger in San Francisco.

After learning how to bake from owner-manager Roger Brunello, he took a sourdough starter kit home to St. Louis.

St. Louis Bread Co. grew to 18 locations before Rosenthal and his business partners sold it to Au Bon Pain in 1993. The chain was renamed Panera. Rosenthal remained as a franchise operator, helping to grow the chain, which now has 2,000 locations.

Compiled from Bloomberg, Associated Press and Denver Post reports.