Grounded: Thousands of domestic travelers were stranded this morning and Delta Air Lines took a social media hit from President Trump after a computer glitch forced cancellation of at least 280 flights. USA Today reports that Delta CEO Ed Bastian says 170 flights were canceled late Sunday and at least 110 were canceled this morning. More could be canceled, he warns, urging customers expecting to fly today to check their flight status at delta.com. Bastian says the airline’s “essential IT systems” crashed at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The glitch was corrected a few hours later and all systems were back to normal shortly after midnight, he says. Read more.
In the interim: The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Herbert Austin the acting regional administrator for the South Central Region, which serves businesses in Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. According to a news release, Austin will lead 10 offices in delivering SBA services for international exports, government contracting and financial entrepreneurial development, and will oversee a network of small business counselors. In addition to his duties as acting regional administrator, Austin will continue to serve as the SBA director for the Dallas/Ft. Worth District.
New deal: Walgreens has reached a deal to lower the price it will pay for rival Rite Aid by at least $2 billion, USA Today reports. The drug store chain also has again extended the deadline to finish the deal to acquire Rite Aid by several months.The retail tie-up has languished in limbo for more than 15 months as the chains have sought to appease regulators by selling off certain stores in markets where they have competitive overlap. The price, originally pegged at about $9.4 billion, now ranges from $6.8 billion to $7.4 billion. The revised deal sent Rite Aid shares plummeting more than 16.7% to $5.77 in pre-market trading this morning, as investors realized they would receive less value for their stock. Read more.
