Axios

Delta Air Lines is urging the Department of Justice to put unruly passengers on the federal "no-fly" list so that "individuals who have endangered the safety and security of our people do not go on to do so on another carrier," CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday.

Why it matters: 2021 saw a sharp increase in unruly airline passengers, many of whom initiated physical attacks on ground workers and flight attendants.

Congressional staffers formally announced on Friday the start of their "efforts to unionize the offices and committees of the United States Congress."

Driving the news: Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have indicated they support the staffers' unionization efforts in recent days.

Ads for this year's Super Bowl are sold out, according to NBC, which will broadcast the game alongside its Olympics coverage on Feb 13. Some 30-second spots sold for a record $7 million.

Why it matters: The Super Bowl is one of the few major TV events that can still draw a huge audience, making advertising around the event very valuable.

Private equity is one of the world's largest carbon emitters, by virtue of its outsized role in the global economy. That also means it has the opportunity to lead on carbon emissions reduction, and there are indications that the industry is moving in that direction.

Driving the news: Carlyle Group this week committed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions for its portfolio by 2050.

After days of doom-and-gloom talk about how bad the January jobs numbers would be due to the Omicron variant, they turned out to be, um, great?

• Employers added 467,000 jobs last month, despite millions out sick.

Why it matters: It's rare for any jobs numbers to be stunning, but these were. They leave little doubt that this remains a tight job market in which employers are doing everything they can to hold on to their workers.

The union representing Southwest Airlines flight attendants says it opposes the airline's plan to resume alcohol sales on flights because it could increase customer "misconduct issues."

Driving the news: Southwest said late Thursday that it will resume alcohol sales on most of its flights on Feb. 16. It was the first major airline to suspend booze sales at the start of the pandemic.

Google is joining Ford Motor in an ambitious urban renewal initiative to create a transportation research hub in Detroit and build the skilled workforce needed to bring advanced mobility ideas to life.

Why it matters: Companies are struggling to fill tech jobs with qualified applicants, and many are deciding it's easier to hire unskilled workers and provide them with the necessary digital training.

President Biden plans to maintain former President Trump's tariffs on solar cells and panels, but loosen some restrictions on importing supplies from Asia to help combat climate change, according to people familiar with the matter.

Driving the news: Biden will issue a proclamation on Friday morning to extend the so-called Section 201 tariffs, due to expire Sunday, for another four years, an administration official said.

Short sellers were apparently delighted in Facebook parent Meta’s plunging stock price today — but they’d be even happier if the consumer discretionary sector charted a similar path.

By the numbers: Consumer discretionary stocks are the most shorted sector, with short sellers holding 4.6% of their shares, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The number of permanent store closures in the aftermath of the holiday shopping season has plummeted, compared to the same period last year.

Why it matters: The plunge comes at a time when many stores historically close up shop, indicating the holiday season buoyed a sector that was facing an existential crisis earlier in the pandemic.

Amazon on Thursday said it made more than $31 billion in advertising last year, a huge feat for the tech giant, which for years kept the size of its budding ad empire under wraps.

Why it matters: Amazon has one of the fastest-growing advertising businesses in the world. It now makes more money than Microsoft, Snapchat and Twitter combined on advertising annually.

The Women's National Basketball Association on Thursday announced the first outside investment in its 25-year history.

Why it matters: Even though fan interest and TV ratings are on the rise, the economics of women's pro basketball remains challenging.

Snap Inc.'s stock jumped more than 50% in after-hours trading Thursday after the tech giant posted its first-ever quarterly net profit as a public company, while also beating Wall Street estimates on revenue and user growth.

Why it matters: Snapchat's massive beat stands in stark contract to Facebook, which lost more than $200 billion in market value yesterday after reporting weak first quarter guidance, attributable in part to changes to Apple's privacy policies, impacting Facebook's ad business.

CNN staffers on Wednesday pummeled WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar with tough questions in the wake of the resignation of CNN boss Jeff Zucker, according to a recording of the roughly 40-minute meeting obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: The meeting showcased the frustration and confusion inside CNN over how and why their leader of nine years was forced to resign.

The Federal Reserve's central dilemma in 2022 is this: Inflation is very high. Unemployment is very low. Yet monetary policy is currently set as if the reverse were true.

The big picture: If the Fed readjusts policy to fit economic conditions too rapidly, it could cause a recession and/or financial panic. So instead, they're applying a strategy you can think of as the Powell Ratchet.

The January numbers that are due out at 8:30am Friday are going to be a hot mess express.

Why it matters: We generally look to the monthly jobs report for guidance about how the economy is evolving. That will be harder than usual this month.

Andreessen Horowitz is in advanced talks to lead a large funding round for Yuga Labs, the company behind the NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

Why it matters: Bored Apes is among the most popular community-based NFTs, below CryptoPunks and above Pixel Vault (which just raised $100 million of its own). Last week, Justin Bieber paid $1.29 million for a Bored Ape, while another last year sold for $3.4 million at Sotheby's.

A group of hawks was seen at Threadneedle Street in London Thursday. There were no such sightings in Frankfurt.

Driving the news: The Bank of England raised interest rates, and four of nine policymakers dissented, wanting to raise them more. The European Central Bank, by contrast, held pat with its low interest-rate policies.

In the past few years, the leaders of CNN, CBS, Fox News and others have all been forced to resign in the wake of public scandals, pointing to how the news media struggles with its own accountability.

Why it matters: In almost all of those instances, staffers said they weren't surprised by the conduct, but that their seemingly invincible bosses were finally brought down for behaviors that were open secrets.

More driverless trucks and taxis are going to be on the roads in the near future — if you know where to look. (Primarily San Francisco and Phoenix.)

Why it matters: Years of simulations and supervised, real-world testing with backup safety drivers are now giving way to fully driverless practice runs on some well-tested routes, which means we could finally be on the cusp of the autonomous revolution.

Meta on Wednesday said the Facebook app lost roughly 1 million daily active users in the most recent quarter — its first ever drop.

Why it matters: The numbers reinforce the sense, inside and outside the company, that the Facebook social network is now a legacy product for Meta, where the focus has shifted to newer realms like messaging, Instagram video and the metaverse.

Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse have electronically filed a petition to form a union, organizers announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's the second Amazon warehouse group in the New York City borough to announce plans to unionize.

The Senate Banking Committee's confirmation hearing Thursday for three Biden nominees to the Federal Reserve will be a high-stakes and potentially tense affair.

Why it matters: If one were to falter, it would undermine President Biden's push to remake the Fed to be more concerned about climate change and racial equality.

The Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate is history, but about half of U.S. employers are proceeding with one anyway.

By the numbers: Nearly a quarter of employers are already requiring vaccinations without a testing option despite the Supreme Court scrapping the Biden mandate, according to the Jan. 27 poll by human resources consultancy Mercer.