Industrials

United Airlines is now charging extra for empty middle seats on long-haul flights—a tactic borrowed from European carriers that treats legroom as a separate product. This mirrors a broader industry shift: Delta and United are launching "basic business class" fares that strip out perks like lounge access, forcing customers to pay more for amenities that used to be included (CNBC). Airlines are monetizing every inch of the cabin because business-class spending has become more resilient than economy fares, even as total travel demand faces pressure.

Zipline, a South San Francisco startup, is now making one drone delivery every 20 seconds—up from one per minute in early 2025—and has hired a former Tesla CFO and ex-Waymo legal chief to scale nationwide (CNBC). The company has completed 2.5 million deliveries total, with 1 million of those in the past year alone, as it expands from medical aid in Africa to serving Chipotle, Walmart, and Cleveland Clinic in the U.S. The hiring of seasoned manufacturing and autonomous-vehicle experts signals serious ambitions to turn what sounds like science fiction into a logistics operation.

TerraFirma, founded by two former SpaceX engineers, raised $115 million to build remote-controlled and semi-autonomous construction equipment operated via standard Xbox controllers (CNBC). The Austin-based company has completed commercial projects including sports arenas and Starbucks locations, but is explicitly training its eye on Mars infrastructure development as the space economy matures. The funding and ambitious hiring plan (300 new employees) underscore a bet that the construction industry is ripe for the kind of automation and speed that defined SpaceX's operations.