From Thanksgiving travel chaos to AI side hustles paying Wall Street money, this week’s news touches on how we travel, eat, work, and learn. Below is a breakdown of the biggest stories and what they mean for your wallet, career, and everyday life.

1. Thanksgiving Travel Warning: Flights May “Slow to a Trickle”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned that a “substantial” number of Americans may not be able to travel for Thanksgiving due to widespread flight disruptions caused by the ongoing government shutdown.

The key issue is air traffic controller absenteeism:

  • Controllers are working without pay, leading many to call in sick or step away.
  • Major airports are cutting capacity.
  • Travellers are facing more cancellations and serious delays.

Duffy even suggested that air travel could “slow to a trickle” if the situation continues, making Thanksgiving one of the most difficult travel periods in recent memory.

2. SNAP Benefits Reversal: Food Assistance Pulled Back

The Trump administration has ordered states to reverse full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments that were sent out for November.

This follows a Supreme Court ruling that temporarily blocked a lower court’s order requiring full benefits to be paid during the government shutdown.

What this means in practice:

  • States have been told to issue only partial payments.
  • Up to 42 million low-income Americans could see reduced food assistance.
  • The policy is part of a broader legal battle tied to the shutdown’s impact on social programs.

3. AI Training Side Hustles: Wall Street Skills for $150/Hour

AI training companies are paying serious money for real-world finance experience. Firms like Mercor and Scale AI are hiring Wall Street and finance professionals to help train their models.

The numbers are eye-catching:

  • Up to $150 an hour for part-time, project-based work.
  • Some full-time roles reportedly pay up to $200,000 per year.
  • Work includes reviewing, grading, or generating finance-specific content to make AI more accurate in real-world use cases.

For people with deep finance experience, this is emerging as a lucrative new AI-era side hustle.

4. Cisco’s Innovation Officer: The Most Valuable AI Skills Aren’t Technical

Guy Diedrich, Cisco’s global innovation officer, is pushing back on the idea that purely technical skills will dominate the AI age.

According to Diedrich, the most essential skills are:

  • Ethical judgment – asking “Should I do this?” rather than “Can I do this?”.
  • Critical thinking – weighing trade-offs and long-term consequences.
  • Humanities-driven perspectives – understanding people, culture, and society.

As AI automates more routine technical tasks, the competitive edge shifts to human decisions about how and when to deploy AI, not just writing the code behind it.

5. Student-Loan Shake-Up: New Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)

Sweeping student-loan changes signed into law in July 2025 are moving closer to reaching borrowers and reshaping the federal student loan landscape.

The reforms include:

  • The introduction of the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).
  • Caps on graduate borrowing to limit excessive debt for advanced degrees.
  • A gradual phase-out of older income-driven plans like SAVE and REPAYE over the next few years.

For borrowers, this means a transition period where understanding which plan you’re on — and what you’ll be moved to — becomes more important than ever.

6. YouTube TV vs. Disney: Blackout Ends, $20 Credit Remains

A contract dispute between YouTube TV and Disney led to a blackout of major channels including ESPN, ABC, and FX.

Here’s where things stand now:

  • The dispute has been resolved and channels are restored.
  • YouTube TV is offering subscribers a $20 credit.
  • The credit is meant as compensation for the period when Disney-owned channels were unavailable.

Customers need to claim the credit, so it’s worth checking your account if you were affected by the outage.

7. Meta’s Internal AI Bot: Performance Reviews Powered by “Metamate”

Inside Meta, an internal AI tool called Metamate is being used to support performance reviews.

What Metamate can do:

  • Scan an employee’s documents, notes, and project records.
  • Summarise achievements, contributions, and feedback for year-end reviews.

However, the experience isn’t perfect:

  • Some employees say the AI’s output can feel inconsistent or shallow.
  • Without proper context and good input data, summaries may miss nuance.

It’s a glimpse into how corporate performance management could increasingly rely on AI — and where human judgment is still needed.

8. Black Friday, Then vs. Now: From Chaos to Calm

New and resurfaced photos show how “unhinged” Black Friday shopping used to be:

  • Massive crowds packed into shopping malls.
  • Overnight lines snaking around buildings.
  • Chaotic scenes as shoppers rushed for limited deals.

Since the pandemic, Black Friday has become:

  • More subdued and spread out over days or weeks.
  • Heavily focused on online deals, often matching or beating in-store offers.

The classic image of stampedes at the door is slowly being replaced by people refreshing their browser at home.

9. Advice for Laid-Off Workers: What Good Leaders Should Do

A CEO with experience laying off hundreds of workers has shared advice on how layoffs should be handled, and what employees should look for.

Key principles for leaders:

  • Transparency – explain the “why” behind the decision clearly and honestly.
  • Support – provide outplacement services, job-search help, and access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).
  • Dignity and respect – treat affected employees as people, not numbers.

For employees who are laid off, these signals can indicate whether a company is acting in good faith, even amid tough decisions.

10. Coffee Shop Bankruptcies: Rising Costs Hit the High Street

A number of popular coffee shops have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, highlighting the pressure on hospitality businesses.

Chains mentioned include:

  • The Blend Coffee & Cocktails
  • The parent company of Cuppa Austin Coffee Shop

The main challenges:

  • Soaring coffee prices – up around 50% in some cases.
  • High labour costs and wage pressure.
  • Tariffs and inflation pushing up the cost of ingredients and operations.

For consumers, this may mean higher prices, fewer independent options, and a tougher environment for small hospitality businesses trying to survive.

Final Thoughts

Across these stories, a clear pattern emerges: economic pressure, rapid AI adoption, and shifting consumer behaviour are reshaping how we travel, work, shop, and study. Whether you’re planning a holiday trip, repaying student loans, or exploring new income streams in AI, staying informed is becoming a competitive advantage.