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Hackers broke into Virgin Hotels North America's systems in August 2023, reports Cybernews. The company sent out letters to individuals affected by the attack.

“Steps were taken to address the incident, and a cybersecurity firm was engaged to conduct an investigation. The investigation identified unauthorized access to files on storage servers,” the letter reads, according to Cybernews.

The notice did not say whether the people affected by the attack were Virgin Hotels guests or employees. It also did not specify whether the attack focused on one hotel or multiple properties.

As of publication, Virgin Hotels did not respond to a request for comment.

After federal antitrust regulators challenged the potential merger in court, budget airlines JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines have ended their pursuit of their planned $3.8 billion deal, the New York Times reports. JetBlue will pay Spirit a $69 million termination fee.

A federal judge blocked the proposed merger in January, agreeing with the U.S. Department of Justice that it would reduce competition and allow airlines to raise prices, the newspaper reports.

“We are proud of the work we did with Spirit to lay out a vision to challenge the status quo, but given the hurdles to closing that remain, we decided together that both airlines’ interests are better served by moving forward independently,” JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said in a statement on Monday. “We wish the very best going forward to the entire Spirit team.”

Accor's completion of a corporate reorganization will position it to better capitalize on the shifting demands of travel and hospitality, reports HNN's Terence Baker from the company's recent strategy update.

Accor's hotel divisions are now split between its luxury and lifestyle segments and its premium, midscale and economy segments.

This strategy gives the company a "much better feel as to what the hotel business is about to do," said Jean-Jacques Morin, Accor's group deputy CEO and division CEO for premium, midscale and economy.

Owners of independent restaurants are worried that rising payroll costs combined with diners' distaste for bigger checks could squeeze them out, reports the Wall Street Journal. Twenty-two states increased their minimum wages for hourly workers in January.

Barrett Dabbs, owner and chef at Johnny Roger's BBQ & Burgers in Concord, North Carolina, said he has tried to avoid making staffing cuts for positions that are directly customer-facing, and raising prices could drive customers away.

“Customers aren’t going to come visit you if you are charging $14, $15 or $16 for a burger," he told the newspaper.

A new study to be released from economists at Stanford University and online payroll and human resources firm Gusto found that many Americans now live farther away from their jobs than they did before the pandemic, the New York Times reports. The survey of nearly 6,000 employers across the U.S. found the average distance between homes and workplaces grew from 10 miles in 2019 to 27 miles in 2023.

"This phenomenon — expanding the distance between work and home — has been driven primarily by white-collar workers whose jobs can be done remotely, according to the study," according to the article. "It is one largely concentrated among people who earn more than $100,000 and work in jobs like tech, finance, law, marketing and accounting. Workers who earn under $50,000 a year, and those who work in jobs that cannot be done remotely like retail, health care and manufacturing (the majority of the work force), have barely budged in their average distance from work."

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