Flights between the U.S. and Europe have not been this cheap in three years, when many countries were just lifting Covid-19 era rules.

Fares are low even for the traditionally slow late-fall and winter months outside of major holidays.

“It is brutal to fill seats during these times of year,” said Brett Snyder, who writes the Cranky Flier travel industry site.

According to flight-tracking company Hopper, “good deal” fares across the Atlantic to Europe are averaging $578 in November, down from $619 a year earlier.

It is the lowest deal fare for this month since 2021, when they were going for $479 and much of international travel was in a slump because of the pandemic, Hopper data shows.

In January, after the year-end holidays, 2025 fares are even lower: $558 compared to $578 for the same month in 2024, though higher than $488 in January 2022, according to Hopper.

U.S. domestic airfare, on the other hand, is more expensive compared with last year in every month from November through March.

Many airlines from financially troubled Spirit Airlines to profitable Southwest Airlines have cut flights or trimmed growth plans into next year, which has helped keep U.S. fares firm. Aircraft scarcity is also limiting airlines from adding many flights.

There are also some periods of weaker demand overall, executives at the largest U.S. carriers, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines have said, calling out the week before and after the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

It’s time for Disney parks to swap pumpkins for poinsettias.

In the thick of its busiest season, Disney’s domestic theme parks have already begun to transition from Halloween decorations to Christmas colors. The transformation starts to take shape practically overnight, with warm autumn banners traded out for festive green garlands. The full metamorphosis takes about six weeks.

About two weeks before Halloween, Disney’s crew begins installing “inconspicuous” elements for the holiday season, such as lighting rigs. The effort is planned over the course of 12 months and involves a number of different departments, from the horticulture team and tech services to crane operators, truck drivers, aerial lift drivers and even culinary experts.

Most of the installation is completed during overnight hours when the park is closed.

“While every day is special at a Disney theme park, Halloween and the holidays are two very magical seasons, and our guests keep coming back year after year for both continued traditions and new surprises,” said Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock. “These only-Disney-can-do experiences happen because of our passionate cast members, who make magic while most of us are sleeping — delivering seamless and wildly creative transformations of our parks throughout the year.”

Starting Nov. 8 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Nov. 15 at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, Disney’s slate of winter holiday offerings will be in full swing — from sparkling ornamented trees and glitzy character costumes to limited-time food and beverage options and exclusive merchandise.

For Disney, these holidays are big business, drumming up significant revenue and traffic.

October and December are two of the company’s most popular travel months for the parks, according to Gavin Doyle, founder of MickeyVisit.com.

“Traditionally, it would have been summer, but it’s actually evolved to be these two months where there’s additional layers of offerings and it’s something unique on top of that,” Doyle said. “It kind of fits into that Disney vault strategy. … This is something that comes out, and then people are really excited about it for a limited time.”

Disney’s experiences division — composed of parks, cruises, hotels and consumer products — generated $9.13 billion in revenue during the period from October through December 2023. In other quarters of 2023 and 2024, the division generated anywhere between $7 billion and $8.3 billion.

This year, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party kicked off Aug. 9 in Florida and Oogie Boogie Bash, a big trick-or-treating event, started Aug. 25 in California — extending the Halloween crowds into the company’s summer quarter. Both events ran through Oct. 31.

The end of the year also brings a lot of repeat visitation, especially from local parkgoers, he said. In building the infrastructure to accommodate these decorations and limited-time specials, Disney has created a tradition for its guests, who bake it into their yearly plans.

The annual changes to character costumes, food and drink options, merchandise and other ambiance updates give attendees something new to explore.

With Halloween now over, Disney has turned its attention to the winter holiday season. That includes special holiday changes to rides and attractions as well as Christmastime parades and fireworks.

At Disneyland, holiday overlays for Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, It’s a Small World and Haunted Mansion will debut Nov. 15. Seasonal parades, fireworks and festivals will also launch, and Santa Claus will take up residence at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

At the Walt Disney World resort, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party launches Nov. 8 and Jollywood Nights start Nov. 9. At the same time, the Florida park will debut its Christmastime fireworks, parade and themed character meet-and-greets. Space Mountain will be getting a holiday overlay, as will the Jungle Cruise ride, which will temporarily become Jingle Cruise, and other attractions.

Boeing and its machinists’ union have agreed on a new negotiated offer to raise worker pay and potentially end a crippling strike that began seven weeks ago with a vote on the new proposal set for Monday.

The union urged workers to approve the contract. Getting workers back into factories is urgent for Boeing as it faces mounting losses.

“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything that we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 said Thursday. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”

The new proposal includes 38% general wage increases over four years, up from a previous offer for 35%, bringing the compounding pay increases to close to 44%, the union said Thursday. It also gives workers the option of a $12,000 one-time ratification bonus or to choose a previous offer for a $7,000 ratification bonus and a $5,000 401(k) contribution.

The union said that asking its members to stay on strike longer “wouldn’t be right as we have achieved so much success.”

Boeing’s more than 32,000 machinists, mostly based in the Seattle area, walked off the job on Sept. 13 after turning down a tentative agreement. They rejected another proposal earlier this month, extending the strike.

Boeing said Thursday that at the end of the contract, machinist pay will average $119,309.

“It’s time we all come back together and focus on rebuilding the business and delivering the world’s best airplanes,” Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a note to staff on Friday. “There are a lot of people depending on us.”

He urged workers to vote “since the results of the vote will affect all of us.”

The Biden administration has gotten involved in negotiations during the strike, which has halted most aircraft production at Boeing, a top U.S. exporter. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su met with the company and the union this week.

The Boeing strike took a bite out of U.S. employment numbers in October, according to Friday’s U.S. jobs report, the last before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

President Joe Biden congratulated the union and Boeing for the new contract proposal.

“Machinists at Boeing have sacrificed over the years and deserve a strong contract,” he said in a statement on Friday, shortly after the jobs report was released.

Ortberg said on his first earnings call last week since taking the top job in August that the company has been “feverishly working to find a solution that works for the company and meets our employees’ needs.” Hours later, the workers rejected a negotiated proposal.

Boeing machinists have repeatedly pushed for higher compensation as the cost of living in the Seattle area — where technology giants like Microsoft and Amazon have ramped up staffing — has surged in recent years.

Under the new contract proposal, as in previous iterations, Boeing vowed to build whatever its next airplane will be in the Puget Sound area. One sore spot among workers is that Boeing moved 787 Dreamliner production to a non-union factory in South Carolina.

The strike has further pushed back Boeing leaders’ plans to stabilize the aerospace behemoth as it reels from the impact of production flaws and the fallout from safety issues, most recently a door plug that blew out midair from a Boeing 737 Max 9 at the start of the year.

Boeing lost more than $6 billion in the last quarter and warned it would continue to burn cash through 2025.

Spirit Airlines shares surged Friday after the struggling budget carrier said it would cut jobs and sell aircraft.

The stock closed the day 16% higher, at $2.79 per share.

The carrier late Thursday laid out a plan to reduce costs and raise cash by selling 23 older Airbus aircraft. That sale will bring in $519 million, Spirit said in a securities filing.

It also said it will reduce costs by about $80 million, mostly through job cuts.

Last week the airline again delayed a deadline to refinance more than $1 billion in debt until late December, giving it breathing room with its credit card processor.

Spirit has struggled to return to profitability in the wake of the pandemic, facing a shift in travel demand and the grounding of dozens of Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft.

Even with Friday’s jump, Spirit’s shares have tumbled more than 80% this year after a judge blocked its planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways.

Spirit didn’t immediately comment on how many employees it will cut but said its 2025 capacity will be down in the mid-teen percentage point range compared with this year. It started furloughing about 200 pilots in September. Flight attendants “are well-positioned” because so many crew members took voluntary leaves of absence, according to the company.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Spirit and Frontier Airlines have revived merger discussions, sending shares higher. The airlines didn’t immediately comment. The two budget airlines had a merger agreement that was derailed by JetBlue‘s April 2022 offer to purchase Spirit outright.

Late Thursday, Spirit forecast a third-quarter negative operating margin of 24.5%, better than a previous estimate for as much as a negative 29% margin for the three-month period.

Brazilian plane maker Embraer is studying the market and new technology that could warrant it building an all-new jet, CEO Francisco Gomes Neto told CNBC.

A new airplane could help the airplane manufacturer compete with much larger rivals Airbus and Boeing, which deliver hundreds of jets a year compared with Embraer’s dozens of aircraft.

But Gomes Neto noted that no decisions have been made yet.

“At this point in time, we don’t have concrete plans to go to a big narrow body,” he said, adding that the studies for new engine technologies, avionics and potential demand are “to be prepared.”

In the meantime, Gomes Neto said Embraer is focused on improving results and selling its regional planes, which won orders earlier this year from American Airlines, manufacturing its E2 jet, and “delivering what we promise” customers.

Embraer said Friday that it delivered 16 commercial jets in the third quarter, up more than 5% from a year earlier. Including its defense and business jets, the company handed over 57 jets in the period, a third more than last year.

The Federal Aviation Administration approved a freighter version of its E190 passenger-to-freighter converted jet earlier this month, helping clear the way for its commercial introduction.

“This is maybe the advantage we have: We have a great product [that’s] available,” Gomes Neto said.

Both Airbus and Boeing are struggling to ramp up production and deliver aircraft on time in the wake of the pandemic. Boeing has the added challenges of a safety crisis and a machinist strike.

Boeing once had plans to take control of Embraer’s commercial jet business but ended those discussions in early 2020. Last month, Embraer said Boeing would pay it $150 million over the scuttled plan.

Like its competitors, Embraer is facing supply chain strains coming out of the pandemic, and the company is taking a more in-depth look at delivery capabilities.

Engines, hydraulic valves, cabin interiors and components for them are some of the areas where it has been difficult to ramp up production from suppliers, Gomes Neto said. He added that he expects supply chain problems will likely ease in 2026.

Spirit Airlines on Friday said it reached an agreement with its credit card processor to again extended a debt refinancing timeline to December, hours before it was set to hit its deadline.

Spirit said in a filing late Friday that earlier this week it drew down the entirety of its $300 million revolving credit facility and expects to end the year with just over $1 billion in liquidity.

“As previously disclosed, the Company remains in active and constructive discussions with holders of its senior secured notes due 2025 and convertible senior notes due 2026 with respect to their respective maturities,” Spirit said in a filing late Friday.

The deadline was previously set in September and had been extended until Oct. 21 before the Friday change. The airline’s stock closed at a new low Friday, down roughly 3%, at less than $1.50 per share.

The Miramar, Florida-based airline has furloughed workers, slashed its schedule and deferred aircraft deliveries to save cash over the past year.

Many of its planes have been grounded because of a Pratt & Whitney engine recall. It has also reported weaker-than-expected bookings and its planned acquisition by JetBlue Airways was scuttled after getting blocked by a federal judge on antitrust grounds.

Its shares have tumbled more than 90% so far this year and nearly 40% so far in October alone.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal said the carrier is considering a bankruptcy filing. Spirit and advisor Perella Weinberg Partners did not immediately comment on the matter.