June 30, 2023 Hello, Insiders. Josée Rose, executive editor for business, here. Happy to be back in New Jersey after I was caught in the travel chaos of the last five days. A canceled flight, hours on the phone trying to get a refund, a delayed new flight, and a mob at JFK means I will be staying local heading into the holiday weekend.    I wasn’t the only one experiencing difficulties: Hundreds of thousands of passengers have already had travel plans thrown into chaos. If you’re flying, brace yourself. More on that in a bit.   We’re also covering:  SCOTUS: Affirmative action knocked down, and the student-debt decision is imminent. Cleveland has become an unlikely hotspot for millennials in search of affordability. “I was on a Titan-sub trip that was cut short. It feels like I played Russian roulette and won.” — Josée Rose   If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

THE BIG STORY It’s a flightmare Kena Betancur/Getty Images   Imagine the entire population of Los Angeles heading to an airport. And throw in Cincinnati, too. That’s how many Americans are expected to fly over this Independence Day weekend. It's a huge test for the strained aviation system, and the results aren't inspiring much confidence. Here’s a rundown of what’s happened so far: Hundreds of thousands of people have had travel plans thrown into chaos after a wave of storms raked the Northeast. One United passenger said they were stuck at Newark for 2 ½ days waiting for their flight. Another said she had to drive hundreds of miles and take another flight to meet up with her bags — and she still couldn't get hold of her luggage. Yesterday was projected to be the busiest day at airports during this holiday stretch — and nearly 8,000 flights within, into, or out of the US were delayed or canceled, according to the flight tracker FlightAware. If you are planning on flying anytime soon, we’ve got a list of the 10 worst airports for summer travel — and three of them are in Florida.  READ MORE

TOP READS SCOTUS, Something Navy, & more Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images   Students of color are banding together after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn race-based affirmative action. As one student said: “To be going backwards in this sort of immense way is really scary." However, many student-led organizations are still working to preserve diversity on their campuses.  Something Navy, the beleaguered apparel company founded by the fashion influencer Arielle Charnas, is struggling to survive. As Insider’s Katie Warren reports, several people said its CEO is leaving the company, most employees have either quit or been laid off, and production of new clothing is on hold. Today’s the day student-loan borrowers find out if they get loan forgiveness. It’s the last day of the Supreme Court’s session. So the high court is finally going to decide the fate of Biden’s student-loan-forgiveness plan. Regardless of the decision, student-loan repayments are set to begin again in October. A CBS reporter’s ride on the Titan submarine was cut short last year due to safety protocols. David Pogue told Insider’s Sindhu Sundar that it feels like he played Russian roulette and won. He rode in the submersible to see a continental shelf. And Pogue said the waiver that warned of “injury or death” just seemed like legal jargon at the time. Cleveland is an unlikely hotspot for affordability-seeking millennials. Since 2020, the millennial population there has risen 6% — the same rate as Tampa and Dallas. Cleveland’s popularity surprised analysts, since it isn’t a tech hub or a temperate destination. Instead, it has something even more coveted: income growth that outpaces rent increases. The Wagner rebellion shot down a “high-value” Russian aircraft. The Ilyushin Il-22M airborne command-post aircraft had been staying out of Ukraine’s reach. It’s able to avoid Kyiv’s air defenses while still effectively coordinating air and ground operations. But the revolt crashed the aircraft’s safety measures and reportedly also killed the 10 crew members aboard. Overboard cruise-ship passenger’s survival was “nothing short of miraculous.” The 42-year-old woman fell overboard from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean ship. Surviving the extremely high fall was already a miracle. And being rescued was even luckier.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON Home sales, Twitter, & OpenAI New-home sales surprisingly surged 20% last month. And it could mean the fight against inflation is working. Twitter's new CEO reportedly told staffers that they need to use “hand-to-hand combat” to convince advertisers to come back.  A lawsuit claims OpenAI stole massive amounts of personal data to train ChatGPT, including medical records and information about children.

TAKE A LOOK Gucci penthouse Michael Parks See inside the “dated” and “overpriced” $35 million Gucci penthouse that has been on and off the market for eight years.

WATCH THIS Boot Camp How West Point makes over 13,000 meals a day for Army cadets. Insider was given rare access to see how more than 200 staff prepare nutritious meals for the next generation of US Army leadership.