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COY WIRE: Hello, everyone.
Coy Wire here wishing a wonderful Wednesday to you.
And now, we're just halfway through the week.
But we're going to keep on grinding and shining.
Looking to be a little better today than we were yesterday.
Now, we are looking to the skies for our lead story today
and for the latest news on travel.
March and April, they're considered peak season for
spring break travel in America.
And industry officials expect that upwards
of 150 million people will fly during that two-month window
alone.
Travel is so busy during this time
that officials at major spring break destinations,
like Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles,
are asking passengers to arrive three
hours early to the airport.
One of our CNN 10 producers Maya said that she'd never
seen security so packed at LaGuardia Airport in New York
when she flew over the weekend.
But tourism experts say that travel during this year's
spring break actually isn't even as bad as it could have been.
Bad flying experiences from last year
have made some people skeptical about flying.
Canceled flights and missed layovers
left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded.
A series of close calls on runways
has left some worried about their safety.
And staffing shortages of aircraft technicians, flight
dispatchers, and pilots have some folks
worrying about the efficiency of airlines and airports.
So given all that, experts say that some travelers
are playing it safe this year, staying close to home.
We'll hear now from CNN correspondent
Pete Muntean with tips for traveling
from experts and passengers.
PETE MUNTEAN: Spring break travel
is soaring back to normal and renewing worry that your flight
could be canceled.
Meltdowns plagued the FAA in January,
Southwest Airlines over the holidays,
and industry-wide last summer.
GEOFF FREEMAN: The air travel system is under great stress.
PETE MUNTEAN: The Federal Aviation Administration
is already warning of a shortage of air traffic controllers
that could cause increased delays at New York's three
major airports this summer.
There, a key air traffic control facility
is that only 54% staffing.
GEOFF FREEMAN: We're seeing delays.
We're seeing cancelations.
And that is leading some travelers to say,
you know what, I would travel more if we could
fix that air travel experience.
PETE MUNTEAN: The latest figures from travel site,
Hopper, show many travelers are concerned
about flight disruptions.
20% of Hopper's spring break travelers
are buying extra trip protection.
That's on top of rising airfare, up 4%,
Hopper says, compared to 2019.
KEN DANIELS: They were quite pricey this time of year,
I guess, due to spring break and due to what's
going on in the economy.
BYRON WITHERSPOON: They go up one day.
They go down the next day.
Just be diligent, be on point.
And when you see that good price you want, hit the button.
PETE MUNTEAN: Even still, industry figures
say 158 million Americans will fly for spring break.
That's an average of 2.6 million travelers each day.
HAYLEY BERG: We're expecting this spring break to likely
break records for number of travelers who are getting out
there and how much they're spending, given the huge demand
coming out of the pandemic.
PETE MUNTEAN: The top destinations, Las Vegas,
Orlando, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Miami, where the airport
says demand is 20% higher than 2019, so high
that officials are asking you to show up three
hours before a domestic flight instead
of the typical two hours.
GREG CHIN: There are very few off peak times
right now for us.
We have been the best alternative to leaving
the country since COVID.
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia.
What country is shown here is located
between India and Myanmar, Bangladesh,
Thailand, Laos, or Nepal?
Home to over 165 million people, Bangladesh is
the country shown on the map.
A tech company is looking to bring a technology called AI
farmer to farmers in Bangladesh, which
provides them with financial resources and advice.
The company's mission is to empower
the farmers to yield more from the same amount of land.
The catch is that investors in the technology
charge the farmers a commission on their output.
And that could be seen as taking advantage
of those doing the hard labor.
We'll learn more now about the software, which
is said to have furthered the livelihood of 17
million farming households.
- Here, along the banks of the Jamuna River,
around 100 miles northwest of Bangladesh's capital
Dhaka, Hanufa Bibi farms chili peppers and corn.
Yield is low recently, she says, due to changing
weather conditions.
But the 35-year-old farmer is looking
to technology for solutions.
An app called iFarmer.
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: After iFarmer's help,
we've had a good experience.
We've got a good yield of corn, good harvest,
and we are profiting well.
- IFarmer hopes to further the livelihoods of Bangladesh's
17 million farming households.
FAHAD IFAZ: iFarmer is an agri-tech company that
provides farmers with access to finance,
access to advisory services.
And we help farmers to take their produce to the markets.
- Established in 2019, the startup scaled rapidly
from a team of four to over 250 employees
today, facilitating more than $19 million
in small loans for farmers across the country so far,
they say.
Agriculture is a vital part of Bangladesh's economy.
Nearly half of the country's population
is employed in the industry, with more than 70%
of its land used for farming.
However, farming's contribution to GDP is in decline.
25-year-old corn farmer Juhurul Islam
says the startup helped him set up a bank account
and apply for a loan of around $470
and use soil sensors to give him personalized
information about his crops.
At the nearby iFarmer center, Islam
can also get advice on farming and purchase seeds,
pesticides, and fertilizers.
iFarmer opened hundreds of these centers, which, it says,
supports more than 87,000 farmers using its platform.
The startup plans to launch 1,000 centers
by the end of the year, with the hope of supporting
half a million farmers by 2025.
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COY WIRE: Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 is a real catch.
A women's high school softball game in Texas
took an unexpected turn when a base runner
dodged and danced and pulled off an unbelievable prank
on the catcher.
It's not all that off base to say
that this is an all-time must-see base run and fake.
Jeanne Moos has more.
JEANNE MOOS: Forget strikeouts.
This was a fakeout.
Jada Walton from Carthage High School in East Texas headed
for home plate, almost got tagged out
and then pointed to first base.
It's the classic made you look.
Look over there, the oldest trick in the book.
Take another look.
JADA WALTON: I really had no idea what to do.
I was really just goofing around, because I
thought I was going to be out.
JEANNE MOOS: Jada made it to home plate
using the technique some used to steal
food off a plate, the same ruse Marty
used to sucker-punch Biff.
- Now, what?
- Whoa, Biff.
What's that?
JEANNE MOOS: --in "Back to the Future," that Arnold deployed,
who escaped in "Last Action Hero,"
Inside Edition dubbed, Jada--
- The Houdini of softball.
JEANNE MOOS: Even Major League Baseball gushed.
"You must see this all-time great base running fakeout."
As for those who said the catcher deserves to be benched,
Jada cried foul.
JADA WALTON: I probably would have fell for it.
Anybody would.
Because she is really like a good player, like,
she's the best on the team.
JEANNE MOOS: By the way, Carthage won the game 7-5.
And Jada won bragging rights.
COY WIRE: Now, that was awesome.
We love when you touch base with us.
It's #YourWordWednesday.
So follow me @coywire on Instagram,
Snapchat, and TikTok.
And put your unique vocab word in the comment
section of my most recent post.
And we're going to choose one fun one
to work into tomorrow's show.
Last week's vocab word was from Mr. Troth's class
at Dwight D. Eisenhower in West Berlin, halcyon,
meaning happier, peaceful times of the past.
Now, for a special shoutout, let's go to Michigan--
Fruitport, Michigan, and say what's
up Fruitport Middle School.
Rise up.
Thanks for all the love.
Love right back at you.
See you tomorrow, everyone.
I'm Coy Wire.
And we are "CNN 10."
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