Good morning, CFOs. Flying premium may be a realistic option for more people than one might think, says Wheels Up Chief Financial Officer John Verkamp; the focus on private credit is shifting to credit-card debt; plus, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman’s advice on AI.

The rich may be different, as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in his 1926 short story "The Rich Boy," but maybe not so much as we may think.

Flying private jets is a perk mostly reserved for the wealthy, and the cost alone means it’s prohibitive for many consumers. But John Verkamp, finance chief at Wheels Up, said the private jet company is working to make it easier for certain well-to-do customers to book a private aircraft.

“To fly private is a premium, so it’s not for everyone,” Verkamp tells the WSJ Leadership Institute’s Jennifer Williams. “But it’s more about, for those that are able, letting them know that it’s not so far out of reach as maybe it seems on the surface.”

The senior leadership team at Wheels Up maintain that high-end commercial travelers may see flying private as a realistic option and are leaning on their access to Delta Air Lines passengers for an edge.

Here’s the background: Three years ago, Wheels Up was burning cash and fighting to survive. A $500 million rescue from a group of investors led by Delta helped it avert bankruptcy, installing veterans from the commercial airline giant on the board and in the executive ranks. Wheels Up now plans to use that Delta connection to make it easier for the company’s well-to-do customers to book a private aircraft, Jennifer writes.

Read on here for the full story.

Monday

Earnings: BOK Financial, Cleveland-Cliffs, Steel Dynamics and Zions Bancorp

Tuesday

Earnings: 3M, Capital One Financial, Chubb, Danaher, D.R. Horton, Equifax, EQT, GE Aerospace, Genuine Parts, Halliburton, Interactive Brokers Group, Intuitive Surgical, MSCI, Northern Trust, Northrop Grumman, Quest Diagnostics, RTX, Synchrony Financial, Tractor Supply, United Airlines Holdings, UnitedHealth Group and W.R. Berkley

The Census Bureau reports retail and food services sales for March.

The National Association of Realtors reports its Pending Home Sales Index for March.

Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s Federal Reserve chair nominee, is set to appear before the Senate Banking Committee. 

Wednesday

Earnings: AT&T, Boeing, Boston Scientific, CME Group, Crown Castle, CSX, Elevance Health, GE Vernova, Globe Life, IBM, Kinder Morgan, Lam Research, Las Vegas Sands, Masco, Moody’s, NVR, Otis Worldwide, Packaging Corp. of America, Philip Morris International, Raymond James Financial, Rollins, ServiceNow, Southwest Airlines, TE Connectivity, Teledyne Technologies, Tesla, Texas Instruments, United Rentals, Vertiv Holdings, Waste Connections, and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

Thursday

Earnings: American Express, Ameriprise Financial, Baker Hughes, Blackstone, CBRE Group, CenterPoint Energy, Comcast, Digital Realty Trust, Dover, Dow Inc., Edwards Lifesciences, Erie Indemnity, Freeport-McMoRan, First Citizens BancShares, Hartford Insurance Group, Honeywell International, Huntington Bancshares, Intel, Keurig Dr Pepper, Lockheed Martin, Nasdaq, NextEra Energy, Newmont, PG&E, Pool Corp., Principal Financial Group, PulteGroup, Roper Technologies, Sanofi, SAP, Snap-On, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Union Pacific, Verisign and West Pharmaceutical Services

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for April.

Friday

Earnings: Charter Communications, HCA Healthcare, Norfolk Southern, Procter & Gamble and SLB

U.S.-Iran cease-fire ends Tuesday. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead a new round of peace talks with Iran in Pakistan this week, but there still appear to be significant gaps between both sides.

• Trump Says Iran Talks Are On, Sparking Push to Bridge Gaping Divides
• Exclusive: U.A.E. Asks U.S. About a Wartime Financial Lifeline

Fed fight over Kevin Warsh nomination. The unstoppable force of President Trump has finally met an immovable object: Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), Lindsay Wise reports.

• Kevin Warsh Pitched a Case for Fed Rate Cuts. His Future Colleagues Are Skeptical.

Private credit focus shifts to credit-card debt. Fund managers are pouring billions of dollars into agreements to buy the future debt that consumers will incur.

Verizon CEO Dan Schulman has some AI advice for other chief executives and potential ripple effects on jobs: Be candid about the coming disruption, or risk a public backlash.

Key quote: “It’s a very difficult time, and everyone knows it is,” Schulman said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “So I think being authentic, being realistic, telling the truth, as best you can” is key.

That belief, he said, is why Verizon created a $20 million career-transition and retraining fund for the “age of AI” when the company began laying off 13,000 workers last year, Chip Cutter and Patience Haggin write.
 

📰 Other headlines

• Exclusive: Eli Lilly Nears Deal for Cancer Biotech
• Blue Origin Rocket Stumbles on First Commercial Mission
• Car Owners Are Revolting Over Tesla’s Self-Driving Promises
• Bipartisan Senators Warn United and American Airlines on Potential Merger
• Big Oil Plows Billions Into Far-Flung Drilling Sites to Escape Iran Turmoil
• Small Banks Are Finally Gaining on Their Giant Rivals
• Podcast: Why This Economist Says Immigration Crackdown is Reshaping U.S. Job Growth

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