United will be the first US airline to offer pre-flight COVID-19 testing for passengers, including at-home tests and rapid testing at the airport. The airline will test the program on flights from San Francisco to Hawaii starting Oct. 15, when the islands are scheduled to reopen to tourists under rules that require them to submit negative tests.

"I take every call as though it's my first call," says Alaska Airlines reservation agent Kevin Tobey. "I still truly want to help the person on the other end asking me something I've been asked a thousand times." Tobey, who started as a ramp worker for Alaska's Horizon Air affiliate in 1994, is known for his positive attitude.

Sephora has partnered with Instacart to debut same-day delivery options at certain stores in California and Canada. Instacart users in those markets will have access to more than 300 of the approximately 400 brands the beauty retailer sells.

AFWERX is reviewing "hypersonics; commercial, quiet, supersonic flight; microelectronics" and space technologies as possible areas of focus for its next investment. The project follows the Agility Prime push to foster the commercial market for flying cars.

Boeing will work with Aerojet Rocketdyne and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems on its proposal for the Missile Defense Agency's Next Generation Interceptor. "The Boeing-led team will deliver critical technology to enhance our homeland missile defense," Boeing's Norm Tew said.

Northrop Grumman has unveiled a photo of its design for the US Navy's Next Generation Jammer-Low Band system. L3Harris is also competing for this contract.

Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute points out flaws in the Government Accountability Office's assessment of defense sector research and development practices. He writes that the GAO's "findings about independent research and development are incomplete at best, and probably misleading given the methodology that was used."

The US Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 is the first East Coast squadron to operate the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone. It joins the Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter and the MQ-8B Fire Scout.

Rolls-Royce's "Accelerating the Electrification of Flight" program seeks to build the fastest all-electric plane, and the company completed ground testing of the plane's propulsion system. This project is also helping to develop Rolls-Royce's capabilities and ensures that we remain a leader in delivering the electrification of flight, an important part of our sustainability strategy," Rolls-Royce's Rob Watson said.

Tests have been completed for the passive noise reduction fairings built by Safran for the Boeing ecoDemonstrator program. Data from the test will be used by Boeing for future noise reduction.