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• Alaska Airlines is further upgrading its Boeing 787 business class with new amenities and food.
• The suite-style cabin already boasts sliding doors and lie-flat beds.
• Alaska wants to lean on premium revenue as it competes long-haul with US mainline carriers.

Alaska Airlines is making a bigger push onto the global stage — and now it has a business class to match.

The carrier this week unveiled the full experience of its first international business class suites, set to debut this spring on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The jet flies long-haul between Seattle and Tokyo and Seoul, with service to London and Rome expected in the coming months.

Alaska’s high-dollar 787 seat, Elevate Ascent, will feature its usual amenities: lie-flat beds, 18-inch seatback screens, high-end meals, and privacy doors — a fast-growing must-have in premium cabins.

The airline is also adding more entrée options, upgraded linens and amenity kits, and a dessert cart to give the plane a more distinct Alaska identity after its 2024 merger with Hawaiian Airlines and to better compete long-haul with rivals American, Delta, and United.

“We set out to design a Business Class experience that is both sophisticated and authentically Alaska: premium, comfortable and thoughtfully created for our guests,” Alaska executive vice president and chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison said in a statement.

Alaska and Hawaiian are under the same parent company but continue to operate as separate entities with individual branding.

Alaska’s overall 787 experience will be a step up from business class on its Airbus A330 aircraft, which lack the suite-style seats, privacy doors, and new amenities of the 787. The A330s are former Hawaiian planes that Alaska uses on transpacific routes.

Alaska has been slowly building out its international presence since the merger. The upgrades to the 787 particularly reflect its shift toward premium cabins to attract deep-pocketed customers willing to pay more for better comfort, in line with industry trends.

Delta and United have similarly leaned heavily on premium cabins, reporting year-over-year premium revenue growth of 7% and 11%, respectively, in their 2025 results. American didn’t break down its 2025 premium revenue but also said it “performed exceptionally well.”

Here’s what Alaska’s future 787 business class experience looks like from the inside:

There are 34 suite-like pods with doors and lie-flat beds.

The 787 hard product — meaning anything physically attached to the plane — is the same as when it first flew in January. Linens and food that can be easily replaced or removed are examples of soft products.

Doors make Alaska competitive with rivals like American and Delta, which already fly door-equipped business cabins. United is adding doors to its Dreamliners this summer, though their pending FAA certification means they can’t be closed quite yet.

Everyone has direct-aisle access.

The 1x2x1 layout means nobody has to climb over their neighbor to go to the bathroom.

This is different from Alaska’s A330s, where premium is in a 2x2x2 configuration — meaning window-seat passengers are trapped when their neighbor lies flat.

The first meal will start with a charcuterie board and end with sundaes.

Alaska said the cheese board will be served first and paired with wines from the West Coast and Europe, Roederer Champagne, cocktails, craft beer, and non-alcoholic beverages.

The dessert cart is brand new. Passengers can customize their own sundae or choose from other treats. It appears similar to the ice cream cart in United Polaris business class.

Some entrées are tailored to the route.

Alaska said passengers will have up to six entrées to choose from, reflecting the plane’s destination. For example, roasted chicken with pasta carbonara may be offered on flights to Rome; Gochujang chicken with traditional banchan may be offered on flights to Seoul.

Flyers can also choose to preorder their meals via the Alaska app instead of doing so after boarding.

Flyers get upgraded amenities and lounge access.

Alaska said the West Coast-inspired amenity kits will have Salt and Stone skincare products and other travel necessities; the bedding includes a mattress, two pillows, and a huge duvet. Flyers will also receive a reusable water bottle.

It’s easy to see Alaska’s outdoorsy blue-and-green branding on the new kits.

International business-class flyers can access Alaska’s lounges and those of its Oneworld partners. Alaska operates lounges in Anchorage, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon.

Alaska’s 787 will soon have Starlink.

Starlink is already on select Alaska aircraft, but the airline said the free service will deploy on 787s this fall. The full experience will only be available to Atmos Rewards members come May, which is free to join.

Starlink is gaining momentum across US carriers; United and the semi-private air carrier JSX, for example, also offer it.

The 787 is a significant step up from Alaska’s A330.

The A330s are older aircraft originally operated by Hawaiian Airlines before the merger and do not have privacy doors.

Travelers booking business class on Alaska should note which aircraft they’re flying, as the on-board experience will differ significantly once the more premium 787 product rolls out with upgraded amenities and food.

• Japanese destroyer JS Chokai has completed modifications to carry Tomahawk missiles.
• The warship will conduct live-fire training with the missile this summer.
• Japan is ordering 400 Tomahawks, with the first already arriving.

The first of Japan’s destroyers is ready to carry Tomahawk missiles, with live-fire testing planned in the coming months.

Modifications for launching Tomahawks mark a major development in Japan’s defenses, providing the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force with a new, powerful weapon for its arsenal. Tokyo is also developing its own stand-off missile capabilities, paving the way for more ranged firepower.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced the completion of the Tomahawk modifications on the JS Chokai, a Kongo-class destroyer, on Monday. The milestone caps off years of work and acquisition plans between Tokyo and Washington regarding the missile.

Chokai sailed to the US last fall to receive modifications to carry Tomahawks and training for the ship’s crew. At the time, the JMSDF said it would take about a year to complete the process. Prior to departing, Chokai’s crew conducted a mock loading drill with US Navy personnel using dummy Tomahawks.

Now, the Japanese warship is ready for the next step: testing with the real thing.

“By around this summer, through live-fire drills and other tests, Chokai will attain its full operational capability,” the defense ministry said on social media.

Japan has also begun receiving some of the Tomahawk missiles it’s ordered. The total sale of 400 Tomahawk missiles — 200 Block IVs and 200 Block Vs — is expected to be completed sometime in fiscal year 2027. It’s also acquiring domestic stand-off missiles.

Tomahawk cruise missiles, made by RTX Corporation, are long-range weapons with precise targeting. The Block IVs have a range of 1,000 miles, while Block V variants are expected to extend beyond that. The Tomahawks also feature upgrades for effects against maritime targets.

Tomahawk missiles have been a weapon of choice for US forces in recent conflicts, including the US war in Iran, reports on which suggest around 850 Tomahawks have been fired so far.

Experts and analysts have warned about expending Tomahawks the US may need for a potential Indo-Pacific conflict with a formidable adversary like China, even as RTX has announced plans to ramp up production of the missile and its variants.

For Japan, fielding the Tomahawks aboard the Chokai and other Aegis-equipped destroyers will give its forces an additional combat-proven weapon.

The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force also announced new capabilities this week. On Tuesday, the JGSDF said two new stand-off defense weapons had been deployed. The first is Japan’s homegrown upgraded Type 12 ground-launched missile, which extends the range of the munition from about 125 to 620 miles, and the second is its Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile for Island Defense.

“The HVGP is a combination of ballistic missile and hypersonic glide vehicle,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank noted earlier this month. “Once fired, the projectile separates from its rocket at a high altitude and glides to its target.”

These weapons — along with Japan’s new ability to launch Tomahawk missiles — are among the clearest signs of Tokyo’s shift toward a larger, more flexible arsenal as it prepares for the possibility of conflict in the Pacific.

• I tried Japan’s famous soufflé pancakes during my first trip to Tokyo.
• I waited an hour in line at Micasadeco & Cafe in the city’s Harajuku neighborhood.
• The cloud-like pancakes tasted as fluffy as they looked. The special sakura flavor was my favorite.

As a food writer, I sometimes find myself waiting in long lines in the name of good investigative journalism, like spending five hours in the hopes of trying a Something About Her sandwich on opening day.

But I wasn’t on assignment when my fiancé and I waited over an hour for Japan’s famous soufflé pancakes at Micasadeco & Cafe during our first trip to Tokyo. I just wanted to know if they were as good as everyone said.

The pancakes were so delicious, I knew I had to write about them.

Soufflé pancakes are known for their fluffy, cloud-like texture.

The texture is achieved by using whipped egg whites, as you would for a soufflé. There’s debate over who launched the trend, although Nathan Tran, a restaurant owner in Hawaii, has said it started at his business.

“We’re the originators of that item,” Tran told Honolulu Magazine in 2021. “We were the first ones, period, to do it.”

Tran told the magazine that he was inspired to combine pancakes and soufflés after opening his restaurant Cream Pot in 2008. Tran initially kept pancakes off the menu because he wasn’t a fan of the classic breakfast dish. When tourists kept requesting them, he decided to make pancakes using the soufflé technique instead. They were an instant hit.

“We separate 1,300 to 1,400 eggs every day; it’s very laborious,” Tran told the magazine, which noted that his restaurant now calls itself the “original place for soufflé pancakes.”

Soufflé pancakes have become especially popular in Japan, where there’s no shortage of cafés and restaurants offering the iconic treat.

Flipper’s and Gram Cafe have become the most famous of the bunch, even opening locations in California and New York. But my fiancé Peter and I decided to try the soufflé pancakes from Micasadeco & Cafe, which came highly recommended from a friend.

We visited Micasadeco & Cafe while spending the day in Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood.

Harajuku is known for its bustling Takeshita Street, which features animal cafés — where you can pet everything from fluffy samoyeds to baby pigs — as well as a variety of shops selling everything from rainbow cotton candy to sky-high tornado potatoes.

Micasadeco & Cafe is about an eight-minute walk from Takeshita Street, tucked away in a much quieter part of the neighborhood. The restaurant opened in Tokyo in 2013 and now has locations in Kyoto and Osaka.

There was already a line around the block when we arrived at Micasadeco & Cafe just before noon.

Peter and I groaned when we saw the massive line, but quickly decided to stick it out.

After thinking about pancakes all morning, our hearts were set on those pillowy clouds.

After almost an hour on the dot, we were led inside the small but cheerful turquoise restaurant.

As we sat down, a server told us that the famous soufflé pancakes are made to order and take about 30 minutes.

We quickly sped through the short menu, which included traditional pancakes and eggs. We knew we wanted to stick to the soufflé variety, ordering the most popular flavor and a seasonal special.

I sipped on a sakura jelly soda, one of the restaurant’s seasonal drinks, while we waited.

We went to Japan just as the famous cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom, a time known as sakura season. From cocktails to Starbucks coffee, it seemed almost everywhere we went had a special sakura drink — and I wanted to try all of them.

Micasadeco & Cafe’s sakura jelly soda was delightfully fizzy and refreshing, with just a hint of that floral sakura flavor. It was perfect for spring.

We could also watch the chefs at work from the restaurant’s open kitchen.

The chefs expertly mixed and flipped their pancake batter as a row of orders waited on the counter.

Our jaws dropped as the first plate of pancakes arrived.

These ricotta cheese pancakes are the most popular order at Micasadeco & Cafe. The dish, which cost us 1,750 yen, or about $12, featured three plump pancakes with a side of cream, plus maple syrup served in a mini beaker.

Our dish arrived with “Merci” spelled out in powdered sugar, a sweet thank you from the chef. The pancakes, topped with a perfectly square butter knob, looked so plump you could rest your head on them.

Peter and I couldn’t resist moving the plate around, laughing like kids as we watched the pancakes jiggle. Micasadeco & Cafe says on its website that soufflé pancakes are known as the “dancing pancakes.” I couldn’t think of a more fitting nickname.

The soufflé pancakes were as delicious and fluffy as they looked. Their texture was light as air, melting in my mouth, and the ricotta cheese and fresh cream added a lovely hint of sweetness.

Peter and I were also huge fans of the maple syrup. I was shocked to learn it was from Costco’s Kirkland brand, a discovery I made when I spotted the bottle on the way to the bathroom.

We also tried the seasonal sakura pancakes, which looked stunning on the plate.

The pancakes, which cost us 1,950 yen, or about $14, were infused with sakura powder and topped with matcha and strawberry cream, as well as fresh strawberries. Matcha syrup and fresh strawberry-infused cream were also provided on the side.

The texture was just as light and cloud-like as the ricotta cheese pancakes, but tinged with that subtle sakura flavor. The pancakes tasted surprising and sweet, pairing perfectly with the fresh strawberry cream.

I loved the flavor of the pancakes so much that I didn’t even use the matcha or maple syrups.

We loved trying Japan’s famous soufflé pancakes in Harajuku.

Micasadeco & Cafe promises to deliver food that’s “Delicious! Cute! Fun!” and its soufflé pancakes were all of the above. They were delightful and playful, but also super delicious. This is not a dish that just looks good on social media.

Our lunch was a good reminder that sometimes the “tourist trap” can still be worth trying. It’s a lesson we embraced as we walked through Takeshita Street and tried glazed strawberries on skewers and tornado potatoes — both delicious!

So, if you’re heading to Japan, seek out the hidden gems, but don’t be afraid to try a few of the TikTok spots. Sometimes waiting in line is worth it.

• Oracle is offering up to 26 weeks of severance for laid-off US employees.
• Affected Oracle employees were notified of layoffs via email early Tuesday morning.
• Severance includes 4 weeks’ base salary plus 1 week per year of employment.

Oracle offered laid-off US employees four weeks’ base salary plus one week per additional year of employment up to 26 weeks as severance, according to an excerpt of internal severance terms viewed by Business Insider.

The company started notifying affected workers in the U.S. about the layoffs early Tuesday morning. Those who spoke to Business Insider said they received a notification email and were locked out of the company’s internal system at 3 a.m. Pacific.

Oracle declined to comment.

“After careful consideration of Oracle’s current business needs, we have made the decision to eliminate your role as part of a broader organizational change,” copies of layoff notification email viewed by Business Insider stated. “As a result, today is your last working day.”

Oracle’s package is smaller compared to other recent Big Tech severance offers. Block, which recently laid off nearly half its employees, provided them with 20 weeks of salary, plus one additional week per year of tenure. They would also get six months of healthcare, a $5,000 stipend, and the option to keep their work device.

People familiar with the matter told Business Insider that, in 2025, during layoffs at Meta, the company’s severance package included 16 weeks of pay and an additional 2 weeks for every year of service, plus 6 months of health insurance coverage.

Oracle’s offer is similar to Amazon’s, which said in January it would cut 16,000 corporate jobs and give affected employees full pay and benefits for 90 days, plus an additional severance package.

Oracle has a standard severance plan for US employees, a separate severance explanation viewed by Business Insider states.

“The Oracle America, Inc. Severance Pay Plan defines the severance pay benefits that you are eligible to receive,” the explanation states. “Per the Plan, you are eligible for Enhanced severance pay benefits of: four weeks of base salary for your first year of employment, plus one week’s salary for each additional year of employment, based on your most recent hire date, up to a combined maximum of 26 weeks of base salary.”

The payout will be adjusted for employees in states with a WARN notice period, the explanation states, and employees must have worked six or more months in the last year of their employment for it to be considered a full year for the purposes of the severance calculation.

Oracle employed around 162,000 full-time employees as of May 2025, according to its most recent 10-K filing. According to LinkedIn posts from laid-off employees, the cuts affected staff across Oracle Health, Sales, Cloud, Customer Success, and NetSuite.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

• A version of this story originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
• Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here.

Revenue-per-employee is back, and it’s becoming one of the most telling metrics in tech.

Back in my Bloomberg News days, Mike Bloomberg obsessed over this number. The logic was straightforward: how much revenue does each employee generate?

It’s a discipline that keeps hiring tied to real business growth and forces companies to scrutinize roles that don’t clearly contribute to bringing in the Benjamins.

During the pandemic-era tech boom, that discipline slipped. Tech companies hired aggressively and headcount became a proxy for momentum. But when growth normalized, the mismatch became obvious. Layoffs followed, and many companies are still correcting for that overexpansion.

Now, AI is accelerating the shift back. With AI coding tools boosting productivity, companies are questioning whether they need thousands more software engineers.

See the ranges below. The data is striking. As Levels.fyi cofounder Zuhayeer Musa puts it, tech companies are no longer competing on headcount, they’re competing on efficiency. Growth is being redefined, and revenue per employee is becoming the scorecard.

Sign up for BI’s Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

• Scott Houdashell invented an egg-decorating tool while celebrating with his friend’s kids.
• His friend lent him $150,000, borrowed from his children’s college funds.
• Nine years later, their company does over $8 million in annual revenue.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scott Houdashell and his cofounder, Curtis McGill, co-founders of Hey Buddy Hey Pal. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Back in 2015, I was hanging out at my friend Curtis’s house, dying Easter eggs with his kids. All of a sudden, I looked around and thought, “Where did the kids go?” Curtis told me they were bored with watching hard-boiled eggs slowly turn colors.

I told Curtis to get me a hot glue stick, a drill, and some markers. I had an idea for how to get the kids off their tablets and back to the table. Using those rudimentary items, I created a system to spin the egg, letting the kids decorate it with markers.

Soon, Curtis’ kids — who I consider my nieces and nephews — were mesmerized. They couldn’t wait to have a turn. As I drove home that night, I had a feeling that this was my lightning-in-a-bottle moment: an idea that would change our lives.

I didn’t hesitate to take my friend’s loan

When I told Curtis I was serious about making the egg-decorating toy, he didn’t tell me I was nuts. Instead, he offered to invest. It wasn’t the first time Curtis had invested in a friend. He trades commodities and has more financial wiggle room than I do, since I run my own insurance company.

Curtis borrowed $150,000 against his kids’ college funds and loaned it to me at 10% interest. While Curtis worked on the finances, I spent time in my wood shop, creating a rough prototype and breaking many eggs along the way.

I wasn’t worried about taking a loan from Curtis and his wife. We’d met about 15 years before that, playing music together. We had a deep relationship. We both knew I would work my tail off to make sure he was paid back, even if I had to sell the toys door-to-door.

A viral video helped kick-start our success

In March 2017, a shipping container with 10,000 Eggmazing Egg Decorators arrived at the building that housed my insurance company. Curtis and I stacked the boxes everywhere, leaving only a pathway to my office and one to the bathroom.

We had about 40 days till Easter, and no idea how to sell a toy.

We brought some to local toy shops, where owners agreed they were cool. One shop owner connected us with the toy retail association, which boosted sales. Then, a video featuring the Eggmazing decorator went viral.

That’s when I learned, be careful what you hope and pray for. Within 23 days, we’d sold all 10,000 units, and we were in the toy business.

Our finances have changed, but our relationship hasn’t

That summer, we went to a toy trade show and left with more than $1 million in purchase orders. From there, things moved quickly. We went on “Shark Tank” — a show Curtis and I had been watching together for years — and made a deal with Lori Greiner.

Our company, Hey Buddy Hey Pal, is named for the way Curtis and I have always greeted each other. Today, it does over $8 million in annual revenue.

I paid back Curtis’ loan within seven months, then said to him, “I can’t wait until you become a millionaire.” I’m the majority owner, so that would mean I was a millionaire too, but saying that wasn’t selfish; I was just so grateful to be on this journey with my friend.

The Eggmazing decorator has changed our lives. I lived in a townhouse for most of the time I knew Curtis. Now, I own a house and two planes. Curtis’ three kids — who probably would have gone to college in-state — have had access to an outstanding education.

Through it all, our relationship hasn’t changed. We’re brothers. Even if this all blew up tomorrow, I know I can always call Curtis and say, “Hey buddy,” and he’ll reply, “Hey pal.”