Internet Travel With Context
May 10-May 16, 2020
May 10-May 16, 2020
Read all about it! The nationwide Coronavirus death toll surges past the 75,000 80,000 85,000 88,000 mark. European countries make plans for slow, phased openings. The United States is more chaotic. Airlines and airports go beyond masks to temperature checks. Travel is picking up--if you squint and squeeze the numbers. Here's how we're covering it. The latest items are at the top. Read up from the bottom for context.
Coronavirus Update for May 16, 2020
The TSA says 250,467 passed through airport checkpoints yesterday, the busiest day since March 24. Traffic still down 91 percent year-on-year, but there were some basis-point gains this week. Here are today's other developments:
The bleeding edge I've been warning for weeks of a U.S. airline employment Armageddon when the CARES Act expires on September 30 and Air Canada up north is on the bleeding edge. It informed unions last evening to expect as many as 20,000 layoffs by June 7. That's more than half the existing Air Canada staff. Blink of an eye Alaska Airlines announced this week that it would trim its Paine Field schedule down to one daily flight to Phoenix. Now the airport says it will close completely on May 22 for repairs. The closure will last until July 31. Don't expect either Alaska Air or United Airlines, which had a small pre-pandemic schedule at Paine, to restore service. Ciao! Italy says it will reopen to visitors from Europe on June 3 and those travelers won't be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Servus! Cafes and restaurants reopened in Austria albeit with limited seating and other social-distancing rules. Busted A New York tourist in Hawaii was arrested for breaking self-quarantine. He was outed by locals who saw his social-media posts. Details here. So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night Boston-Vienna nonstops, originally planned to launch in June, have been permanently cancelled by Austrian Airlines. Meanwhile, Swiss will not resume nonstops to Zurich from Washington/Dulles.Coronavirus Update for May 15, 2020
Rhode Island was quick to impose a self-quarantine on visitors and tried to close its road borders early in the pandemic. Now it may test tourists this summer as a way to save its summer travel season. Here are today's other developments: We report, you decide The TSA says 234,000 travelers passed through airport checkpoints yesterday, the highest number since March 25. That's down 91 percent from a similar Thursday last year. Depending on your mindset, it's glass half-full or glass cracked and leaking like a sieve. Seattle-Tacoma Airport currently hosts just 5,000 travelers a day at its 80 gates. That's down 95 percent from its previous volume of about 50,000 daily flyers. New York today lifts stay-at-home rules for some parts of the state. However, the most affected regions, including New York City, will remain under restrictions until June 13. Delta Air Lines told its pilots that management thinks the airline is "overstaffed" by 7,000 pilots. It'll still have as many as 2,500 too many pilots by the third quarter of 2021. Spain says hotels might begin to reopen by July 1. Greece has targeted the same date for its tourist industry. Iceland begins opening to visitors today, but only from remote places such as Greenland and the Faroe Islands of Denmark. Others will still have to go into a 14-day quarantine.Coronavirus Update for May 14, 2020
The TSA reports about 176,000 people passed through security checkpoints yesterday. That's about a week of traffic down 92-93 percent from last year. It took about 45 days--March 1 to April 14--for travel to fall from 2.5 million daily to about 88,000 daily. In the month since then, daily traffic has doubled and then largely plateaued. Here are today's other developments: Wisconsin reopened yesterday after the state's Supreme Court struck down the governor's stay-at-home orders. It was the same court that required the state's primary election to continue last month. Dozens of poll workers and voters were later diagnosed with the Coronavirus. District of Columbia stay-at-home regulations have been extended to June 8. Maryland will begin relaxing its stay-at-home regulations tomorrow, but counties bordering the District of Columbia will continue restrictions. Georgia ordered bars and nightclubs to stay closed through the end of the month. Restaurants can resume on-premises dining with new distancing and sanitary rules. Changi Airport in Singapore closes Terminal 4 on May 16 local time. It already closed Terminal 2, leaving the sprawling connecting facility with two operating passenger terminals. Hong Kong International now requires masks in public areas beginning May 18. Like Changi, Hong Kong International is largely off-limits to all but local residents. Austrian Airlines will remain grounded until at least June 7. Brussels Airlines will resume some service beginning June 15.Coronavirus Update for May 13, 2020
The TSA reports about 163,000 people passed through security checkpoints yesterday. That's down 93 percent from last year, which indicates traffic isn't rebounding. Here are today's other developments: Los Angeles County will “with all certainty” extend stay-at-home rules through July, according to public health director Barbara Ferrer. Some restrictions will be lifted along the way, however. SAS says a mask or face covering will be required on all flights beginning May 18. Carry-ons are restricted to one bag per flyer. No meals will be served and SAS airport clubs are closed. Germany is beginning to open its borders to travelers. It expects to allow arrivals from non-Schengen countries by June 15. Confirmatory collapse The Transportation Department's official stats show U.S. airline traffic fell 51 percent in March compared to March, 2019. It's the largest year-on-year decline on record. The DOT also notes March's traffic was only slightly higher than September, 2001, the month of the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks. School daze The 23-school California State University system says its fall semester will be held remotely and campuses will remain closed. The University of California, which encompasses ten other schools, isn't likely to full reopen for the fall semester, either. The two systems serve more than 750,000 students.Coronavirus Update for May 12, 2020
The TSA reports 215,645 people passed through security checkpoints yesterday, the busiest day by a few hundred since the post-pandemic bottom on April 14. More notable, however, is that it's down 92 percent from last year, the exact same percentage as the last four days. I think that is called a plateau. Here are today's other developments: Finnair says passengers must wear masks "for the entire duration of the flight." The edict is in effect from May 18 through at least the end of August. LATAM, the largest carrier in South America, says traffic in April was down 97 percent and capacity reduced by 94 percent. Only 176,000 flew on LATAM during the month. The second-largest carrier in South America, Avianca, yesterday declared bankruptcy. It has been grounded since mid-March. Ryanair, Europe's largest carrier, says it will restore 40 percent of its schedule beginning July 1. That's about 1,000 flights covering 90 percent of its former route map. Passengers will be required to wear face coverings in the terminal and during a flight. Choice Hotels says 97 percent of the chain's nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels are open and operating. London hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 21.9 percent in April. The average daily rate fell nearly 40 percent to 87.18 British pounds.Coronavirus Update for May 11, 2020
Today is the day the death toll in the United States surged passed 80,000. Fifty years ago, the nation was appalled by "four dead in Ohio." Fun times, eh? Here are today's other developments: No quarantine yet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday outlined a multi-phase--and quite tentative--plan for reopening the United Kingdom, which has suffered more Coronavirus deaths than any European nation. Restaurants, for example, will remain closed until July. What wasn't in his announcement was a much-discussed 14-day quarantine on arrivals. He said it would "soon be the time" for such a step, but gave no specifics. The Eight-Percent Solution The TSA says about 200,000 people passed through airport checkpoints yesterday. That's down from more than 2.4 million on a similar May day in 2019. Lockdown London Traffic at London/Heathrow, the second-busiest airport in the world, was down 97 percent in April. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road The UN World Tourism Organization recorded a 22 percent fall in international tourist arrivals during the first quarter. For 2020, arrivals could decline as much as 80 percent, the agency said. Where You Going? No Barcelona! Barcelona hosted 30 million tourists last year. Now it is empty. The locals aren't sure that's a bad thing. The Guardian has details.Coronavirus Update for May 10, 2020
The TSA says about 169,000 people passed through security checkpoints yesterday (Saturday, May 9). That's about 35,000 more than last Saturday (May 2). It's the first time since the pandemic that week-over-week daily totals exceeded 2019 numbers. Last year, around 17,000 more people flew on a similar Saturday in May compared to the previous one. Here are today's other developments: Seattle-Tacoma says all travelers will be required to wear face coverings in public areas of the airport. The edict takes effect on May 18. Air France will begin temperature checks for departing flyers beginning tomorrow (May 11). You won't be permitted to fly unless your temperature is below 38C degrees. Singapore Airlines says all passengers must wear masks in-flight. Restrictions do not mention "face coverings," only face masks--and you know how Singapore is about rules. The edict goes into effect today and covers flights on Singapore Air and its SilkAir and Scoot subsidiaries. Temperatures rising The CDC says it won't be the agency to do temperature checks at airports. (USA Today has details.) Meanwhile, the trade group representing U.S. airlines wants the TSA to do the temperature checks. (Reuters has details.) Because, as usual, airlines want to slough their policies off on taxpayer-funded agencies like the TSA even though there's no federal mandate to conduct temperature checks. Cheesy A company that usually sells less-than-perfect-looking food is now retailing old JetBlue Airways cheese plates. Because, ewwww ... The Washington Post has details.