Internet Travel With Context
June 7-June 13, 2020
June 7-June 13, 2020
Read all about it! The nation's Coronavirus death toll surges past 110,000 114,000 115,000 and the number of confirmed cases passes the two-million mark. Demonstrations around the nation overshadow the pandemic and its effects. New York City opens up just as London and Britain launch 14-day quarantines. U.S. flight traffic jumps yet remains a small fraction of 2019 volume. Here's how we're covering it. Latest items are at the top. Read up from the bottom for context.
Coronavirus Update for June 13, 2020
Canada says it'll mandate temperature checks for passengers even while admitting it won't really help airlines identify Coronavirus sufferers. Here are today's other travel developments:
Breakfast battle The need for social distancing and attempts to limit contact and possible virus spread are, um, scrambling the existing order of hotel breakfast. The Washington Post looks at the future of the first meal. French Polynesia lifts its quarantine and opens to tourism on July 15. But there are rules. Many rules. The (literal) art of the deal British Airways says it'll sell artwork from its corporate collection to stay afloat. The last airline to do that? Alitalia in 2009. That worked out just fine, right? (Spoiler alert: It didn't.) Transborder trick The United States and Canada mutually barred non-essential travel between the two countries. The ban is expected to be extended for another month. But it turns out the only place the ban is being enforced is at land borders. Flying doesn't seem to be a problem. CBC News has details.Coronavirus Update for June 12, 2020
The Omni Berkshire Place in midtown Manhattan, the corporately owned flagship of the Omni Hotels chain, is closing permanently. It isn't the first--and will hardly be the last--hotel to disappear thanks to the Coronavirus. Here are today's other travel developments: A genuine boom The TSA says more than 502,000 people passed through airport checkpoints on Thursday. That is genuinely notable: It's the first time air traffic passed the half-million mark since the first day of spring. It's the best performance vis a via 2019 traffic--18.7 percent of a similar June day--since traffic bottomed out in mid-April. And it's about 2 points better than any previous 2020-to-2019 comparison. Alaska Airlines says it will fly 50 percent of its 2019 schedule in August. It adds that it doesn't expect to fly a "full" schedule for at least the next 12 months. Nashville Blues The city of Nashville has hit the brakes on plans to enter Phase 3 reopening. The reason? A spike in Coronavirus cases. Nicht jetzt Austrian Airlines, shut down since March 18, says it will resume flying on Monday, June 15, as previously announced. But three North America routes--Vienna to LAX, JFK and Montreal--will not start as planned. They've been pushed back to at least September 30. Where empty calories go to die The Iowa State Fair is cancelled for 2020. It was scheduled for August, is a mandatory stop on the campaign trail and home to ridiculously caloric things invented just to pack the pounds on fairgoers.Coronavirus Update for June 11, 2020
The nation now has had more than two million confirmed cases of Coronavirus. And about two dozen states have infection rates that are growing, not falling. Here are today's travel developments: Delta Air Lines says its second-quarter revenue will be down 90 percent. U.S. hotel occupancy ticked up to 39.3 percent for the week ended June 6. That's up from around 21 percent in early April, but still down from around 85 percent during the first week of June, 2019. Hawaii extended its 14-day mandatory self-quarantine for all arrivals through July. April horrors The Department of Transportation said airlines carried about 3 million people in April, down 96.1 percent compared to April, 2019. Internationally, just 132,000 flew in April, down 98.6 percent from April, 2019. Disneyland and its sister park, Disney's California Adventure, are now scheduled to reopen on July 17. British Airways finally extended elite status for Executive Club members by a year.Coronavirus Update for June 10, 2020
North Carolina reports a spike in Coronavirus hospitalizations. This while the GOP has let it be known its Presidential nominating convention in August will move to Jacksonville, Florida, because Charlotte won't allow a full-on, maskless audience in Charlotte. Here are today's travel developments: Tuesday troubles The Tuesday slump in U.S. travel continues, a further indication that business travel is leading whatever revival there is. The TSA says about 338,000 people passed through airport checkpoints yesterday. That's 13.9 percent of 2019 traffic compared to more than 16 percent on Sunday and Monday, traditionally heavy business travel days. JetBlue Airways says it will fly about half its 2019 schedule in July, up from around 25 percent in June. Texas is in Phase 3 reopening as it pushes the envelope faster than virtually any other state. But there are indications the aggressiveness is coming at a great cost. Coronavirus outbreaks are spiking. Here are details from the San Antonio paper, from the leading paper in the Dallas Metroplex and Austin's hometown paper.'
Paris when it opens If you're one of those folks who view the world through the Parisian lens, consider: The Musee d'Orsay reopens on June 23. The Eiffel Tower reopens June 25 although elevators and the observation deck will be closed. The Louvre reopens July 6. Coronavirus Update for June 9, 2020
Law-enforcement officials in Minnesota confirm that officers slashed tires of parked and unoccupied vehicles during last week's protests. (Details here.) How'd you like to explain that to your rental firm? The-cops-slashed-my-tires will be the-dog-ate-my-homework excuse of business travelers worldwide! Here are today's other travel developments: Alaska Airlines says it will keep middle seats empty and cap flights at 65 percent of capacity through July 31. Arizona, an early-opening state, is now experiencing a Coronavirus spike. Hospitals have been told to activate emergency plans. The details are here. Paris/CDG hosted 293 flights yesterday, the most in Europe. It was followed by Frankfurt (278); Amsterdam/Schiphol and Istanbul/IGA (259 each); and London/Heathrow (253). Austrian Airlines, which is owned by Lufthansa of Germany, will receive a 450 million euro bailout package from the Austrian government. There are serious strings, however. All carriers will be required to charge at least 40 euros for a flight and there will be new aviation taxes. All flights will carry a 12 euro tax and 30 euro additional levy if it is shorter than 350 kilometers. Lufthansa also agreed to ensure Austrian's Vienna hub will grow at least as fast as LH's Frankfurt and Munich hubs. That deal lasts until 2030. China aviation is rebounding, after a fashion. Passenger traffic has now reached the one-million-per-day mark. Routesonline.com has the details.Coronavirus Update for June 8, 2020
Hyatt Hotels is first out of the box with a summer travel promotion. It's clever, too. A huge bonus for the first stay, but only for existing elite guests. All others don't earn until the second visit. That incentivizes Hyatt's best customers and limits its cost by offering no bonus to one-time guests during the promotion period. Here are today's other travel developments: Those green shoots again The TSA's statistics for travel over the weekend show a huge spike in flyers. On Friday and Saturday, checkpoint volume reached 15.8 percent of the traffic on similar days in 2019. It reached 16.5 percent on Sunday, the best performance since late March. European skies are showing signs of life. Eurocontrol says the number of daily flights surpassed 6,000 for four consecutive days starting Tuesday, June 2. That's the best performance since March 24. Florida recorded more than 1,000 new Coronavirus infections per day for five consecutive days last week. That's the worst spike since the state began releasing numbers. Thai Airways has suspended the restoration of international service until at least August 1. New Zealand now has no cases of Coronavirus, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The nation went into complete lockdown shortly after the first case was diagnosed on February 28. Air Namibia should be liquidated--says the president of the Southwest African nation. Xinhua News Agency has the details.Coronavirus Update for June 7, 2020
Huge crowds nationwide yesterday showed you could demonstrate peacefully. What they didn't prove is that you can demonstrate peacefully with social separation. Here are today's travel developments: New York City begins to reopen tomorrow after its Coronavirus stay-at-home orders. And the nightly curfew, imposed in the wake of last week's looting, was lifted today. But there's still the matter of the city's crucial mass transit system, pinpointed as a super-spreader in the early days of the pandemic. Politico.com has details of the wrangling between the city and New York State, which runs the system. Fractional matters American Airlines says it will operate 55 percent of its 2019 schedule in July. United Airlines will run 30 percent of its July, 2019, schedule. But that is up from 20 percent in June. Brazil has stopped publishing its Coronavirus death toll. More people have died in Brazil from the virus than in any country save the United States. Brazil's president, a right-wing Coronavirus denier, continues to claim the pandemic isn't a problem. The Guardian has details. Asian approaches South Korea and Japan are cited as examples of countries that have handled the pandemic well and kept the death toll low. South Korea's approach was explained in The Atlantic. Bloomberg looks at the Japanese approach, which has eschewed lockdowns and mass testing.