Internet Travel With Context
August 9-August 15, 2020
August 9-August 15, 2020
Read all about it! The U.S. Coronavirus death toll surges past 162,000 165,000 169,000. There are now more than 20 million cases worldwide and a quarter of them have been in the United States. Travel continues to be in an extended holding pattern as Americans fret about schools, the football season--and the post office. Latest items are at the top. Read up from the bottom for context.
Coronavirus Update for August 15, 2020
Planning to run away to paradise--aka Hawaii--to escape the winter, spring and summer of our virus discontent? Not so fast. Governor David Ige is signaling that the lifting of a 14-day quarantine for arrivals will not happen on September 1 after all. Stay tuned. Here are today's other developments:
Do not cross The United States and Canada again extended the ban on land crossing between the two nations. It is now in effect until September 21. The ban was first imposed in March and has now been extended five times. Florida fiasco The global epicenter of the Coronavirus may be in even worse shape than we thought. There's a backlog of more than 1,200 virus-related deaths waiting to be certified. More than 2,300 deaths in Florida have been counted in the last two weeks. The Miami Herald has the details. Parked-plane perils Cirium, an aviation consultancy, says about 35 percent of the industry's 25,000 aircraft remain parked. Separately, however, safety problems are cropping up in some aircraft returned to service after being parked. FlightGlobal.com has the details. Alaska Airlines says it expects third-quarter capacity to be about 50 percent of 2019 levels. The airline said July daily cash burn was about $5.6 million. It hopes to reduce August burn to $4 million. Fuggedaboutit! A federal judge upheld New York State's requirement that arrivals from high-infection-rate states must self-quarantine for 14 days. An Arizona woman had sued, claiming that the quarantine was unfair. The judge essentially told the woman fuggedaboutit. The Associated Press has the details.Coronavirus Update for August 14, 2020
The weird war in Georgia over mask mandates continues. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has retracted his lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her order that masks be worn in the city. Kemp says he will sign a new executive order tomorrow that will make things even more complicated. The details (such as they make sense) are here. Here are today's travel developments: Craps A dozen major Las Vegas casinos remain closed and their reopening is hardly guaranteed. Why? Weekday occupancy at the city's open hotels is as low as 30 percent on weekdays. The details are here. Down in the depths of the 90th floor With U.S. nationwide hotel occupancy still below 50 percent, these numbers may not surprise, but they'll still shock. Orlando's occupancy is 29.6 percent. In Hawaii, where out-of-state visitors remain functionally banned, the occupancy rate in Honolulu is 20.2 percent. Meanwhile, in Canada, where nationwide occupancy is even lower than in the United States, the hotel occupancy rate in Montreal is just 20.3 percent. Marriott Bonvoy is out with a new promotion. Until October 18, the first and second paid stays each will earn 2,500-point bonuses. The third paid stay will earn a 5,000-point bonus. Subsequent stays earn 2,500 bonus points. Advance registration is required. The details are here. Leave the foundation ... London/City, the pocket-sized airport near Canary Wharf, has halted expansion plans. Even though the foundation has already been poured, the airport stopped work on a US$222 million terminal addition. The expansion would have included the airport's first club lounges. London/City is operating at about 10 percent of 2019 volume and "the recovery to previous levels will take longer than initially expected," officials said about the deferral. Cargo capacity Eurocontrol, which handles European air traffic, says cargo flights are up about 5 percent compared to last year. Separately, the Department of Transportation says U.S. airlines carried 9.4 percent more cargo by volume in June compared to June, 2019. It is the largest month-over-month increase since early 2018. Flat flying The TSA says 761,821 people passed through airport checkpoints on Thursday. It's almost exactly the same volume as Monday.Coronavirus Update for August 13, 2020
Wednesday was the deadliest day of the summer so far for Coronavirus deaths in the United States. (The details are here.) Which I guess explains how the disease will "disappear, just disappear" as one high-ranking politician claims. We'll all die from it and then the virus will disappear because it won't have anyone to infect. Here are today's travel developments: Now you can worry The TSA reports 590,749 people passed through airport checkpoints on Wednesday. That is nearly 5,000 fewer travelers than last Wednesday (August 5). That's an ominous sign considering travel is only around 25 percent of 2019 volume. New York humbled The near-total shutdown of New York City this spring transformed the former epicenter of the pandemic into a comparatively safe place this summer. But the toll was Titanic. The Port Authority, which controls most of the region's travel infrastructure, has released some jarring numbers. Traffic at the three major airports--Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark--declined 98 percent in mid-April. Volume on the PATH train--which links New Jersey and New York--fell 94 percent. Vehicular traffic on bridges and tunnels fell 64 percent. All the comparisons are to 2019 volume. Room at the inn London hotel occupancy in July was 22.8 percent. In Sydney, Australia, it was 33.2 percent. Both statistics are from STR, the hotel scorekeepers. Paris when it doesn't sizzle What's Paris like this August, which is usually when tourists are everywhere and Parisians are out of town? It's, um, different. Politico, not normally into the travel stuff, has the details. The Dirty Dozen The Big 12 football conference, one of the majors, says it will play on schedule this fall. The announcement came yesterday, a day after the Big Ten and Pac-12 delayed their fall sports until next spring.Coronavirus Update for August 12, 2020
The financial effects of the Coronavirus continue to be starkly outlined. Britain today reported its economy contracted 20.4 percent in the second quarter. Here are today's travel developments: Look out below! The TSA says 559,420 people passed through airport security checkpoints on Tuesday. That is 24.2 percent of 2019 volume, a 7.2 percentage point decline from Sunday's year-over-year performance. Basically, Sunday-to-Tuesday traffic in 2020 fell almost as much in raw numbers as it did in 2019. That's stunning considering the low 2020 base. Delta Air Lines says its passenger traffic during the first two weeks of August is 25 percent of 2019 volume. InterContinental Hotels says its July occupancy rate was 45 percent. RevPAR (revenue per available room) declined 58 percent, however. Cathay Pacific has been suffering for two years because of Hong Kong's political upheavals. Add in the Coronavirus and you have a US$1.3 billion first-half loss, the worst on record. Arrête! Paris has given up on its annual marathon. The race, rescheduled for October from its original April date, has now been cancelled. Punting Two of the five "power" conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-12, have delayed their fall sports seasons, including football. They may be played in the spring, but no guarantees.Coronavirus Update for August 11, 2020
Russia says it has a Coronavirus "vaccine" and has named it Sputnik V in honor of the 1957 unmanned satellite that was the first man-made vehicle launched into orbit. Russian strongman Vladimir Putin announced his daughter has been vaccinated, but he hasn't. Sins of the father something something ... Here are today's travel developments: Monday miss The TSA says more than 760,000 people passed through airport checkpoints on Monday (August 10). That's just shy of 30 percent of 2019 volume and about 1.8 points lower than on Sunday. All good things ... After a globally feted milestone--100 days without the virus--New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced tonight (local time) that the island nation has recorded four new cases. It's been 102 days. The capital of Auckland will lock down starting Wednesday afternoon (local time). Even masked heroes are nervous The New York Comic Con, scheduled for October 8-11, has been transformed into an online-only event. The larger San Diego Comi-Con last month made a similar move. Walk, don't run The Frankfurt Marathon, scheduled for October 25, has been cancelled. Reality bites A month after reopening, Walt Disney World in Orlando is cutting hours due to low attendance. Effective September 8, it will open an hour or two hour less per day depending on the park. The Orange County Register earlier reported people weren't interested in theme parks this summer and Disneyland in Anaheim is still closed. Hotels as haven Local "staycations" rather than big trips to faraway places may be the salvation for the hotel industry, according to the JLL hotel consultancy.Coronavirus Update for August 10, 2020
The Mid-American Conference has become the first major college conference to cancel its fall sports programs, including football. Other conferences are expected to follow shortly. Here are today's travel developments: Weekend "records" The TSA says more than 831,000 people passed through airport security checkpoints on Sunday (August 9). It's the first time travel has passed the 800,000 mark since mid-March. Sunday's total represents 31.4 percent of 2019's volume. Marriott says its second quarter revPAR--revenue per available room--declined 84.4 percent worldwide in the second quarter. That reflects falling room rates, but also the impact of closed hotels. Mexico tourism isn't expected to return to 2019 levels until the end of 2022, says Horwath, the travel consultancy. Tourism accounted for 8.7 percent of Mexico's GDP in 2018. London hotel occupancy was 25 percent for the week ending August 2, according to STR, the hotel statisticians. French Bee, a France-based discounter, had planned to launch a Paris/Orly-Newark nonstop in June. The start subsequently has been delayed several times and now has been pushed back again until September 18. Don't hold your breath.Coronavirus Update for August 9, 2020
CNN producer Ryan Struyk calculates that it took the United States 99 days to confirm the first one million Coronavirus cases. Then it took 43 days to confirm the second million, 28 days to add the third, 15 days to reach four million and 17 days to jump to five million. Here are today's travel developments: Six of one The TSA calculates that 4,129,068 people passed through airport checkpoints during the first six days of August. That's 27.1 percent of 2019 volume. During the first six days of July, slightly fewer people traveled (4,064,612), but it represented a bit larger slice (27.6 percent) of 2019 volume. Not the happiest place The original Disneyland in Anaheim remains closed and there doesn't seem to be a groundswell of demand for reopening it. More than two-thirds of parents contacted aren't interested in taking their kids there when it does reopen. And nearly 80 percent have no interest in any theme park this summer. The Orange County Register has the details. International tourism fell 98 percent in May, according to a report from the World Tourism Organization, an arm of the United Nations. Full details are here. New Zealand, which closed the country immediately when the Coronavirus hit, now says it has gone 100 days without infection. The Associated Press has the details.