Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for February 2021.

How Can We Prevent Future Government Bailouts Of The Airline Industry?

by Gary Leff

Feb 14 2021

The federal government committed $65 billion in grants and subsidized loans to airlines in 2020, and is now considering a third bailout. While the funds were marketed as protecting jobs, only about one eighth of the second bailout actually went to pay workers who had been furloughed (and airlines that never furloughed anyone received billions).

After bailouts during the Great Recession there was a national conversation recognizing that bailed out companies weren’t really private enterprises and the need to make sure bailouts never had to happen again.

Continue Reading »

Airplanes Around Dallas Are Causing It To Snow

by Gary Leff

Feb 14 2021

Lavatory ice (‘blue juice’) isn’t the only snow that planes cause to descend from the sky. When aircraft descend through below-freezing temperatures and high relative humidity (saturated air), they can create snow. Planes aren’t causing snowstorms – just a localized event – but under the right conditions they do cause snow to form and fall to the ground.

This requires water vapor that’s below freezing but that doesn’t form ice crystals because it lacks the particulates on which to freeze.

Continue Reading »

Why Travel May Not Recover At All This Year (And Tests And Masks Could Remain A Way Of Life)

by Gary Leff

Feb 14 2021

Confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19 are declining. Vaccine supplies in the U.S. are growing. Though more infectious strains of the virus are spreading, we may be entering a lull in the virus due to seasonality. Summer was a peak in the U.S., but in areas where it gets hot and people head indoors, and the U.S. population hadn’t been exposed to the virus before so there wasn’t much background immunity.

We should be on the cusp of beating the pandemic, with enough vaccines for everyone in the country (there should even be approved this fall for tweens and teens). It’s time to get excited about a return to normal life, right? Not so fast.

Continue Reading »

Should Vaccinated People Be Allowed To Travel Freely?

by Gary Leff

Feb 14 2021

We don’t yet know how much transmission is reduced, especially when the second shot has been added into the mix. We do know based on new data that vaccination with at least some Covid-19 vaccines reduce transmission, though. We’ll soon know if they reduce transmission enough to allow those who have been vaccinated to travel more freely.

Continue Reading »

American Airlines 25% Off Coupons Could Tell Us Whether Price Cuts Can Lead Travel’s Recovery

by Gary Leff

Feb 13 2021

American Airlines is doing something different. They are targeting discounts to try to drive incremental business. They ran a targeted promotion with discounts some months ago, and now are sending out 25% off codes to some members, including for premium cabin travel (purchase by February 20 for travel by May).

Well-targeted promotions can help answer whether discounts can drive incremental business, and whether that’s more travel overall or stealing business from competitors.

Continue Reading »

Man Forced To Return To Los Angeles After Hawaii Rejects His Mayo Clinic Covid-19 Test

by Gary Leff

Feb 13 2021

Hawaii requires a negative Covid-19 test in order to avoid 14 day quarantine on arrival. But the process is cumbersome, error-prone, and anything but transparent.

One family was forced to split up, with the husband flying back across the ocean to Los Angeles to get a new test,, after a night spent in a rental car when Hawaii rejected his negative Covid-19 assessment from the world-famous Mayo Clinic.

Continue Reading »