News and notes from around the interweb:
- Luggage thought: I don’t care about warranties on luggage. Either don’t break, or be cheap enough to throw away. A life spent fixing suitcases is not a life.
- Live-streaming screens could replace aircraft windows (HT: Elizabeth H.)
- A champagne machine gun actually exists
- As of Friday Uber offers cross-border trips from the US to Mexico. But not back. I call it the new Trump Shuttle.
The reason for that limitation is that commercial activity—the service that’s taxed and regulated—occurs at the point of pickup, not drop-off, according to regulations that govern Uber, Lyft Inc., and other transit companies.
- European aircraft manufacturer Airbus isn’t so European when it comes to unions in U.S. plants.
- Most people don’t realize that when they’re buying food at the airport that it’s not the restaurant brand’s employees usually that are serving them. It’s generally a concession management company like OTG, Aramark, or Delaware North they’re dealing with.
Delaware North doesn’t just operate at airports, they manage national parks, and recently lost a major government contract for Yosemite. They claim to own the trademark to pretty much everything associated with Yosemite, like the name of the park itself, hotel name The Ahwahnee, as well as “Badger Pass.” So when they no longer had the management contract, they sued over use of these names. Yes, Delaware North claims Yosemite National Park can’t be called that without payment to them.
The government has changed signs inside the park at a cost of $1.7 million but still calls the park itself Yosemite. Now the government has filed to cancel the trademarks.
- More of my interview on a potential Chinese acquisition of Starwood as well as marquee hotel properties in the U.S. — whether we’re at the top of the market for hotel assets, and for hotel rates and occupancy. This was taped at the beginning of the week, before Anbang increased its offer for Starwood and Starwood’s board declared it superior to the Marriott deal.
Sounds like a mob whacking: “They took him on a one-way ride to Mexico 😉 !”
“The New Trump Shuttle!” I love it 😀 !