How Social Distancing Really Works On Planes Now (It Doesn’t Always)

by Gary Leff

people sitting on plane
Apr 26 2020

Airlines are blocking middle seats. Delta has stopped processing upgrades in advance, handling all upgrades at the gate, to manage seat assignments in domestic first class so that passengers aren’t seated beside each other. They’re also blocking seats near flight attendant jump seats, to keep passengers away from flight attendants.

These are all social distancing steps to limit contact between people during travel, both to help stop the spread of the coronavirus and also to give customers confidence to fly. But they won’t do this if it means losing even a single ticket sale.

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Banks Are Cutting Credit Limits

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Apr 25 2020

A month ago I wrote that credit cards might soon become tougher to get as banks tightened lending standards. In a down economy there’s more risk that banks won’t get paid back, so it’s logical they’d become careful about extending credit. Already we’ve seen what appears to be a tougher approach to new small business cards at Chase.

When banks expect an increase in defaults, they take steps to limit their exposure. During the Great Recession we saw banks unilaterally cut credit limits, especially where cards were going unused or underutilized.

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6 Reasons An “Immunity Passport” Isn’t Going To Work For Travel

by Gary Leff

Apr 25 2020

We do not need a vaccine to travel again. Widespread availability of a vaccine is probably two years away even if it’s developed in a year, since it has to be manufactured and distributed at massive scale. However a gimmick like an immunity passport, given our limited knowledge of the virus right now, isn’t likely to get us back in the sky.

So don’t get infected just because you think recovering from the virus will help you to travel, because it probably won’t.

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Airlines All Over The World Are Having Success At One Thing – Getting Governments To Give Them Money

by Gary Leff

lufthansa plane
Apr 24 2020

While there’s no doubt that airlines are struggling in the face of a sudden evaporation of demand for their product, what’s especially striking about this moment is the success airlines are having at the political game given that public health concerns might take budgetary priority – such as prioritizing funds for hospital beds, protective equipment, ventilators (which don’t appear to do much good) but just as importantly for treatments and ultimately vaccine research.

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