Chinese Aviation Races Back, But Atlanta Airport Is Still Busiest In The World

by Gary Leff

Feb 16 2021

Ten of the top twenty airports in the world for departing seat capacity this week are in China,. Some of the busiest airports in the world may be places you haven’t heard of or at least, couldn’t place precisely on a map like Hangzhou, Chongquing and Kunming.

For all of China’s dominance here in Covid times around Chinese New Year the busiest airport in the world for domestic flying is still Atlantaa – and by a lot (17% ahead of the number two airport). Middle seat blocking helps here (Delta is flying more seats than they are selling) but Delta has retrenched to Atlanta to a large degree and it skews as a domestic hub even during normal times.

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The Top 20 Airports For Internationally Flying Right Now Show How Travel Has Changed

by Gary Leff

Feb 15 2021

The busiest international airports by seat capacity in the world right now are all in the Mideast: Dubai, followed by Doha and then Istanbul. All of the world’s top international airports have seen an increase in seats offered this week compared to last week.

The top 20 international airport whose international seat capacity has dropped the least year-over-year is Cancun. North America close-in leisure travel to warm weather destinations has fared relatively best during the pandemic.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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