News and notes from around the interweb:

• International passengers arriving at Miami’s airport will have their mug shots taken

  Miami International Airport has a new touchless technology to screen foreign arrivals just in time for the holiday travel season. Instead of photos and fingerprints, immigration authorities will collect precise facial measurements as proof of identity.

  …U.S. citizens who have privacy concerns can opt-out and go through the traditional process which will take a little longer.

• Remarkable tiny airports around the world

• Delta and Westjet are scrapping their proposed joint venture. The U.S. government wanted the to give up slots at New York LaGuardia in exchange for approval, and that isn’t worth it (presumably, to Delta) as well as require WestJet to interline with any airline that wishes them to do so.

  I don’t see monopolizing New York – Canada as a huge risk. But joint ventures, while in some sense deregulatory because they approximate a workaround for foreign ownership rules, are strongly anti-competitive because of he barriers to entry in aviation. They reduce the number of competitors when governments stand firmly in the way of new competitors.

  Delta says ‘other airports will be more concentrated than LaGuardia but few airports are as valuable and in the U.S. the only slot-controlled airport that would be slightly more concentrated is Washnigton National. Delta also says that the DOT ignores the reality of a ‘hub’ but LaGuardia isn’t largely about connecting traffic. The real problem in this case is that the Canadian market is so concentrated… and yet DOT was good with Delta-Aeromexico, so go figure.

  
  Copyright: dennizn / 123RF Stock Photo

• Passenger who tested negative for Covid-19 before a Dubai – Auckland flight infected other passengers. (HT: Reid F.) When you take a test within 72 hours of flight that doesn’t mean you won’t have and be infectious with the virus when it comes time to travel.

  The virus can spread at the gate area and during boarding, and it’s not impossible to spread on the plane. And while planes remain one of the safest indoor areas because of HEPA air filtration and airflow from ceiling to floor, spending 18 hours on a plane increases risk – and for that matter means mask compliance is likely to wane (and people use masks of varying quality).

• The Sheraton Tysons Corner Liquidation Sale (HT: Dennis L.) The Prices. Are. Insane.

  “They pick the exact bed that they want, they pull it down,” Kabealo said. “We don’t supply any muscle.”

  Kabealo estimates about 600 people came by each day this week to buy everything from $2 power strips to $17,000 chandeliers.

  “We sold all the carpet in the main ballroom,” she said. “They’re waiting for us to have everything off of it so they can come and pull it up.”