News and notes from around the interweb:
- I broke news of the new artistic American Express Black Card designs and Prada wearable. Here’s more and more.
- The Qantas soundtrack
- United says their inflight mask incidents are down 50% and incidents below pre-pandemic levels. By the way, here’s a new IMF working paper on the effectiveness of mask mandates in the U.S. (pre-Delta variant).
- New mileage agreement between Alaska Airlines and Ravn Alaska
- US regional carrier Mesa expected to launch European subsidiary next year
Just my observation from over 40 flights since mask rule implemented: Flight attendants seem less militant about masks now than they did in the past. Mask wearing is still half ass at best but flight attendants seem more reluctant to engage at this point. Good news all around.
The problem with mask studies like the INF is that they don’t isolate all of the factors including human space that impact virus spread. Masks send a powerful message to keep your distance which is undoubtedly far more effective than the actual cloth or paper