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Friday, July 31, 2020
FOX NEWS: Florida flight attendant attacks husband, smashes guitar after discovering tryst
Florida flight attendant attacks husband, smashes guitar after discovering tryst
The woman allegedly became "enraged" and went after her hubby.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020
FOX NEWS: Man removed from Delta flight following face mask meltdown, threatens crew members
Man removed from Delta flight following face mask meltdown, threatens crew members
There’s no need to ask – you must wear a mask.
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FOX NEWS: 71 percent of Americans hope to visit family following coronavirus lockdowns, study claims
71 percent of Americans hope to visit family following coronavirus lockdowns, study claims
A quarter of Americans plan on taking their first post-coronavirus vacation as early as July and August of this year, according to new research.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2020
FOX NEWS: Smaller airports face new coronavirus setback as Delta suspends flights in 11 cities
Smaller airports face new coronavirus setback as Delta suspends flights in 11 cities
The airline industry is facing another setback amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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FOX NEWS: Anonymous TSA agent describes unsafe work conditions due to lack of mask enforcement: report
Anonymous TSA agent describes unsafe work conditions due to lack of mask enforcement: report
Some workers in the travel industry don’t feel like they are adequately protected by the current rules and guidelines.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
FOX NEWS: Roller coaster riders brought to tears after getting stuck 150 feet in the air for an hour
Roller coaster riders brought to tears after getting stuck 150 feet in the air for an hour
These probably weren’t the sort of thrills these people were looking for.
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FOX NEWS: American Airlines passenger claims 'HIPAA rights' over refusing to wear mask, divulge medical condition
American Airlines passenger claims 'HIPAA rights' over refusing to wear mask, divulge medical condition
Conservative author and podcast host David J. Harris Jr. reportedly delayed an American Airlines flight on Saturday.
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Sunday, July 26, 2020
FOX NEWS: Georgia mom caught with guns in diaper bag at Disney's Epcot, authorities say
Georgia mom caught with guns in diaper bag at Disney's Epcot, authorities say
Diapers and guns shouldn’t be mixed.
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New story in Business from Time: Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Flying Safely During COVID-19—And His Response to Passengers Who Won’t Wear Masks
(Miss this week’s The Leadership Brief? This interview above was delivered to the inbox of Leadership Brief subscribers on Sunday morning, July 26; to receive weekly emails of conversations with the world’s top CEOs and business decisionmakers, click here.)
Delta CEO Ed Bastian earned his wings in the industry after 9/11, when as chief restructuring officer he helped lead the airline out of bankruptcy. “At the time, 9/11 seemed like the industry existential event,” says Bastian, who was named Delta’s CEO in 2016. “This is far worse. It’s 9/11 on steroids.”
Airline travel is an important indicator of overall economic activity, and after a brief uptick, air traffic has stalled again as COVID-19 infections have risen in recent weeks. Under Bastian, 63, Delta is working hard to establish itself as a leader in safety; the airline recently announced that passengers who can’t wear masks will be required to undergo medical screenings before boarding. “We encourage customers who are prevented from wearing a mask due to a health condition to reconsider travel,” Delta said on its website.
Delta, one of the world’s largest airlines with $47 billion in revenues in 2019, has instituted more than 200 separate safety protocols, including electrostatic fogging of each plane before each flight, and established a new vice-president position responsible for global cleanliness. Delta is also one of a handful of airlines that have capped flight capacity. That decision ensures that every Delta flight operates at a loss: the airline is burning through $27 million a day in cash.
Bastian joined TIME for a video conversation last week, from his home office, to make his case for flying, even during a pandemic; to share his response to now contrite customers who’ve been banned from flying Delta for refusing to wear a mask; and to discuss why he’s leaving the middle seat open on Delta flights.
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This interview with Delta CEO Ed Bastian has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Delta is taking a hard line on mask wearing.
Masks work. We’ve heard from the medical community that if we were all compliant about wearing masks as part of our regular activities every single day in our country, that the virus could be contained in a relatively short period of time. And we’re doing our part in the industry to help enforce that.
What does enforcement look like?
We’re getting somewhere between 10 to 20 customers a day that have concerns about wearing the mask. We let the people know that they’re going to need to. First of all, you can’t get on the plane without wearing the mask. And then, to the extent customers take them off and refuse to put them back on, we’ve been very clear they’re going to lose their rights to fly Delta if they don’t comply with the flight attendant’s request.
And those who refuse?
If after a second or third reminder the customer refuses to put it back on, what our flight attendants are doing is handing out a little card to the customer outlining for them that they’re going to lose their privileges to fly Delta in the future because of their decision, and do you really want that? Because if you do, we will have someone meet you at the end of the flight, when you disembark, and let you know that you’re no longer welcome on Delta. And that’s serving to be a really good deterrent.
Have people ended up on the no-fly list?
Oh yeah. We currently have probably about a hundred people we’ve put on that no-fly list.
That’s tough love.
I’ve had a number of customers email me back after going on the list, saying they’re sorry and they won’t do it again, asking to be reinstated. And the answer is no.
I want to come back to safety protocols, but first talk about the industry’s economic outlook. Are you more or less optimistic than you were last month?
I’m more cautious now. In June, we were seeing some good momentum as states and cities, resorts, businesses were starting to open, particularly in the South. As we’ve seen, the virus was also spreading at the same time, and that certainly has caused us to have a more cautious view of what the next few months look like.
Would you say that nascent rebound for both the industry and the economy has stalled somewhat?
Stalled is a good word for it.
What is your daily cash burn, and how does it compare with earlier this year?
In the month of June we were burning $27 million a day. That’s down from March when the pandemic started. It was almost $100 million a day.
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You’ve eliminated 50% of your operating cost. Can you walk me through a few of the steps you took to get there?
We put a lot of airplanes on the ground. We had on average about 40,000 of our employees, starting in April, who took voluntary unpaid leaves of absence throughout this entire period for the last four months. Almost half our company went out on unpaid leave. Labor cost is our biggest cost factor. We closed concourses, we closed Sky Clubs.
What about staffing levels going forward?
In the last month, we’ve had results back from our early-retirement offer, and we’ve had over 17,000 Delta people elect to permanently retire on Aug. 1. And we’re going to implement job-sharing arrangements. We’ve put all of our airport and ground people on a 25% reduced schedule, so they only come in four days a week vs. five and the pay is still reflected at four days vs. five.
Seventeen thousand, have you seen a response to an earlier retirement offer like that? That’s a very robust number.
No, never. It was a generous offer. We offered a nice retiree medical [benefit]. We don’t have retiree medical today at the company.
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It’s very telling, given the nationwide policy discussion on health insurance and should it be linked to your job, that the ultimate early-retirement carrot turns out to be medical insurance.
In the face of a lot of uncertainty and economic instability it’s one of the things people really look to, their physical health. One of the reasons why people delay retirement in our business is they don’t have a retiree medical option. So we knew immediately that was going to be the most important benefit our people valued in making that decision. And we are pleased to be able to do that for people. It’s not cheap. The total size of the package that we offered based on the number of people taking it, it’s in the $3 billion range.
Let’s talk about the decision to leave the middle seat open. Why is that so important?
I would add planes rather than passengers.</span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Our No. 1 mission is restoring confidence in consumers in air travel again in the face of the pandemic. And we know space and distance is one of the key attributes to containing the virus and keeping people confident and safe, psychologically as well as physically. And having that middle seat open, and having that commitment that every single flight on Delta our customers will have the seat next to them open, is huge in their minds. I would add planes rather than passengers.
You’ve capped capacity at 60%. What percent of the seats are filled on average on a Delta flight?
It’s about 40% of the total seats on board the planes that are scheduled. We’ve been higher. In June we got to 50%.
What is your forecast for business travel?
I don’t think it’ll come back to the 2019 levels for a long time, if ever. We’re anticipating a world where probably 25% of that does not return over the next two to three years, and we’re sizing our airline accordingly. We’ve all seen the forced adaptation of techniques like Zoom calls that’s going to eliminate some inefficient business travel, where people fly across country just for an hour meeting and back, and stuff that’s really unproductive and inefficient that people have gotten into the habit of doing.
Are people getting cabin fever?
People are going to want to go see family, business colleagues, get a break for themselves. And there’s going to be a lot of bargains. The resorts, international travel’s gonna be—the countries are going to be seeking U.S.—not just business, U.S. travelers to come. Tourism is a huge part of our economy, it’s a huge part of many international economies. Once people feel safe in the next couple of years, I wouldn’t say it’s going to surge, but the demand growth’s going to be pretty significant.
Make the case that flying is safe, particularly to the people who are weighing a drive-or-fly decision.
Well, roadways are a lot more dangerous than the skyways, we all know that. If you do a cross-country trip you’re going to be in hotels. You’re going to have a lot more touch points because your total length of travel is significant. We’re talking about several days vs. several hours. Secondly, we have re-examined every part of the travel experience to put safety and hygiene and health at the forefront with our customers in mind. We’ve had over 200 safety-protocol changes that we’ve made to the experience since the pandemic began. And we continue to do more the more we find.
There’s a lot of unease and lack of clarity about air quality on planes.
The filtration systems on board completely change out the cabin air every two to four minutes across the entire journey using high-grade HEPA filters. It’s the same quality of air that you have in hospital rooms and emergency rooms. Fifty percent of the air that gets brought into the cabin every couple of minutes is coming from outside the airplane, so it’s fresh air, not just recirculated filtrated air.
So the air is not a concern?
We’ve put sensors out there, we tested the air quality. We’ve not found an environment anywhere in the world that’s got cleaner air than on board the air-travel experience.
I understand that a new boarding procedure was suggested by a flight attendant.
I’m very accessible to our team, and I get emails every day and evening and overnight from our people, questions and thoughts and observations. In late March, one of our flight attendants said, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to board the planes from the back to the front?” Typically we would board all the first class first, and everybody marches by the lucky few people sitting in first class. How about if we board the first-class people last and board people from the back to the front? People would avoid contact. I thought about it for about five minutes, and I said, “Well, I’m not sure how our higher-value customers would really feel about that because we know getting on board first is a privilege that people see, for overhead space and the like.”
But in this environment it makes an awful lot of sense. So I had our team meeting, I said that I got this suggestion, what do you think? And we all immediately said, “Yes, that’s a brilliant idea.” And so we implemented it starting the next week. And now the entire industry has followed our lead, everyone’s doing it like this.
What else are you doing to make people feel safe on planes?
We’ve substantially improved the investment we’ve made in hygiene on board the plane. We electrostatically fog every single plane before it takes off, every single flight. Pull all the tray tables down, wipe the seats down, the seat backs. When you get on a plane—I’ve been traveling right through this pandemic, every week—when you get on a plane today, every plane looks like it’s brand new. And we need to maintain that going forward. This can’t be just in response to the pandemic. This is a new standard of clean that we need, just like TSA put a new standard of security screen following 9/11.
I see that you added a new position, the vice president of global cleanliness.
The reason for it is in the environment in which we’re operating. When customers say what’s it going to take to get people traveling again, the primary concern is the safety of the experience, the health of the experience. And we do a lot of work today, whether it’s in the airports or office environment or the investments we’re making in our maintenance bases, to stay clean and safe. So we thought it would make good sense to consolidate all those activities and create an officer position. And it’s a big deal for us. It’s going to be one of the critical factors to get travelers back.
Any compelling data points that should reassure people?
If airplanes were unsafe and airports were unsafe, you’d expect Delta employees would be getting sick at very high levels. In fact, the number of Delta employees picking up COVID is substantially below any national average, of any region, of any state.
So it’s safe to fly?
We’ve got zero documented evidence of any transmission of COVID aboard a single Delta plane through the pandemic.</span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> There’s not any one safety protocol that is the silver bullet, but collectively it’s incredibly safe to fly and we’ve got zero documented evidence of any transmission of COVID aboard a single Delta plane through the pandemic. So I would tell you it’s incredibly safe. And by the way, if it wasn’t safe we wouldn’t be operating.
As a CEO, would it be helpful to you if there were a more robust federal coordinated response to controlling the pandemic?
Of course. I think we all are frustrated across the country that there’s a patchwork of regulations. In particular when you’re in the travel business where you go from one state to another state, your customers are going from one set of standards to another set of standards. The more coordinated the messaging is—whether it’s mask compliance, which I feel strongly about, whether it’s having a set of standards around reopening the cities and the states—I think it would be helpful. But candidly, it’s gotten quite political. We’re in an election year. So I’m not surprised that it’s become politicized, but frustration is the right word.
When the pandemic hit, was there a particular day where you’re at your command center and just watched the revenue and traffic evaporate? Does one day stick out?
It was the month of March, which in some ways felt like just one long day. In other ways, it felt like one long year. It wasn’t until we got to the end of the month that we really started to appreciate the depth of what we were experiencing.
What really turns you off in the workplace?
Pocket vetoes turn me off, where people will kind of nod and kind of go do something else. That’s not uncommon in corporate life. People will publicly express that they’re there, and they’ll leave the meeting and they’ll go do something differently if they don’t agree.
Anything else?
I don’t like people that aren’t out in front of our employees or out in our marketplace and really understanding the business. I’m not an office-type executive. Which has been hard for me because of the pandemic I’ve had to be contained a bit. But I like being out and around our people. People that spend too much of their time in the office or not traveling, those are the people that I get sideways with at times.
Is there really a best day to buy airline tickets? There’s so much mythology around Tuesdays.
That’s pretty dated. That used to be true, years ago, But with technology and innovation, these revenue-management systems and algorithms—a lot of the original artificial intelligence came from airline black boxes as we used to call them, revenue-management techniques—I’d say that the systems are fine-tuned to a point where it’s pretty agnostic, whatever day. It’s just based on demand flows.
Which Delta snack do like—cookies, pretzels or peanuts?
I go for the Biscoff. the Delta Biscoff. We invented Biscoff. Unfortunately we didn’t patent it, so everybody copied it.
BASTIAN’S FAVORITES
BUSINESS BOOK: I love Jim Collins’ Good to Great.
AUTHOR: You know the one problem I’ll tell you from being CEO is I’ve had to put my pleasure reading down. I might get through only one or two books a year, which kills me because I love to read.
NON-DELTA APP: CNBC, to keep close to what’s going on in the business world.
EXERCISE/STRESS RELIEVER: I’m a big Peloton guy. I get on there three, four times a week. A couple of weeks ago, ESPN did a thing with, they had eight athletes, they did a 20-minute race. And then right after that I went on and you can do the same race, and I was able to beat three of the eight athletes. So at 63 years of age that’s pretty good.
PELOTON INSTRUCTOR: Emma. I like her music. And she’s not too tough on you.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020
FOX NEWS: As theme parks reopen, 'wish children' are still kept away
As theme parks reopen, 'wish children' are still kept away
Walt Disney World theme parks recently re-opened following their four month closure due to COVID-19.
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Friday, July 24, 2020
FOX NEWS: American Airlines passenger allegedly removed over refusing to wear a mask, others cheer
American Airlines passenger allegedly removed over refusing to wear a mask, others cheer
The woman reportedly claimed to have a medical condition that prevented her from wearing a mask, but the airline requires passengers to wear masks at all times while on board.
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Thursday, July 23, 2020
FOX NEWS: Fight breaks out at airport after flight canceled when drunk woman refuses to leave plane
Fight breaks out at airport after flight canceled when drunk woman refuses to leave plane
Nobody likes being delayed.
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FOX NEWS: RV camping popularity explodes amid pandemic
RV camping popularity explodes amid pandemic
As the summer of social distancing rolls on, families desperate for some time out of the house are turning to RV camping – in record numbers.
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FOX NEWS: Man loses nearly 200 pounds so he can ride roller coaster opening day
Man loses nearly 200 pounds so he can ride roller coaster opening day
A man’s appetite for speed led to a nearly 200-pound weight loss journey.
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FOX NEWS: Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant dies of coronavirus, carrier confirms
Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant dies of coronavirus, carrier confirms
“He embodied the values of aloha and malama that we hold dear.”
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020
FOX NEWS: Capacity cut on Venice gondolas due to 'overweight' tourists
Capacity cut on Venice gondolas due to 'overweight' tourists
Some gondoliers have claimed that “overweight” tourists are creating a boatload of trouble.
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FOX NEWS: TSA catches New Jersey passenger with assault rifle 'artfully concealed' behind suitcase lining
TSA catches New Jersey passenger with assault rifle 'artfully concealed' behind suitcase lining
The woman is from East Orange, N.J.
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FOX NEWS: TSA catches New Jersey man with assault rifle 'artfully concealed' behind suitcase lining
TSA catches New Jersey man with assault rifle 'artfully concealed' behind suitcase lining
The man of East Orange, N.J., was traveling through the airport when TSA discovered the rifle.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020
FOX NEWS: Flight Attendants Association president makes case for requiring passengers to wear masks
Flight Attendants Association president makes case for requiring passengers to wear masks
Association of Flight Attendants international president Sara Nelson makes a push to mandate face masks on flights during coronavirus pandemic.
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FOX NEWS: Airplane passengers appear to kiss while still wearing face masks, become social media stars
Airplane passengers appear to kiss while still wearing face masks, become social media stars
This probably isn’t the proper way to practice social distancing on a plane.
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Monday, July 20, 2020
FOX NEWS: CDC data sheds light on how coronavirus spread on cruise ships
CDC data sheds light on how coronavirus spread on cruise ships
A new report from the CDC sheds more light on how travelers on cruise ships impacted the spread of the coronavirus.
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FOX NEWS: Airlines offering early retirement deals to employees
Airlines offering early retirement deals to employees
Companies hoping to avoid layoffs as travel continues to stall; Fox Biz Flash: 7/20.
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FOX NEWS: Icelandair withdraws decision to fire all flight crews, replace them with pilots
Icelandair withdraws decision to fire all flight crews, replace them with pilots
Icelandair had announced it would be laying off all of its flight attendants and temporarily replacing them with pilots beginning Monday.
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Friday, July 17, 2020
FOX NEWS: 5 vacation destinations opening their borders to Americans this summer
5 vacation destinations opening their borders to Americans this summer
These dreamy destinations are welcoming visitors – albeit with conditions.
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Thursday, July 16, 2020
FOX NEWS: Fewer people are flying in the United States than are riding the NYC subway: report
Fewer people are flying in the United States than are riding the NYC subway: report
More people are traveling underground than through the skies.
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FOX NEWS: Disney World's reopening praised by theme park blogger: 'I can't see them doing anything better'
Disney World's reopening praised by theme park blogger: 'I can't see them doing anything better'
According to people who made it into the park, Disney handled reopening the right way.
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FOX NEWS: Hotels may add anti-viral mattresses after the coronavirus pandemic
Hotels may add anti-viral mattresses after the coronavirus pandemic
Thanks to science, you can still sleep easy in hotel rooms.
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FOX NEWS: Delta Air Lines CEO says airline will continue blocking middle seats beyond September, 'but not forever'
Delta Air Lines CEO says airline will continue blocking middle seats beyond September, 'but not forever'
In the earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Bastian claimed blocking the middle seats was “the No. 1 reason why customers are choosing Delta.”
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FOX NEWS: Former Disney World 'Pocahontas' actress reveals bizarre question visitor asked in viral clip
Former Disney World 'Pocahontas' actress reveals bizarre question visitor asked in viral clip
The story of a particularly absurd incident that happened a decade ago has been viewed 1.1 million times
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FOX NEWS: Spirit Airlines employees attacked in Florida airport by 3 passengers reportedly upset with flight delay
Spirit Airlines employees attacked in Florida airport by 3 passengers reportedly upset with flight delay
That’s not the spirit of thoughtful travel.
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Vacation in the Summer of Covid-19
By BY ERIC LIPTON, CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON, SHEILA MARIKAR AND TARIRO MZEZEWA from NYT Travel https://ift.tt/32k8Bpb
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020
FOX NEWS: Disneyland Paris reopens following coronavirus closure
Disneyland Paris reopens following coronavirus closure
Magnifique.
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FOX NEWS: Bali hotel rated best in the world
Bali hotel rated best in the world
Booking a trip away might seem a little ambitious, but you can always dream with this hotel that’s just been named the best in the world.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020
FOX NEWS: Tourists cause problems at Spanish beaches by claiming spots and then leaving for hours: report
Tourists cause problems at Spanish beaches by claiming spots and then leaving for hours: report
Some people will always try to cheat the system.
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FOX NEWS: US and UK ban airline after it is discovered over 25 percent of its pilots may not have legitimate licenses
US and UK ban airline after it is discovered over 25 percent of its pilots may not have legitimate licenses
It’s probably better that airline pilots have real licenses.
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FOX NEWS: Utah issues warning for Zion National Park river after dog dies of algal bloom exposure after swimming
Utah issues warning for Zion National Park river after dog dies of algal bloom exposure after swimming
Scientists believe the pup died from contact with the aggressive algae.
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