Travel Week in Review – July 22nd, 2022

The Biden Administration has decided to extend the public emergency in the United States for another three months until at least October 13. The decision came in the wake of a rise in positive cases of the BA.5 variant of the COVID-19 virus. “The Public Health Emergency declaration continues to provide us with tools and authorities needed to respond to the highly transmissible COVID-19 subvariants that are currently circulating around the country.” Read More…

The CDC has scrapped its Covid-19 Program for Cruise Ships, according to its website. The program is “no longer in effect.” The CDC also said, “Cruise ships have access to guidance and tools to manage their own Covid-19 mitigation programs.” It goes on to say, “New guidance for cruise ships to mitigate and manage Covid-19 transmission will be available in the coming days.” Along with the end of the Covid-19 Program for Cruise Ships, the CDC has retired its color-coding system for denoting Covid-19 cases. Read More…

Airlines in the United States have reduced the number of delayed and canceled flights that have plagued summer travel. The agency has seen “good improvements,” with delays being down overall and carriers working to “right size their network.” Several major airlines blamed the delays and cancellations on air traffic control staffing issues caused by the FAA, but Nolen said most of the problems were “not in any way, shape or form related to air traffic (staffing) shortages.” Read More…

The deal has options for 30 more of the planes. Deliveries are slated to begin in 2025. The new order is good news for Boeing as Airbus recently won high-profile sales, including to several of China’s state-owned airlines. Boeing lamented trade tensions when that order was announced. The order is worth $13.5 billion at list prices, but discounts are common, especially for large sales. Delta didn’t disclose how much it paid. Read More…

Put aside for a moment all the issues associated with flying overseas right now – the delays, the cancellations, the ever-growing problems of pilot shortage, baggage handler shortage, and even the rising airfares due to escalating fuel costs. Now think about this – for the first time in almost 20 years, the U.S. dollar and the Euro are worth the same amount. It just begs the question, is this the right time to travel to Europe? Read More…