Good Morning America: New online dashboard helps fliers navigate flight delays and cancellations. “The U.S. Department of Transportation debuted its airline customer service dashboard today, which details airlines’ ‘commitments’ to passengers in the event of ‘controllable’ cancellations and delays within the airline’s control, such as mechanical or staffing issues.”
BBC: Google “airbrushes” out emissions from flying, BBC reveals. “Flights now appear to have much less impact on the environment than before. That’s because the world’s biggest search engine has taken a key driver of global warming out of its online carbon flight calculator…. The company said it made the change following consultations with its ‘industry partners’.”
New York Times: She Had an AirTag in Her Lost Luggage. It Led Police to a Baggage Handler’s Home.. “A traveler who put a tracking device in her bag helped sheriff’s deputies in Florida identify an airport worker who was accused of stealing more than $16,000 in goods from passengers’ luggage, the authorities said.”
Travel Weekly: The DOT is doing an airline customer service dashboard. “The Department of Transportation will launch a new web feature on Sept. 2 designed to provide air travelers with easy-to-access comparative information on the services that airlines offer when they are responsible for flight delays and cancellations.”
New York Times: Tech Hacks to Make Traveling Right Now Less of a Headache. “Here are some of the most useful tech tools that travel experts and I are using at this ‘new normal’ stage of the pandemic to make our excursions more pleasant, including apps to monitor flight changes and find the best seats.”
The Guardian: From celebrity jets to Pelosi’s Taiwan trip, flight trackers are the sleeper hit of the summer. “Want to watch a top-secret government flight live? Track a drug kingpin’s movements in real time? Or know how much Taylor Swift’s jets are polluting the air? They’re all streaming live on the sleeper hit of the summer: online flight trackers.”
Hackaday: It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s… A Live Air Traffic Plane Spotting Simulation . “By using publicly available information, software, and some ingenuity, [Information Zulu] has created a live simulation of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for your simulated plane spotting pleasure.”
Associated Press: Majority of Americans want masks for travelers: AP-NORC poll. “A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold.”
Washington Post: Federal judge voids mask mandate for airplanes, in other transportation settings. “A federal judge in Florida on Monday voided a national mask mandate for airplanes and in other transportation settings. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida said the mandate exceeds the statutory authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal officials last week had extended the mask mandate for commercial flights and in other transportation settings, including on buses, ferries and subways, until at least May 3.”
Boing Boing: Hundreds of flights canceled due to Covid illness immediately after airlines canceled mask policy. “As US airlines push to have in-flight mask mandates lifted on the federal level, mask-optional European airlines are seeing hundreds of flight cancelations due to (yep, you guessed it) out-of-commission employees sick with Covid-19. For instance, Swiss-based EasyJet lifted mask requirements on March 27 and, lo and behold, cancelled 202 of its 3,517 flights between March 28–April 3 due to Covid illness, according to CBS. During the same time in 2019, the number of cancellations was zero. As in 0.”
Travel+Leisure: This Airline Made for Social Media Influencers Is Taking Creators to Coachella — How to Snag a Ticket. “It’s all about the likes for this new airline, which is designed to fly social media influencers to the most Instagram-friendly events throughout the country. Willa Air — which was launched by Willa, a payment platform for freelancers — is offering influencers free tickets on a private jet along with enviable perks for those who apply. And its inaugural flight is to — appropriately — Coachella.”
New York Times: International Tourists Flock Back to New York, With One Big Exception. “After two years of sparse crowds in Times Square and other popular attractions, New York City is finally hoping for a robust rebound of visitors this year. But the city will still be missing a main driver of its prepandemic tourism boom: big spenders from China, whose government has yet to allow travel abroad.”
BBC: IndiGo: Man says he hacked airline website to find lost luggage. “A man says he was forced to hack into a domestic Indian airline’s website to find his missing luggage. Nandan Kumar, 28, called IndiGo – a low-cost carrier – for help, after realising that he had swapped his bag with a co-passenger. But after IndiGo refused to help him trace the other person, Mr Kumar said he was able to retrieve information about him from the airline website.”
New York Times: What’s the Deal With Masks on Planes?. “Air travel has been one of the last holdouts for strict pandemic mask requirements. In the United States, for example, the mask mandate — which was recently extended to April 18, when it comes up for review again — is still enforced. Over the last year, 922 of those who didn’t wear masks received fines from the Transportation Security Administration, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. But there are hints that the tide may be turning: Within the past few weeks, Danish airports and London’s Heathrow Airport have lifted their mask requirements, as have several major British airlines.”
ABC News: US airline CEOs call on Biden to lift mask mandate on travel. “A group of CEOs from all major U.S. airlines called on President Joe Biden to lift the federal mask mandate on public transportation. The group — which includes the heads of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines — said current restrictions such as international predeparture testing requirements and the federal mask mandate are ‘no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment.’”
