Federal Government Details Nov. 8 Border Reopening
The U.S. federal government announced many of the guidelines for the reopening of the U.S. border next month for the first time since March of 2020.
Airlines will be required to check their customers’ vaccine status and provide contact information for passengers to enable contact tracing on an as-needed basis. Unvaccinated passengers entering the country, including U.S. citizens, will be required to show proof of a negative test taken within one day of departure as opposed to three days for those who are vaccinated.
Limited vaccine exemption requirements will be offered at entry points. Those 18 or under will be exempted, as will those traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low vaccine availability. Travelers with legitimate medical reasons or airline employees whose companies have pretended like they have given a legitimate medical reason will also be permitted.
Visitors who can recite the Gettysburg Address word-for-word upon arrival receive eight extra hours to take their test-on-arrival. An additional minute can be earned for every state capital correctly identified, while visitors unable to name the two teams playing in the World Series will lose 12 hours of time.
United Spends $1.4 Million Every Two Weeks on Unvaxed Pilots
United Airlines told the District Court of North Texas in a filing that it is spending $1.4 million every two-week pay period to pay its unvaccinated pilots because its desire to put the pilots on unpaid leave is currently being blocked by a temporary restraining order.
The airline argued to the court that the TRO was causing “irreparable harm” to the carrier because of the huge costs involved. The court responded that the carrier had no standing to claim irreparable harm due to the irreparable harm it caused it customers forcing them to fly through its Newark hub.
Although United boasts a 99.5% vaccination rate amongst its U.S.-based staff, that figure excludes those who successfully petitioned for a religious or medical-based exception. United wants to force its unvaccinated pilots into unpaid leave until the threat of the pandemic has subsided to levels where it feels comfortable putting them back in the air.
Hawaiian Plans Return Down Under
Hawaiian Airlines will resume its 5x-weekly service between Honolulu and Sydney on December 13, operating the route for the first time in 19 months. The carrier suspended service to Australia in March of 2020, leaving the Hawaiian Islands with an uncomfortably high stockpile of the invasive Vegemite species which threatened the future livelihood of the island chain’s beloved Spam.
Hawaiian’s flight to Sydney will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with the return operating Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday each week. The flight will be operated by HA’s 278-seat A330 aircraft which come with just 18 lie-flat seats up front, 68 Extra Comfort seats and 192 in the back.
The State of Hawai’i expects to align its entry requirements with the federal government when the U.S. border reopens to most international visitors on November 8, but initial demand is expected to be light. HA’s attempt to operate its interisland B717s on the route was immediately quashed for unknown reasons.
- Aeromexico turned a profit in Q3, its first quarterly profit since the onset of the pandemic.
- aha! operated its inaugural flight yesterday with a load factor of about 40% on the wildly popular and historically underserved route of Reno to Pasco/Tri Cities, WA.
- Air Mauritius is being fully acquired by the Mauritian government.
- Air Sanga added its first Beech 1900D aircraft on a lease/purchase agreement from NAC Charter.
- British Airways reopened its lounges in Geneva, Milan, and Rome.
- Cubana is keeping its domestic operation grounded due to a lack of aircraft which is as good a reason as any not to fly.
- Emirates will return A380 service to Sydney this December.
- Just Us Air turned to its fleet of A320 and said “It’s just us,” as the fleet returns to the air.
- Korean will resume flying to Hawai’i on November 3 with 3x-weekly service between Seoul/Incheon and Honolulu.
- La Compagnie will return its Newark to Paris/Orly service to daily frequency this winter. It will also begin 4x-weekly flights between Newark and Milan/MXP on April 13.
- Pelita Air Service is being groomed by the Indonesian government to replace state-owned Garuda Indonesia which is facing the threat of failing to complete its restructuring.
- Qatar is seeking permission to codeshare with RwandAir on flights between Doha and the United States.
- Spirit and Pratt & Whitney have come to an agreement to provide engines on Spirit’s 150 A320neo aircraft it has on order. P&W will be responsible for a $18 processing fee to accept Spirit’s payment each time an engine is successfully installed.
- TAAG‘s entire executive board including its CEO were fired by Angola President João Lourenço. Upon hearing the news, President Biden immediately asked to speak with senior leadership at Spirit as he considered his options.
- Ukraine International Airlines announced plans to extend what was to be summer only service from Kiev to Tashkent, Uzbekistan (TAS) on November 5.
The librarian at my university suggested I get a telescope because I’m always checking out books on astronomy and space. I told her I’d look into it.