Ho-ho-however you get from A to B over the holiday season, you won’t be alone. Airports and especially roads will be slightly more crowded between Christmas and New Year’s compared to last year.
22.11.2023 - 10:39 / skift.com / Edward Russell / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden / Peden Doma Bhutia / Pat Pacious / Joseph Emerson / Stephen Holmes / Mike Whitaker
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, November 22. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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U.S. airline pilots who believe they need treatment for depression often face difficult choices, such as whether to disclose their mental health issues. The new Federal Aviation Administration administrator is looking to establish a system to better help pilots dealing with mental health issues, reports Edward Russell, editor of Skift publication Airline Weekly.
Under current policy, disclosure leads to a lengthy evaluation process during which pilots can’t fly. Joseph Emerson, the Alaska Airlines pilot who nearly crashed a plane in October, said he had experienced symptoms of depression and that many pilots don’t come forward. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said this week the agency needs a system and has already formed a new committee to evaluate mental health rules and recommend changes.
Russell writes studies have found many pilots experience some form of mild depression.
Next, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts blasted Choice Hotels latest attempt at a hostile takeover, describing it as a “step backwards,” reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.
Wyndham said it received a letter from Choice CEO Pat Pacious last week, which it stated was Choice’s first communication since going public with its bid. However, Wyndham Chair Stephen Holmes said Choice has failed to address critical issues Wyndham has raised, especially the timeline for Choice to obtain regulatory approval. Schaal writes the regulatory issue — and the possibility a deal could get blocked — is a major concern for Wyndham.
Schaal adds that Wyndham believes the hostile bid would undervalue its growth potential.
Finally, China’s travel rebound helped Trip.com Group’s third quarter revenue surpass 2019 levels, writes Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia.
Bhutia reports Trip.com Group posted a net revenue of nearly $2 billion in the third quarter. That’s a 99% increase from last year as well as a 31% jump from 2019 levels. CEO Jane Sun attributed the company’s strong third quarter to Chinese consumers increasingly prioritizing spending on travel.
In addition, Bhutia notes Trip.com executives are optimistic about China’s travel demand remaining strong despite uncertainties in the global economy.
Ho-ho-however you get from A to B over the holiday season, you won’t be alone. Airports and especially roads will be slightly more crowded between Christmas and New Year’s compared to last year.
The Biden administration’s infrastructure spending blitz has put more construction laborers on the road for work this year, fueling a race by extended-stay hotel operators to win their business.
It’s not very often that I receive pitches that read a short-term rental operator’s portfolio grew 40% in the first half of the year. And so when I learned that limehome added over 1,000 properties to its portfolio this year alone, my eyebrow raised itself.
Phoenix, Arizona is having a YIMBY moment.
James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways called for reasoned debate based upon facts. He also warned against action which would restrict competitive choice for millions of US and international air travellers in markets which the US airlines have chosen not to serve.
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) and American Airlines are going head-to-head in a complaint before the U.S. Department of Transport (DOT). Skift reached out to ASTA for the group’s latest position following a response from American Airlines last month.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Thursday that he remains fully confident in his business plan for the airline despite some early concerns about the broader market.
Jamaica shared company with New Zealand, Costa Rica and Cyprus as it middled the 2023 Global Law and Order Report by respected Washington DC, United States based international analytics firm, Gallup, Inc.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, November 28. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Choice Hotels is preparing to nominate multiple directors to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts‘ board in an aggressive move to push its approximately $9.8 billion unsolicited merger bid between the two U.S.-based hotel companies.
Street vendors in Paris have been caught storing food in the city's sewers, local newspaper Le Parisien reported in October.
Wyndham isn’t warming to Choice’s latest attempt at a hostile takeover, and characterized it Tuesday as a “step backwards.”