On the Go – July 21, 2022

Industry News – Click on the title to read the full article. Many of the sources below require a free registration to gain access to the article. If a paid registration is required, the individual source will be noted.

Airlines

Alaska Plans to Introduce Electronic Luggage Tags This Year (Source: Alaska Airlines Blog)
Alaska Airlines will begin to offer passengers electronic luggage tags later in 2022 to help reduce the time spent dropping off checked bags. “This technology allows our guests to tag their own bags in just seconds and makes the entire check-in process almost all off-airport,” noted Alaska Senior Vice President of Merchandising and Innovation Charu Jain.

United, American Report High Summer Travel Demand (Source: CNBC)
The CEOs of United Airlines and American Airlines have both noted booming demand for air travel​, and United reported its largest quarterly revenue in a decade. United leader Scott Kirby said that the airline is “already addressing” potential issues, such as the global economic situation, and American’s Robert Isom reported that “we have taken proactive steps to build additional buffer into our schedule.”

Delta Plans to Provide Free Onboard Wi-Fi (Source: One Mile at a Time)
Delta Air Lines plans to offer Wi-Fi without any charges on mainline US flights “soon” and bring it to international flights before 2025. “We’ve made significant investments over the last two years to make it happen, and while we are significantly closer to delivering fast, reliable and Free Wi-Fi onboard, it’s important we apply our innovation DNA to test, learn and scale intentionally to deliver the unparalleled experience our customers expect from Delta,” said Ekrem Dimbiloglu, brand experience managing director.

Delta to Buy 12 More Airbus 220s (Source: Reuters)
Delta Air Lines announced that it will add 12 more Airbus A220 planes to an existing order. “The A220-300 is economical, efficient and delivers superior performance,” said Mahendra Nair, senior vice president for the airline’s fleet and techops supply chain.

Delta Plans Service Between New York and Berlin (Source: Simple Flying)
Delta Air Lines will launch service between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Berlin next May. The airline will also restart flights between Monterrey, Mexico, and Detroit on Sept. 6, 2022.

General Interest

U.S. Passport Wait Time is Now 8 to 11 Weeks For ‘Routine Service’ (Source: Travel Market Report)
Getting a U.S. passport renewed still takes longer than it did pre-COVID, but wait times have improved since the worst of the pandemic, according to a U.S. State Department spokesperson speaking to TMR this week.  According to that spokesperson, passports are now being issued within 8 to 11 weeks for routine service and as little as 5 to 7 weeks for expedited service, time periods that cover “when an application arrives at a passport agency until we issue a passport.”

Airports

Frankfurt Latest European Airport to Add Capacity Cap (Source: Business Travel News)
Frankfurt Airport intends to reduce the number of take-off and landings at its facility to 88 movements per hour, the airport announced. The move comes after other airports, including Heathrow, have restricted the number of flights operated or the number of passenger departures in order to get a handle on service disruptions, which have mounted during the summer amid strong travel demand.

Extreme Heat in U.K. Causes Runway at One of London’s Airports to ‘Lift’ (Source: Travel Market Report)
Extreme heat in the United Kingdom managed to impact flights at one of London’s passenger airports on Monday.  London Luton Airport, the fourth largest London airport behind Heathrow, Stansted, and Gatwick, was forced to close a runway on Monday as temperatures in the city reached close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hotels

New Opening: citizenM Miami, Brickell’s Newest Hotel (Source: Travel Market Report)
Netherlands-based hotel company citizenM officially opened its newest hotel, citizenM Miami, in the city’s downtown on Monday. The 20-story hotel features 252-rooms, all uniform in size and style, featuring wall-to-wall windows, king beds, unlimited WiFi, and streaming TVs. The rooms feature art from ten different artists as part of an Open Art Call that citizenM ran with 70 different artists earlier this year. 

New Hotel Opens in Convenient Seattle Location (Source: MeetingsNet)
A 265-room property offers small groups a new alternative in the South Lake Union neighborhood.  Seattle’s new Astra Hotel has opened, centrally located a half mile from the south end of Lake Union, a half mile west of the Space Needle, and about a mile north of the Seattle Convention Center.  With 5,000 square feet of meeting space and 265 guest rooms, the 16-story hotel can accommodate groups of up to 143 theater style in its 2,060-square-foot, naturally lit Luna Ballroom. A second 1,767-square-foot ballroom, Halo, can be configured as four small meeting rooms, while two boardrooms round out the group space.

Leisure Travel

The World’s Best Restaurants Were Ranked Again (Source: Delish)
Atomix, Le Bernardin and SingleThread are the three US restaurants that cracked this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. It probably won’t surprise you to learn Italy has six restaurants on the list or that a restaurant in Copenhagen took the #1 spot. At Geranium, this year’s top restaurant, the menu is $440 per person.