Posted on 05/12/2020 6:33:50 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe
What You Can Expect
Among the steps under consideration: no cabin bags, no lounges, no automatic upgrades, face masks, surgical gloves, self-check-in, self-bag-drop-off, immunity passports, on-the-spot blood tests and sanitation disinfection tunnels.
Digital technologies and automation will play a critical role in the future of air travel. The need to reduce “touchpoints” at airports implies mandatory use of biometric boarding that allows passengers to board planes with only their face as a passport.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I agree 100%. I got to see nearly all 50 states by auto towing a pop up camper.
Got to see trout jumping out of the Snake River early morning in Idaho. Heard a mountain lion, screaming at night in the Rockies. Sat in traffic heading west on the PA turnpike because Kosygin was touring somewhere ahead.
There is nothing like the scenic route. The journey is half the fun of having a destination.
Businesses can realize a lot of savings by cutting back on business travel. Remote meetings are clearly doable. So I expect airlines to lose a chunk of business that way. And, as you say, people are making recommendations that will drive up ticket prices.
I won't be too surprised if we go back to a 1950s concept of an elite "Jet Set" that flies while most people just never do.
Obviously one would not drive internationally. But if it’s a trip across several states, I’d as well drive as go through airport/flying hell. I live in Houston and have flown to Dallas several times for business. The flight is little more than an hour. I’ve gone to the airport and caught a plane, transacted my business, and caught a plane back and got home in time for dinner. That’s much better than a 5-hour drive to Dallas. However, if I had to spend the same amount of time on airport/coronavirus BS, I’d drive to Dallas.
Airlines are dead. Cargo will continue, but passengers will opt for private jets that will be offered point to point. Boeing and Airbus will be relegated to the dinosaur graveyard. No one will be flying such large jets outside of cargo. Bombardier, Embraer, and Gulfstream will produce 30 person jets that fly regional airport to regional airport.
Ticket prices might be three times what they are today, but passengers who are not thumb sucking cowards will pay that for personal service that treats them like dignified humans and not bags of trash to be held in contempt.
Agreed! I live just off Route 66, and have seen people coming through from as far away as Alaska.
“Obviously one would not drive internationally”
Excellent point!. :-)
Would you happen to know if there are still any ocean liners that go trans-Atlantic? It would be a looooong journey, but sometimes the slower trip is the more fun.
Star Trek transporters....
I have the same rule but my cut-off is 10 hours. I enjoy driving, particularly to places I haven't been to before.
As self driving cars become the norm, even the drudgery of a cross country drive will become preferable to invasive airport procedures.
Those were the Good Old Days!
Have two houses in the Philippines. Homeless here and living in my car.
Entire unemployment being sent home to the Philippines. Can’t get back there as all flights are now shut until June 10.
I somewhat feel your pain. My fiance lives in Thailand. I had to cut my trip in March short because of CV-19 travel concerns. We had just barely started the fiance visa process. That’s all on an indefinite hold now. Not even sure when I will be able to go back and see her.
If the drive is 5 hours or less, I will drive rather than fly. With the added complications related to COVID 19, the distance may go to 8 hours or more. I live in Dallas and will drive to Austin or Shreveport but fly to San Antonio or Lubbock. With the added hassle, I might drive to Kansas City or Albuquerque.
“...no cabin bags, no lounges, no automatic upgrades, face masks, surgical gloves, self-check-in, self-bag-drop-off, immunity passports, on-the-spot blood tests and sanitation disinfection tunnels...”
They forgot the hospital gowns to facilitate the mandatory body cavity searches by TSA agents.
Thanks for the info.
The question is really a bit rhetorical though. From a position of questioning how you’d differentiate allowed freedom or not, suspending the Constitution or not, what is the legal wording one might use to justify it. What measures? What metrics? What thresholds must be crossed?
Unless we have answers we should expect these emergency powers being enacted far more frequently, and for other reasons - that might be more and more trivial.
We danced this dance in 1918—which was followed by the roaring twenties.
Folks need to calm down—and get a grip.
We will get through this just fine.
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