Source: House Committee on Transportation Today, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Committee Sharice Davids (D-KS), Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Conor Lamb (D-PA), Representative Kaiali'i Kahele (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Rodney Davis (R-IL), and Representatives Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to preclude new foreign airlines from operating to and from the United States when they exploit “flags of convenience” to avoid the regulations of their home countries, or otherwise undermine labor standards. Specifically, this legislation requires the U.S. Department of [...]

Source: ALPA The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), the world’s largest pilots union, issued the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced the Fair and Open Skies Act. “ALPA is grateful for Chair Peter DeFazio’s (D-OR) leadership and continued commitment in protecting American jobs and fighting for fair competition for airline pilots and other U.S. workers. ALPA also recognizes and thanks Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Don Bacon (R-NE), Kai Kahele (D-HI), Connor Lamb (D-PA), Jack Bergman (R-MI), and Bill Johnson (R-OH) for sponsoring this important legislation. Foreign airlines seeking a permit to fly to the United States cannot be allowed to do so [...]

Source: Transport Canada The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the air sector in Canada. Airports have been significantly affected, experiencing major decreases in traffic over the past 15 months. Despite these consequences, airports have played a crucial role since the start of the pandemic by continuing to provide essential air services, including traveling to medical appointments, air ambulance services, community resupply, getting goods to market, search and rescue operations, and forest fire response. Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, launched two new contribution funding programs to help Canada’s airports recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: The Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) is a new program providing close to $490 million to [...]

Source: A4A Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, has joined with a number of U.S. and UK passenger airlines in the following letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Buttigieg and UK Transport Secretary Schapps encouraging the development of a path to safely and expeditiously reopen transatlantic travel. https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/US-UK-Summit-Letter-Safe-Restart-of-Transatlatic-Travel-final.pdf

Source: US FAA The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes civil penalties of $10,500 and $9,000 against two airline passengers for allegedly interfering with flight attendants who instructed them to obey cabin crew instructions and various federal regulations. The cases are as follows: $10,500 against a passenger on a Dec. 27, 2020 jetBlue Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. The FAA alleges the passenger repeatedly ignored, and was abusive to, flight attendants who instructed him to wear a facemask. At one point, while not wearing a mask, he coughed and blew his nose into a blanket. The passenger’s disruptive behavior diverted flight crewmembers from their duties. $9,000 against a passenger on a March 16, [...]

Source: UNWTO Minister of Tourism David Collado along with 15 more ministers and vice ministers of tourism of the Americas established partnership agreements and procedures for relaunching tourism in the region in a meeting called by the World Tourism Organization and led in its inauguration by Luis Abinader, President of Dominican Republic. Tourism leaders in the Americas committed to jointly addressing the reactivation of tourism, making the sector a priority and adopting international protocols. Additionally, they agreed to emphasize innovation and digital transformation, develop sustainable tourism and strengthen support mechanisms for workers and impacted companies. At the beginning of the meeting, the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili commended the way Dominican Republic has handled the [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the agreement by the G20 Tourism Ministers to support the safe restoration of mobility by following the G20 Rome Guidelines for the Future of Tourism. IATA urged G20 governments to quickly follow up their endorsement of the guidelines with actions, particularly the five-point agenda to safely restore mobility: Sharing information among industry and governments to inform policies and decisions to ensure safe mobility. Agreeing common international approaches to COVID-19 testing, vaccination, certification and information. Promoting digital traveler identity, biometrics and contactless transactions for safe and seamless travel. Providing accessible, consistent, clear and updated information to travelers to encourage and facilitate travel planning and journeys. Maintaining and improving the connectivity, safety and [...]

SourcE: UNWTO UNWTO has served as tourism’s global voice as the Tourism Ministers of the G20 nations met to devise a way forward for an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery for the sector. Upon assuming Presidency of the G20, Italy has drawn on UNWTO datato highlight the impact the pandemic has had on tourist numbers globally and how this translates into lost jobs and revenues, as well as lost opportunities for social development. Addressing the meeting, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, stressed the continued need for coordination at the very highest level, in order to advance “common, harmonized criteria for the easing of travel restrictions, and for increased investment in systems that support safe travel, including testing on departure and on arrival.” [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on governments to ensure that high costs for COVID-19 testing don’t put travel out of reach for individuals and families. To facilitate an efficient restart of international travel, COVID-19 testing must be affordable as well as timely, widely available and effective. An IATA sampling of costs for PCR tests (the test most frequently required by governments) in 16 countries showed wide variations by markets and within markets. Findings include: Of the markets surveyed, only France complied with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for the state to bear the cost of testing for travelers. Of the 15 markets where there is a cost for PCR testing to the individual The average [...]