Articles in In Flight

Airlines, Once in Favor of a Mask Mandate, Are Over It

Face masks are required on all public transit regardless of an individual’s vaccination status, but that could soon change.  With support of U.S. airlines and cabin crew, President Joseph Biden issued a mask mandate shortly after taking office that requires passengers on planes, trains, buses, and streetcars to don the face covering.
The masks limit the wearer’s exposure to respiratory droplets and large particles of the virus and may help prevent people …

25 Years Ago Today, TWA Flight 800 Exploded Over the Atlantic

Twenty-five years ago, TWA Flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on July 17, 1996, 12 minutes after taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. All 230 people onboard the Boeing 747-100 perished. The investigation revealed that a fuel tank explosion was the cause of the crash.
On Saturday, a private memorial service for the families of those lost on the flight is being held. The service will …

United Airlines CEO Doesn’t Expect Travel to Fully Recover Until 2023

Travel is not likely to return in full to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in an interview on Sunday.
Speaking on the CBS news program “Face the Nation,” Kirby said that, given the pent-up demand for people to “connect with the world,” leisure travel has exceeded 100% of pre-pandemic levels, but the demand on the business side is still down by 60% as many …

How June Turned From a Month of Celebration at Southwest to a Month of Delays and Cancellations

June was supposed to be a month of celebration for Southwest Airlines: The airline had long-planned promotions and festivities to mark the Dallas-based airline’s 50th anniversary on June 18.
The airline celebrated its 50th by giving its employees 50,000 Rapid Reward Points each as well as unveiling a special livery on one of its 737 aircraft.
“Southwest revolutionized the travel industry since our very first flight on June 18, 1971 – a …

Delta, Virgin Launch ‘FlyReady’ Digital Health Credentials Tool

Delta, Virgin Launch ‘FlyReady’ Digital Health Credentials Tool

Delta Air Lines announced Delta FlyReady, a digital health credential platform that allows passengers to schedule Covid-19 tests, verify test results, and confirm that they meet the necessary requirements for entry to a particular destination.
The system doesn’t currently manage coronavirus vaccination credentials but the airline said that support for such credentials will be added later this summer.
The justification for the system was simple: “We realized that our customers would need …

U.S. May Pioneer Supersonic Passenger Aircraft Second Time Around

The United States, which was a bystander in the first wave of supersonic travel that started in the 1970s, may be a pioneer as the second wave of supersonic transport starts to take flight.
The order by a U.S. airline for 50 new supersonic aircraft may put the country at the forefront of flying at twice the speed of sound, after having passed on the opportunity the first time around.
The carrier, …

Millions of People Take to the Skies Amidst Memorial Day in a Test for Travel During the Covid Era

As many as two million people per day are forecast to fly over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, serving as a kind of stress test for the latest stage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent figures already show the number of people traversing the nation’s security checkpoints to be as high as 90% of those from 2019 and last Sunday saw a pandemic-era high, 1.9 million.
Airline executives have seen a steady uptick …