Delta Air Lines flight 2020 took off from Salt Lake City for Atlanta this morning from the brand new 900,000-square foot Concourse A, marking the first official flight after the airline spent part of its committed investment to U.S. airport infrastructure.Delta said in a statement the Salt Lake City facility was a culmination of a decade of partnership in planning, design and construction to deliver “the first U.S. global aviation hub of the 21st century.” MORE Airlines & Airports “I want to congratulate the Salt Lake City leadership for their vision and partnership in creating this iconic new air travel experience,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. “On behalf of Delta’s global workforce, and the more than 4,000 employees based in SLC, we look forward to welcoming and serving our customers traveling to, from and through the Mountain West region.”The new SLC includes convenient amenities designed to enhance the overall travel experience, from a more efficient baggage-handling system that accommodates luggage of all sizes and shapes so skis don’t have to be dropped off at a special counter, to a state-of-the-art parking garage with a mobile app service to remind passengers where they parked their car.In addition, Delta’s new Sky Club at Salt Lake is its largest-ever and includes an outdoor Sky Deck.It’s all part of Delta’s $12 billion investment in U.S. airports and is expected to deliver $5.5 billion in estimated economic impact to the Salt Lake City region.“This day has been years in the making,” said Bill Wyatt, Executive Director of Salt Lake City Department of Airports. “To say we are excited to be here today is an understatement. After six years of construction and many more years of planning, we are proud to open the first new U.S. hub airport in the 21st century.”In addition to the work at SLC, Delta will be investing part of the $12 billion to Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Let's block ads! (Why?)

Miami International Airport (MIA) is the first in the state of Florida, second in the U.S. and only the third in North America to be accredited under the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation program.The recognition means that MIA's health and safety response to the COVID-19 pandemic is in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force recommendations.ACI's Airport Health Accreditation program assesses a variety of areas, including cleaning and disinfection, physical distancing (where feasible and practical), staff protection, physical layout, passenger communications and passenger facilities. "ACI's Airport Health Accreditation Program promotes best practices and helps align efforts across the industry to harmonize measures, processes and procedures, and I congratulate Miami International Airport in successfully achieving accreditation," ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a statement. "The recovery of the industry from the impacts of COVID-19 will require a coordinated, global effort, and Miami International Airport's accreditation shows that it is committed to high standards of health and hygiene that accord with globally recognized standards and protocols." Trending Now Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez also congratulated the Miami-Dade Aviation Department for its "aggressive efforts" to make MIA one of the safest airports in the world amid the ongoing pandemic."As business and leisure travel to Miami-Dade County continues to steadily increase, achievements like MIA's health accreditation by ACI World is more evidence that our community and our local tourism industry are ready to welcome visitors back to the gateway of the Americas," Gimenez said in a statement."From the onset of the pandemic, our highest priority at MIA has been to exceed industry best practices and implement every measure possible to protect the wellbeing of our customers and employees," added MIA Director and CEO Lester Sola. "Accreditation from a global industry leader like ACI, after undergoing its rigorous evaluation process, should provide a high degree of reassurance to our passengers that they can fly safely through MIA."Last month, Mexico's Los Cabos International Airport became the second in the world and the first in Latin American and the Caribbean to achieve ACI Airport Health Accreditation. Let's block ads! (Why?)

The first phase of the new $4 billion Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) has opened, with the second phase scheduled to debut in 2024.The new airport, which is designed to handle 26 million passengers, is equipped with two linear concourses connected by a tunnel, which are replacing five existing concourses.The terminal features 45-foot floor-to-ceiling glass walls that proffer up views of the Wasatch Mountains. Dining and retail facilities are designed to reflect the ambiance of both Salt Lake City and Utah.All restaurants will feature breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.MORE Airlines & Airports In all, 29 stores are being in the first phase, including Coach, Frye, King’s English, Hip & Humble and MAC.“Salt Lake is very much the crossroads of the West,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director of airports for Salt Lake City. “From the skin on the building to the art that has been selected to the massive terrazzo floors, there has been extraordinary attention paid to making sure that people knew they were in Salt Lake when they land here.”The new Utah Transit Authority TRAX light rail station at the terminal will provide visitors with a quick and seamless way in which to access downtown Salt Lake City.“With the opening of the new SLC, leisure travelers and convention attendees alike will experience even shorter travel times and greater efficiency than before,” said Kaitlin Eskelson, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake. Let's block ads! (Why?)

Southwest Airlines customers can book fall and winter flights for as little as $49 one-way and $98 roundtrip now through October 22 during the low-cost carrier's latest fare sale.The discounted seats are available for continental U.S. travel between October 6 and March 4, 2021; San Juan, Puerto Rico travel from October 6 to December 3, 2020 and January 11 through March 4, 2021 and international travel between October 6 and December 9, 2020 and January 11 through March 4, 2021. Trending Now As is typically the case, the sale fares require 21-day advance purchase and dates are blacked out around the holidays. Nonetheless, flexible travelers will have their pick of plenty of wallet-friendly tickets, including $49 one-way flights on popular routes such as Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Atlanta-Nashville and Orlando-Fort Lauderdale, among others.Customers can even find transcontinental flights for relatively cheap like nonstop between Baltimore and Los Angeles or San Diego for under $120 one-way.Travelers can also score great deals on international flights, including nonstop from Phoenix to Los Cabos, Mexico for under $160 one-way and $320 roundtrip or nonstop from Chicago to Cancun, Mexico for less than $200 one-way and $400 roundtrip.Contact your travel advisor or visit Southwest.com to filter flight deals by your departure city. Let's block ads! (Why?)

Nicholas Calio, president of Airlines for America, the trade group representing virtually every domestic carrier, says the industry has done as much as it can to combat the coronavirus pandemic and needs additional government support.Calio was speaking with noted travel expert Peter Greenberg on his podcast.Air travel is off 75-80 percent from last year’s numbers, at one point dropping to 96 percent reduction year over year. The industry got a boost in March with the CARES Act stimulus package, but it is seeking an extension to the aid to avoid having to lay off thousands of workers on Oct. 1. The airlines agreed not to furlough workers or cut pay for six months, until Oct. 1, as part of receiving federal grants and loans. Trending Now But, even now, airlines are struggling as demand is low. United Airlines, for instance, is still burning $25 million a day, and that revenue will be down 85 percent when third-quarter earnings are announced next month."Airlines have done everything they can to rectify the situation," Calio said while discussing the pandemic's impact on the airline industry. “[They’ve] cut executive pay, moved people around, people took voluntary leave, but it’s not going to be enough.”Calio said the pandemic has been more devastating than what the airlines went through following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."We are in a much worse situation than we were after 9/11, than we were after the financial crisis, so it’s going to take time to recover,” Calio said. “We are in uncharted territory. Hopefully (the pandemic is) a once in a lifetime occurrence and we don’t have to deal with it again. But right now, the government does have to step in.”President Trump has said he is on board with bailing out the airlines again, and Calio said he believes there is bipartisan agreement to support the airline industry. But as of the moment, Congress is split on other items and hasn’t been able to come to terms with a new bailout.Calio has tried to convince lawmakers that an extension of the CARES Act would benefit the airlines and the overall economy."For our industry, it's critical that we keep our pilots, our flight attendants, our machinists and our gate agents on the payroll," he said. "We believe that airlines can help empower the recovery, help empower the path back to employment, not only for airline employees but for all those people who work downline from the actual airline products themselves." Let's block ads! (Why?)

American Airlines announced the launch of a new travel tool to help customers quickly see the current coronavirus travel guidelines for domestic and international destinations.As part of American’s Clean Commitment, the new COVID-19 tool powered by Sherpa will allow travelers to access an extensive travel guide and search potential restrictions based on the customer’s destination. Trending Now The tool will show up-to-date guideline information and travel requirements, such as face-covering guidelines, health documentation and quarantine rules. The feature will be available on AA.com or the airline’s mobile app. American also offers several ways to assist customers in making their pre-travel experience easier, including optimizing the carrier’s mobile app to ensure a touchless experience before, during and after flying.In addition, American requires that all passengers wear a face covering at all times and recommends using hand sanitizer throughout their journey, which is provided free of charge on every flight, in gate areas and Admirals Club lounges.“American has expanded the frequency of cleaning in airport areas under its control, including gate areas, ticket counters, passenger service counters, baggage service offices and team member rooms,” the carrier said in a statement. “Customers on every flight receive sanitizing wipes or gel, and American has also limited food and beverage delivery on board aircraft to reduce touchpoints between flight attendants and customers.” Let's block ads! (Why?)

Saying it would be more profitable to fly to Asia-Pacific of its home base at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines is shifting its business from Los Angeles International.According to The Dallas Morning News, American Airlines made the decision despite knowing that, logistically, Dallas is not exactly conducive to flying to markets such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and even Auckland, New Zealand.“Dallas certainly doesn’t have the best geography for an Asian hub,” said Brian Znotins, American’s vice president of network and schedule planning. “But it does have some advantages in connecting people in the Southeast [United States] to Asia.” The Morning News noted that American’s emphasis on its DFW hub started even before the coronavirus pandemic decimated air travel in the U.S. About 26 percent of all of American’s traffic goes through DFW, almost twice as much as what goes through its next biggest hub in Charlotte, N.C.“What American is probably thinking is to capitalize on the huge amount of connectivity that they get here,” said Nico Mirman, a Dallas-based aviation consultant with Ailevon Pacific. “That’s something Los Angeles cannot offer for them.”“In a lot of ways, this is more about reducing L.A. than boosting DFW,” Znotins said. “Every Asian carrier feels the need to serve L.A. and that creates overcapacity. Even going into the pandemic, we were losing money on those L.A. flights.” Let's block ads! (Why?)

Royal Maroc Airlines, Morocco’s largest airline, tweeted this week that it will become welcoming travelers from 67 visa-exempt countries, according to Travel + Leisure. Citizens of those countries cleared to travel to Morocco without a visa will be allowed entry, provided that they have an express invitation from a Morocco company or a confirmed hotel reservation.U.S. visitors are permitted stays of up to 90 days in Morocco without the need for a visa. Citizens or permanent residents of the U.K., Australia and various European nations enjoy the similar access to the country. Trending Now The Moroccan General Federation of Enterprises’ (CGEM) president, Chakib Alj, went public with the announcement after Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the plan, though the ministry has yet to release a formal statement detailing requirements for foreign visitors.Prior to this newly announced phase of reopening, Morocco’s flag carrier had been solely operating select routes and repatriation flights since borders reopened only to Moroccan citizens and certain foreign residents.Royal Maroc Airlines emphasized that travelers coming into Morocco must adhere to local health and safety measures that have been implemented to curb viral spread, tweeting, “All foreign visitors must comply with the health measures issued by the Moroccan authorities, in particular the obligation to carry out the required tests for COVID-19.”Passengers en route to Morocco aboard Royal Maroc Airlines flights are also required to wear masks throughout the course of their journey, Morocco World News reported.Royal Air Maroc informs you that nationals of visa-exempt countries with an invitation from a Moroccan company or a confirmed hotel reservation can now have access to our flights to Morocco.— Royal Air Maroc (@RAM_Maroc) September 6, 2020As the COVID-19 crisis escalated in March, Morocco quickly and harshly slammed shut its air, land and sea borders; and many travelers from countries like France, Germany, Italy, Spain and many others found themselves stranded abroad.Unlike most other countries, Morocco also refused to allow its own citizens to return home while borders remained shut. They were only permitted to start reentering their own country when the government began its first phase of reopening in July.The National, Dubai’s English-language news service also reported that Emirates Airlines will also be restarting its service to Casablanca beginning September 18. Passengers planning to board any Emirates flight that transiting through Dubai are required to provide a certificate attesting to the negative result a COVID-19 PCR test. Let's block ads! (Why?)

On September 12, Delta Air Lines flight 201, bound from Detroit to Los Angeles, returned to the gate at Metro Airport to offload a passenger who refused to wear a mask.“The customer was removed from the plane and the flight departed without incident, about 30 minutes late, at 8:56 p.m.” Kristin Seay, a Delta spokeswoman, told Deadline Detroit this morning.“Delta requires masks on every flight for the safety of our customers and crew." The airline also mandates the wearing of face coverings in the airport lobby check-in area, Delta Sky Clubs, boarding gates and jet bridges. Trending Now The mother of Alexis Wiley, chief of staff for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, happened to be on the flight. Wiley tweeted news of the incident last night, saying, “My mom’s @Delta flight from Detroit to LA just turned around and went back to the gate because a passenger refused to wear a mask. Flight attendants announced masks are non-negotiable! Thank you @Delta for putting passenger safety first!”This is just the latest in a string of occurrences in which anti-maskers have caused flight delays by refusing to adhere to airline policies regarding the wearing of face coverings amid the pandemic.Last week, a September 9 American Airlines flight 1024 from Chicago to Los Angeles was held up for over an hour and a half because one passenger refused to wear her mask onboard, Newsweek uncovered.Apparently, the unidentified anti-masker was uncooperative with the staff’s attempts to remove him/her, at which point fellow passengers joined in the effort, yelling, “Get off the plane,” and, “There are other people on this plane, not just you.”“Prior to departure, the customer was asked to exit the aircraft if they would not comply with the face-covering requirement, per company policy,” an AA spokesperson told Fox5 in a statement. “The customer became disruptive and was met by law enforcement upon exiting the aircraft. The flight departed for LAX thereafter.”The unruly customer was reportedly placed on American Airlines’ internal list of those whose flying privileges are suspended, pending further investigation. Let's block ads! (Why?)

The troubled Boeing 737 MAX is inching ever so closer to getting back in the air.Civil aviation authorities and airline flight crews from the U.S., Canada, Brazil and the European Union will be meeting Monday in London to review Boeing's proposed re-training of pilots and flight crews who would be working the 737 MAX planes.That’s according to ABC News, which spoke to officials from the Federal Aviation Administration. Trending Now It’s a significant step for the aircraft. The 737 MAX has been grounded for commercial flights since March 2019 after two separate crashes killed 346 passengers and crew. From June 29-July 1 of this year, FAA test pilots and engineers flew a 737 MAX and put the plane through various scenarios to evaluate the changes Boeing made.On Friday, the EU Aviation Safety Agency also completed its test flights of the Max in Vancouver, British Columbia, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Canada completed its own independent test flights in late August.Airlines have been forced to park nearly 2,000 aircraft as the demand for air travel remains suppressed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In late July, Boeing said cancellations continued to outpace new orders, but new orders are nonetheless coming in. Let's block ads! (Why?)