Mike Murphy

That’s the grim view of Airbnb Inc. co-founder and Chief Executive Brian Chesky, in an interview published Sunday by Axios.

“I will go on the record to say that travel will never, ever go back to the way it was pre-COVID. It just won’t,” Chesky told Axios. “There are sometimes months when decades of transformation happen.”

Chesky predicted that vacationers will stay closer to home in the future, largely limiting their travel to places within driving distance, with national parks becoming even more popular destinations.

“I think you’re going to start to see travel becoming more intimate, more local, to smaller communities,” he said, citing Airbnb data that shows travel within countries is recovering to normal levels. But its international business is still being hit hard. “People are not getting on airplanes, they’re not crossing borders, they’re not meaningfully traveling to cities, they’re not traveling for business.”

Keep Reading

Opinion by Helaine Olen ColumnistJune 26, 2020 at 5:37 p.m. CDT

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — When I arrived at JFK Airport in New York earlier this week, the terminal was all but empty — passengers nonexistent, the vast majority of stores closed. I knew to expect it, but it was still eerie. It was a weekday afternoon in June, and when I looked up at the departure board, I saw a total of eight flights listed. My flight, to LAX, was the third-to-last of the day.

Nonetheless, there was a bit of a mob at one of the few food-and-snack shops open. There was only one cashier, and all of the customers were ignoring the recommended social distancing helpfully highlighted on the floor. They grouped together, a pre-covid queue for a post-covid world. The same probably would have been true at the security check-in, but there were so few people at the airport that the TSA PreCheck line was shut down. It could be said we were all expedited.

Keep Reading

By Katie Jackson | Fox News

There’s never been a worse time to fly. With coronavirus cases surging in some states and more international borders closed than open, the friendly skies aren’t so friendly. But there is a silver lining. Many fares have never been better. Considering airlines are waiving sky-high change fees and dropping prices to fill empty seats, buying that $275 roundtrip ticket from San Francisco to Costa Rica in September is awfully tempting, even in the midst of a global pandemic.

“Almost all airlines are offering flexible booking policies right now, so we’re strongly encouraging people to book refundable travel because there are some great deals to be had,” says Raj Mahal, founder of the flight deals site PlanMoreTrips. A couple of months ago when coronavirus nearly shut down the airline industry and fares were in freefall, Mahal found a record-low $293 roundtrip ticket on United to London. It departs from San Francisco in December. For the price of one ticket during normal times, he scored four tickets for his family.

Keep Reading

London City Airport welcomes the first flight in three months with a water salute today (June 21), after being closed following travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 crisis. The first commercial flight BA3287 arrived at the airport at 6:10pm after travelling from the Isle of Man.

Marie Claire Dorking

June 19, 2020, 5:18 AM CDT

Being able to lie completely flat on a plane is the travelling dream, but until now it is reserved for those able to fly business class.

But a new design by a start-up company has created a double-decker style cabin featuring two tiers of seats, which would mean every passenger could have a lie-flat seat.

Zephyr Aerospace initially came up with the plans to give passengers more space, but the concept would also allow travellers more isolation, which could give travellers more confidence in flying following the coronavirus crisis.

The design means standard plane cabins could accommodate two levels of passengers using the same amount space meaning holidaymakers wouldn’t have to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with other passengers.

Keep Reading