— The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has prompted dozens of countries, including the U.S., to impose new travel restrictions targeting southern Africa.
— This year’s Thanksgiving travel looked a lot more like 2019 than 2020.
— DOJ is stepping up prosecutions against unruly airline passengers.
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IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE COVID: Countries around the world — the U.S. included — have clamped down on travel from southern Africa since the discovery of a new Covid variant in South Africa was announced on Wednesday. The Omicron variant appears to be spreading rapidly, and scientists worry it could be more prone than the Delta variant to “immune escape,” meaning the vaccines we have would be less effective against it.
The world has quickly started to respond. The World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of concern” on Friday — but even before that, countries around the world had begun restricting travel not just from South Africa but also from nearby Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique. (Pakistan included Hong Kong in its clampdown, as Omicron has also been detected there.) The Biden administration announced on Friday that it was suspending travel to the United States by anyone who had been in those seven African countries, plus Malawi, starting today.
Spread: Cases of the new variant have been detected in Europe. Sixty-one out of 600 people on two KLM flights from South Africa to the Netherlands tested positive for Covid — after four hours waiting on the tarmac — and have been quarantined at a hotel near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Some of those cases are likely to be Omicron.
Punishment? South Africa’s government criticized the travel restrictions. The foreign affairs ministry said in a statement that the country was being punished “for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker” and that “excellent science should be applauded and not punished.”
AIRLINE RESPONSE: Both Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said they (so far) expect to maintain service from the U.S. and South Africa’s Johannesburg. United also operates flights to Accra, Ghana. Given concerns over the omicron variant, Delta said it will waive change fees for customers who wish to cancel or amend upcoming travel (United ditched most change fees altogether last year).
“We remain in communication with the U.S. government as specifics remain unknown at this time and there are many unanswered questions,” said Carter Yang, spokesperson for Airlines for America, the trade group for the major U.S. carriers. “Amid this rapidly evolving situation, it is critical that U.S. government decisions regarding international travel restrictions and requirements be rooted in science.”
HOLIDAY WEEKEND: Aside from turkey and pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving gave travelers a taste of pre-pandemic normalcy, with 2,311,978 people screened by TSA nationwide on the Wednesday before the holiday. While still 13 percent lower than the day before Thanksgiving in 2019, according to TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, it was “the highest checkpoint volume since the low point of the pandemic, which was on April 13, 2020, when only 87,534 people were screened nationwide.” Numbers for Sunday — traditionally one of the biggest travel days of the year — will be available today. The agency saw roughly 2 million travelers per day since Nov. 19, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, which saw 1.38 million.
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TWEET DU JOUR: @POTUS: Because of the actions we’ve taken, in the past three weeks, the number of containers sitting on docks is down 33% — and shipping prices are down 25%. Goods are moving quicker out of our ports and onto doorsteps and store shelves.
Reality check: The cost of container shipping has started to creep down, after growing five-fold since last year, but still has a long way left to fall. And a new policy, enacted two weeks ago, forces ships to wait their turn 150 miles offshore instead of right near the port. The crisis is far from over.
JABS FOR FEDS: The deadline for federal workers to be fully vaccinated was a week ago today, and OMB reported on Wednesday that the federal government across the board had achieved a 96.5 percent compliance rate. But that isn’t the same as a 96.5 percent vaccination rate. “Compliance” includes employees who have submitted an exception request, even if it hasn’t yet been approved. Ninety-two percent of the 3.5 million federal employees have received at least one dose of the vaccine. DOT employees are 99.6 percent compliant and 90.6 percent vaccinated.
JUSTICE UPS THE ANTE: When it comes to in-flight chaos, Attorney General Merrick Garland isn’t mincing words. Last week, he sent letters to U.S. attorneys to elevate passenger crimes against air crews, including assault, threats, intimidation or interference with carrying out their duties, Oriana reports. The goal is to prioritize prosecuting those passengers ahead of domestic travel spikes expected this holiday season (as we’ve already seen over the past week). Unions for flight crews have complained that federal prosecutions have lagged, and they’ve urged the administration to do more to penalize illegal behavior.
“It’s about time!” said Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, in response to the news. “The DOJ can now make it clear that’s where you’re going if you refuse to cooperate and act out violently on a plane. Straight to jail without passing GO,” she said in a statement.
AN AGREEMENT ON 5G? Telecom giants AT&T and Verizon are proposing a compromise solution in response to concerns raised from the FAA and aviation industry counterparts on how the latest broadband rollouts — originally expected in December, but pushed back to January — will affect airplanes in the sky, reports POLITICO’s John Hendel. For six months, the companies will voluntarily adopt “additional precautionary measures,” which include “additional steps to minimize energy coming from 5G base stations — both nationwide and to an even greater degree around public airports and heliports,” as well as additional fixes that “should allay concerns about radio altimeter performance,” according to a joint FCC filing posted last week.
Quick backstory: The FAA on Nov. 2 released a special airworthiness information bulletin warning operators and aircraft and radio manufacturers that new 5G technology may interfere with aircraft equipment. Since then, pilot and airline industry groups, as well as House T&I members, have called for a thorough assessment of how aviation safety could be affected before the wireless companies turn the services on.
Step in the right direction: Reacting to the news, the FAA told Oriana last week AT&T and Verizon’s latest move was an “encouraging” step that it looks forward to reviewing. “The FAA believes that aviation and 5G C-band wireless service can safely co-exist,” a spokesperson said, referring to the frequency that both aviation equipment and 5G services operate within.
Joung Lee, who has been moving up through the ranks at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials since 2007, has a new title: deputy director-chief policy officer. He’ll continue to lead AASHTO’s transportation policy work and will be a liaison between AASHTO and Congress, DOT and other organizations.
— “The deadly myth that human error causes most car crashes.” The Atlantic.
— “Wichita looks to space as it works to diversify its aviation future.” The Wichita Eagle.
—”Hertz-Tesla deal signals broad shift to EVs for rental-car companies.” Wall Street Journal.
— “The supply-chain crisis is ‘shifting the perception of used’ as shoppers turn to secondhand goods amid shipping delays and shortages.” Insider.
— “Dems fear supply-chain blame.” Axios.
— “Boeing, airline stocks tumble as new Covid variant spurs travel curbs.” CNBC.
— “Travel doors slam shut as new Covid variant triggers alarm, stranding hundreds of passengers.” CNN.
— “New Covid variant triggers urgent moment for Biden health team.” POLITICO.
