Richard Turen
With the gift of perspective, it would appear that some people are blocking our lane as the car travels towards the tunnel's end. Travel planning and certainty about departure dates are now more difficult than we could have imagined when we first heard the news that four major vaccines were in production.
Everything looked set up for a rapid reversal in travel fortunes. But it didn't. Planning one's business on the assumption everyone will soon get vaccinated might be an exaggeration. Even now, with the addition of flights by airlines and hotel rooms being remodeled, it is becoming clear that America isn't a country where easy, or even logical solutions can be easily accepted. It is not possible for everyone to achieve herd immunity. We are not all heading in the same direction, and we're not a herd. We're discovering that not all industrialized countries are in the same boat.
According to the latest projections, airline schedule changes will likely affect 25% to 30% of domestic flights within the next 24 months. The State Department changes its travel advisory levels, accommodates pilot shortages, and demands for destination border crossings change quickly.
It is easy to get smug about our differences on travel and vaccines.
All of us are curious when an app that confirms vaccination status will become standardised and be made available to Americans so they can cross into waiting arms. There are many apps, but they must be coordinated.
Although President Biden stated that he does not plan to create a federal vaccine verification app, there has been strong political support for the idea of a "vaccination passport." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called the concept "Biden’s mark of the beast" and she and others from her political corner have made comparisons between vaccination verification and Nazi policies to identify Jews.
Florida's governor is opposed to the vaccine verification app that New York has created. New York City will likely follow New York's lead. For now, however, we won't have access to a federal vaccination pass, unlike the EU.
While it would be easy for us to accept our deep divisions, I believe we need to stop. It is a fact that only two-thirds (or less) of Americans are on board with any issue. We may be divided, but we have always been united.
John Adams once stated that only a third of the country supported the American Revolution.
Gallop conducted a poll in September 1939 asking Americans if they would declare war against Germany. Although France and Great Britain already had wars on Germany, 48% of Americans still voted no to the question of whether or not the U.S. should go to war with Germany.
A minimum of one-third of Americans opposed a Civil War in which many more Americans died in battle of Antietam during WWII than when they stormed the beaches of Normandy.
The United States is divided, and the travel industry should get used to that fact. Covid strategies will be needed in our travel agencies, on our aircrafts, and in our hotels. This will be a constant reality for some time. We won't achieve herd immunity.
How divided are potential clients and clients? One fifth of Americans believe that the government uses the vaccine to "microchip the population." A recent YouGov poll found that 66% of Republicans and 20% among Democrats from Southern States support secession from the United States as well as the creation of their own country.
It is interesting to see how this will impact airline schedules.
