Furloughs cause delays at many major U.S. airports

This past Sunday marked the beginning of furloughs at U.S. airports. The furloughs will reduce staff by around 10% across the country. The FAA is warning that some airports may see delays of up to 3 1/2 hours due to these budget cuts. Monday already saw delays across the country, with New York’s La Guardia and JFK airports reporting delays of more than an hour.

The FAA has been mandated to furlough all of its 47,000 employees through the end of September, in order to help with the $637 million the agency must cut from its annual budget. Nearly 15,000 of those employees are air traffic controllers. With nearly 10% of the controllers scheduled to be off daily, the FAA has no choice but to space planes farther apart in order to safely manage air traffic. Transportation officials have questioned the need to furlough so many controllers, in contrast to the Transportation Security Administration avoiding furloughs.

If Monday’s pattern persists, fliers can expect delays at many of the major airports. The airlines are doing their best to adjust to these conditions in order to keep operations running safely and efficiently, but there is only so much they can do to limit the delays. It is difficult to judge the full impact of these furloughs, as there are other contributing factors for some delays, in particular the recent string of bad weather in some parts of the country. With that being said, it is safe to say that these cuts will have a profound effect on fliers from now until the end of September.

Australia opens its automated border processing system to U.S. Trusted Travelers

Been thinking about traveling to Australia? Visiting the land down under is now even easier for U.S. Trusted Travelers. In late 2012, Australian Customs and Border Protection opened up its automated border processing system, SmartGate, to U.S. Trusted Travelers.

What does that mean exactly for a U.S. Trusted Traveler? Well, it means that now when you arrive in Australia, you can bypass the passport processing lines and self process using an ePassport. SmartGate uses facial recognition technology and biometric data to perform the customs and immigration check usually conducted by an Australian Customs and Border Protection officer.

To use SmartGate, there is no additional enrollment required. You simply need to be traveling on a valid U.S. ePassport and be over 16 years old. SmartGate is open to all U.S. Trusted Traveler members enrolled in Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI.

For more information on SmartGate and booking your travel to Australia, contact the POTHOS travel team at: travel@pothos.us.

 

United Airlines drops 787 through June 5th

United Airlines has announced that it will cut the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from its flying plans at least until June 5^th. The 787 has been grounded since January 16^th, in an attempt to resolve the problem with the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries.

In total, there are fifty 787’s throughout the world that have been grounded. More than a month later, investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a battery fire in one plane and forced the emergency landing of another plane. The out of service aircraft has forced airlines to scrap their schedules until Boeing can resolve the battery problem. United, for example, was due to begin flying from Denver to Tokyo on March 31^st but has had to postpone until the 787 is cleared to fly. Boeing has been working diligently on finding a solution to the problem. How soon Boeing can fix the problem depends partly on the approval process by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Most of Boeing’s customers have remained optimistic that Boeing will be able to come up with a solution very soon. All Nippon Airways, which has 17 of Boeings’ 787’s, has stood by the Dreamliner. ANA remain confident in the aircraft and hope they will be able to reassure their customers once the 787 is cleared to fly.

Although many customers will undoubtedly have safety concerns about the aircraft, Boeing remains firm in their belief of the aircraft. Boeing CEO Ray Conner, reiterated his stance recently, proclaiming: "I just want to reiterate that the 787 is still the game-changing aircraft it is meant to be". He also added that the solution Boeing has proposed “is not an interim solution. This is a permanent solution”. Many airlines will be keeping their fingers crossed that these statements are true and that these planes can get back in the sky sooner than later.

Visa facilitation can create five million jobs in G20 economies

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), visa facilitation is central to stimulating economic growth and job creation through tourism. Preliminary findings show that 656 million tourists visited G20 countries in 2011, with 110 million of them needing a visa. Millions more were deterred from travelling due to the cost, waiting time, and difficulty of obtaining a visa.

Great strides have been made in the past decades to facilitate tourist travel, but there are still important areas of opportunity. There are many possibilities for maximizing use of information and communication technologies in improving visa procedures. Improving the delivery of information and instituting eVisa programs are more examples of measures that can be taken to create jobs and encourage tourist travel.

The UNWTO estimates that over 5 million jobs in the G20 economies could be created by facilitating visas for these tourists. An additional $206 billion in tourism receipts could be generated by 2015. Clearly, this presents a great opportunity that many are looking to capitalize on. One such person is UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, who had this to say: “Small steps towards visa facilitation can result in big economic benefits. By facilitating visas, the G20 countries stand to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every day by the sector.”

This latest report has brought to light the extent of this opportunity that has presented itself. It is simply too big of an opportunity to be ignored any longer. It will be interesting to see if the Governments of G20 countries will look into enhancing visa facilitation in support of job creation. Let’s hope so.

February 7th is National Fettuccini Alfredo Day!

Today, on this glorious 7^th day of February, we commemorate the invention of the world famous Fettuccine Alfredo dish. I am willing to bet that most of you did not even know that we had a national Fettuccine Alfredo Day. But lo and behold, February 7^th of every year is deemed the day to celebrate this wonderful dish.

Italian restaurateur Alfredo di Lelio created Fettuccini Alfredo in 1914 to help his wife regain her appetite after the birth of their first son. Its popularity in the USA stems from Hollywood stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks returning to the States after dining at Di Lelio’s restaurant on their honeymoon. Upon their return, they spread the word like wildfire about this new incredible dish. Before we knew it, Fettuccini Alfredo became one of the most popular dishes in America and remains so to this day.

Celebrate the legacy of Alfredo di Lelio and his creation by heading to your favorite Italian restaurant tonight and enjoying this dish. Or even better, if you are feeling more adventurous, prepare your own version at home and enjoy with friends and family. With all your newly acquired knowledge about the dish, you will assuredly liven up the party with all these fun facts!

 

Here is a quick and easy recipe from Giada De Laurentiis:

 

 

Ingredients

• 18 ounces fresh fettuccine
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 cups grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Drain.Stir 2 cups of the cream and the lemon juice in a heavy large skillet to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat just until the butter melts, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

 

Add the pasta and toss. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, and Parmesan to the cream sauce in the skillet. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Toss the pasta mixture over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.

American Airlines to fly large Embraer Regional Jets

Those of you who fly regional routes on American Airlines will soon be able to fly on bigger regional jets. American Airlines has reached a deal with Republic Airways to establish a fleet or larger regional jets.

The fleet will include 53 Embraer E175 jets to replace the old CRJ’s. The new aircraft will feature a two-class configuration, with 12 seats in first class and 64 seats in coach. It will also include American’s premium-economy Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom.  

This is very good news for American Airline customers. These jets are much more comfortable and spacious than the cramped spaces in the tiny CRJ’s. The new jets are also much more fuel efficient, which is of vital importance for airlines trying to cut costs.

I am looking forward to the day when all other airlines follow suit and upgrade to the bigger jets for short haul regional routes. Be on the lookout for the new jets to be phased into operation beginning mid-2013.

Super Bowl XLVII is upon us!

After Sunday’s conference championship games, we now have our two teams set for Super Bowl XLVII. The San Francisco 49ers will battle the Baltimore Ravens in this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans. Now that the two teams playing have been determined, their legions of fans can now begin to make travel arrangements to participate in the festivities.

If you are one of the thousands looking to make the trip to the Big Easy, you better get on making your arrangements ASAP. With the limited number of vacancies, hotel rooms will be hard to come across, and they will come at a hefty premium.

Hotel rates in New Orleans have gone up by an average of 304% during Super Bowl weekend. Although hotel availability is limited, there are some exciting options for the diehard fan. Take the Bud Light Hotel, for example. Bud Light will transform a 200-room downtown New Orleans hotel into the ultimate fan experience, and will be home to some of the hottest parties and events during Super Bowl weekend. An adjacent parking lot is even being converted to a 34,000 square foot concert tent.

This is just one example of the many unique experiences that can be had in New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend. With the big game less than 2 weeks away, time is running out to make travel arrangements.

With such limited availabilities, POTHOS can help ease your mind and let you focus on the festivities and not all the travel hassles. For travel arrangements for your Super Bowl getaway, please contact travel@pothos.us.