Lawsuits over refunds, facemasks on planes, quarterly losses, the CFL needs cash, cruising will delay a bit longer, Dollywood, Graceland, and the Grand Old Opry still closed – for now. Are hotel buffets a thing of the past? But hey, you Manitobans can go shopping, get your hair done, or hang out on a patio restaurant (is it really that warm, there?) because the Province is opening up.
Hawaiian Airlines has joined the bevy of American carriers being sued for failing to provide timely refunds. Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines are also all facing lawsuits. The class action suit claiming compensation for ‘wilful and malicious conduct’ for failing to issue a refund was filed in Honolulu on behalf of plaintiff Nataly Alvarez.
It cites the enforcement notice issued by the Department of Transportation that airlines remain obligated to provide a prompt refund to passengers whose flights are cancelled due to Covid-19. Alvarez paid US $447 to fly to Maui in April and was informed in late March that the flight was cancelled. The suit maintains that ‘vouchers or credits for future travel do not serve as an adequate substitute” for a full refund. At the time of purchase Alvarez understood she was “entitled to a refund if the flight was canceled,” and she now claims the airline was “deceptive” in this regard. The class action estimates there are potentially “hundreds of thousands” of Hawaiian customers who have not been able to get a refund.
Beginning Monday, May 4, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group are requiring that all passengers wear a facial mouth/nose covering for use while on board their flights and it is recommended that passengers wear the protective covering throughout their entire journey – at the airport before and after the flight, and whenever the required minimum distance cannot be guaranteed without restriction. All Lufthansa Group flight attendants in direct contact with customers will also be required to wear a corresponding mask.
Under these new guidelines, passengers are asked to bring their own facial mouth/nose covering. A reusable fabric mask is recommended, but all other types of coverings, such as disposable masks or scarves, are also acceptable alternatives. Lufthansa Group will inform passengers of these requirements, in advance of any flight, by SMS or e-mail. The new regulation will also be posted online, on the respective websites.
This newly introduced requirement is in line with many European countries’ official guidelines and regulations, whereby facial coverings are now mandatory in public. The obligation to wear the mask while on board will preliminarily apply until August 31, 2020.
Bombardier Inc. says 11,000 furloughed employees will likely return to work over the next few weeks, part of some 450,000 Quebecers expected to go back on the job as the province prepares to restart its economy. The plane-and-train maker says it will resume production in Quebec as of May 11, the day set by the provincial government for factories to open.
Boeing said Wednesday said it posted a quarterly loss of US $641 million, or $1.11 a share, on revenue of $16.91 billion. The adjusted loss was $1.70 per share. Analysts had forecast a loss based on Boeing’s self-inflicted 737 Max crisis now compounded by the coronavirus outbreak, which is hurting demand for airline jets. The company will cut production of commercial jet production rates but said it remains confident in its long-term future.
Caribbean hotels may have to scrap conveniences such as buffets and drinks stations and reduce the sitting capacity of à la carte restaurants in order to attract post-COVID-19 guests, suggest two hospitality experts. Instead, they will have to find creative ways to attend to customers, like serving dinner in secluded areas on the beach, say Emile Gourieux and Rico Louw, senior managers at STR, a US firm that tracks supply and demand data for multiple market sectors, including the global hotel industry.
“We may never return to travel as normal, as we understood it before. Things like buffet breakfast may never be seen again. So there’s a lot of things that we need to rethink,” says Gourieux, STR’s hotel sector business development executive in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
“At least at the very beginning of recovery when people are coming back, people are going to be very leery about close contact. So, the hotels that succeed and thrive are going to be the ones that find a way to address that anxiety. So more in-room dining option for families, a lot of all-inclusives have different dining options where you have the buffet, that’s going to be tough. Even a la carte, they’re going to have to cut capacity by half to allow that (social) distancing. So where hotels can add value in comfort and confidence that’s going to be a plus. Offering a special dinner on a beach where you secluded and comfortable, that’s going to be a plus.”
“A buffet may be totally out of the question in terms of moving forward, [so will] minibars,” said Louw.
Both emphasize the enormity of the challenge ahead for the region’s hospitality sector, which recorded occupancy of under six percent during the week of 12 April, and a fall in revenue of over 80 percent. They say it’s difficult to predict when arrivals will return to pre-pandemic levels, noting that based on several factors, including airlift, it could be up to three years before parity is achieved.
MSC Cruises has announced a further extension of the halting of all its cruise departures fleet-wide through to July 10. MSC Cruises Canada is offering guests affected by the measure a Future Cruise Credit where they have the opportunity to transfer the full amount paid for their cancelled cruise plus an additional 25 percent credit to a future cruise of their choice, on any ship and any itinerary, departing on or before December 31, 2021. Any applicable pre-paid items and government taxes will be refunded to the original form of payment.
MSC Cruises Canada’s Cruise Assurance Program has already been extended through September 30, 2020. The Cruise Assurance Program allows guests who either already have a booked cruise or are booking a new cruise between July 11 through September 30 to reschedule their cruise to a future sailing up to 48 hours prior to their cruise departure date. Guests and their travel advisors will be able to transfer any of these bookings at no cost to any ship and any itinerary in the MSC Cruises’ fleet, departing on or before December 31, 2021. The Company previously announced the temporary halting of all its ships globally through to May 29. Guests booked through a Canadian tour operator should contact them directly as their terms and conditions may vary.
Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie said yesterday that the CFL has asked for up to $150 million in assistance due to the pandemic. The league was supposed to start its regular season on June 11, but has pushed that date back to July at the earliest. Ambrosie says the league’s long-term future would be in peril if the season was cancelled.
The Manitoba government is going to start easing some of its COVID-19-related restrictions starting on Monday by allowing dentists, physiotherapists, retail stores, hair salons and restaurant patios to open at no more than 50 percent capacity. Campgrounds, museums, libraries and art galleries will also be allowed to reopen, and all will have to maintain physical distancing among customers.
Travel restrictions and the 10-person limit on public gatherings will remain in place, but Pallister says the crowd limit may be raised later in May if the province’s COVID-19 numbers remain low. A second phase will see nail salons, dine-in restaurants and non-contact children’s sports allowed, while mass gatherings such as concerts and big-league sporting events will not happen until September at the earliest.
As businesses start to gradually reopen across the state, big-name Tennessee tourist draws like Dollywood, Graceland and the Grand Ole Opry remained closed. But destinations both large and small are preparing to start welcoming visitors once again in a state where travellers spent us $22 billion in 2018. Tourism communities in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, including Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, were allowed to start reopening restaurants Monday at limited capacity, with retail to follow under similar restrictions Wednesday.
Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, for one, hasn’t discussed a timeline for reopening and putting hundreds of furloughed employees back to work. Meanwhile, some smaller attractions are advertising reopenings on Friday, the first day the governor’s stay-at-home order is no longer in place. Great Smoky Mountains National Park also hasn’t said when it might reopen.
State officials say they hope travellers from Tennessee or out of state visitors will respect established social distancing rules as they return to restaurants and tourist attractions.
At Elvis Presley’s Graceland, the Memphis-based attraction centred on the life and career of the late singer and actor, officials said the museum, restaurants and exhibits will remain closed though at least Thursday. On a normal year, Graceland attracts more than 500,000 visitors from around the world.
A few miles away on Beale Street, the Memphis street dedicated to the blues, restaurants, shops and bars remain closed or operating on a limited basis under guidelines issued in social distancing orders handed down by the city.
In the country music capital of Nashville, the Grand Ole Opry has suspended all events through May 16. That includes shows at the Ryman Auditorium and visitor tours.