The Women’s Travel Group summarizes what the experts expect for the next 4 years. Are they right? Optimistic or Pessimistic? Do they all agree? A broad brush of the Administration’s general policies: less regulation? more monopolies? privatization? tight immigration rules?
Industry experts like the newsletter Skift write that restrictive visa and immigration policies might reduce in bound tourism. For us traveling Americans, fewer seasonal laborers damage travel services in airports and train stations, in restaurants and related services. If you cast minds back to post Covid; there were many new service providers, just ordering a restaurant meal was onerous.
It is expected the Trump Administration will loosen monopoly rules. Under Biden, a federal judge denied the merger of Spirit and JetBlue. This ruling was the first such for airlines in 20 years. Spirit was a budget airline; after the ruling it went bankrupt. Airfares on routes with the remaining JetBlue monopoly rose. The Northeast Alliance, an agreement between American and JetBlue, was similarly disallowed for anti competition reasons.
Pete Buttigieg, as Transportation head the administration, was pro consumer. He championed new rules about automatic refunds by airlines when they cancelled a flight. The DOT also sued SW and JetBlue for chronic delays with unrealistic schedules for very specific routes. They had created a new easy to use website to file a complaint. On the site you can also find out what you are owed by your airline. In the pipeline at the end of the Biden administration are ‘no fee’ family airplane seating, better accessibility for the disabled at airports. Under discussion (right now) is greater compensation for stranded travelers, elimination of hidden/junk fees. Since these changes are wildly popular with travelers, they are likely to remain as is the new government website.
Large scale infrastructure projects, including those for modernizing airports and lessening congestion, are in limbo. 25 US $ billion has been invested for airport improvements. Some experts believe infrastructure money will no diverted away from travel.
Hiring of more air traffic controllers? Trump has mentioned privatizing air traffic control; some airlines approve of this move despite expected costs to the consumer. Airlines would pay fees to a private ATC system; those fees will be passed down to consumers.
Bottom line, a generally more laissez faire approach to travel regulations. The popular compensation and junk fee rules might stand. Some good news: there are new airlines in early stages: Breeze, a regional one headquartered in Utah, and Avelo regional and Caribbean. Foreign Airlines continue to be very competitive: Turkish in particular. Now is the time to email your representatives about travel legislation. Travel Tips from award winning small group luxury trips: The Women’s Travel Group Join us to The Yucatan, Europe, India and More. 646 309 5607
