Travel risks

Recent travel activity levels have nearly reached pre pandemic levels but that doesn’t mean travel risks have disappeared. We ourselves are eager to start traveling internationally yet Covid levels and local responses vary drastically around the world. Imagine the almost Squid Game level of panic you might have felt if you’d been in Shanghai Disneyland this weekend: https://www.wsj.com/articles/shanghai-disneyland-suspends-operations-as-visitors-queue-for-covid-19-tests-before-exiting-11635755117

We ourselves got caught up in some backwash from the American Airlines flight cancelation snafu this weekend. Luckily our flight was only delayed 3.5 hours! https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-to-do-if-your-flight-is-canceled-11634038201

American is the latest airline to experience snafus as millions of passengers return to the skies. In mid-October, Southwest Airlines Co. canceled more than 2,000 flights over a few days after severe weather and air-traffic control issues sparked cancellations that left planes and crews out of place, creating a ripple effect that took several days to overcome. The airline said it would cut back its flight schedule in December to avoid similar disruptions in the future.

A rush of travelers has compounded the problem. On Thursday and Friday last week, for example, 1.92 million and 1.98 million travelers went through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, according to the agency. That is more than double the numbers recorded on the same dates last year, before a Covid-19 vaccine was available, and nearing the 2019 pre-pandemic levels of 2.04 million and 2.31 million respectively.