Day: October 1, 2020

Boeing Picks South Carolina Over Seattle for 787 Production | Washington News

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing said Thursday it will shut down the original assembly line for its two-aisle 787 jetliner near Seattle and consolidate the plane’s production in South Carolina as the airline industry tries to weather the global pandemic.

The move will begin in mid-2021. The company intends to keep assembling other jetliners — the 737, 747, 767 and 777 — in the Seattle area.

“Consolidating to a single 787 production location in South Carolina will make us more competitive and efficient, better positioning Boeing to weather these challenging times and win new business,” Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing’s commercial aircraft business, told workers in an email.

The company did not immediately say whether jobs would be eliminated in the move, but Rep. J.T. Wilcox, the Republican leader of the state House of Representatives, posted on Facebook following a call with the company that the

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Accreditation Partnership Seeks to Strengthen Medical Travel Services in India

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services (https://www.globalhealthcareaccreditation.com/) and the Quality & Accreditation Institute (QAI) (http://www.qai.org.in/), have announced the formal launch of a joint accreditation program for hospitals and clinics in India serving medical travel patients. The goal of the partnership is to leverage each organization’s strengths to better serve healthcare providers in India seeking to enhance medical traveler patient experience and business performance.

GHA and QAI will work with clinically accredited hospitals in India as a prerequisite to offering Global Healthcare Accreditation for Medical Travel Services in the region. The accreditation may be from a recognized national or international accreditation body, such as QAI and JCI. The GHA accreditation survey will include a surveyor from each organization using the GHA standards. QAI will also serve as GHA’s local partner in India, conducting joint training, workshops

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Visitors from Australia, Vietnam unlikely to rush to Singapore after lifting of Covid-19 travel curbs, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories

SYDNEY/BANGKOK – Singapore will allow travellers from Australia, except those from the state of Victoria, and Vietnam to enter from next Thursday (Oct 8), but many holidaymakers may prove reluctant to visit because they will still have to undergo quarantine when they return home.

Australians travelling from Victoria, or those who have been in the state within the previous 14 days, will remain barred from entering Singapore.

Victoria’s capital, Melbourne, is currently in lockdown after being hit by a second wave of infections, though its case numbers are quickly dropping.

Outside Victoria, Australia is largely free of community transmitted cases of Covid-19. On Thursday (Oct 1), Australia recorded 18 new cases of Covid-19, including 15 in Victoria, two in New South Wales and one in Western Australia. Australia has had a total of 27,096 cases and 888 deaths.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has not logged any local transmission for four weeks after

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“This Is What the 1970s Must’ve Been Like in Indo.”

A handful of months and many tubes ago, Patrick Reilly had a decision to make. Did he get on the first flight home, or did he stay in Indonesia as the coronavirus pandemic began to surge, and travel became questionable?

“Everyone at home was freaking and telling me that I should get back to the States immediately with my daughter,” said Reilly, who had his 14-year-old, Emma, with him on Nias. “At that point I knew if we left, we wouldn’t be able to come back, and we would be missing a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be here with no crowds.”

So, they stayed.

RELATED: When (and How) Will it Be Safe to Take a Surf Trip?

What followed was a surreal experience of waiting out the pandemic, hosting virtual classes in the night for his job as a schoolteacher back in San Diego, and navigating fatherhood while on a remote

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Vacation Innovations Acquires Travel Technology Platform and Private Client Pioneer Holiday Systems International

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Vacation Innovations (“VI” or the “Company”), a leading provider of travel-related products, software and services, today announced its acquisition of Holiday Systems International (HSI), an established travel technology solutions provider and membership platform with a 27-year history of innovation in the travel industry. HSI provides travel discounts at below-OTA rates and custom software solutions that drive a range of private-client travel, rewards and exclusive loyalty programs for a membership base of nearly 400,000 travelers and multiple major global corporate partners.

HSI was founded in 1993 by Craig Morganson and has earned its reputation as a leading developer of award-winning, travel-related technology and membership-based discount programs, producing some of the most sophisticated software and user interfaces in the travel industry for enterprise and direct-to-consumer use, including loyalty systems, booking engines, membership systems, employee benefit programs, travel agency booking platforms, corporate travel systems, travel gift

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United, American start furloughs of 32,000 airline workers

Two major US airlines started furloughing more than 32,000 workers Thursday as federal funding to keep them on the payroll ran out.

American Airlines said it would sideline some 19,000 employees while United Airlines will furlough more than 13,000 after the feds’ $25 billion Payroll Support Program for passenger carriers expired Wednesday.

Both companies said they would reverse the furloughs if Congress approves another bailout for the aviation industry.

But it’s uncertain that more aid will come as Congress and the White House continue negotiations on another spending package to address the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We implore our elected leaders to reach a compromise, get a deal done now, and save jobs,” Chicago-based United said in a Wednesday evening note to employees.

In a memo to American staffers, CEO Doug Parker said he was told by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the White House and Democratic House Speaker

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‘Joan Baez: The Last Leaf’ Book Excerpt: How the Folk Icon Ended Up on Vanguard

The remarkable life and trailblazing career of folk icon and activist Joan Baez is the subject of Elizabeth Thompson’s new biography, Joan Baez: The Last Leaf. Out now on Palazzo Editions in the U.S. and U.K., the book includes a comprehensive discography from Grammy-nominated music historian Arthur Levy. Thompson, a London-based journalist and lifelong Baez acolyte, is a contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, the editor of Conclusions on the Wall: New Essays on Bob Dylan, the co-editor of The Dylan Companion, and the founder of The Village Trip, a New York-based festival that celebrates the rich musical history of Greenwich Village. In an excerpt of Joan Baez: The Last Leaf below, Thompson tells the story of how Baez – on the cusp of fame – ended up on Vanguard Records.

Albert Grossman, owner of the famed Gate of Horn club in Chicago, was in

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Carnival (CCL) Expands Cruise Fleet With Enchanted Princess

Carnival Corporation & Plc CCL recently announced the addition of its new ship Enchanted Princess to its global fleet of Princess Cruises. Notably, the 145,000-ton unit marks the first ship to have been completed and delivered during the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently docked at Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the 3,660-guest ship comprises luxury Sky suites, entertainment venues, pools and whirlpool hot tubs. It also comes with OceanMedallion wearable device that offers personalized services and touchless interactive entertainment. Notably, services such as on-demand food, beverage, retail and service delivery, keyless stateroom entry, contactless payment, friends and family locator, wagering, interactive games and on-the-go movies/live TV are provided. It also offers Wi-Fi coverage for the entire ship.

With respect to this, Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, stated, “We officially welcome Enchanted Princess into the Princess global fleet and recognize the strong bond between Carnival Corporation, Princess Cruises and Fincantieri, our long-standing

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Hotel Jobs Coming Back in a Handful of Large Metro Areas

(Bloomberg) — The hard-hit hospitality industry is starting to bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic — at least in a few U.S. cities.

August employment in the accommodations sector in five metro areas climbed back to at least 80% of where it stood a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by Bloomberg News. This compares with about 60% for the nation as a whole.

As consumers stopped traveling and eating out, hotel jobs took a beating. But five cities sprinkled around the country — Reno, Nevada; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Salt Lake City and Atlanta — are showing signs of recovery as some business and leisure travel resumes.



chart: Coming Back?

© Bloomberg
Coming Back?

At the other end of the spectrum, hotel employment remains down by at least 50% from a year ago in nine of 40 metro areas examined.

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The worst of the bunch were the

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Trump misinformation; Moderna vaccine; SNL; Fauci masks

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Here are three ways consumers can help support small businesses who are struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wochit

Despite President Donald Trump repeatedly assuring the nation that a vaccine would be approved before Election Day, a key vaccine developer said Thursday that theirs won’t be released to the public until March 2021 at the earliest. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci rebutted some of the president’s claims during Tuesday’s debate with former vice president Joe Biden, telling ABC News his views on masks were “taken out of context.”

A new study out of Cornell found that Trump is the “single largest” transmitter of misinformation surrounding COVID-19, touting false “miracle cures” and giving credence to dubious claims about the origins of the virus. 

“Saturday Night Live,” which is set to come back this week, may be in some hot water with the state of New York. The show’s producers announced that

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