US Airlines, Cruise Lines Prepare for Winter Storm Gianna

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By Robert Taylor

East Coast Bureau

American Airlines plans to be the first carrier to resume nonstop service between the U.S. and Venezuela in seven years.

On Thursday, the airline said that it remains in close contact with federal authorities and is ready to restart flights to Venezuela, pending government approval and security assessments.

American and other major carriers suspended flights to the South American country due to political instability, civil unrest and security concerns back in 2019 in the wake of pilots voicing concerns amid U.S. State Department warnings and eventually a ban ordered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It's unclear when the planned service will resume as American said it will share more details in the months to come, "as it works closely with federal authorities on all necessary permissions and security assessments."

"We have a more than 30-year history connecting Venezolanos to the U.S., and we are ready to renew that incredible relationship,” said Nat Pieper, American’s Chief Commercial Officer, in a statement. “By restarting service to Venezuela, American will offer customers the opportunity to reunite with families and create new business and commerce with the United States.”

The news comes less than four weeks after U.S. military strikes in Venezuela prompted widespread flight disruptions. 

By Carla Martilotti

Foreign Bureau

U.S. airlines are waiving change fees for weekend travel ahead of Winter Storm Gianna.

The bomb cyclone is threatening to snarl travel from the Southeast to New England in the coming days and carriers are preparing for flight disruptions by encouraging customers to rebook at no charge.

American Airlines has issued a travel alert for nearly 30 airports across the Southeast, including hubs in Atlanta and Charlotte. Customers must be scheduled to travel through one of the affected airports between Friday, January 30 and Monday, February 2, and rebook by February 2 for travel by Friday, February 6, to avoid a fare difference.

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has also issued a notice for travelers flying into or out of more than 20 airports in the Southeast on Saturday, January 31 or Sunday, February 1. Customers must rebook and travel by Wednesday, February 4, to avoid any potential added costs.

United Airlines' waiver covers Friday, January 30 to Sunday, February 1, and customers have until Sunday, February 8 to complete rebooked travel.

Southwest Airlines and others have followed suit so travelers in the storm's path are encouraged to check with their carrier to learn all of their options. As always, travelers are advised to check their flight status with their airline before arriving at the airport.

By Sandy Simpson

West Coast Bureau

Google and Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) have released a new joint study that predicts global travel is entering a new ‘golden era’ with international trips forecast to double by 2050.

Additionally, ‘The Power of Travel Study’ predicts that SI and high-value segments are key to unlocking $4.2 trillion growth and that by 2050, around 70 percent of the global population is expected to be potential travelers, up from around 30 percent in 2000.

Key elements of the study include:

• Asia-Pacific (APAC) is projected to overtake Europe as the largest market for outbound tourism by 2050, accounting for nearly 40 percent of global departures, up from approximately 30 percent in 2000.
• Europe is expected to remain the world’s leading destination but is steadily losing global share to faster-growing destinations across Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
• Domestic travel will remain the backbone of the tourism industry, accounting for more than 90 percent of all trips worldwide.
• To scale profitability, the industry must shift towards Agentic AI to meet evolving traveler behaviors that demand flexibility and hyper-personalization.
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Jorge Gilabert, Managing Director and Co-Head of Travel, Hospitality and Leisure at Alvarez & Marsal, said in a statement, “Despite rising volumes of tourism, this will not automatically translate into profitability for the hospitality and tourism industry. Growth will come with a rising ‘complexity tax’ as demand fragments, operating models become more intricate and investor expectations on returns and resilience increase. Converting market growth into sustainable returns will require far greater discipline and adaptability than in the past.”

Hany Abdelkawi, Head of Travel - International Growth at Google added, “The outlook for the travel industry has never been stronger, but the rules are changing. By 2050, the global traveler base will not just grow, it will fundamentally restructure. Here is the warning for the C-suite: Volume is Vanity. Yield is Sanity. Demand in 2050 will be fragmented across destinations, domestic-heavy, and significantly more costly to acquire without a shift to an AI-led strategy.”

By Mike Sanchez

Foreign Bureau

Air travel around the world saw record-high demand in 2025, but supply chain issues and decarbonization were significant challenges for the industry—and will likely continue to be challenges in the year ahead, according to new data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

"...The strong and continuous increase in demand puts into sharp focus two key challenges—decarbonization and supply chain," said IATA's Director General, Willie Walsh. "The first, decarbonization, will protect future long-term growth. Governments whose economies grow because of aviation and whose citizens thirst for connectivity need to provide the supportive fiscal policy framework to rapidly accelerate progress—particularly for the energy sector to grow Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production."

"The second, supply chain challenges, was the biggest headache for airlines in 2025," Walsh explained. "People clearly wanted to travel more, but airlines were continually disappointed with unreliable delivery schedules for new aircraft and engines, maintenance capacity constraints, and resultant cost increases that are estimated to exceed $11 billion."

"Airlines scrambled to accommodate the demand by keeping aircraft in service longer and filling more seats on every flight. With load factors just shy of 84%, it's clear that these measures were an effective band aid, but we need a real solution," continued Walsh. "It's vital that 2025 proves to be the nadir of the supply chain crisis, and 2026 marks a rebound. Every new aircraft means a quieter, cleaner fleet, with more capacity and flight options than at any previous point in history, which is what airlines and their customers want to see."

In December 2025, overall air travel demand rose 5.6 percent from December 2024. International demand grew 7.7 percent, with some regions seeing strong growth in air travel demand. 

The Asia-Pacific region saw a 7.5 percent increase in demand for international travel; Europe saw an 8.4 percent increase; Latin America grew 8.2 percent; and the Middle East saw a 9.5 percent increase—all extremely positive numbers. 

Yet the highest growth was in Africa, which experienced a 10.3 percent increase from December 2024. 

Like much of the rest of the year, North America's demand remained slower than that of other regions: it grew 3.5 percent in December. 

Full-year demand in 2025 rose 5.3 percent from 2024, while capacity rose 5.3 percent. 

International demand rose 7.1 percent, outpacing the 2.4 percent growth domestic demand saw in 2025. 

Asia-Pacific airlines saw a 10.9 percent rise in travel demand compared to 2024, with a 10.2 percent capacity increase. The region had the highest growth rate and the highest load factor in 2025. 

European airlines saw 6 percent growth, Middle Eastern airlines reported 6.7 percent growth, Latin American airlines had 8.6 percent growth, and African airlines experienced 7.8 percent growth. 

North America saw a moderate 2.1 percent rise in annual air traffic demand in 2025, the slowest growth among the regions. 

Domestic air travel in 2025 might not have grown as rapidly as international demand, but that doesn't mean it didn't reach record highs for passenger totals. 

The United States saw domestic travel drop by 0.6 percent in 2025; it was the only major market to see demand decline last year. 

By comparison, Brazil experienced an 11.1 percent increase in domestic demand, followed by India's 5.2 percent and Japan's 4.8 percent. 

By James Stinton

West Coast Bureau

Nearly one week after Winter Storm Fern began walloping a large swath of the United States with heavy snow, ice, and subzero windchills, one airline is still trying to get its operations back on track. 

Texas-based American Airlines is still reeling from the disruptive storm, which brought dangerous ice to its home hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and snarled the carrier’s flights around the country. 

Through Tuesday, January 27, the carrier canceled more than 10,000 flights, as five of its nine largest hubs were severely impacted. Operations appeared to be improving somewhat as of Thursday, January 29, but the airline still had a total of 631 delays nationwide, with more than 250 delays occurring at DFW, according to FlightAware data.

Earlier in the week, American’s Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden issued an apology to customers and tried to reassure them that the carrier’s teams were “all hands on deck,” doing everything they could to get flight schedules back on track. 

But cascading issues with computer systems and staffing have nonetheless caused flight disruptions to continue to ripple throughout the carrier’s network, leaving passengers, travel advisors, and the airline’s own crew members fed up.

Bearing the brunt of the storm delays have been American’s flight attendants, some of whom have been lost in the airline’s crew management system as the airline’s computers are reportedly not handling the breakdown in operations. As a result, some crew members have been stranded, with some forced to spend the night in airport terminals.

“Flight attendants are displaced due to the winter storm and can’t get hotel rooms,” one flight attendant wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “They’re on hold for hours trying to get through to tracking to find out what to do after their flight cancels. We used to have a hotel department, but now it’s a third-party source or it’s ‘handle it yourself and we’ll reimburse you’ eventually, maybe, one day. Meanwhile, pilots are taken care of, or can afford to pay for $500 rooms during a winter storm. It’s sad to see how bad things are today.”

Adding insult to injury is the low profit sharing the airline announced this week for its crewmembers, after annual earnings missed Wall Street expectations. As a result of the lackluster profit margins, the airline’s flight attendant union called for American’s CEO Robert Isom to be replaced in a letter on Wednesday. “Quarter after quarter, executives leave employees to carry the weight of their mismanagement while American falls further behind,” the union wrote. “As the entire industry leaves American Airlines in the dust, it is time for new leadership and a new vision for American Airlines.”

The crew tracking issues stemming from the snowstorm have created additional delays, with some flight attendants and pilots timing out and hitting their maximum work hours before mandated rest periods just minutes before delayed flights were scheduled to take off. 

Tyson Wharton, travel advisor and owner of Sioux Empire Travel, had clients try multiple times to return on American flights to the U.S. from a wedding in Punta Cana. “On their third try, they were delayed over three hours, boarded the aircraft, and then deplaned just before departure because the flight crew had exceeded their allowable hours,” Wharton said on Thursday. “They are still not home as of today.”

Wharton says that he’s heard from many other travel advisors who were dealing with similar issues throughout the week, as communication failures at the airline have left advisors and passengers “scrambling” for a plan.

“Clients reported that the American Airlines app and online reservations frequently showed outdated or conflicting information, gate agents often had little clarity to offer, and there was no consistent messaging about next steps,” Wharton said. “This made it extremely difficult for travel advisors to guide clients in real time, especially in an airport environment where passengers were understandably frustrated and stressed.”

Other carriers were able to be communicative and organized in re-accommodating passengers, according to Wharton. “With American, it felt like systems were breaking down across the board, from scheduling to crew management to customer communication, resulting in a compounding effect for travelers.”

Wharton says he’s been on call nearly 24/7 since the storm began last Friday, and that some of his stranded clients have run out of essential medications, like blood pressure prescriptions, due to the prolonged delays. “The storm exposed deeper operational weaknesses at American Airlines that directly impacted travelers’ safety, well-being, and trust,” he says. 

During the disruptions, American has been offering passengers support in the form of hotel stays and ground transportation back to resorts.

“Cancellations are not what we want for our customers or our team members, and teams across the airline are working diligently to minimize them,” the airline said in the statement on its website.

American provided an update on late Tuesday evening that operations at DFW were “showing considerable day-to-day progress.” Among the improvements are more favorable ramp conditions at the hub, thanks to airport workers clearing residual ice, as well as keeping gates clear so flights can operate on time. That has meant a steady increase in departures and arrivals at DFW for American. 

“We’re seeing taxi times normalize and our deicing needs are minimal to nonexistent, especially as temperatures increase and the sun continues to break up the frozen remnants of the storm,” the carrier said in its update on Tuesday.

In response to the ongoing issues, American extended its change fee waiver for passengers booked to travel through January 29 to give fliers a bit more flexibility to plan around the disruptions.

American’s CEO Robert Isom said on the airline’s earnings call Tuesday that executives expect elevated cancellations to last through at least Thursday, with operations hopefully returning to normal by the weekend.

Another snowstorm is forecast to slam into the Southeast U.S. this coming weekend, but the Dallas-Fort Worth area isn’t predicted to be in the system’s path. Hopefully, the majority of American Airlines passengers and crew will be able to make it to their final destinations by the end of Thursday, but it’s still too soon to tell.

By Carla Martilotti

Foreign Bureau

Royal Caribbean's new "Perfect Day" private island destination in Quintana Roo, Mexico, has hit a snag.

This week, a federal court granted an injunction to the group Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS) over its claim of illegal land use reconfiguration on more than 107 hectares in Mahahual.

According to Riviera Maya News, a hearing to assess the possibility of a definitive suspension will be held in the coming days.

The temporary ruling is significant in that developers will not be permitted to work on the project while the injunction is being resolved.

Citizen Planning Council of Othón P. Blanco head Jaime Aguilar Cheluja claims the change of land use was granted to Royal Caribbean legally, arguing that the municipality was not obligated to hold a public consultation because it "is mandatory only when the municipal planning programs and instruments established in its Article 31 are formulated for the first time or are fully updated."

"We are concerned about publications that suggest opacity in the authorization of a change of land use for Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Mexico project due to the alleged lack of public consultation in the process and the provisional suspension granted by a federal judge for the most important private investment project in the history of southern Quintana Roo," said Aguilar Cheluja.

According to Royal Caribbean officials, Perfect Day Mexico will be able to accommodate 21,000 guests daily, hosting 2.6 million to 5 million visitors a year and creating more than 1,000 jobs through 2027.

DMAS said it isn't opposed to the project but rather "in favor of respecting the law, urban planning, and the community’s right to a healthy environment." 

By Eric Hanson

Foreign Bureau

The U.S. hotel industry has been on a bumpy ride since January 2025, largely due to declining international visitor numbers. 

The most recent data from hotel analytics firm STR shows that hotel occupancy declined for the ninth consecutive month in November 2025, dropping 2.8 percent year over year to 57.9 percent. 

During the same timeframe, Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) has been on a largely downward trajectory. STR data on this front shows a 2.3 percent decline to $88.97. Only one hotel industry metric ticked upward in November, the Average Daily Rate (ADR), which increased 0.6 percent.

These figures are declining at a time when more and more countries are issuing advisories surrounding travel to the United States. That includes Canada and several European nations.

Most recently, Germany issued new, heightened guidance to its citizens regarding travel to the United States in response to the violence taking place in Minneapolis amid the continued occupation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in that city.

New visitor fees, such as the $250 ‘visa integrity fee’ introduced in 2025 and this year’s increased $100 surcharge at national parks for non-U.S. residents, are not helping matters. Similarly, plans for increased scrutiny of foreign tourists, including a proposal to look at five years of visitors’ social media history, may be dampening enthusiasm among international source markets.


None of this has been good news for the hotel industry, particularly in major gateway cities and resort destinations that have historically relied on overseas visitors.

“The U.S. did lose a segment of international travel last year, beginning largely in February through March,” says Rod Clough, president of the Americas for HVS, a global consulting and valuation services organization focused on the leisure and hospitality industry.

“We don’t foresee a significant part of this lost demand returning this year – although the World Cup may shore up some of the loss by the end of the year,” adds Clough.

Paul Whitten, founder of Nashville Adventures, a tour company that partners closely with hotels and relies on hotel relationships for one-quarter of its revenue, offers a similarly somber outlook.

“International travel is probably going to be low for the majority of the Trump Administration and it could last even longer,” predicts Whitten.

In response to the fraught landscape of 2025 and 2026 (and what some say will likely continue for the next two years), hotels are employing a variety of tactics to recoup their losses.

One of the most consistent trends being witnessed right now in the hotel industry is a pivot to greater reliance on domestic travelers. (Which may be good news for U.S. consumers who are booking hotel rooms in the coming months.)

"The U.S. has seen a 6 percent drop in international visitors in 2025, and this trend looks set to continue,” says Tim Hentschel, co-founder and co-CEO of the booking platform HotelPlanner. “That doesn’t mean the desire to travel has disappeared. Instead, it makes total sense for American hotels to focus on catering to the domestic market.”

The industry's efforts to cater to American travelers have included offering discounted hotel prices for local travelers, says Hentschel, who also recommends that hotels seeking to capitalize on the shift to local tourists increase their inventory in the nation's top domestic markets. That includes such locations as Hawaii, Las Vegas, New York City, Key West, and New Orleans, as well as areas surrounding America's iconic national parks.

Tim Devlin, executive vice president of the hospitality industry marketing firm Veridian, says hotels have also been busy localizing offers for domestic travelers and protecting room rates with value‑adds, along with drive-friendly benefits to reward programs.

With all of these sorts of efforts in mind, Whitten suggests the United States is entering a new frontier of domestic leisure. It's a development he predicts will also be characterized by an abundance of domestic weekend getaways, reunion travel, bachelorette parties, corporate offsite gathers and senior travel.

“What was once the small revenue stream is emerging as the major opportunity for filling in the losses from the huge decrease in international travel,” says Whitten.

“I'm seeing hotels all around Nashville, from big networks like Marriott to the lone operators, pivot to the folks in their backyard,” he adds.

Going one step further, Whitten predicts that the hotels that will survive the current choppy waters are those that actively embrace the domestic leisure revenue stream. Moreover, the hotels that may thrive are those located in markets and cities that are not dependent on international travelers. 

Though there are indeed some challenges at the moment, there are also a few noteworthy wins on the horizon say experts. For instance, the upcoming World Cup events taking place in the United States will likely entice international visitors back to this market.

"The World Cup will drive a bubble of demand, led by some international visitors, within cities and surrounding suburbs, especially if local destination marketing organizations can drive excitement even for individuals without tickets," says Devlin. "America’s 250th will bring added, and needed, attention to the Northeast, with the greatest impacts for Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.. Here again ,DMO support and programming will be key to drive interest. 

Leisure group business, such as weddings and corporate bookings, is another bright spot for hotels at the moment, adds Hentschel. Group bookings are up 12 percent year-over-year, a reality that's holding rates steady from 2025's historic highs into 2026. What's more, these types of bookings are filling rooms 30 days or more in advance. - 

And lastly, summer is on the horizon and hotel bookings from international travelers are already coming in strong. "We expect international demand to grow if the U.S. dollar remains weak," says Hentschel.