Skift Business Traveler: Talking About an Ebola Travel Ban

What to Know Now

There's talk of an Ebola travel ban out there amongst some our more... alarmist politicians, believe it or not. This as an infected nurse flew between Dallas and Cleveland on a Frontier flight, potentially exposing the virus to hundreds of passengers and other travelers along the way.

The ban in question would actually limit the flights coming in from West Africa, though as many point out, there are no direct flights between Ebola-affected countries and the U.S. According to Skift Survey this weekend, the public is evenly split on restricting travel from west African nations to the U.S.

Still, security measures are going up at a range of U.S. airports fielding international travel, and airlines (and investors) are walking on eggshells. The Globe and Mail's travel editor Domini Clark says buy. Unfortunately for me, my fortune's still wrapped up in Radio Shack.

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Social Quote of the Day

Stupid congressman from Texas pushes stupid idea because he is stupid http://bit.ly/1rlYO4d

@jasonclampet, Co-Founder & Head of Content at Skift

Airlines

Japan Breaks Into Regional Jet Market, SkyWest Awaits Deliver: Japan unveiled its first passenger jet after a delay of almost four years, with a helping hand from bullet-train specialists as it prepares for test flights next year. Read more at Skift

Inside China Airlines’ Next Generation Boeing 777: A little while ago, we announced China Airlines plans for their Next Generation 777-300ER, and spoke about the radical industry-leading product they wanted to create. Last week the airline received their brand new 777-300ER, and we now take a closer look at the final product. Read more at Skift

Delta Will Try to Out-Spirit Spirit Air with New Cheap Fare: Delta introduced a Basic Economy fare more than two years ago to compete against Spirit and other ultra-low-cost carriers, but earlier this month Delta quietly introduced changes to the fare that will eliminate almost everything but the seat, seatbelt and snacks. Read more at Skift

Airports

Lufthansa Pilots Plan to Go on Strike Monday, Yet Again: A union representing Lufthansa‘s pilots has announced a new 35-hour strike against the airline’s short-haul fleet starting Monday, the latest in a string of walkouts over retirement benefits. Read more at Skift

Are These the Top-Rated Airline Lounges in the World? From recording studios to private chauffer services, airline lounges around the world are stepping up their game and offering amenities and services that rival a five-star vacation experience. Read more at Flyertalk

Heathrow Parent Sells off 2 Scottish Airports to Raise $1.7 Billion: Spain’s Ferrovial SA agreed to buy three U.K. airports from the owner of Britain’s main Heathrow hub for at least 1.05 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in a joint venture with a Macquarie Group Ltd. fund. Read more at Skift

Tech

United Takes on Delta With High-Speed Gogo Internet on Regional Jet:  United Airlines will install Gogo’s high-speed Air-to-Ground (ATG-4) in-flight connectivity service on 200 of its United Express E170, E175 and CRJ700 aircraft, with installations to be completed by next summer. Read more at Skift

The Butlers Behind Etihad’s New $20,000 Air Suites: Cabin crew retrained as butlers at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel will wear tailcoats and white cotton gloves for their new role pampering some of the world’s wealthiest flyers on Etihad Airways PJSC’s superjumbo aircraft. Read more at Skift

British Airways Has a Playlist That It Hopes Will Make Its Food Taste Better: After figuring out how to best put us to sleep, British Airways has put science to work on improving the in-flight experience once again–this time targeting our taste buds. Read more at Skift

Hotels

Exporting the Extended-Stay Hotel Model Around the World: The slow and steady supply growth of the segment within the U.S. has meant even slower development outside its borders. Read more at Skift

Most Popular Hotels on Business Travelers’ Expense Reports: It’s a battle between Marriott and Hilton’s Hampton Inn as the two brands flip-flopped in the third quarter, with Hampton Inn coming in as the most-expensed hotel among clients of travel and expense solutions’ provider Certify. Read more at Skift

Your Turn

Congratulations to Barb Delollis, the magnanimous hotel reporter that just left USA Today and -- via a brief Boarding Area website -- just joined the American Airlines PR team.

Tips and Comments

Can be sent to gm@skift.com and @grantkmartin. We publish the Business Newsletter twice a week on Monday and Thursday.

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