American-JetBlue Deal Draws Scrutiny and 9 Other Top Travel Stories This Week

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.

Airlines Will Watch Closely the Biden-Era Scrutiny of the American-JetBlue Partnership:  The Justice Department is reviewing the controversial new partnership between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways for antitrust concerns. If the deal is off, what does it mean for an airline industry battered by the pandemic?

Hospitality Companies Thought Insurance Coverage Would Be There for a Crisis. It Wasn’t.: Struggling hospitality companies keep taking the insurance companies to court over denied claims during the pandemic. They’re highly unlikely to win.

Travel’s Labor Problem Now as Surge in Demand Leaves Operators Scrambling: travel labor shortage isn’t what anyone was expecting during a pandemic, but traveler confidence heading into the summer heavily outpaces the ability of many business owners to call back furloughed workers or hire more people from overseas.

What a Stay at Kayak’s New Miami Beach Hotel Revealed: Kayak and Life House have joined forces to launch Kayak’s first foray into the hospitality industry. The concept is a good one, but to be successful, the kinks in technology and customer service still need to be worked out, as Skift learned firsthand.

What Long-Ignored U.S. Travel Execs Told a New Senate Subcommittee Focused on Tourism: The new bipartisan tourism subcommittee, co-chaired by senators from tourism-dependent states, kicked off Tuesday with testimony from travel executives on U.S. tourism’s biggest recovery challenges ahead — and that in itself is another big light in the tunnel alongside vaccines.

Marriott Teams With Uber to Bolster Its Bonvoy Loyalty Offering: You likely won’t earn a flood of points this way, but Marriott’s Uber link-up is the latest in an ongoing travel loyalty program push to enable members to earn points outside the traditional streams like hotel stays or miles flown.

Why Green Singapore Wants to Go Even Greener: Singapore sees a huge future in sustainable tourism as an outcome of the pandemic. And when Singapore sees, Singapore does.

The New Art of Booking Travel to Bring Together Remote Workers: The methods for booking a suitable corporate retreat these days still feel very experimental, with so many nuances to consider. But the rewards will be there for the platforms that get it right.

8 Takeaways on How Airbnb Lost Hosts During the Pandemic: Airbnb sees recruiting new hosts as vital to its future growth but it hasn’t reversed a significant decline in its ranks. Macroeconomic trends will likely reverse the trend, but the competition to win hearts and listings is getting intense.

More Help for Canada’s Airlines is on the Way After Air Canada’s $5 Billion in Aid: Ottawa’s hesitance to provide support for the country’s airline sector has stood out among developed countries.