Rashaad Jorden

In Skift's top stories this week, the FAA may appoint a United pilot to be its new administrator, Cuba's tourism industry struggles to reach pre-Covid figures, and IHG returns to profitability after dumping poorly performing hotels.

Tour operators need to be attentive to their customers' travel preferences, including favorite airlines. It's possible that many such companies squandered lucrative opportunities for years by not partnering with companies their guests love.

Australia's prolonged border closures gave tour operators running trips in the country for overseas visitors plenty of time to study travel trends worldwide. So think less Sydney and Melbourne, and more rustic settings as the country prepares for it is long-awaited opening Monday.

Omicron flareups are one thing, but the travel bans for U.S. citizens put in place under President Trump and remaining thereunder Joe Biden, for the most part, are not doing Cuba's tourism industry any favors.

In Skift's top stories this week, Alaska Airlines launches a subscription service, Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott announces he will retire in May, and Tripadvisor prepares to take Viator public.

Even if Lonely Planet's main reason for acquiring Elsewhere isn't to sell more guidebooks, increasing its digital scope will help the publisher do so. The company still hasn't made a full recovery from the pandemic, so it needs to take steps to turn increasing numbers of people eager for travel advice toward its products.

Pendry has built an interesting boutique-feeling brand on top of actual luxury knowledge and operations. The result is something differentiated in the market and worth keeping an eye on.

Frequent flier programs have a lot of value for airlines. Is it better to raise cash by selling them or to retain them and tap the resource for short-term cash needs? Either way, it's clear that loyalty is poised to enter a new era for creative approaches.

In Skift's top stories this week, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines unveil plans to merge in a massive deal, Philippines Airlines makes a tumultuous leadership change, and European officials implement new metrics for measuring tourism success.

Christine Ourmières-Widener suggests that airplane mask mandates could be a forever thing — which would be certain to keep the unruly passenger factor stoked on board flights.