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— Home At First —
WINTER: THE
TRIAL & THE HOPE
The
darkness before the dawn...
Winter has come to the Northern Hemisphere. With
cold weather and long nights has come a record surge in
new cases of Covid-19: the Second Wave. Here in the
United States the surge affects all states, including regions that were less-affected during the
March-June first wave. We Americans are not alone.
Across Europe new coronavirus cases also exploded over
the last few months, in
many places to record levels. Many countries that
re-opened and relaxed travel regulations reversed course
and tightened regulations again: restricting movement,
enforcing curfews, and preparing their health
infrastructure for the worst.
And now a new, more easily transmitted virus strain
threatens to increase the pandemic's spread.
But even as we dread the dark, cold winter
months of early 2021, there are
some hopeful signs. Several different vaccines are being
distributed, and inoculations are underway in North
America, across Europe, and around the world, perhaps
too slowly at first, but learning curves are normally
steepest at the beginning of new challenges. Improved, innovative treatments, techniques, and therapies offer
better outcomes for many affected.
Scientists are
developing and trialing faster, more reliable Covid-19
screening tests with the goal of achieving a speedy test that
produces instant results with zero false negatives or
positives.
In the
travel industry advances have also been made:
• Airlines are adding state-of-the-art cabin air
filtration that — coupled with mask wearing passengers
and rigorous cabin cleaning between flights — suggests
that flying may now be safer than going to the
supermarket.
• Airports and some airlines are offering trial
fast-turn-around coronavirus testing programs designed
to detect infected passengers & crews before and after
flights.
• Some airports are experimenting with completely
hands-free check-in and boarding procedures, and
airplanes may soon be retrofitted with hands-free
lavatories.
• Most overseas destinations are now establishing
uniform standards of safety and cleanliness for lodgings
— including hotels, cottages, apartments, chalets,
villas — requiring site inspections and the rewarding of
special status to accommodations that pass muster.
Similarly, rental car companies, railways, buses, and
passenger boats are having to earn safety/cleanliness
badges of their own.
• Having great potential
for travelers are the Travel Passport initiatives under
trial by a few airlines to certain destination. Travel
Passports are cell phone apps that maintain currant
certified records of vaccinations, antibodies from
recovered illness, and testing results. Showing your
Travel Passport app screen at check-in, boarding, TSA
security, customs, or other stops en route will permit
quick, seamless travel for travelers to any destination
participating in the program. Although there are bugs
yet to be worked out, we think the Travel Passport (also
called a Health Passport or CommonPass) may be the key
to bringing back safe, international travel without
adding unnecessary time and bureaucracy.
These advances, combined
with a successful vaccine, will open borders and give
many of us the confidence to travel again. But
when? The travel industry is a big part of the world
economy. The world cannot wait too long to restart
travel, as the industry's infrastructure —
transportation, lodging, and service companies — is
withering. We think the distribution of successful
vaccines and the adoption of many of these technological
improvements will occur during 2021, and travel will
begin again.
At Home At First we are
preparing for the grand re-opening of travel by
re-tooling and modernizing our business systems. Some of
our employees have been furloughed, and some are working
remotely from home. We are maintaining
our regular business hours. We are a close-knit team, passionate
about what we do, and eager to get going full-speed. Until
full re-opening, we monitor developments in the industry
that we believe will evolve
into the new realities of travel. We are also very happy to hear
from you to discuss your travel ideas. Call us. Email us. Let's
start a conversation about your travel goals. It is our job to help you
travel again, but only with
the best advice for when and where to travel and how
best to travel safely. We pledge to do our best to help make your
travel dreams come true.
In the meantime, wear masks, wash hands frequently, stay
hydrated, exercise regularly, stay safe, be kind, help one another, dream big,
and stay positive. Sometime after the dark, cold days of
winter,
there will come warmth, sunshine, and smooth flying.
Happy Holidays to come, and God speed,
Judi Taussig Fahnestock &
Ron Fahnestock
Becca Fahnestock
Kristen Crowther
Jessica Sponheimer & Kane
and all our colleagues
around the world |
