Electric Aircraft Are Coming, Just Not as Soon As You Think

Jean-Marie Liot  / Eviation Aircraft

Eviation’s Alice aims to be one of the first electric planes certified by regulators. Jean-Marie Liot / Eviation Aircraft

Skift Take: Electric aircraft are an inevitable step for commercial aviation with the heightened focus on carbon emissions. Numerous companies are vying to develop this new technology but, with engines still in the works and a lengthy certification runway ahead, when is everyones’ guess.

— Edward Russell

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Japan Weighs Ban on Overseas Spectators for Tokyo Olympics

Reuters

The Tokyo Olympic Games are scheduled to begin in late July. The organizing committee is considering barring international spectators from attending the games due to the pandemic. Reuters

Skift Take: The Olympics games are set to begin in less than five months, but the spread of new coronavirus variants worldwide is worrying organizers. A ban would disappoint hundreds of thousands of expected spectators, but might be a good public health decision.

— Sean O’Neill

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Is Travel a Right or a Privilege Post-Covid? The Skift Team Discusses

Bing Hui Yau  / Unsplash

Travel aspirations are fueling a lot of important conversations about travels recovery. Bing Hui Yau / Unsplash

Skift Take: Our collective aspirations to travel are fueling a lot of important conversations about a recovery, and what travel should be about on the other side. Read the Skift team’s back-and-forth on these topics around our virtual water cooler from Wednesday afternoon.

— Tom Lowry

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Philippines Faces Staggering Road to Recovery as Southeast Asia’s Most Tourism-Dependent Destination

Jeff Jacinto  / Flickr

Jeepneys in the Philippines: When will they carry tourists again? Jeff Jacinto / Flickr

Skift Take: As the Southeast Asian country that depends the most on tourism, the Philippines will have to work doubly hard to shed its underachiever image in the post-pandemic world.

— Raini Hamdi

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Meet the Newly Confirmed Commerce Secretary Who Will Lead U.S. Travel Jobs Recovery

Casino Connection  / Flickr

Newly confirmed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will have to tackle a travel economy in the U.S. devastated by job losses. Casino Connection / Flickr

Skift Take: To say that former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo faces a tall task is an understatement. Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. jobs lost in the pandemic came from leisure and hospitality.

— Tom Lowry

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U.S. Hotel Jobs Recovery Stalls, Unemployment Rises

Elizabeth Backus  / Flickr

The U.S. hotel unemployment rate jumped more than 4 percent in January due to a longer-than-expected travel recovery. Elizabeth Backus / Flickr

Skift Take: The slow winter travel season, delayed vaccination schedules, and people giving up on hotel jobs are pushing the hospitality sector unemployment figures up once again. More vaccines can speed up the recovery (the industry hopes).

— Cameron Sperance

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