When the novel coronavirus pandemic exploded early last year, governments reacted quickly by closing borders. The idea was to stop the global spread of a virus that had originated in a Chinese city. And if stopping the virus was impossible, they hoped the measures would at least buy more time to prepare for its arrival and protect unvaccinated populations. Eighteen months on, the aviation industry is still being hobbled by government strictures that do not always make sense. Take the U.S. ban on travelers from the EU. Although many European nations reopened to U.S. tourists this summer, the Biden administration has steadfastly refused EU pleas to lift the U.S. ban on European travelers. While that made sense during Europe's slow vaccination rollout, the EU surpassed the U.S. in inoculations more than a month ago and has much lower COVID-19 infection rates. It is certainly safer in Munich than Mobile.
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