November 24, 2025 • 16 mins
Tariffs, shutdowns, "integrity" fees, H2-B visa caps, FAA staffing and hardware issues, airport restrictions ... it all begs the question: Does the U.S. government hate its own travel industry?
International travel is predicted to drop by 6.3% from 72.4 million in 2024 to 67.9 million in 2025, according to U.S. Travel Association. This year we are poised to be the only country in the WORLD where inbound tourism decreased. Travel and tourism accounts for approximately 2.5-3% of the U.S. GDP, supports 15 million American jobs, and via taxes accounts for almost 7% of all government income. So, we should take global competition for travel dollars a bit more seriously, no?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Hi everybody, it's No Show.
I'm Matt Brown with, as always,Jeff Forman.
This is Thanksgiving week.
Thankfully, the government gotits act together, at least until
January, to get planes in theair, but it got us thinking.
You may have uh noticed that inrecent episodes we've been on a
little bit of a tear about uhthe government and how the
(00:26):
government treats tourism andhospitality.
Let me lay some numbers on you.
International travel ispredicted to drop by 6.3% from
72.4 million to 67.9 millionthis year.
That's according to the U.S.
Travel Association.
Canadian travel alone to theU.S.
was down by approximately 24%overall in the first half of
(00:48):
2025, and the forecast for theremainder of the year does not
look good.
In 2024, travel and tourismproduced an economic output of
$2.9 trillion, accounting forapproximately 2.5% to about 3%
of the U.S.
GDP, and it supports about 15million American jobs.
International tourism isconsidered a services export,
(01:11):
and it's deemed as such becauseforeign visitors come here and
they spend money on U.S.
goods and services.
That's wow, you don't hear thatmuch anymore.
It is the largest singleservices export for the United
States.
And the tourism and hospitalityindustry generates substantial
federal, state, and local taxrevenues, accounting for almost
7% of all government income.
(01:34):
Nothing to sneeze about.
So my question, Jeff, to you isdoes the federal government take
tourism for granted?
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Unequivocally, yes.
Wrap the show.
Sure.
Okay, see you later.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I mean, there's there's there'sno question.
I mean, the U.S.
federal government uhinexplicably hates its own
travel industry.
Doesn't an absolute zero tosupport it.
Let's run down that.
Let's run down all the ways.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Statistically factual, of course.
Let's it sounds like fun.
Let's talk about how federalpolicies kind of work on hotels.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
Well, you started off with international demand,
which still remains more than20% down to pre-COVID levels.
So we've never, you know, you'retalking about year over year
drops.
Uh, we are in decline from anumber we never actually made up
in the first place.
International hotel visitorsspend four to five times as
much.
They stay one and a half tothree times longer when they're
(02:34):
here.
And so let's start with the visadysfunction that removes the
highest yield segment forhotels.
India, one of our supposedfriends and trade partners, visa
wait days, two to four hundreddays.
How are you supposed to visithere when you have to plan your
trip two to four hundred days inadvance?
Colombia, again, supposedly anally and a friend.
(02:54):
Wait times, 400 to 700 days.
U.S.
travel lost 39 million visitorsand 150 billion in loss spending
over the last decade justbecause of visa delays.
SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
That's interesting, too, particularly with India,
because for 10 years, everyhospitality expert in the world
has been talking about thecoming boom in India travel to
the U.S.
SPEAKER_01 (03:17):
It and it hits in a couple of different sectors.
I mean, we started with leisuretravel.
Yes, India travels here forleisure, for sure, but it is
also a major trade partner inbusiness travel with the lack of
return from the Chinese market.
I think it's still down morethan half to pre-COVID, right?
Chinese business travel to theUS.
Now, India, again, our supposedfriend and ally, uh, we were
(03:39):
basically telling them not tobother coming here.
Uh, you know, Zoom's better foryou folk, is kind of the message
we're giving.
Visa wait times are not the onlyway our government works against
our industry.
During the shutdown, or moreimportantly, as a result of the
shutdown, uh, holiday travel issupposed to decline.
It's expected to decline.
Deloitte put out a study a weekago for Americans during holiday
(04:02):
season, budgets are down 18%year over year.
The average number of trips isgoing to decline, 17%.
And 80% of households earningover 100 grand are expected to
opt for less expensive travel.
That's an important demographicbecause that's the group that
has carried the travel industry,at least the hotel industry.
Actually, airplanes too, becauseall you read about anymore is
(04:23):
purchases of premium cabins forat least six quarters now has
been what's been driving growthfor America's domestic airline
carriers.
Luxury travel is the onlyhospitality or hotel stay that's
really been growing.
So even the demographic that hasbeen kind of propping up a
fragile tourism business, eventhat's starting to feel the
pain, again, entirely because ofthis shutdown.
(04:45):
On the other side of thebusiness, operating our
businesses, there are hard visacaps that are getting worse and
worse.
So 66,000 visas allowed thisyear.
The hotel industry is 200,000workers short.
And yet we're putting caps onvisas.
Makes no sense whatsoever.
These are both travelers andworkers.
Hits us on both sides of thetourism economy.
(05:07):
Tariffs.
Can't hear enough about tariffs,or maybe we hear too much about
tariffs.
But in order to improve ourhotels, right?
The pips, the productimprovement, renovating hotels,
tariffs have increased the costof doing that by 20 to 40
percent.
So thank you, government.
Guests will have worse stays.
Hotels are not going to getrenovated as well or as often.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Even coming down to something like HVAC
replacements, you know, justeven even like the things that
we don't do completely take forgranted.
And even those things areaffected by this.
SPEAKER_01 (05:39):
You name it.
I mean, we could go intoairlines, FAA failures, slot
controls, cabotage.
We could talk about each one ofthese things.
The FAA staffing crisis goesback to a federal government
problem because the first one iswe're landing planes with 1980s
technology.
Uh, with it's like Atari Pongsystems.
We spoke with Greg Aratakisabout this.
(05:59):
The mindset of the decisionmakers is only the length of a
news cycle.
And so these generationalproblems, these decade-long
solutions that we need to keepour travel industry moving
forward are purely ignored.
77% of FAA facilities areunderstaffed.
There is a 3,000 controllershortage right now.
And not only is that bad enough,the FAA then has to spend$200
(06:23):
million a year on overtime.
Every way you look at it, theyignore the problems in the
industry.
SPEAKER_00 (06:28):
It's easy when you start talking about uh the
government's relationship tobusiness to blame an
administration.
And while I don't think thisadministration is doing, current
administration is doing anyparticular favors to the
industry, I think some of thethings we're talking about here
are pretty systemic, right?
And I wonder, is it becausetravel and tourism doesn't have
(06:49):
a singular voice?
Do we need more lobbyists?
Do we need a stronger lobbyist?
I can't believe I'm saying that.
But do I wonder how a businessthat is so expansive and so
important doesn't have moreweight in DC and elsewhere?
And maybe they do, and I'm justnot seeing it.
SPEAKER_01 (07:08):
The complexity of the travel industry, I think, is
certainly uh a hindrance tohaving a clean, clear voice.
Uh, it does touch so manyeconomies, it touches so many
verticals, so many businesses,so many types of people.
It touches like travel toucheseverything.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
I would not say one of America's strengths is uh
updating things before they needto be updated.
On a consumer level, when itcomes to apps, sure.
But when it comes to baselinetechnology that we use, I think
the the FAA, like the controlsystems that are used in in
towers, I mean, that's a perfectexample.
These things should have beenupdated 20, 30 years ago, and in
(07:47):
fact, they should probably beupdated as hardware every 10 to
15 years at minimum.
It's tough to commit the moneyand the time and the consistent
research and implementation todo that because the current
system works.
So if it ain't broke, don't fixit.
And which but it's also why whenyou look at photos of any air
(08:09):
control tower setup, it it lookslike something, as you said,
from 1979.
SPEAKER_01 (08:14):
You ask the question about do we need more lobbyists?
And what a repulsive thought,but uh you'd have to also ask
who they're lobbying for.
Right.
And so think of these twoexamples, right?
Airport slot controls.
And let's just take DC in NewYork.
Uh at JFK, there is an estimated25 to 35 percent capacity lost
at that airport because of theslot control limitations.
(08:39):
That's just a rule.
You could change a rule.
LaGuardia, 20% capacity loss iswhat's estimated.
DCA, uh, not so much a capacityloss.
Uh there may be that, I don'tknow.
Uh, but there's a limit on longhauls and international flights
uh, because you don't want, andI think that's more of a
security thing, probably, youknow, especially post-9-11.
(08:59):
You don't want certain kinds offlights coming that close to
sensitive places in Washington,D.C.
But nonetheless, these areexamples where the economies of
these places, the relaxed andpleasurable travel experience
that you have in these placescould be far better with better
regulation.
Uh, ultra-low-cost carriers haveless than 3% share in New York
(09:21):
and DC.
What do you think that does topricing, right?
Now, if legacy carriers have 85to 95% of those slots, it's
estimated that airfares are 10to 25% higher because of the
controls they have over thosemarkets.
So, I mean, who's lobbying forthat?
It's not the consumer.
And the economic loss that'sassociated with that, 35,000
(09:41):
jobs not created in those twomarkets, 3 billion almost in
lost activity was a portauthority study, 7 million
visitors suppressed toWashington and New York, just on
that one policy issue to limitslot expansion and competition.
Take it to Cabotage, one of ourfavorite subjects.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
One of our favorite subjects.
SPEAKER_01 (09:59):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
And cabotage, just as a reminder for everyone, that
is essentially a policy whereforeign carriers are barred from
operating domestic U.S.
flights.
And the rationale forever ago,it kind of reminds me of this uh
99% invisible episode that Ilistened to the other day.
And I found out that all U.S.
Army clothing is made in theUSA.
(10:21):
That's been the rule for a longtime.
And the rationale way back whenwas uh we don't want to be uh
dependent on any kind of foreignentity for basics for a
military, which I think makessense.
And you could apply some of thatlogic to airlines in the US,
that we don't want to beover-reliant on foreign
(10:41):
entities.
Of course, like so much else ofour transportation economy, I
mean, you know, when it comes tothings like gasoline, I think
that ship's already sailed.
So that it's it's it's we'recertainly kind of pick and
choose where Capotage works andwhere it doesn't.
It's unbelievable to me thateven for big routes that we
don't have like a Laftanza LA toNew York option.
SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
The fair impact, what you and I are paying
because of that is estimated tobe 10, 30% more on the main what
they call trunk routes, right?
Here's a couple examples, likefortress hubs.
Even the term just reeks ofprotectionism, right?
Fortress.
Yep.
In Atlanta, 80% of flights areDelta.
DFW, 85% American, uh, Houston,75% United, right?
(11:25):
On those domestic fares in andout of those places, 20 to 40%
higher.
Because you, me, I have nochoice.
I fly out of DFW almost weekly.
I have no choice but to buywhatever American offers me.
And the economic harm to thatestimated at$25 to$35 billion a
year.
SPEAKER_00 (11:44):
And we haven't even talked about rental cars, which
don't seem like they'reparticularly safe either, right?
SPEAKER_01 (11:50):
No.
Um fleets shrank 30 to 50percent during uh semiconductor
crisis.
Uh because of COVID, rentalprices went way up because the
availability of cars went waydown.
Uh Hertz went bankrupt.
It was taking two to three yearsfor the whole fleet to recover.
So again, consumers are the onespaying for this.
(12:11):
Smaller fleets, lesscompetition, higher prices.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
You know, this is applied even to EV mandates.
Without airport infrastructure,they're just they're DOA.
You know, you've got tens ofthousands of EVs purchased.
Many airports had fewer than 10chargers for a thousand plus
vehicle fleets, and there's justno forward thinking about it at
all.
And I think we, regardless ofwhat you think about U.S.
(12:36):
energy policy, we need to getreal about an electric vehicle
future.
But you know, Hertz was forcedto unwind their EV strategy.
They're going backwards whenthey should be charging forward
at five times the speed.
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
Matt, you mentioned airport infrastructure in the
way of uh EV chargers that can'tlive up to where we don't have
the infrastructure to meet theBiden administration mandate,
and we don't have the EVchargers to even supply the
fleet with energy.
Airport infrastructure, theyhave a passenger facility charge
of$4.50.
It's been frozen that way since2000.
(13:10):
Do you want airports to looknicer and feel nicer and operate
more smoothly, Matt?
I sure do.
How is it that it's been stuckat the same price for 25 years?
I think we can wrap here.
We can do this all day long.
The simple of it is that theU.S.
global competitiveness haseroded.
Uh, Euro Monitor ranked the U.S.
17th out of the 18 that it ranksin global travel
(13:34):
competitiveness.
Our share of long-haul flightsto this continent is declining
from 13.7 to 11.3.
The fees and processing, ESTAwent up, so we charge other
people to come in.
Visa integrity fee, we talkedabout that one day.
That's a brand new fee, 250bucks.
If you want to come visit us,250 to get a visa.
Like it doesn't matter how longwe talk, Matt, we're not going
(13:55):
to run out of enough examplesand enough statistics for how it
hurts this business.
ACI, uh Airport CouncilInternational, did a study that
they released last year showingthat every 1% of flights that we
do not have, whether that's agovernment cut or unrealized
because of other protectionpolicy, is the equivalent of$33
million a day in thatmarketplace.
(14:18):
Matt, here are the things we'vehit, and it's the tip of the
iceberg.
Visa delays, governmentshutdown, FAA failures, uh H2B
constraints, ADA lawsuits, wedidn't even talk about that, uh,
tariffs raising the costs, uh,suppressing demand.
That's just hitting the hotelsector on the airline side.
FAA staffing failures, outdatedair traffic control system, slot
(14:41):
controls, cabotage, moretariffs, reducing availability,
rental cars, no help on asemiconductor crisis, FAA delays
cause cascades for rental carproblems.
There are tariffs that areproblems, EV infrastructure
gaffes, inbound tourism.
We've talked about it a fewtimes.
We didn't even talk about thepassport failures.
We haven't talked about howforeigners don't want to come
(15:04):
here because of oursaber-rattling approach to the
rest of the world.
Haven't even talked about that.
You mentioned it a bit in thelead, I guess, with Canada, but
other than Canada, the entireworld has dropped in its desire
to come here.
So who's going to hold thefederal government accountable
on behalf of the travelindustry?
That's what I want to know.
That's why we're talking aboutthis.
(15:25):
Maybe a leader should rise.
Who would that leader be?
SPEAKER_00 (15:29):
Could it be you?
Oh no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:34):
A voice from the plains leading us to sunlit
uplands.
Matt, I just want those planesto arrive and depart on time.
Look, I just work here.
SPEAKER_00 (15:44):
I don't I don't I don't want to be boss of
anything.
I would like to have a seriousdiscussion on a national level.
I wonder if, either in thisadministration or the next, if
we'll if we'll get to a travelczar.
And it can't just be somebody onthe sidelines.
I'm thinking, do we need acabinet level secretary?
And the answer might be yes.
(16:05):
It's 3% of the GDP.
Of course we do.
Why not?
So until that day, then I'llnominate you.
But until that day, we're justgonna have to ring the alarm.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Hi everybody, it's No Show.
I'm Matt Brown with, as always,Jeff Forman.
This is Thanksgiving week.
Thankfully, the government gotits act together, at least until
January, to get planes in theair, but it got us thinking.
You may have uh noticed that inrecent episodes we've been on a
little bit of a tear about uhthe government and how the
(00:26):
government treats tourism andhospitality.
Let me lay some numbers on you.
International travel ispredicted to drop by 6.3% from
72.4 million to 67.9 millionthis year.
That's according to the U.S.
Travel Association.
Canadian travel alone to theU.S.
was down by approximately 24%overall in the first half of
(00:48):
2025, and the forecast for theremainder of the year does not
look good.
In 2024, travel and tourismproduced an economic output of
$2.9 trillion, accounting forapproximately 2.5% to about 3%
of the U.S.
GDP, and it supports about 15million American jobs.
International tourism isconsidered a services export,
(01:11):
and it's deemed as such becauseforeign visitors come here and
they spend money on U.S.
goods and services.
That's wow, you don't hear thatmuch anymore.
It is the largest singleservices export for the United
States.
And the tourism and hospitalityindustry generates substantial
federal, state, and local taxrevenues, accounting for almost
7% of all government income.
(01:34):
Nothing to sneeze about.
So my question, Jeff, to you isdoes the federal government take
tourism for granted?
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Unequivocally, yes.
Wrap the show.
Sure.
Okay, see you later.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I mean, there's there's there'sno question.
I mean, the U.S.
federal government uhinexplicably hates its own
travel industry.
Doesn't an absolute zero tosupport it.
Let's run down that.
Let's run down all the ways.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
Statistically factual, of course.
Let's it sounds like fun.
Let's talk about how federalpolicies kind of work on hotels.
SPEAKER_01 (02:12):
Well, you started off with international demand,
which still remains more than20% down to pre-COVID levels.
So we've never, you know, you'retalking about year over year
drops.
Uh, we are in decline from anumber we never actually made up
in the first place.
International hotel visitorsspend four to five times as
much.
They stay one and a half tothree times longer when they're
(02:34):
here.
And so let's start with the visadysfunction that removes the
highest yield segment forhotels.
India, one of our supposedfriends and trade partners, visa
wait days, two to four hundreddays.
How are you supposed to visithere when you have to plan your
trip two to four hundred days inadvance?
Colombia, again, supposedly anally and a friend.
(02:54):
Wait times, 400 to 700 days.
U.S.
travel lost 39 million visitorsand 150 billion in loss spending
over the last decade justbecause of visa delays.
SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
That's interesting, too, particularly with India,
because for 10 years, everyhospitality expert in the world
has been talking about thecoming boom in India travel to
the U.S.
SPEAKER_01 (03:17):
It and it hits in a couple of different sectors.
I mean, we started with leisuretravel.
Yes, India travels here forleisure, for sure, but it is
also a major trade partner inbusiness travel with the lack of
return from the Chinese market.
I think it's still down morethan half to pre-COVID, right?
Chinese business travel to theUS.
Now, India, again, our supposedfriend and ally, uh, we were
(03:39):
basically telling them not tobother coming here.
Uh, you know, Zoom's better foryou folk, is kind of the message
we're giving.
Visa wait times are not the onlyway our government works against
our industry.
During the shutdown, or moreimportantly, as a result of the
shutdown, uh, holiday travel issupposed to decline.
It's expected to decline.
Deloitte put out a study a weekago for Americans during holiday
(04:02):
season, budgets are down 18%year over year.
The average number of trips isgoing to decline, 17%.
And 80% of households earningover 100 grand are expected to
opt for less expensive travel.
That's an important demographicbecause that's the group that
has carried the travel industry,at least the hotel industry.
Actually, airplanes too, becauseall you read about anymore is
(04:23):
purchases of premium cabins forat least six quarters now has
been what's been driving growthfor America's domestic airline
carriers.
Luxury travel is the onlyhospitality or hotel stay that's
really been growing.
So even the demographic that hasbeen kind of propping up a
fragile tourism business, eventhat's starting to feel the
pain, again, entirely because ofthis shutdown.
(04:45):
On the other side of thebusiness, operating our
businesses, there are hard visacaps that are getting worse and
worse.
So 66,000 visas allowed thisyear.
The hotel industry is 200,000workers short.
And yet we're putting caps onvisas.
Makes no sense whatsoever.
These are both travelers andworkers.
Hits us on both sides of thetourism economy.
(05:07):
Tariffs.
Can't hear enough about tariffs,or maybe we hear too much about
tariffs.
But in order to improve ourhotels, right?
The pips, the productimprovement, renovating hotels,
tariffs have increased the costof doing that by 20 to 40
percent.
So thank you, government.
Guests will have worse stays.
Hotels are not going to getrenovated as well or as often.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Even coming down to something like HVAC
replacements, you know, justeven even like the things that
we don't do completely take forgranted.
And even those things areaffected by this.
SPEAKER_01 (05:39):
You name it.
I mean, we could go intoairlines, FAA failures, slot
controls, cabotage.
We could talk about each one ofthese things.
The FAA staffing crisis goesback to a federal government
problem because the first one iswe're landing planes with 1980s
technology.
Uh, with it's like Atari Pongsystems.
We spoke with Greg Aratakisabout this.
(05:59):
The mindset of the decisionmakers is only the length of a
news cycle.
And so these generationalproblems, these decade-long
solutions that we need to keepour travel industry moving
forward are purely ignored.
77% of FAA facilities areunderstaffed.
There is a 3,000 controllershortage right now.
And not only is that bad enough,the FAA then has to spend$200
(06:23):
million a year on overtime.
Every way you look at it, theyignore the problems in the
industry.
SPEAKER_00 (06:28):
It's easy when you start talking about uh the
government's relationship tobusiness to blame an
administration.
And while I don't think thisadministration is doing, current
administration is doing anyparticular favors to the
industry, I think some of thethings we're talking about here
are pretty systemic, right?
And I wonder, is it becausetravel and tourism doesn't have
(06:49):
a singular voice?
Do we need more lobbyists?
Do we need a stronger lobbyist?
I can't believe I'm saying that.
But do I wonder how a businessthat is so expansive and so
important doesn't have moreweight in DC and elsewhere?
And maybe they do, and I'm justnot seeing it.
SPEAKER_01 (07:08):
The complexity of the travel industry, I think, is
certainly uh a hindrance tohaving a clean, clear voice.
Uh, it does touch so manyeconomies, it touches so many
verticals, so many businesses,so many types of people.
It touches like travel toucheseverything.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
I would not say one of America's strengths is uh
updating things before they needto be updated.
On a consumer level, when itcomes to apps, sure.
But when it comes to baselinetechnology that we use, I think
the the FAA, like the controlsystems that are used in in
towers, I mean, that's a perfectexample.
These things should have beenupdated 20, 30 years ago, and in
(07:47):
fact, they should probably beupdated as hardware every 10 to
15 years at minimum.
It's tough to commit the moneyand the time and the consistent
research and implementation todo that because the current
system works.
So if it ain't broke, don't fixit.
And which but it's also why whenyou look at photos of any air
(08:09):
control tower setup, it it lookslike something, as you said,
from 1979.
SPEAKER_01 (08:14):
You ask the question about do we need more lobbyists?
And what a repulsive thought,but uh you'd have to also ask
who they're lobbying for.
Right.
And so think of these twoexamples, right?
Airport slot controls.
And let's just take DC in NewYork.
Uh at JFK, there is an estimated25 to 35 percent capacity lost
at that airport because of theslot control limitations.
(08:39):
That's just a rule.
You could change a rule.
LaGuardia, 20% capacity loss iswhat's estimated.
DCA, uh, not so much a capacityloss.
Uh there may be that, I don'tknow.
Uh, but there's a limit on longhauls and international flights
uh, because you don't want, andI think that's more of a
security thing, probably, youknow, especially post-9-11.
(08:59):
You don't want certain kinds offlights coming that close to
sensitive places in Washington,D.C.
But nonetheless, these areexamples where the economies of
these places, the relaxed andpleasurable travel experience
that you have in these placescould be far better with better
regulation.
Uh, ultra-low-cost carriers haveless than 3% share in New York
(09:21):
and DC.
What do you think that does topricing, right?
Now, if legacy carriers have 85to 95% of those slots, it's
estimated that airfares are 10to 25% higher because of the
controls they have over thosemarkets.
So, I mean, who's lobbying forthat?
It's not the consumer.
And the economic loss that'sassociated with that, 35,000
(09:41):
jobs not created in those twomarkets, 3 billion almost in
lost activity was a portauthority study, 7 million
visitors suppressed toWashington and New York, just on
that one policy issue to limitslot expansion and competition.
Take it to Cabotage, one of ourfavorite subjects.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
One of our favorite subjects.
SPEAKER_01 (09:59):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
And cabotage, just as a reminder for everyone, that
is essentially a policy whereforeign carriers are barred from
operating domestic U.S.
flights.
And the rationale forever ago,it kind of reminds me of this uh
99% invisible episode that Ilistened to the other day.
And I found out that all U.S.
Army clothing is made in theUSA.
(10:21):
That's been the rule for a longtime.
And the rationale way back whenwas uh we don't want to be uh
dependent on any kind of foreignentity for basics for a
military, which I think makessense.
And you could apply some of thatlogic to airlines in the US,
that we don't want to beover-reliant on foreign
(10:41):
entities.
Of course, like so much else ofour transportation economy, I
mean, you know, when it comes tothings like gasoline, I think
that ship's already sailed.
So that it's it's it's we'recertainly kind of pick and
choose where Capotage works andwhere it doesn't.
It's unbelievable to me thateven for big routes that we
don't have like a Laftanza LA toNew York option.
SPEAKER_01 (11:01):
The fair impact, what you and I are paying
because of that is estimated tobe 10, 30% more on the main what
they call trunk routes, right?
Here's a couple examples, likefortress hubs.
Even the term just reeks ofprotectionism, right?
Fortress.
Yep.
In Atlanta, 80% of flights areDelta.
DFW, 85% American, uh, Houston,75% United, right?
(11:25):
On those domestic fares in andout of those places, 20 to 40%
higher.
Because you, me, I have nochoice.
I fly out of DFW almost weekly.
I have no choice but to buywhatever American offers me.
And the economic harm to thatestimated at$25 to$35 billion a
year.
SPEAKER_00 (11:44):
And we haven't even talked about rental cars, which
don't seem like they'reparticularly safe either, right?
SPEAKER_01 (11:50):
No.
Um fleets shrank 30 to 50percent during uh semiconductor
crisis.
Uh because of COVID, rentalprices went way up because the
availability of cars went waydown.
Uh Hertz went bankrupt.
It was taking two to three yearsfor the whole fleet to recover.
So again, consumers are the onespaying for this.
(12:11):
Smaller fleets, lesscompetition, higher prices.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
You know, this is applied even to EV mandates.
Without airport infrastructure,they're just they're DOA.
You know, you've got tens ofthousands of EVs purchased.
Many airports had fewer than 10chargers for a thousand plus
vehicle fleets, and there's justno forward thinking about it at
all.
And I think we, regardless ofwhat you think about U.S.
(12:36):
energy policy, we need to getreal about an electric vehicle
future.
But you know, Hertz was forcedto unwind their EV strategy.
They're going backwards whenthey should be charging forward
at five times the speed.
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
Matt, you mentioned airport infrastructure in the
way of uh EV chargers that can'tlive up to where we don't have
the infrastructure to meet theBiden administration mandate,
and we don't have the EVchargers to even supply the
fleet with energy.
Airport infrastructure, theyhave a passenger facility charge
of$4.50.
It's been frozen that way since2000.
(13:10):
Do you want airports to looknicer and feel nicer and operate
more smoothly, Matt?
I sure do.
How is it that it's been stuckat the same price for 25 years?
I think we can wrap here.
We can do this all day long.
The simple of it is that theU.S.
global competitiveness haseroded.
Uh, Euro Monitor ranked the U.S.
17th out of the 18 that it ranksin global travel
(13:34):
competitiveness.
Our share of long-haul flightsto this continent is declining
from 13.7 to 11.3.
The fees and processing, ESTAwent up, so we charge other
people to come in.
Visa integrity fee, we talkedabout that one day.
That's a brand new fee, 250bucks.
If you want to come visit us,250 to get a visa.
Like it doesn't matter how longwe talk, Matt, we're not going
(13:55):
to run out of enough examplesand enough statistics for how it
hurts this business.
ACI, uh Airport CouncilInternational, did a study that
they released last year showingthat every 1% of flights that we
do not have, whether that's agovernment cut or unrealized
because of other protectionpolicy, is the equivalent of$33
million a day in thatmarketplace.
(14:18):
Matt, here are the things we'vehit, and it's the tip of the
iceberg.
Visa delays, governmentshutdown, FAA failures, uh H2B
constraints, ADA lawsuits, wedidn't even talk about that, uh,
tariffs raising the costs, uh,suppressing demand.
That's just hitting the hotelsector on the airline side.
FAA staffing failures, outdatedair traffic control system, slot
(14:41):
controls, cabotage, moretariffs, reducing availability,
rental cars, no help on asemiconductor crisis, FAA delays
cause cascades for rental carproblems.
There are tariffs that areproblems, EV infrastructure
gaffes, inbound tourism.
We've talked about it a fewtimes.
We didn't even talk about thepassport failures.
We haven't talked about howforeigners don't want to come
(15:04):
here because of oursaber-rattling approach to the
rest of the world.
Haven't even talked about that.
You mentioned it a bit in thelead, I guess, with Canada, but
other than Canada, the entireworld has dropped in its desire
to come here.
So who's going to hold thefederal government accountable
on behalf of the travelindustry?
That's what I want to know.
That's why we're talking aboutthis.
(15:25):
Maybe a leader should rise.
Who would that leader be?
SPEAKER_00 (15:29):
Could it be you?
Oh no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:34):
A voice from the plains leading us to sunlit
uplands.
Matt, I just want those planesto arrive and depart on time.
Look, I just work here.
SPEAKER_00 (15:44):
I don't I don't I don't want to be boss of
anything.
I would like to have a seriousdiscussion on a national level.
I wonder if, either in thisadministration or the next, if
we'll if we'll get to a travelczar.
And it can't just be somebody onthe sidelines.
I'm thinking, do we need acabinet level secretary?
And the answer might be yes.
(16:05):
It's 3% of the GDP.
Of course we do.
Why not?
So until that day, then I'llnominate you.
But until that day, we're justgonna have to ring the alarm.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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