A group of business leaders and travel industry experts came together to make the case for the return of business travel, meetings, exhibitions, and events, reports Travel Pulse. The group cited dozens of events and exhibitions that have been safely conducted during the pandemic and noted tools and practices that helped these events take place. Scientific modeling by the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA) and Epistemix has shown in-person professional meetings and events pose a near-zero (0.001%) risk of COVID-19 transmission to attendees, even for large events, due to the layered approach to mitigation strategies. The group also provided evidence for the safety of air travel and presented research that showed business travelers were also more likely to be vaccinated. According to Destination Analysts, 78 percent of Americans who have traveled for business in the last two years have been vaccinated, compared to 72 percent of American travelers overall.

Canada's national carrier, Air Canada, will begin offering Aeroplan status matches to eligible US-based frequent flyers who already hold status with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, or Southwest Airlines, as the country steps up efforts to increase air travel from the United States after recently opening its borders to vaccinated travelers, reports Forbes. “This is super-focused in terms of our ability to reach frequent fliers,” said Gloria Loree, Destination Canada’s chief marketing officer ahead of the launch. Eligible US frequent flyers who book and travel to Canada on an Air Canada flight before January 15, 2022, will keep their status with the carrier for all of 2022, she said. Loree also stated that boosting cross-border travel will help both countries, and that the goal is to restore routes from the US, while trying to attract travelers who will return to Canada.

The Scottish government is relaxing its rules for international travelers visiting Scotland, stating that fully vaccinated travelers will no longer have to take pre-departure COVID-19 tests, reports Travel Pulse. The change will benefit Scots returning home from abroad and international travelers from non-red list countries. In addition, Scotland will also align with the UK post-arrival testing regime, but details still must be worked out. The only stipulation now for fully vaccinated travelers is that they must have been vaccinated in a country that meets "recognized standards of certifications.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning the rollout of a software system that will be used to reduce airline taxi times and delays while making the national airspace system more efficient, reports Travel Weekly. The Advanced Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) system is a predictive software solution that integrates ongoing flight arrivals at airports with airline departure plans and the real-time situation in the skies. It enables aircraft to depart the gate later and then move directly from the tarmac to the runway for takeoff without long wait times, thereby saving fuel. "This technology cuts delays by all kinds of hours and the aircraft engines run all kinds of fewer hours," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said during a teleconference on September 28. "What does that mean? That means less maintenance and fewer engines. This is obviously good for the environment. It's good for our economy. It's good for customers." The FAA plans to roll out the system gradually at 27 large airports in the US over the next 10 years. Successful trials have already been undertaken at Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Dallas Love Field airports.

United Airlines has announced that it is making it easier for travelers to find and use their travel credits by automatically displaying them as a payment option during the checkout process. This functionality will be available for MileagePlus® members first and the airline is working to roll it out to all travelers in the near future. Travelers will also have ability to combine multiple travel credits and use them on partner airlines. For travelers who have travel credits issued on or before August 31, 2021, United is also allowing a one-time opportunity to share these credits with friends and family. This plan represents the continuation of United's customer experience transformation, as the carrier continues to invest in ways to enhance the travel experience, including introducing new policies to encourage and make it simple for travelers to return to travel.