Travellers Safety Concerns Rise Post US Capitol Attacks; Airlines and Hotels Ramp Security

TraveloGuide Insight
3 min readJan 8, 2021

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The US Capitol attacks on Wednesday have significantly impacted the global airline industry in ways never thought of before. As protestors prepare to head homewards after the riots, some travellers have raised concerns over their security in a country where riots were a major part of the headlines. After Trump’s supporters created a chaos in the Capitol, many airlines have revised security measures for the greater good.

Focusing on the concerned situation, American Airlines and United Air Lines have increased staff strength to improve vigilance at airports and in flights. Also, airline authorities have stopped liquor sales on flights to and from the airports. A statement recently released by the American Airlines said, “At American, safety is our highest priority. At American, safety is our highest priority”.

The US Capitol attacks have also affected travellers’ confidence in visiting the US as the airport terminals saw only a few people yesterday. As per the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the mob mentality behaviour has increased risks of violent and seditious behaviour within the airport premises.

Following this, several employees at the US airports have claimed that many people moving around without masks made the former’s otherwise peaceful job quite problematic. Addressing this concern, the AFA’s President — Julie Hedrick said, “As safety professionals, we are well trained in handling inflight disruptions, but we should never find ourselves having to deal with politically motivated verbal or physical altercations on board.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of Delta Air Lines Ed Bastian said, “Peaceful protest has been a powerful force for change throughout U.S. history. But it must never cross the line into violence and insurrection”. Travel experts have reinstated that situation in the US is likely to remain controversial and violent at least until President elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.

Following advice of travel experts, the governments of many countries around the world have issued travel warnings against visiting the US. The travel advisory released by the German Foreign Ministry states, “The general situation may change at any time, especially during the transition period until the new US government is inaugurated on 20 January 2021, and unrest may flare up again”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also advised fellow Australians to avoid travelling to areas where the protests are occurring due to risks of potential violence.

As of now the US has issued a travel ban for non-US citizens and non US residents with travel history to Germany or the Schengen Zone within past 14 days. Consequently, British travellers can’t fly to the US.

Due to rising security concerns, several US hotels had shut their doors for guests from January 4 to 6. This unplanned shut down has also impacted the revenues of hotels and restaurants who were already struggling for survival amid reduced tourist arrivals. The airlines are expecting another row of deep unrest post Biden’s sworn in ceremony on January 20.

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TraveloGuide Insight
TraveloGuide Insight

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