5 Travel Policy Priorities For The Trump Administration

As the Trump Administration enters the White House promising a “new golden era” for the United States, I have five travel-related policy priorities I would love to see the new administration embrace.

My Top Trump Administration Travel Priorities

These five policy preferences are in no particular order.

Continued Investment In Airport + Air Traffic Control Infrastructure

We’ve already seen such a transformation of major US airports over the last decade and investing in American infrastructure like major airports has a tremendous spillover effect in positively impacting local economies and spurring interstate and worldwide commerce. Infrastructure is an expensive investment and often has no immediate gratification, but it pays off over the long term and if Trump is halfway serious about the USA entering a “new golden age,” then that should include functional world-class airports that are the envy of the world.

Case in point: Newark Terminal A or New York LaGuardia Terminal B…those airports have gone from dumpy and dilapidated to world-class.

We need to move with the same urgency for the Air Traffic Control system. Yes, and we must pay for it too…and that should come before another tax cut for the wealthy, even as the tech plutocrats appear to be foaming at the mouth for modern-day “salutary neglect” from the new administration.

All-In Fees For All Hotels, Resorts, And Lodging Like Airbnb

Trump talks about being a populist and is adamant about tariffs, which he thinks will protect American workers and businesses. I think tariffs are foolish barriers to trade that harm the very people they are intended to help, but one flavor of populism that I am happy to sign onto is mandatory disclosure of all taxes and fees, to minimize consumer confusion. Airbnb is egregious in baiting you with a deceptively-low price then sticking on fees that inflate it to the point that it does not make sense. This wastes consumer’s time. It’s time for transparent pricing by law, since Airbnb is dragging its feet.

A Merger For Spirit And Frontier Airlines

Hindsight is 20-20, but the merger with Spirit and JetBlue should have gone through and the Northeast Alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines should never have been blocked.

Spirit and Frontier, two so-called “ultra-low-cost” carriers are struggling. Legacy carriers have done a masterful job of competing with them and I worry about the survival of both carriers. I also believe both carriers provide essential competitive pressure in the US airline market and would love to see a stronger nationwide low-cost carrier that could challenge network carriers on their bread-and-butter routes and not lose money doing it.

Veto Durban’s Credit Card Competition Act

While I don’t think it has a chance in the GOP-controlled House or Senate, it’s time to put Dick Durban’s misguided Credit Card Competition Act out of its misery. Oh yes, I know some merchants would benefit from a reduction in credit card interchange fees through more competition, but the move would functionally destroy loyalty programs in the USA and I quite like the current system.

Lifting Of North Korea Travel Ban

I’m still very interested in visiting North Korea and I hope that Trump’s “bromance” with Kim Jong Un can be rekindled such that a sustained rapprochement can actually persuade the DPRK to give up its nuclear ambitions.

I’d love to check out those Air Korea Soviet-era jets while they are still airworthy, but Americans are banned from visiting North Korea right now by the US government. North Korea may still accept US citizens (and potentially use them as pawns), but North Korean tour companies will have nothing to do with Americans.

CONCLUSION

I have so much to say about all that has transpired in Washington, DC over the last 36 hours, but to avoid (further) alienating my readers, I am going to stick to travel for now. I think the five items above are not only realistic (and frankly not asking for all that much) but would aid and advance Trump’s “America First” agenda and lead to a better quality of life for all Americans who travel.

What would you like to see from the Trump administration, as it relates to travel?

image: screengrab from White House official inaugural swearing-in ceremony video