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Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, January 30, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Yesterday evening an American Eagle regional jet operated by PSA Airlines flying from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C. collided midair with an Army Blackhawk helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport. The aircraft, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, has a seating capacity of 65. Following the collision, all takeoffs and landings at the airport were halted, and the facility is expected to remain closed until 11 a.m. ET Thursday.
Local authorities have confirmed that at least one aircraft is in the Potomac River, and search and rescue operations are underway. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is closely monitoring the situation from FAA headquarters. The FAA and NTSB will conduct a joint investigation, with the NTSB leading the effort. President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident. The FAA is currently leaderless following former FAA chief Mike Whitaker’s resignation earlier this month.
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Next, Columnist Colin Nagy believes the hospitality industry is seeing a reduced appetite for post-Covid excess and conspicuous consumption. The pushback is creating space for new thinking, and Nagy provides his list of the biggest innovators in travel and hospitality for the winter of 2025.
Nagy named Capella as a standout brand, writing the company has achieved luxury while maintaining modernity and offering rooms that feel inspired rather than cookie-cutter. He also praised the Dusit Thani Bangkok for its design, elegance, and perfect location.
In wellness, Six Senses elegantly blends Japanese Zen culture with a smart science future, while Siro has built a hotel around hyper-modern fitness thinking and sleep-optimized rooms.
Lastly, Frontier Airlines announced on Wednesday that it’s making another bid to acquire the struggling Spirit Airlines. However, Spirit isn’t interested in the offer, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.
Spirit said in a regulatory filing that Frontier’s plan would deliver less value than its current plan to exit bankruptcy and continue operating as a standalone carrier. Spirit filed for bankruptcy last November, 10 months after a federal judge blocked its proposed merger with JetBlue.
Frontier had previously made an offer to buy Spirit, but Spirit’s shareholders rejected it after JetBlue made an all-cash offer in June 2022 valued at $3.8 billion.
