NEW YORK (NewsNation Now) — Getting around may become more difficult in the new year.
Travel industry analysts are seeing two potential problems on the horizon, on the rails and in the air.
Amtrak is projecting there may not be enough people to run the trains when it starts enforcing the federal vaccine mandate.
Even though about 94% of Amtrak employees are already fully vaccinated, the company is concerned there may be a risk of running into crew members on long routes who are not vaccinated.
The company warned workers of the upcoming vaccination requirement in August.
“While we recognize this is a personal decision for each of us, we are confident it is in the long-term best interest for our colleagues, our customers and our company,” Amtrak Chief Executive Bill Flynn said.
Taylor Rains of Business Insider said the reductions will likely impact long-haul services such as New York to New Orleans and New York to Florida.
“So, those trains that everyone was going to disperse themselves on, everyone’s now going to be on just the few that they’re going to offer,” Rains said.
There’s trouble of a different kind at American Airlines.
The company is dropping some international flights next summer due to manufacturing problems at Boeing — which won’t be able to deliver 13 of its 787 Dreamliners as expected this winter.
“We simply won’t be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer, or as we did in summer 2019,” American Airlines Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja told employees in a memo.
That could also mean an increase in airfares next summer.
Amtrak is expected to announce service cuts in a matter of days. The company has promised to rebook customers as needed, but its full schedule may not be back on track until March.