WEBVTT - Thanksgiving Travel Could Be a Mess, Will the TSA Be Ready?

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, November eight. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Millions of Americans are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, and

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<v Speaker 1>if you are heading out, you should expect delays. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the biggest mysteries is how many T s A

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<v Speaker 1>agents will be in compliance with vaccine mandates for federal

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<v Speaker 1>workers set for November. The government doesn't think there will

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<v Speaker 1>be any delays. The long way times are inevitable as

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<v Speaker 1>T s A employers are leaving for other reasons too.

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<v Speaker 1>Suzanne Rowan Killer, her staff writer at Forbes, joins us

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<v Speaker 1>for how holiday travel could be a mess. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, Susanne, Thanks for having me. Let's talk about

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving travel. It's gonna be very, very busy. It's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be one of the busiest, uh moments we've had so far,

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<v Speaker 1>coming back from the pandemic and all of that, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's just a lot of questions up in there. We've

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<v Speaker 1>already seen a bunch of delays happening with various airlines

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<v Speaker 1>and whatnot. The next big question people have is will

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<v Speaker 1>the T s A be You ready have a very

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<v Speaker 1>looming vaccine deadline coming for the t s A workers.

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<v Speaker 1>They need to be fully vaccinated by Monday, November, and

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<v Speaker 1>the t s A hasn't really given us a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of details on what the compliance numbers have been, so

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<v Speaker 1>that's one of the huge questions swirling around will they

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<v Speaker 1>be ready? So Susanna tell us a little bit more

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<v Speaker 1>about it. Well, you've got that right. Thanksgiving weekends always

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<v Speaker 1>a huge travel weekend. It's usually one of the top

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<v Speaker 1>weekends of the whole year. This year is going to

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<v Speaker 1>definitely be just right up there. So what happened was

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<v Speaker 1>that in mid October, the t s A administrator David

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<v Speaker 1>Pakovsky told Shannon that there was about six percent of

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<v Speaker 1>the t s A workforce but has been vaccinated, and

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<v Speaker 1>she axpected that number to go quite a bit higher

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<v Speaker 1>in the next few weeks. So since I covered that story,

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<v Speaker 1>I would check in with the t s A every

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<v Speaker 1>week and say how are the numbers? Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>new numbers? And I kept getting, you know, just sort of,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't have anything new. We don't know anything new.

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<v Speaker 1>And that happened right up to this week, and then

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<v Speaker 1>something else happened, which was yesterday there was a panel

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<v Speaker 1>hearing at the House Homeland Security Committee. It was the

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<v Speaker 1>Subcommittee for Transportation and Maritime Security. And one of the

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<v Speaker 1>people testifying was Everett Kelly, who is the president of

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<v Speaker 1>the union representing federal workers, so he represents seven thousand

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<v Speaker 1>federal workers including t s A employees. And he was asked,

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<v Speaker 1>does he know how many you know, how many people

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<v Speaker 1>have been vaccinated at the t s A. And he

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<v Speaker 1>said he didn't know. Everybody seemed to be going with

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<v Speaker 1>this sixty percent number, which was the latest. Now I

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<v Speaker 1>suspect that that number has gone quite a bit higher

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<v Speaker 1>in the last five weeks, but we just don't know

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<v Speaker 1>where that lies. Yeah, and you know, the bottom line

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<v Speaker 1>they said was, you know, the long weight lines are

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<v Speaker 1>just going to be there, which is not what anybody

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<v Speaker 1>wants to hear. You know, they're saying that when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to the vaccine mandate that they're not going to

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<v Speaker 1>really see any disruptions there. They think they'll be fine.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's not just that they're saying that they're seeing

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of turnover. People are just quitting because you know,

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<v Speaker 1>low wages, working conditions, basically what we've been seeing in

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<v Speaker 1>various other sectors right now throughout the country so either way,

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<v Speaker 1>they're kind of saying, might not see many disruptions here,

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<v Speaker 1>but looking maybe towards December and the rest of the

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<v Speaker 1>holiday season, there could be something happening. I think there's

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be a long line to Thanksgiving. There's long lines.

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<v Speaker 1>Even under the best of circumstances. People need to get

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<v Speaker 1>to the airport early. I mean, that's just kind of

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<v Speaker 1>a given. You might look out if you're going in

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<v Speaker 1>a morning flight that those flights should kind of take

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<v Speaker 1>off more on time. If you're plying out of a

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<v Speaker 1>smaller regional airport, you probably have better luck. But people

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<v Speaker 1>are just going to have to kind of bring their

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<v Speaker 1>patients with them and assume that they're going to come

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<v Speaker 1>upon these long lines. And you're right, they're part of

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<v Speaker 1>a the union president effort Kelly actually pushed back a

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<v Speaker 1>bit to some of the numbers of Compress who were saying, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, this vaccine mandate is making this problem, and

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<v Speaker 1>he was saying, look, there's going to be aligned because

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<v Speaker 1>of staffing. You know, we have staffing shortages. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>a combination. It's sort of a perfect storm that's happening.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're right, all across the country in all different industries,

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<v Speaker 1>the airline industries. You mentioned the delays because of weather

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<v Speaker 1>over the last few months, but that was also because

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<v Speaker 1>of shortages. So what's happened is that people have in

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<v Speaker 1>all different industries have left their jobs. Often they took

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<v Speaker 1>retirement packages or you know, exit packages, and there hasn't

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<v Speaker 1>been the staffing to kind of catch up. So we're

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<v Speaker 1>I just think that people need to kind of go

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<v Speaker 1>in there with a reality check that it's going to

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<v Speaker 1>expect it, to be expected to be away, to get

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<v Speaker 1>to the airport a lot earlier than you were planning

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<v Speaker 1>on it, and then enjoy your holiday and a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more. Back to the vaccine mandate, because a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people have sought religious and medical exemptions for all

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<v Speaker 1>of that. They're also there's is also this push by

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<v Speaker 1>some of the unions to maybe push back the deadline

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<v Speaker 1>to January four, that's the other deadline that they have

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<v Speaker 1>for federal contractors and whatnot. They're saying, maybe you just

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<v Speaker 1>push back till after the holidays and uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe things could be a little bit better. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>that might be something that was evert Kelly say in

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<v Speaker 1>the in the panel yesterday, he said that the union

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<v Speaker 1>wants to push it back to January four, so that

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<v Speaker 1>both federal workers and federal contractors, who work often side

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<v Speaker 1>by side, have the same deadline. This vaccine mandate, though

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<v Speaker 1>was announced in July, people have known about it since July.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm expecting, actually that the number of employees that the

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<v Speaker 1>t s A That have been vaccinated is quite a

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<v Speaker 1>bit higher, maybe in the eighties now. I think that

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<v Speaker 1>the Customs of Border Patrols had numbers in the ad

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<v Speaker 1>around now, and so I've expected to be kind of

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<v Speaker 1>in that ballpark, maybe even a little bit higher. What

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<v Speaker 1>looks like the vaccine mandates have worked at the airlines,

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<v Speaker 1>there are definitely people who looked for the exemptions, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's the minority. The you know that when the airlines

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<v Speaker 1>did the vaccine mandate up into the nineties, that jumped,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, and they were the Delta CEO bastions that

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<v Speaker 1>they got stuck at seventy five percent. They were handing

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<v Speaker 1>up parrots trying to incentivize people like I stuck at

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<v Speaker 1>seventy five and then they didn't do a mandate in

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<v Speaker 1>the sense. Delta did not do a mandate in the

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<v Speaker 1>sense of saying you get vaccinated or you lose your job.

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<v Speaker 1>But what they said, I think personally kind of amounts

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<v Speaker 1>to a mandate. They said, well, if you don't get vaccinated,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to charge you two hundred dollars every month

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<v Speaker 1>extra for your health in shirts. So that's another you know,

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<v Speaker 1>that was definitely a stick that's gonna push, that's going

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<v Speaker 1>to push them to adopted that much quicker, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>definitely at that point exactly, and then jumped up. Their

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<v Speaker 1>numbers jumped away too. So they've seen this all over

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<v Speaker 1>travel that when the mandates come in, the numbers definitely

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<v Speaker 1>go up. And the other thing in mind is that

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of people pushing for vaccine mandates,

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<v Speaker 1>not just for the employees but for passengers. As you know,

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<v Speaker 1>that's part of the international travel when people come into

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<v Speaker 1>the US now they have to be vaccinated. And there

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<v Speaker 1>was just a couple of dozen members of Congress that

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<v Speaker 1>are pushing for that to be drifted over to the

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<v Speaker 1>US travel. And when you look at surveys h since gosh,

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<v Speaker 1>five six months now, steady, the American people are behind it.

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<v Speaker 1>Every survey says two thirds of Americans want vaccine mandates

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<v Speaker 1>for passengers. And you know there was a whole yesterday

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<v Speaker 1>that came out of morning console. Only of Americans still

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<v Speaker 1>comfortable flying right now. So yeah, it's an ongoing story

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<v Speaker 1>and I'll put it that way. Yeah, definitely. Well, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>see what Thanksgiving, how Thanksgiving shake out, and hopefully everybody

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<v Speaker 1>gets to where they need to go and back in

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<v Speaker 1>a timely manner. Suzanne Roland kelleher staff writer at Forbes

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<v Speaker 1>covering travel trends, Thank you very much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has been reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't forget that. For today's big news stories, you can

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<v Speaker 1>check me out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday

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<v Speaker 1>through Friday. So follow us on I Heart Radio or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you get your podcasts