Emirates Says Bookings to the U.S. Fell by 35% After the First Travel Ban

http://fortune.com/2017/03/09/emirates-bookings-fell-35-after-first-travel-ban/

by JamilD • 9 years ago

106 55 9 years ago

nojvek2• 9 years ago

I can imagine that. I am a permanent resident of US but for the fact that I am brown, I am avoiding all unnecessary trips.

Going through TSA is a very uncomfortable experience.

chrisper• 9 years ago

Brown like Indian or Brown like Arabic? Does it even make a difference?

electrichead• 9 years ago

This is a common misconception - "Arabic" isn't distinguishable like this since a lot of Arabs are fair-skinned.

smacktoward• 9 years ago

Given how many Americans assume Sikhs are Muslims (see https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/the-tro...), I'd say probably not.

vinay4273• 9 years ago

Decidedly anecdotal: Not the OP but I am brown like Indian with a non-Muslim name and have never had any extra scrutiny at security, except for one "random" screening on my boarding pass that involved some TSA swab check. I am a citizen, but I haven't heard of any non-citizen family friends or relatives that have expressed anything out of the ordinary.

JamilD2• 9 years ago

I've travelled to the US 20+ times over the past two years; I really don't mind going through TSA or US Customs, I have an Arabic first name and I'm a visible minority (Indian). Never had any major issues at the border or during security.

That being said, I cancelled a couple planned trips since January — not going to travel to the US until I have to; I don't want to put up with the hassle.

jliptzin• 9 years ago

I have a friend who was born in the US but his parents are Iranian. I am friends with him since we were 5 years old. This guy is the opposite of a threat to this country, but he's pretty much stopped traveling internationally after he was detained and accused of bringing rocket launchers into the country by some stupid border agent who ended up just trying to be "tough" on him to see if he would crack.

cpncrunch• 9 years ago

What did the border agent think were rocket launchers?

mandeepj• 9 years ago

Not trying to berate your experience. Touchwood, I never had any problem with TSA. I have got myself TSA pre. My total time for security check at O'hare and LAX is between 2-5 mins. There have been times when TSA officials were cracking jokes with me.

Edit - let me share a small story with you. It is from the times when I was on EAD (about 4,5 years ago). I was returning from India to Chicago. Immigration office told me there will an additional check so they asked me to follow another officer. The area had lot of chairs and TVs. While, I was waiting for my return of my passport, I saw another guy sleeping on 5,6 chairs. A TSA officer came and telling him while shaking his body to try to wake him up - "hey! wake up. You can go home" :-)

P.S - english is my 2nd language so please pardon my grammar.

shambala2• 9 years ago

Same here. I am brown, US passport, have never had any problems reentering the US. One time I even had a full on beard, and looked very disheveled and disoriented. Ambled on in.

jackweirdy• 9 years ago

TSA Pre can help, but if you have a similar name to someone on a watchlist or no-fly list you can still get stopped.

If anyone reading this is consistently stopped unfairly, or faces extra delays when ticket agents print their boarding card, you should use DHS TRIP (Traveler Redress Inquiry Program)

https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-trip

reacharavindh4• 9 years ago

I guess I added to that 35%. I'm a brown guy(Indian) with a beard amd often mistaken for middle eastern. I live in the US. I put off International travel plans because of all the craziness going around. They weren't essential travel though. I would've, but now I saved up some money before I move out of the US permanently in July ;-)

tajen• 9 years ago

So... which country earned your respect? Out of interest in people's perception of human rights.

reacharavindh4• 9 years ago

Moving not because I don't respect the opportunities in the US, or that the country has treated me so badly that I wanna escape and go somewhere. But because I had to make a choice between settling down in the USA vs settling down in Denmark. Current political climate and the prospects of this administration didn't do much to convince me that USA was any better.

If anything, I'm thankful to the USA for many things in the last 6 years I lived here. Most of it for the awesome friends I made here. But, my Visa always reminded me that I'm just a visitor, and the ~10 year wait for a green card doesn't really make the USA attractive to me anymore.

m0llusk• 9 years ago

As a nation of immigrants steeped in commerce this is catastrophic mismanagement of some of humanity's greatest resources.

cyberferret• 9 years ago

As an Australian resident, but of sub-continental descent, I am re-evaluating travel plans to visit the US again. Love the place, have friends and colleagues there, but just not wanting to put up with the risks & hassle involved.

It is interesting that a Middle Eastern carrier is reporting a drop like this. It would be a good exercise to compare the ME->USA travel statistic against their other routes. I know that Emirates is a popular carrier here (Australia) to get to Europe etc. Also would be interesting to corroborate against statistics from Qantas, Cathay Pacific etc. as well as other ME carriers like Etihad.

codecamper• 9 years ago

I would like to see SV leaders stand up to this garbage. Make public statements saying that you will be moving more jobs out of the US because of Trump's actions.

I don't know why people have down voted this. Trump has all the markings of a fascist. Fascists must be dealt with... you don't just tiptoe around them.

Mikeb852• 9 years ago

Pretty sure that's a terrible idea.

Like the law or not, that's who your nation voted for, and the government has the power to make life very difficult for corporations.

Also, let's be real here. The travel ban doesn't affect these SV companies. How many employees are going to be coming from Syria, Iran or Yemen?. Are the positive optics worth the difficulties? The public is already weary of corporations becoming too powerful, this will only feed into that distrust, and possibly alienate ~50% of the population.

Political statements in either direction are almost always a losing proposition for corporations.

pjc50• 9 years ago

Political statements in either direction are almost always a losing proposition for corporations

Whereas dumping huge amounts of money into PACs is often a winning proposition for companies. :(

nl• 9 years ago

Iran produces more engineering graduates than any country other than China, Russia and the US (can't find the China reference but this is similar: http://interestingengineering.com/top-10-countries-with-the-.... The article I read was about electronic engineering though).

Interestingly, 70% of Iranian engineering grads are female https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-ta...

JamilD2• 9 years ago

Many tech employees come from Iran; it's a country of engineers and mathematicians. Both my supervising postdocs in my research positions were born there.

__derek__3• 9 years ago

the government has the power to make life very difficult for corporations

If we're at the point where companies need to fear arbitrary punishment by the government for partisan reasons, the rule of law is dead. I'm not ready to concede that point.

Also, let's be real here. The travel ban doesn't affect these SV companies. How many employees are going to be coming from Syria, Iran or Yemen?. Are the positive optics worth the difficulties?

You may be interested to learn that a slew of companies signed an amicus brief in Washington v. Trump[1], including:

Airbnb, Uber, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Dropbox, eBay, GoPro, Lyft, Spotify, Yelp and Levi Strauss & Co

So, in their estimation, the answer appears to be "yes."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_v._Trump#Amici_curi...

sandworm1014• 9 years ago

Know who really cares? Not Emirates or airlines. Talk to Disneyworld. Talk to real estate agents who are seeing middle east buyers heading to Vancouver and London rather than New York. Emirates delivers the people but the real loss is to those doing business with those people once they land.

vanjoe• 9 years ago

Is Vancouver really in the class of london and new York? (I've lived my whole life in a Vancouver suburb, and I'm curious how the world views us)

sandworm1014• 9 years ago

It depends. The city isn't great for locals, but the overseas investor sees different things. They look for stability and ease of entry. A good airport, reasonable immigration and stable house prices. Even the local efforts to stabilize prices through the new taxes are seen as safe in that they reduce the chance of a bubble burst. If you are looking for a place to park money in real estate, Vancouver is on the short list. If you are a local looking for work or wanting to start a business, that is a totally different story.

Iv• 9 years ago

I just don't want to have an algorithmic test handled to me at the border and risk deportation if I don't get the answer "right". Canada is fine.

enbbaatran• 9 years ago

Honestly I cannot see why anyone would want to visit the USA these days. It sounds like you're "welcomed" with an intrusive interrogation and if you get through that you have to endure:

* the world's crappiest food, and too much of it

* loud, raspy, nasal voices

* constant risk of being shot

OK the country looks beautiful but you can get stunning natural scenery elsewhere on the planet with added culture

artificial• 9 years ago

Probably to work since most of the top internet companies are based there and heavily use and advocate for visa laborers.

fuckoffmate• 9 years ago

you might try actually visiting and finding those aren't truthful :)

Most people I've found who think that are young and poor or left, how perspective changes once you escape that!

christofosho• 9 years ago

"Or left"...

People are not political opinions. Not to get into a debate here, but neither of you are providing evidence for your claims, and relying on confirmation bias is not a good way to prove something.

beezischillin• 9 years ago

I do get that websites need advertising to survive, however 100% volume autoplaying ads with dubstep, I could seriously live without. (and I like electronic music.)

Emirates Says Bookings to the U.S. Fell by 35% After the First Travel Ban

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