Two in a row
Muse #161 - hopefully the next one will be better
Today is July 1. It is Canada Day here in Canada. Just a few days earlier to the July 4 Independence Day in the US. And for the second year, celebrations have been muted to none at all. Last year clearly the pandemic was growing and we were in the midst of the first wave.
In a year since then, the vaccines are freely available. Canada has reached 75% first dose and 35% two doses coverage for the wider population. Here in Halton county where I live, first dose vaccine coverage is over 85% but yet it was considered wise to not have any activities that allow crowds to form.
Fireworks were canceled for the second year in a row and we spent a muted holiday mostly sitting at home on a day that was muggy, cloudy, and had extensive thunderstorms and showers in the evening. I did a bit of dog-sitting my scared dog who spent a couple of hours shivering non-stop from the sound of the thunder and the rains. The lack of fireworks is a boon, as he is impacted similarly by that too.
But there is hope that things are looking up, at least here in Canada and we should have better celebrations in 2022. Global travel might not return soon, but things might look up locally over the next several months. If things are an indicator of hope, the United Airlines order for $36 billion worth of new aircraft with Boeing and Airbus this week should be a potential signal of it. It was an order for 270 aircraft and the largest ever order placed by the company, ever. If this is not a sign in the extremely depressed travel and aviation industry, what is?
Reference:
United Signals a New Era for Air Travel? One Can Only Hope. - https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-06-29/united-signals-a-new-customer-friendly-era-for-air-travel
United Airlines set to purchase historic number of planes - https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/United-Airlines-set-to-purchase-historic-number-16284478.php