Raphael Stevens

JetBlue Airways and American Airlines launched a partnership earlier this year allowing each carrier to sell one another’s flights.
JetBlue is updating its website to highlight more of its on-board amenities.
The Justice Department sued the carriers last month, saying the alliance violated antitrust laws and will drive up fares.

An American Airlines plane lands on a runway near a parked JetBlue plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 16, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways’ next challenge in its partnership with American Airlines is making sure travelers know whose plane they will be on.
JetBlue is revamping its website to more clearly call out services it offers, like free Wi-Fi and snacks, or its business class, Mint, for jointly sold flights, JetBlue’s President and Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty said in an interview this week.

“Transparency eliminates confusion,” Geraghty said. “It makes people feel comfortable if they know what they’re getting when they arrive, and it also enables us to talk about our great product offerings and enables American to talk about theirs.”
The New York-based carrier shook up U.S. airline service when it debuted in February 2000, offering seat-back screens with satellite TV, and has since offered its Mint business class at a lower price than competitors as well as more legroom than rivals. Competitors like United Airlines are in the process of making multibillion-dollar investments to improve customer amenities.
American and JetBlue launched the Northeast Alliance in February, a partnership that allows the carriers to sell tickets on each other’s planes and coordinate schedules in the region.
While JetBlue has grown rapidly over two decades, it remains small compared with big network carriers.
The airlines’ executives say the agreement helps them better compete with major rivals United and Delta Air Lines in usually congested airports in Boston and the New York City area.

But services and aircraft on each airline differ. JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi, seat-back screens and sells alcoholic beverages. American Airlines sells Wi-Fi service and has suspended alcoholic beverage sales on domestic coach flights following an surge in unruly travelers this year. Some American Airlines planes have seat-back entertainment though it broadly offers free streaming content for passengers’ personal devices as well as Apple TV+ and Apple Music, specifics not listed on JetBlue’s site.
“For us, it’s about making sure customers know what they’re buying,” Geraghty said. The redesign will likely include bullet points to show what each flight offers, she added, and will take several months.

Protecting the brand

JetBlue’s website tweaks show the challenges in communicating service differences even though airlines are selling each other’s flights.
“Basically it’s a marriage of convenience that has a certain cost to the brand,” said Samuel Engel, senior vice president of aviation at consulting firm ICF. “The more savvy travelers know the difference [in service], and the less experienced travelers tend to be more price focused.”
Flight searches on each airline’s website for routes covered under the agreement now displays flights and note in small font whether it’s operated by JetBlue or American.
Not all fares are available. American doesn’t sell JetBlue’s no-frill basic economy tickets. An American Airlines spokeswoman said the Fort Worth-based carrier plans to change that eventually but selling it side by side with its own product could confuse passengers.
JetBlue’s basic economy fares don’t allow travelers to bring a bag for the overhead bin, while American’s does. That carrier has also loosened its basic economy restrictions.
Other differences: A list of flight options on JetBlue’s website shows a link for “amenities offered” for its own flights but not American’s. American, in turn, notes that Wi-Fi is available on JetBlue and American flights but not that it’s free on JetBlue.
American said it plans to eventually tweak its site to show more detailed service information. It has recently updated its website to provide seat maps for JetBlue and American and allow customers to access their reservations from either carrier.
This fall, it plans to extend elite frequent-flyer benefits to customers with that status from each airline.
“There were some customer pain points over the summer that we’ve fixed, a spokeswoman said.
The partnership is now under fire.
The Justice Department, six states and the District of Columbia sued the carriers over the partnership last month, alleging it violated antitrust laws and will drive up fares. The carriers deny the allegations and said the partnership has helped them add more flights in the region.
“It provides a very viable third competitor to Delta and United in the Northeast,” Geraghty said. “We are very confident in our position to the DOJ.” The Justice Department and Transportation Department didn’t respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
While JetBlue and American coordinate on schedules and routes to and from Boston and the New York area, they aren’t allowed to work together on fare or pricing information.

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A surge in Covid cases — the vast majority of which have no or mild symptoms — prompted Singapore’s government to tighten social-distancing measures starting this week.
Many of those cases were detected because Singapore is “doing a lot of surveillance for Covid” through testing, said Ashley St. John, associate professor at Duke-NUS Medical School.
Paul Tambyah, chairman of the opposition Singapore Democratic party and an infectious diseases specialist, said the government appeared “hesitant” in shifting away from a “zero Covid” strategy.

SINGAPORE — Rising Covid-19 infections and deaths are testing Singapore’s long-term strategy of treating the coronavirus as endemic.
Around 82% of the city-state’s population has been fully vaccinated, health ministry data showed. But a surge in Covid cases — the vast majority of which have no or mild symptoms — prompted the government to tighten social-distancing measures starting this week.

Many of those cases were detected because Singapore is “doing a lot of surveillance for Covid” through testing, said Ashley St. John, associate professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. But the country may have to change its methods as it seeks to live with the virus, she added.  

CNBC Health & Science

“Other things that we’re doing such as social distancing, they can be useful for a period of time to help control these surges in the cases,” St. John told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Friday.
“But we really need to start shifting how we’re thinking about this: From it being a containment and elimination sort of strategy for Covid, toward living with the virus in our community but what types of measures can we put in place to make it less severe for those who are exposed to it,” she said.

Health system under strain

Singapore’s health ministry said Thursday that more than 28,000 Covid infections were detected in the last 28 days. Of those, 98.1% had no or mild symptoms while 0.1% died, said the ministry.
A total of 1,360 cases are in hospitals as of Thursday noon, the ministry said. Of those, 204 are cases of severe illness requiring oxygen supplementation and 34 are in the intensive care unit.

Cumulatively, the Southeast Asian country has reported more than 96,500 Covid cases and 95 deaths, health ministry data showed.

When announcing the latest tightening of Covid measures, the health ministry said last week that the rapid rise in infections has “put a strain” on the health care system. It added that many infected individuals with mild symptoms sought medical attention at hospitals even though it might not be necessary.  
The Singapore government has started to allow infected people with mild symptoms to recover at home if — among other criteria — they’re fully vaccinated. It acknowledged that protocols for home recovery are new and can improve.

Alternative plan

In the last few months, the government has both eased and tightened Covid measures several times as the highly infectious delta variant spreads in the country.
That has made the government appear “hesitant” in shifting away from a “zero Covid” strategy, according to the opposition Singapore Democratic Party. The SDP has no elected member in the parliament.

“The government is in theory moving away … from the zero-Covid strategy, but the actions are a little bit hesitant,” Paul Tambyah, chairman of the SDP and an infectious disease specialist, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.
The party has proposed a plan to exit the pandemic, including stopping the testing of asymptomatic vaccinated individuals outside of contact tracing, and doing away with “blanket closures and restrictions.”
The plan seeks to ensure that health care resources are concentrated on people who are vulnerable, those with severe illness, and preventing deaths, said Tambyah, who is also president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
“Right now one of the concerns is that a lot of asymptomatic individuals are being tested, a lot of blanket closures are being done and these are diverting resources which should actually ideally be focused on the sick,” he said.

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Indian hotel chain Oyo is planning to raise about 84.3 billion rupees ($1.16 billion) in an initial public offering, according to draft papers submitted to the country’s market regulator.
Oyo plans to issue new shares worth up to 70 billion rupees while existing shareholders could sell shares worth up to14.3 billion rupees.
The start-up’s backers include SoftBank Vision Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital India.

An OYO Rooms logo seen displayed on a smartphone.
SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Indian hotel chain Oyo is planning to raise about 84.3 billion rupees ($1.16 billion) in an initial public offering, according to draft papers submitted to the country’s market regulator.
Oyo plans to issue new shares worth up to 70 billion rupees while existing shareholders could sell shares worth up to14.3 billion rupees. Some of the start-up’s prominent backers include SoftBank Vision Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital India.

According to the draft prospectus uploaded by ICICI Securities, which is one of the book running lead managers for the IPO, Oyo would also consider issuing shares worth up to 14 billion rupees ($193 million) in a pre-IPO placement.
The Gurugram-headquartered firm said it would use proceeds from the IPO to pay off existing obligations and fund growth, which could include mergers and acquisitions.
Oyo’s technology allows hoteliers to accept online bookings and payments through its platform, among other services. The start-up has expanded beyond India and into the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. It considers India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Europe as its core growth markets.
Last year, a New York Times report cast doubt on the Indian start-up’s financial health, highlighting questionable tactics employed in the pursuit of growth.
The coronavirus pandemic has hammered the hospitality sector and the Indian hotel chain laid off employees to cut costs and losses.

The start-up is also the latest among a number of highly valued Indian tech start-ups to enter the public market.
Food delivery firm Zomato made its market debut in July. Payments giant Paytm has filed for a $2.2 billion IPO. Ride-hailing firm Ola is planning to raise up to $1 billion when it goes public. Walmart-owned e-commerce player Flipkart is also reportedly considering a public listing.
— CNBC’s Naman Tandon contributed to this report.

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According to the CDC, August was the deadliest month yet for pregnant women.
“To be dealing with this surge and taking care of really sick women, has just really taken a toll,” said Gandhi, who is chief of maternal-fetal medicine at Texas Children’s hospital.
“I’m still really afraid this is just another lull before another potential surge,” Gandhi said.

On the heels of the deadliest month of the pandemic for pregnant people yet, Dr. Manisha Gandhi told CNBC that she’s not optimistic about Covid-19 this winter.
“To be dealing with this surge and taking care of really sick women, has just really taken a toll,” said Gandhi, who is chief of maternal-fetal medicine at Texas Children’s hospital. “I’m still really afraid this is just another lull before another potential surge.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an urgent message to pregnant women on Wednesday to get a Covid-19 vaccine. The agency reported that at least 22,000 pregnant women have been hospitalized with Covid, and more than 160 have died, including 22 in August. 
Gandhi, who has treated pregnant women with Covid, told “The News with Shepard Smith” that not only are the mothers with Covid “sicker,” but that it’s also impacting the newborn children. 
“We’re also having to deliver them prematurely, so they themselves are dealing with complications, but then we have to deliver their baby to improve their health, and that results in the baby having to go to their own intensive care unit,” explained Gandhi.
Fewer than one-third of all pregnant women in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data, and nearly 97% of the pregnant women who have been hospitalized with Covid-19 in 2021, so far, have been unvaccinated.
Gandhi told host Shepard Smith that over nine months of data from the CDC should reassure pregnant women that the vaccine is safe. 

“This should really help support women, that this is a safe vaccine and they really can be sure that there’s nothing being, any kind of adverse events to be expected,” said the obstetrician/gynecologist.
Gandhi added, “to people who worry about putting things in their body, once you get Covid and you’re getting really sick, I have to give a lot more medications that have a lot less safety data than this vaccine.”

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