Tariro Mzezewa

The move will ban sales to attractions and events at parks and aquariums worldwide, including SeaWorld, which has locations in Florida, Texas and California; Loro Parque in Spain; and the Georgia Aquarium.

The policy is the latest addition to TripAdvisor’s 2016 animal welfare policy, which ended sales of tickets to experiences where travelers have physical contact with captive wild animals, such as elephant riding and tiger petting.

The policy, which includes the TripAdvisor subsidiary, Viator, comes a year after the company banned sales of tickets to performances and shows considered demeaning to animals, and it comes as concerns increase over animal tourism and animal welfare.

“Whales and dolphins do not thrive in limited captive environments, and we hope to see a future where they live as they should — free and in the wild,” said Dermot Halpin, TripAdvisor’s president for experiences and rentals. “We believe the current generation of whales and dolphins in captivity should be the last, and we look forward to seeing this position adopted more widely throughout the travel industry.”

The new rules focus on future generations of marine mammals because releasing those already in captivity would further endanger them, the company said. The new policy also focuses on improving the lives of the animals already in captivity. In order to be eligible for ticket sales on the platform, attractions must have a permanent seaside living environment.

The company will also continue to sell tickets for commercial and nonprofit organizations that are developing alternate seaside sanctuaries for cetaceans in captivity and have made a public commitment to rehouse them these environments. That could mean bays or coves that are close environments where cetaceans are found naturally.

Animal conservation and protection groups lauded the move as a step in the right direction.

“This sends a clear message to other travel companies that we must end this cruel industry once and for all,” said Nick Stewart, global head of wildlife and dolphins for World Animal Protection, an activist group. “Together we can ensure this is the last generation of dolphins held captive for entertainment.“

In an email, SeaWorld’s chief zoological officer, Chris Dold, said he was “disappointed” with TripAdvisor’s policy. SeaWorld has long faced criticism of its marine-mammal shows and faced heavy condemnation after the 2013 release of “Blackfish,” a documentary about its treatment of orcas.

“We are disappointed by TripAdvisor’s new position that ignores the educational value and conservation mission of professionally accredited zoos and aquariums,” he said. “SeaWorld maintains the highest standards of care for all animals, including cetaceans. And regardless of TripAdvisor’s position, SeaWorld will continue to advance education and animal conservation efforts.”

This article originally appeared in

TripAdvisor Ends Ticket Sales to Attractions That Breed or Buy Dolphins and Whales

TripAdvisor will no longer sell tickets to attractions that breed, import or capture whales, dolphins, porpoises and other cetaceans for public display, the company announced Wednesday.

More than 580 flights scheduled for Monday were canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website; 45 cruise sailings across seven cruise lines, including Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and MSC, were also affected by the hurricane.

Amtrak canceled some trips in the Southeast through Tuesday, and Florida’s governor suspended tolls on the Florida Turnpike, the stretch of Interstate 75 known as Alligator Alley and other highways.

Which airports are closing?

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB) closed at noon ET on Monday while Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) were set to close at 6 p.m. More than 200 flights were canceled into and out of Orlando International, and another 160 were canceled into and out of Fort Lauderdale.

Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) suspended commercial flights.

In the Bahamas, Grand Bahama International Airport (FPO) in Freeport closed Friday and is scheduled to reopen Tuesday, although a statement from the airport noted that the opening “is subject to prevailing conditions.” The storm hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane Monday morning, with its progress slowing to a crawl. Photographs and videos show extensive damage.

Are airlines offering discounted fares?

With the path of the hurricane still shifting, some airlines are offering lower, capped prices on flights out of Florida, and some are waiving baggage and pet fees. Airlines also added new airports in the Carolinas and Georgia to their waivers, allowing travelers to cancel and reschedule flights for no penalty.

Delta capped fares on nonstop flights out of Florida at between $299 and $599 in the main cabin and between $499 and $799 in the forward cabin, from now through Wednesday. American Airlines capped fares at $499 one-way nonstop in economy or $699 in domestic first class. JetBlue did not announce that it was capping flights, but a search out of several Florida airports showed lower flight prices than are common, with most flights at $199.

American Airlines added eight airports in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to its waiver, which previously included flights to, from and through Florida. Flights to, from and through the following airports now have capped prices, and no baggage and pet fees: Charleston (CHS), Hilton Head (HHH) and Myrtle Beach (MYR) in South Carolina; Greenville (PGV), Jacksonville (OAJ), Coastal Carolina Regional Airport in New Bern (EWN) and Wilmington International (ILM) in North Carolina; and Savannah, Hilton Head Airport in Georgia (SAV).

JetBlue added Charleston and Savannah to its waiver.

United added Charleston, Hilton Head Island, Myrtle Beach, Savannah and Wilmington to its waiver.

Southwest added Charleston to its waiver.

What if I am traveling with my pet?

In addition to waiving cancellation and change fees, many airlines are also waiving pet and baggages fees for flights out of Florida.

People flying out of one of the airports included in American’s waiver can have the fee for in-cabin pets waived and can check two bags for free. The number of carry-on pets allowed in the cabin is temporarily lifted for these same cities.

Delta also said it is waiving baggage and in-cabin pet fees for passengers flying from seven Florida airports between through Wednesday.

What about hotels?

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, a nonprofit hospitality trade association that includes 10,000 restaurant and hotel members, urged its members to waive cancellation fees.

Diamond Resorts is waiving cancellation fees at its coastal resorts of The Cove on Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach Regency, Crescent Resort on South Beach and the Charter Club of Naples Bay.

“Our teams are on the ground preparing for the storm, and will comply with any mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders that may be issued,” said Mike Flaskey, the chief executive of Diamond Resorts.

Rosen Hotels and Resorts, which includes eight hotels in the Orlando area, waived its cancellation fees for the weekend. The company will allow tourists who are stuck in the area to stay at a discounted price and is offering discounted prices to locals. Pet fees are waived at these hotels as well.

Marriott said that its hotels in the path of the hurricane have implemented storm preparation protocols and that affected hotels are reviewing their cancellation fees. Cancellation details may vary from hotel to hotel, so the company urges guests to contact their specific property.

Guests at Wyndham hotels will not be charged a fee for canceling reservations that are in ZIP codes that have been declared evacuation or hurricane warning zones 48 hours before the storm makes landfall.

Airbnb put its Open Homes program into effect in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday. The program encourages Airbnb hosts to open their homes to evacuees for free.

What is the status of Disney World and Disney cruises?

In Florida, Walt Disney World Resort continued to operate under normal conditions, but Disney Cruise Line received backlash on social media when the sister of an employee shared on Twitter that some staff members had been left on Castaway Cay, the company’s private island in the Bahamas.

The company insisted that all employees were safe and in a hurricane shelter.

“We are in regular contact with island leadership, who is making sure our Crew is well taken care of in our storm shelter, which is designed for these types of situations and has restrooms, power and is well stocked with food and water,” the company said in a statement.

Hurricane Dorian: Airport Closures and Cancellations Multiply

As Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas and continued on its uncertain path to the United States, governors in South Carolina and Georgia ordered evacuations and airlines waived fees and penalties for travelers canceling and rescheduling their plans.

Paul Vasterling, the artistic director at Nashville Ballet, based in the Tennessee city that is also Williams’ hometown, read the book in 2016 and knew immediately that he wanted to adapt it for the stage. “The images the book pulled up for me are very dancelike,” Vasterling said. “Poetry is close to dance because it’s open to interpretation, and you bring yourself to it.”

“Lucy Negro, Redux” tells the story of a slice of Shakespeare’s love life from the perspective of the so-called Dark Lady for whom many of his sonnets were written. Some scholars and readers, including Williams, believe that the Dark Lady was Dark Luce or Lucy Negro — not just a woman with dark eyes and hair, but a black woman who owned a brothel in London.

In the ballet, “Attitude: Lucy Negro Redux,” which is to have its premiere on Friday in Nashville, Williams’ poetry is both script and part of the music. She will read some poems onstage, including a sequence that Vasterling said inspired a danced montage of Lucy’s past, her life as a prostitute, her struggles and, finally, her claiming of her own power. A pas de deux with Lucy and Shakespeare was inspired by a section of the book called “Happy Duet of Lucy and Shakespeare.”

“One of the undercurrents of those poems is that she is unbothered by him,” Williams said. Shakespeare “is obsessed with her. He is shook by this woman, and he’s like ‘You don’t love me back! I don’t know how to operate within the universe.’ And this woman is like, ‘Get out of here, I’m so good with myself that you’re not good enough, Shakespeare.'”

The production’s creative team places three women of color front and center: Williams, ballerina Kayla Rowser and musician Rhiannon Giddens. If the ballet is about Lucy’s power and otherness, its back is about the collaboration of these women, who with Vasterling and jazz composer Francesco Turrisi, are bringing Lucy to the stage.

When Williams was first approached by Vasterling about making her book a ballet, she was interested but had one important question for him: “Do you have a dancer that makes sense?”

“And by that,” she said, “I meant: Do you have a world class woman of color?”

He had the perfect dancer — Rowser, who had more than a decade of experience and several principal roles under her belt, including Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” and Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty.”

With the lead role filled, Williams and Vasterling had to make some choices about music. Williams had one person in mind: Giddens. The two had met years before and had been itching to collaborate.

“This book has blues, it has rock ‘n’ roll,” Williams said. “It has the past, the present — and Rhiannon’s career has been about making the past relevant in the present, finding intersections, creating new art out of that which is old.”

The plan was that Giddens would contribute a few songs, but she ended up doing the entire score, working closely with Turrisi. The music is an amalgamation of Shakespearean-era Renaissance and early American — banjo, blues and work songs — joined occasionally by Williams’ poetry.

“It’s amazing how well they work together,” Giddens said.

Giddens, 41, who has been described as an anthropologist of traditional songwriting, said creating the ballet’s score was a chance to continue her goal of collaborating with, and highlighting stories about, black women. “Working on this was a way to do that,” she said, “while crossing disciplines with Caroline and Kayla.” She and Turrisi will also perform the music live.

The process of making “Attitude: Lucy Negro Redux” was intensely collaborative. In August, the creative team spent a week at the Chautauqua Institution in New York working and reworking every aspect of the ballet. The group talked about what to cut from the book and what to keep, what kind of steps to include in the choreography and how to best work the poetry into the score.

Rowser, who has had multiple roles made for her, said this was the first time that she was deeply involved in the choreographing of a ballet from its earliest stages. It’s also “the first time that something will be created where part of who I am is absolutely necessary to the role,” she said.

Depicting the “unbothered” Lucy of Williams’ poems in ballet was a challenge. To avoid presenting Lucy through a male point of view, Vasterling and Williams worked closely together, always considering how Rowser felt while doing the choreography.

One thing Rowser knew right away, she said, was that she wanted to be on point for the whole ballet, though Vasterling had planned to use point only at the end when “Lucy finds her strength.” But for Rowser, “her strength was always there.”

Vasterling stressed that “We have been hyper-conscious about presenting Lucy as an independent woman comfortable in her own skin, her beauty and her power — I believe this was the truth that Caroline was working for in her poetry.”

Williams, 31, didn’t start as a poet. She grew up in Nashville wanting to act in Shakespearean plays. But she couldn’t find multilayered stories about black women in that repertory. So, at the advice of her mother, Alice Randall, she wrote “Lucy Negro, Redux,” to help fill that gap — and to give her a role with which she could identify.

“I came to Shakespeare as an actress at a young age,” Williams said. “So discovering this woman that was attached to him and then rereading when he says ‘if hairs be wires, black wires grow from her head’ and thinking maybe she was just really black like me helped me.”

Working on this ballet had special meaning for its female collaborators, but they aren’t shy about the important role Vasterling and Turrisi have played in bringing “Lucy Negro, Redux” to the stage.

“We can’t do this alone,” Giddens said. “No one can do anything alone. And so when an ally comes in the form of Paul or Francesco, for example, it’s important to listen.”

For Williams, the goal is to inspire: “I hope anyone who is any kind of other will see us three women of color in these traditionally white arts — bluegrass music, classical ballet and Shakespearean theater — and say ‘they belong there, and I do, too,'” she said.

Friday through Sunday at the James K. Polk Theater in the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville; nashvilleballet.com.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/arts/dance/nashville-ballet-shakespeare-lucy-negro.html" id="fb287601-1f40-3c36-ae6a-76bc6f71f73d">The New York Times</a>.

When Caroline Randall Williams’ book of poetry “Lucy Negro, Redux” was published in 2015, she hoped its words would transcend the pages on which they were printed. But she said she never imagined that the book would be turned into a ballet.

What if Shakespeare's Dark Lady Told Their Love Story? What if It Were a Ballet?

The accident, which also left 10 injured and two missing, was among many involving small planes in the United States in recent months. This alarming frequency has raised questions about the level of regulation applied to planes operated by private pilots and smaller companies, which is less stringent than that for large commercial aircraft.

This month, two people were injured when a small plane crashed near the Gulf Coast of Alabama. A week before, two people aboard another small aircraft departing La Center, Washington, were killed when the plane crashed. That same week, two others died when a small plane crashed in Madera, California.

“It is really disconcerting to learn about all the prior accidents with these planes,” said Jack Hickey, a maritime lawyer. “There are a lot of these accidents involving private aviation and after National Transportation Security Board completes its investigation, there should be more talk about more regulation.”

What kinds of flights were involved in Alaska?

Both planes in the Alaska tragedy carried passengers from a Princess Cruises ship. One plane, a de Havilland Otter seaplane operated by Taquan Air, had 10 passengers and a pilot onboard, and was returning from an excursion organized and sold through the cruise line. Four cruise passengers and a pilot were on the other plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, on an independent tour.

The Taquan Air flight was a commercial flight, while the smaller plane was what is known as a “general aviation” flight, which is how the FAA categorizes flights that are not on commercial airlines. Commuter and charter flights both fall into this category, which is known as “part 135.” Private planes owned by individuals belong to “part 91” and regional and major airlines belong in “part 121.” The “parts” refer to different parts of the Federal Aviation Regulations, and the categories help to determine the level of training required for pilots.

And although general aviation is safer now than it has been historically, it is still more dangerous than commercial air travel.

What’s the difference in regulations?

Pilots on commercial planes, or part 121 aircraft, have more stringent training and flight-readiness requirements.

“Training elements are more robust for 121’s,” said John Goglia, a former NTSB member. Commercial pilots, he said, are required to attend training each year.

“If you’re a private pilot and you’ve had a heart attack and you’ve had a couple of years of no issues, you can get a certificate to fly again,” he said. “Not happening if you’re a 121.”

Private planes typically do not have extra engines, backup navigation systems or co-pilots. Many have one engine. They are not required to supply designated flight paths for those on the ground to follow. Rules and regulations pertaining to smaller, private planes tend to be less stringent than those affecting commercial planes, because they do not put the same number of lives at risk.

Planes with 10 or more passengers are held to a higher standard than those with fewer than 10.

“Commercial planes are holding themselves out to be operating at the highest levels of safety,” said Goglia. “That’s not required of most others. And part of it has to do with the number of passengers.”

What happened in the other recent crashes?

Most of them involved private pilots, many flying their own planes. Comparing these kinds of flights to commercial aviation, is not the most accurate way to think about them, said Earl Weener, a member of the NTSB.

“It’s a much different operation,” Weener said.

“The airline community is highly regulated, it’s routinized in that airline pilots are flying into the same airports regularly,” he said. “That’s different than somebody who owns their own plane and uses it for recreational travel, personal travel.” ( Weener could not comment on the Alaska crash specifically, but spoke broadly about the safety concerns regarding private planes).

In studies done in the past decade, the NTSB found that a main cause of accidents on private planes was “loss of control”; the organization has worked with pilots’ organizations to address that issue in particular.

“The regulations on general aviation have slowly tightened over the years,” said John Cox, a former airline pilot and now a safety consultant.

Cox and others said it would be premature to suggest that regulations should be changed before it is clear what exactly caused the accident in Alaska. NTSB officials are investigating and the safety board declined to comment. The day was overcast with winds from the southeast at 9 mph.

How common are the cruise flights?

Glacier flights have become a popular add-on for Alaska cruise passengers. On its website, Princess Cruises suggests adding a glacier “flightseeing” trip to your “must-see list.”

The cruise line asks, “Why sightsee when you can flightsee? Flightseeing, also known as flight touring, grants you a bird’s-eye view of the beauty infused into Alaska’s natural landscapes.”

Robert W. Mann, an airline industry consultant in Port Washington, New York, said that he was once on a trip similar to the one Monday and it was easy for him to understand how an accident could happen.

“You’re located on a body of water next to glacial activity, so there’s almost always some low clouds in that area,” he said. “But there’s a lot of pressure to perform because people take these journeys and they pay. I imagine all these things kind of factor together.”

Princess did not return requests for comment, but Brian O’Connor, a spokesman for the company, said in a statement, “All of us at Princess Cruises are deeply saddened by this tragic news and we are extending our full support to the investigating authorities as well as the traveling companions of the guests involved.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="ba2100d6-b3ca-33f7-ac15-d46554717c2e" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/travel/alaska-planecrash-small-planes.html">The New York Times</a>.

Two small planes crashed in Alaska, why few experts were surprised

When two propeller planes crashed in southeast Alaska on Monday, killing at least four people, aviation experts said they were saddened, but not surprised.

The charge, a misdemeanor, was filed in Municipal Court for Houston in March, a month after the Houston Police Department issued the employee, Carmella Davano, a citation for profane and abusive language in a public place. She was accused of repeatedly calling Cacilie Hughes, a black woman and United customer, “a monkey” and “a shining monkey.”

Hughes, an actress and co-founder of the Big Sister Little Sister Mentoring Program, a nonprofit group, had returned home to Houston on Feb. 26 from a speaking engagement in Michigan when she encountered Davano in the United terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

“I walked up to the woman, Carmella, and said, ‘Hi, do you have a refund code available?’ and she started yelling at me, calling me a monkey,” Hughes said in a phone interview Monday. “I was humiliated, I was crying and I was the only black woman in the area.”

Hughes, 31, said that she asked another United employee to call the police and that the employee refused to help, so she called the police herself.

A representative of the Houston Police Department said officers went to the scene, where two witnesses said they saw and heard Davano direct the slurs at Hughes.

United said in a statement: “We have withheld the employee from service since the night of the incident pending an internal investigation. Upon conclusion of the investigation, we will take any and all appropriate corrective action up to and including termination.”

Davano did not respond to phone calls and a Facebook message request for an interview.

Assertions of racism on airlines have made national headlines in recent years.

In 2017 the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning African-Americans “to exercise caution, in that booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them to disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions.” A year ago, American was sued after it did not divert a plane when a black passenger had a pulmonary embolism; she later died.

“What you see is resistant black folk merely asking for their humanity to be recognized, their rights to be in this space as a customer,” said Anyabwile Love, an Africana studies professor at the Community College of Philadelphia. “There’s no space for that to be allowed. What you find is that sometimes some white people see that as an affront to the power that they have.”

United has encountered its own troubles. In May, a Nigerian woman sued the airlines, saying she was kicked off a flight after a white passenger said she smelled. And in December, Eric Murdock, a black former NBA player, sued the airline for $10 million for “race-baiting” after he said a white flight attendant prevented him from switching seats on a flight.

A lawyer for Hughes, Benjamin Crump, said United had a pattern of failing “to train employees to interact with minority customers.”

In its statement, United said, “At United, we proudly hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="c9a82840-8955-3a92-a118-8146c0eef7bd" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/travel/united-airlines-racism-black-woman.html">The New York Times</a>.

United Airlines employee charged with using racial slurs toward customer

A United Airlines employee accused of directing racial slurs at a customer has been charged in Texas with disorderly conduct, according to court documents.

<h1>The A and B groups had already boarded Jesse Damiani’s Southwest Airlines flight, to New Orleans from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Wednesday, when President Donald Trump announced that Boeing’s 737 Max plane was grounded.</h1>

“We were waiting for groups C and D to board when we got news,” he said in a phone interview.

The United States had been one of the few nations to allow the aircraft to fly after two planes of the same model were involved in deadly crashes in the past five months, including an Ethiopian Airlines crash Sunday. Forty-two other nations had grounded the planes, as well as airlines around the world.

In a statement issued shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the decision was made using evidence found at the site of Sunday’s plane crash, as well as satellite data that was refined Wednesday.

Domestically, travelers on specific routes offered by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines are being affected by this change. Air Canada and WestJet also fly Max 8 planes but had grounded them earlier Wednesday.

For passengers like Damiani, 29, the change of face by U.S. authorities meant they needed to change plans. He tried rescheduling his flight online but was redirected to call the customer service line. When he called the line, he was told there was a 28-minute callback time, so he tried to get help at his gate.

“Every desk was solidly 50 people deep,” he said. “This was already a busy day with SXSW.”

He was rebooked on an evening flight to New Orleans with a layover in Orlando, Florida.

Here’s what passengers need to know about the grounding.

— Why is this happening?

The Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people Sunday rattled travelers, lawmakers and aviation officials around the world. Just five months ago, the same model of airplane — a Boeing 737 Max 8, operated by Lion Air — crashed off Indonesia and killed all 189 people onboard.

While the cause of Sunday’s tragedy remains undetermined, and the investigation into the Lion Air accident is ongoing, several circumstances surrounding these two crashes are similar.

The 200-seat Boeing 737 Max 8 has been a popular plane since it came on the market in 2017, with more than 4,000 planes ordered within the first six months. The plane sold quickly, based on features that passengers crave — a quieter cabin, more legroom — and bottom-line benefits to airlines, including fuel efficiency. At the time of the Ethiopian Airlines crash, nearly 350 Boeing 737 Max 8s were in operation around the world, including on routes across the United States: Miami to Los Angeles, Houston to Denver, San Francisco to Portland, Oregon.

— Which North American-based airlines fly Boeing 737 Max 8 planes?

With 34 planes in operation, Southwest Airlines has the largest number of Boeing 737 Max 8s in the world. Air Canada and American Airlines each have 24. United Airlines does not operate any Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, but it does fly the 737 Max 9 and had 14 of the planes. WestJet, another Canadian carrier, flies 13 Max planes, about 8 percent of its 162-plane fleet.

Because of Wednesday’s ban, all of the 737 Max planes will be grounded.

— Shouldn’t there be chaos?

For some airlines, the number of routes affected is minimal. On average, American operates 85 flights per day on the Max 8, out of 6,700 departures throughout its system. Southwest Airlines flies 34 Max 8s out of more than 750 total planes, which are used on 4 percent of its flights. A spokesman for Southwest said that the airline had canceled five Max flights out of 4,100 flights Wednesday as most passengers were moved to other aircraft. “We routinely have available aircraft in our fleet,” he said.

In a statement issued on Twitter, United Airlines said that its fleet of 14 Maxs account for roughly 40 flights a day, adding that “through a combination of spare aircraft and rebooking customers, we do not anticipate a significant operational impact.”

Air Canada, in contrast, told its passengers to brace for possible difficulties. “Given the magnitude of our 737 Max operations, which on average carry 9,000 to 12,000 customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada call centers and we appreciate our customers’ patience,” the company said in a statement.

It advised customers to check their flights on the airline website before going to the airport.

— What are the airlines saying?

United told affected customers not to cancel their flights. “Customers do not need to cancel and rebook as we will swap aircraft or automatically rebook you,” the statement said. “If you require further assistance, please direct message us here.”

American Airlines also put out a statement, saying, “Our teams will make every effort to rebook customers as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.” On social media, the airline was telling passengers that it was working to reschedule everyone who had been booked on its 24 planes. It was also advising people to go to its normal refund page.

Southwest issued a statement that said: “Our goal is to operate our schedule with every available aircraft in our fleet to meet our customers’ expectations during the busy spring travel season. Additionally, to support our customers, Southwest is offering flexible rebooking policies.”

While Southwest does not charge a change fee, it does usually require passengers to make up any difference in fares, but it is waiving that requirement for passengers on canceled Max flights who rebook within 14 days of their original date of travel on the same route.

This article originally appeared in <a id="eccb707c-6c85-4773-ac84-95998c95698f" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/travel/boeing-737-flight-canceled.html">The New York Times</a>.

What to know if your Boeing 737 Max 8 flight was cancelled

“We were waiting for groups C and D to board when we got news,” he said in a phone interview.

<h1>When Caroline Randall Williams’ book of poetry “Lucy Negro, Redux” was published in 2015, she hoped its words would transcend the pages on which they were printed. But she said she never imagined that the book would be turned into a ballet.</h1>

He had the perfect dancer — Rowser, who had more than a decade of experience and several principal roles under her belt, including Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” and Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty.”

This article originally appeared in <a id="fe587aeb-9e06-4331-b0d8-f9f5a92236ee" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/arts/dance/nashville-ballet-shakespeare-lucy-negro.html">The New York Times</a>.

Tracing the Steps From Poetry to the Stage

Paul Vasterling, the artistic director at Nashville Ballet, based in the Tennessee city that is also Williams’ hometown, read the book in 2016 and knew immediately that he wanted to adapt it for the stage.

Tracing the steps from poetry to the stage

<h1>For the last month, Marci T. House has had the perfect plan for the first week of the year: She would spend it in Washington’s museums and galleries, with her wife beside her. The first day was to be spent in the National Museum of African-American History and Culture; the second day at the National Portrait Gallery, taking photos in front of the Obamas’ portraits; the third day was for getting on tour buses and seeing outdoor monuments.</h1>

But that plan was ruined before it even began when House learned, after arriving in Washington on Tuesday, that the Smithsonian Institution’s museums, along with many other federally funded tourist attractions, were closing because of the government shutdown. The Smithsonian’s museums and the National Zoo initially remained open when the shutdown began on Dec. 22, but closed on Wednesday.

“We literally flew all day from Vancouver, British Columbia, to D.C. to see the museums and galleries,” said House, an actress. “Disappointed is putting it mildly.”

She and her wife now plan on spending their trip exploring the city’s monuments, like the National Mall, which is open, and are keeping their fingers crossed that the museums will open before the end of the week.

Here’s what travelers to Washington and other cities can expect during the shutdown:

— Do airports remain open?

Transportation Security Administration employees are working without pay, but so far no major delays have been reported because of the shutdown.

— How about national parks?

The answer differs by state. Some states have stepped up to keep parks and monuments functioning: New York state is spending $65,000 a day to operate the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; Arizona is paying to keep the Grand Canyon open; Puerto Rico agreed to provide up to $80,000 for two weeks of services at the San Juan National Historic Site; and Utah has kept visitors’ centers open at Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks.

At the Grand Canyon, the state of Arizona is paying for trash collection, custodial services for bathrooms and snow removal from sidewalks and trails. Stores and restaurants that aren’t run by the government are open. Campgrounds are open, but there is no reservation and check-in and checkout process.

At Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state, the gate remained open, but officials cautioned that “entry during the federal shutdown is at visitors’ sole risk.”

In California, at Yosemite National Park, trash collection, along with visitors’ centers and the park’s restrooms, have been closed since the shutdown began. Park officials closed two campgrounds and a redwood grove after finding human feces and urine on the park’s roads. Joshua Tree has been operating with some staff, but beginning Wednesday afternoon is not allowing camping because of health concerns about near-capacity toilets.

Elizabeth Harris, a retired doctor who lives in San Rafael, California, arrived at Joshua Tree on Wednesday morning, and her son flew from Maryland to visit the park with his mother. “People plan their family vacations far ahead and our president doesn’t seem to care about that,” she said. “I’m so disappointed.”

Campgrounds closed at noon, and Indian Cove and Black Rock campgrounds remained open for day-use only, sunrise to sunset.

The bright side for Harris: “We’re lucky to not be government employees, working and not getting paid.”

— When it comes to national parks, how closed is closed?

During the 2013 shutdown, the Obama administration ordered that the national park system completely close. The current administration opted to leave parks open, but unstaffed, frustrating park advocates and enthusiasts who believe the parks are unsafe without staff.

“We’re deeply concerned about the approach the administration has taken,” said John Garder, the senior budget director at the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. “Keeping the parks open is clearly causing threats to health and safety of visitors as well as wildlife and natural and cultural resources. We are worried about parks themselves, about park rangers who are demoralized, and the many businesses that depend on visitors.”

— What about Smithsonian museums outside Washington?

There are three: the Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the American Indian Museum Heye Center in New York. They are also closed.

— So what’s open in Washington?

In addition to any open-air monuments, any privately owned museum or attraction or one run by the District of Columbia is operating, which includes the Washington National Cathedral; the National Building Museum; Artechouse, a gallery that focuses on the intersection of art and technology; the Kreeger Museum, a museum at the former home of philanthropists David Lloyd Kreeger and Carmen Kreeger; and the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden, a decorative arts museum.

Park ranger-led tours and memorial shops are closed. And White House tours are suspended for the duration of the shutdown.

This article originally appeared in <a id="9ddb0d71-97da-492c-ba7f-e17c5895aeac" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/travel/national-parks-smithsonian-shutdown.html">The New York Times</a>.

How national parks and museums are affected by the shutdown