Even when school resumes, Global Business Journalism's international faculty and students could face challenges returning to Beijing.
In the past two days, international airlines including United and British Airways have suspended flights on dozens of routes to and from China.
This from CNN:
In total, 24 round trips are affected. They are between Hong Kong to San Francisco and Newark; Beijing (PEK) to Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Newark; and Shanghai (PVG) to San Francisco, Newark and Chicago O'Hare.
"We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and will adjust our schedule as needed," the airline said.
CNBC reports that the Donald Trump administration is considering a government-ordered ban on flights between the U.S. and China.
White House officials have told U.S. airlines the Trump administration is considering suspending flights from China to the U.S. amid an escalating outbreak of a new coronavirus that has infected thousands of people across the world, people familiar with the matter said.
The Trump administration is looking at a variety of measures to contain the fast-spreading virus, U.S. health officials told reporters on a conference call Tuesday.
White House officials called executives at major U.S. carriers on Tuesday, telling them that a temporary ban on China flights is on the table, according to people familiar with those conversations....A senior staff meeting was held at the White House on Monday during which the restrictions were discussed.
Meanwhile, even without government intervention, major international carriers are temporarily scaling back their presence in China. Javier Blas, chief energy correspondent at Bloomberg News, writes that the airlines are canceling flights because of plummeting demand and the high cost of jet fuel on intercontinental flights. Here's a Twitter thread:
United is among the airlines that is waiving cancelation and change fees through the end of February.
That is likely to help Global Business Journalism students and faculty avoid hundreds of dollars (or thousands of RMB) in fees. But trouble lies ahead: The flights are likely to be very crowded when they resume.
From Co-Director Rick Dunham: The GBJ office is committed to working closely with our students and faculty, inside and outside of China, to make your return to Tsinghua as smooth as possible. When the government decides to reopen universities, we are hoping to get several weeks lead time so that our international students can locate and purchase available seats on flights to Beijing. If you have questions or problems, please contact Li Chengzhang, who has assumed the administrative duties previously held by Sarah Ma (Ma Chengcheng), at tsjcws@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.