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1. Air travel hit by government shutdown
Flight delays and cancellations are growing more common as the U.S. federal government shutdown stretches into a full week, The Associated Press reports. Staffing issues have been reported by the Federal Aviation Administration at airports in Nashville, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia and at air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Flights have largely continued even as staff work unpaid, but it's unclear how long that can last. The news agency reported 92% of the 23,600 flights taking off as of Tuesday afternoon were on time.
The AP reports: "But the risk of wider impacts to the U.S. aviation system 'is growing by the day' as federal workers whose jobs are deemed critical continue working without pay, travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said. The longer the shutdown drags on, the more likely it is to affect holiday travel plans in November, he said."
2. Braemar to sell The Clancy hotel in San Francisco
Braemar Hotels & Resorts have announced plans to sell the 410-room The Clancy hotel in San Francisco for $115 million to an unnamed buyer, CoStar News' Natalie Harms reports.
Richard Stockton, president and CEO of the real estate investment trust — which has a portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts — described the deal as part of an ongoing refocusing for the company.
"We are strategically refining our portfolio with one clear objective: to maximize its value for our shareholders," Stockton said. "This divestiture will help us to ensure that a future sale of the company results in the best possible outcome for our investors."
Braemar officials say the deal comes in at a 5% cap rate and is expected to close in November.
3. Hoteliers sort through uncertainty at The Lodging Conference
Hoteliers have had to deal with their share of disappoints so far in 2025, but CoStar News' Stephanie Ricca and Trevor Simpson report the overall outlook remains realistic at The Lodging Conference taking place this week in Phoenix.
But a major source of concern is the impact from the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
It "has consequences for the lodging industry," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group. "In the last 24 to 36 hours, we've been hearing more stories about air traffic controllers. These are federal employees who are paid by the government — but not now. Air traffic controllers are calling in sick. And if this escalates with air traffic controllers and TSA employees, this is going to shut down travel. If the U.S. economy was a movie, this is when you would hear the iconic sounds of 'Jaws' music."
4. Authorities now say 4 dead in Madrid hotel collapse
After initial reports of only minor injuries, Spanish authorities are now saying they've recovered four bodies from the rubble of a six-story building collapsed in central Madrid, Reuters reports. The 60-year-old building was being renovated and turned into a hotel.
"The victims have been identified as three men aged between 30 and 50 from Ecuador, Mali and Guinea-Conakry and employed at the site as construction workers, as well as a 30-year-old woman, the renovation project's architect," the news agency reports. "Their remains were found early on Wednesday, nearly 15 hours after the collapse of the building's interior structure that left its facade intact, in a search-and-rescue operation in which police and firefighters deployed drones and sniffer dogs. Three other construction workers were injured."
5. Hilton announces 2026 travel trends report
Hilton's 2026 Trends Report was released today, with the hotel brand company projecting it will be the year of the "Whycation."
Speaking on the latest episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast, Hilton's Senior Vice President of Strategy, Insights and Full Service Brands Jess Petitt said the focus this year is on the "emotional resonance of travel."
"It prioritizes the personal growth and connections that we expect to create when we build out these itineraries for when we travel, and so we believe 2026 is going to be all about this intentionality," he said.