• Podcast

DLD 514: Hub Plays: Alaska’s Long, Southwest’s Short

• December 19, 2024
• Tagged as: AAdvantage, Air Canada, AirTags, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, credit card, credit cards, drones, elite status, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, first class, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, hubs, IFC, IFEC, in-flight connectivity, in-flight internet, inflight connectivity, inflight wifi, jetblue, PDX, premium cabin, Premium Economy, Qatar Airways, routes, SEA, Seattle, Southwest Airlines, Spain, United Airlines

Two very interesting and very different sets of route announcements caught our attention this week. Plus premium seats and lots more.

• Podcast

DLD 512: Branching out

• December 5, 2024
• Tagged as: A350, A350 XWB, A350-900, A380, Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Asiana, Atlanta, British Airways, Bus, charter, Delta Air Lines, DFA, Eastern Airlines, EasyJet, elite status, Emirates, Etihad, ETOPS, Europe, Eva, first class, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Frontier, Heathrow, Korea, Korean Air, LHR, merger, Norse Atlantic, Orly, Paris, premium cabin, regulators, slots, Spirit Airlines, T'way, United Kingdom, Virgin Atlantic, visas

It was Thanksgiving week in the US, so we shifted our gaze to Europe and the Middle East, with plenty of news being made.

• Podcast

DLD 510: Riddled with trouble

• November 21, 2024
• Tagged as: A321XLR, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Bermudair, engines, first class, Iberia, premium cabin, Rolls Royce, slots, Spirit Airlines

Wayward bullets are bad. Ditto for rodents on planes and a handful of now infamous travelers.

• Podcast

DLD 508: Worth a switch

• November 7, 2024
• Tagged as: Alaska Airlines, elite status, special guest, United Airlines

As Elite Status rules continue to shift, is there really any greener grass out there? With United’s latest changes announced we brought in Ed to get a fresh take.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 506: P(l)aying premium

• October 24, 2024
• Tagged as: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Avianca, bankruptcy, Boston, business class, Cathay Pacific, China, DCA, first class, Hainan Airlines, hyatt, Korean Airlines, MileagePlan, Norse Atlantic, Play, premium cabin, routes, Russia, SkyTeam, slots, Spirit Airlines, train

Lots of chatter this week about premium products, and which airlines are having success with them or not.

• Podcast

DLD 505: Cream of the Crap or Cream of the Crop?

• October 17, 2024
• Tagged as: AI, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, artificial intelligence, Boeing, Brazil, Breeze Airways, credit card, credit cards, Delta Air Lines, Houston, IAH, routes, SAFs, United Airlines, WAF24, World Aviation Festival, ZipAir

An interesting CEO panel discussion at a trade show?!? It finally happened last week. Plus new routes and lots more.

• Podcast

DLD 499: Ramble on

• September 5, 2024
• Tagged as: A321neo, A321XLR, A350, Air China, Air India, Alaska Airlines, Bilt Rewards, Boom Supersonic, C919, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta Air Lines, Department of Transportation, DOT, elite status, Frontier, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, Ireland, ITA Airlines, Japan, jetblue, JFK Airport, KLM, Lufthansa Group, Malaysia Airlines, merger, Mint, New York City, Norse Atlantic, pilot shortage, Rapid Rewards, regulators, Russia, SAS, SkyTeam, Southwest Airlines, Star Alliance, TAP Air Portugal, TATL, Transatlantic, United Airlines, Vistara, XB-1

Another week, with plenty of random thoughts from the guys…

• Podcast

DLD 498: You’re Grounded!

• August 29, 2024
• Tagged as: 777X, A330neo, Abu Dhabi, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, Azul, Boeing, codeshare, Department of Justice, DOJ, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, hotels, Malaysia Airlines, merger, MileagePlan, Mokulele Airlines, regulators, Russia, SmartSky, SpaceX, Starlink, United Airlines, Viasat, Vietnam, Virgin Australia

The 777X is back on the ground, while an IFC vendor goes under and a couple airlines have operational issued. But it isn’t all bad news…

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 497: A hail of a problem

• August 22, 2024
• Tagged as: ADD, Addis Ababa, Air Greenland, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Czech AIrlines, Delta Air Lines, Edelweiss, Ethiopian Airlines, Greenland, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, HNL, Honolulu, JFK Airport, Korean Air, lounges, merger, SEA, Seattle, Southwest Airlines, WestJet

Airplanes and hail don’t mix, and a storm rendering 10% of an airline’s fleet unflyable is all sorts of bad.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 493: Is your crowd on strike?

• July 25, 2024
• Tagged as: A321XLR, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, certification, China, CRJ550, Dallas, DCA, Delta Air Lines, Department of Transportation, DFW, DOT, EU261, Farnborough, FIA2024, Fiji Airlines, Greenland, London, regulators, SkyWest, Southwest Airlines, union, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia

What a mess for airlines and more as millions of Windows-based computers were knocked offline last Thursday night.