• 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 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 473: Huh, so now what?

• March 7, 2024
• Tagged as: 737 MAX 10, A321neo, Aeromexico, Airbus, American Airlines, Antitrust Immunity, ATI, AUS, Austin, Australia, awards, Boeing, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, E175, Embraer, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, Hawaiian Airlines, IFC, IFEC, in-flight connectivity, in-flight internet, inflight connectivity, JV, Mexico, New Pacific Airways, points, Qantas, regulators, rewards, routes, SpaceX, Starlink, strike, Turkish Airlines, union, United Airlines

American has a bunch more planes on order, while JetBlue and Spirit officially call it quits. Plus lots more…

• Podcast

DLD 471: It still doesn’t make sense

• February 22, 2024
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737-200, A380, Air Canada, Air Serbia, Air Traffic Control, Alaska Airlines, Allegient Air, artificial intelligence, Barbados, Canada, Delta Air Lines, ETOPS, Global Airlines, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, jetblue, Lufthansa, merger, Nolinor, Qantas, regulators, routes, Spirit Airlines, Thai Airways, United Airlines

Revisiting a couple stories from the past few weeks, and they still don’t make much sense. Plus lots of new news, too.

• Podcast

DLD 468: More MAX than you can shake a stick at

• February 1, 2024
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737 MAX 10, 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, A321neo, Air Europa, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Dulles, Haneda, Hawaiian Airlines, IAD, IAG, ITA Airlines, lawsuit, Lufthansa Group, merger, Ryanair, slots, Tulsa, United Airlines

The MAX continues to dominate news cycles, but there’s lots more out there also worth talking about.

• Podcast

DLD 461: Aloha, Alaska!

• December 7, 2023
• Tagged as: 787, 787-9, A321neo, Air Transat, AirAsia, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, China, Department of Transportation, DOT, E195-E2, Embraer, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, GEO, Georgetown, Gyuana, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, immigration, India, joint venture, Malaysia, merger, podcast, Porter Air, regional jets, routes, Tulum, United Airlines, wifi

Alaska Airlines is buying Hawaiian Airlines. There are lots of reasons the deal makes sense, but more than a few questions we have about how it will play out.

• Podcast

DLD 455: Well, that was unexpected

• October 26, 2023
• Tagged as: 767-400, A321neo, Aer Lingus, Air France, Air Greenland, Air India Express, Alaska Airlines, Avianca, Boeing, codeshare, Delta Air Lines, Delta Flight Products, Haneda, Hawaiian Airlines, HND, Horizon, live television, livery, MEA, Qatar Airways, routes, slots, United Airlines, ZipAir

A couple major unexpected events this week caught us off guard, but we’re doing our best to get through it all.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 433: Going native

• May 18, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX 10, A350-1000, Alaska Airlines, awards, Boeing, DOT, Hawaiian Airlines, lawsuit, lie-flat beds, livery, Philippines Airlines, premium cabin, rewards, Ryanair, suite, United Airlines

Two nice implementations of indigenous themes and art from airlines announced this week, and the impact for passengers is pretty good, too.