• Podcast

DLD 581: A Premium Pair

• April 9, 2026
• Tagged as: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, Amazon Leo, ancillary fees, Basic Economy, business class, Delta Air Lines, IFC, IFEC, in-flight connectivity, in-flight internet, inflight connectivity, inflight wifi, Iran, Italy, jetblue, Korean Air, Kuiper, NOTAMs, podcast, premium cabin, Premium Economy, Premium Plus, Ryanair, San Francisco, SFO, SkyWest, Starlink, subscription, TrueBlue, United Airlines

Chatting up changes for a pair of premium cabins, plus points subscriptions, capacity shifts, and more fallout from the Iran war.

• Podcast

DLD 546: Premium Power

• August 7, 2025
• Tagged as: A380, Air Europa, Air France, Alaska Airlines, Avelo, Breeze Airways, British Airways, CBP, Condor, Greenland, Heathrow, immigration, Iran, jetblue, KLM, London, Nuuk, Riyadh Air, TATL, Transatlantic, TSA, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines

Where’s the premium demand? And will it stick around forever? Plus booking shenanigans and a hunting delay.

• Podcast

DLD 541: Planes, Politics, Partnerships, and PDX

• July 3, 2025
• Tagged as: ATL, Atlanta, Cape Air, Cebu Pacific, elite status, Emirates, flyadeal, flyDubai, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Iberia, Iran, jetblue, PDX, PlusPoints, Porter Air, Portland, Qatar, routes, Spirit Airlines, UAE, United Airlines

Partnerships come and go, as do new routes and competition. Plus, what makes an airport better than others?

• Podcast

DLD 479: A deviation

• April 18, 2024
• Tagged as: 777, 787, A319, Allegris, Boeing, Breeze Airways, business class, Iran, Lufthansa, Polaris, Polaris Plus, premium cabin, routes, SAS, Scott Kirby, Spirit Airlines, Star Alliance, union, United Airlines

Often times the shortest distance between two airports is defined by politics more than geography. Last weekend that was more the case than usual.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 415: An entertaining diversion

• January 5, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737 MAX 10, 737 MAX 7, 777-300ER, A340-300, A380, Allegiant, Amazon, Australia, Boeing, cargo, CRJ900, E175, Indonesia, Iran, Jetstar, leasing, Mesa, Qantas, Russia, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines

Diversions galore, and a meltdown, too. It was a rough end for many in 2022, but 2023 is starting strong.

• Podcast

DLD 291: The Cheese Soup test

• May 14, 2020
• Tagged as: Avianca, bankruptcy, COVID-19, Department of Transportation, DOT, elite status, Emirates, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Iran, LifeMiles, lifetime, Mahan Air, Premium Economy, refunds, regulators, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia

We’re deep in the throes of learning what requirements will exist for passengers to prove they’re healthy and resume travel. This week’s episode has a very unlikely candidate for one such test.

• Podcast

DLD 290: Desert flyover

• May 7, 2020
• Tagged as: Abu Dhabi, Air Canada, Air France, AUH, Australia, cargo, COVID-19, Gatwick, IATA, Iran, LGW, Mahan Air, New Zealand, podcast, Project Sunrise, Qantas, seating, seats, special guest, ULH, ultra long haul, ultra longhaul, United Airlines, Vilnius, Virgin Atlantic, VNO, WizzAir

Thousands of planes parked, some permanently, make for stunning images. But it comes at a cost, with jobs lost and an economic hit that is hard to measure so far.

• Podcast

DLD 224: From numbers to colors

• December 20, 2018
• Tagged as: 737 MAX 8, 737MAX, airberlin, bankruptcy, BOS, Boston, business class, Delta Air Lines, DEN, Denver, first class, Iran, Malaysia Airlines, Norwegian, Russia, San Francisco, SFO, TSA, United Airlines

New boarding groups, new security screening and nearly 50 new airport names in Russia. An “historic” episode comes to life this week!

• Podcast

DLD 202: Taking a Brazilian trim

• July 19, 2018
• Tagged as: American Airlines, Brazil, Delta Air Lines, Dubai, DWC, DXB, Emirates, EWR, Gogo, Iran, Newark, Norwegian, PaxEx, Southwest Airlines, Tehran, United Airlines

United Airlines trimmed its assets this quarter owing to the new open skies arrangement with Brazil. Tehran is getting trimmed this summer as well, while . Plus nuts are getting trimmed from Southwest and lots more in this week’s episode!

• Podcast

DLD 191: Answering many engines questions (and asking a bunch more)

• May 3, 2018
• Tagged as: 737MAX, 787, A320neo, A330, A330neo, Airbus, Boeing, British Airways, engines, Iran, IranAir

Last week we talked a LOT about engines, mostly proving we have very little knowledge on the topic. This week we’re making up for that by bringing in an expert who might know a little too much on the topic, at least assuming you do want to still fly more.