• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 477: Playing the fool

• April 4, 2024
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, Air Malta, Basic Economy, Boeing, Breeze Airways, Brexit, British Airways, co-brand, cobrand, credit card, credit cards, E175, Embraer, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, Gatwick, hydrogen, Ireland, ITA Airlines, Japan, Knock, LAS, Las Vegas, LGW, London, Lufthansa Group, NDC, Norse Atlantic, overhead bins, routes, Scranton, Southwind, United Airlines, United Kingdom, Washington DC

We’re skipping April Fool’s Day in favor of some real news, including at least one story we were convinced should’ve been a joke.

• 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 458: Dubai on our mind

• November 16, 2023
• Tagged as: 777-8, 777-9, 777X, 787, 787-10, 787-8, 787-9, A321neo, A350, AirBaltic, Airbus, Boeing, DAS23, Dreamliner, Dubai Air Show, E195-E2, Embraer, Emirates, flyDubai, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Haneda, HND, ITA Airlines, Janet, jetblue, LCY, London City, loyalty, Mexicana, podcast, Qatar Airways, rewards, United Airlines

With the 2023 Dubai Air Show underway there are plenty of new orders to talk about. And lots of other news, too.

• Podcast

DLD 454: Is there such a thing as real loyalty program enhancements?!?

• October 18, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, American Airlines, AMS, Amsterdam, ancillary fees, Beond, Bermudair, carbon offsets, Delta Air Lines, economy class, elite status, Emirates, engines, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Haneda, HND, ITA Airlines, Italia Trasporto Aereo, Japan, jetblue, JFK Airport, KLM, loyalty, Mosaic, points, Portsmouth, premium cabin, promotions, PSM, Rapid Rewards, Rolls Royce, routes, slots, Southwest Airlines, Tokyo, TrueBlue, United Airlines

Can loyalty programs actually make changes that seem to make things better for customers, without taking benefits away elsewhere? Tune in to find out.

• Podcast

DLD 427: Scrounging around

• April 6, 2023
• Tagged as: ancillary, ancillary fees, Breeze Airways, business class, buy-on-board, China, China Eastern, China Southern, Colombia, dining, EasyJet, economy class, Eva, Finnair, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Hello Kitty, hotels, ITA Airlines, Lufthansa, Mexico, Paris, Really Cool Airlines, Red Way

Fares are up, and revenues are strong in many markets. But that doesn’t mean everyone is doing great, financially or otherwise.

• Podcast

DLD 418: Flying on funky wings

• January 26, 2023
• Tagged as: A220, American Airlines, Avelo, Boeing, Breeze Airways, China, CommutAir, CommuteAir, CRJ200, Croatia Airlines, DCA, Delta Air Lines, E145, electric aircraft, Envoy, Ethiopian Airlines, Haneda, HND, hydrogen, ITA Airlines, Italy, Lufthansa Group, NASA, podcast, routes, slots, Southwest Airlines, union, Washington DC, ZeroAvia

New wing designs, and new engines hanging from them, could change the way we fly. Or at least make it more efficient.

• Podcast

DLD 402: Three planes you’ll probably never fly. Or maybe four.

• September 15, 2022
• Tagged as: Aeroflot, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, bagtag, Boeing, Boom, Boom Supersonic, Companion Pass, EWR, frequent flier, frequent flyer, IATA, Irkut, ITA Airlines, Italy, JFK, JFK Airport, MC-21, New York City, Newark, NFTs, Russia, Southwest Airlines, SSJ100, sukhoi, Tupelov, United Airlines

Can Russia produce more than 300 commercial aircraft by the end of the decade to backfill the Boeing and Airbus frames that will be inoperable by then? And would you fly on one if they do??

• Podcast

DLD 396: So much revenue, but what about profit?

• August 11, 2022
• Tagged as: A220, A350, A350 XWB, Aeroflot, AirBaltic, Airbus, American Airlines, AMS, Amsterdam, British Airways, DCA, Department of Transportation, DOT, Frontier, Heathrow, ITA Airlines, jetblue, KLM, LHR, London, lounge, lounges, merger, Qatar Airways, refunds, regulators, Spirit Airlines, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Washington DC, wetlease

Airlines raked in revenue in Q2, but not all of them reported a profit. And that raises a lot of bigger picture questions.

• Podcast

DLD 370: Total Eclipse of Sanity

• January 27, 2022
• Tagged as: 5G, 737 MAX, 777X, A321neo, A350, A350 XWB, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, alitalia, American Airlines, Boeing, drones, EASA, Ethiopian Airlines, Everett, ITA Airlines, Italy, lasers, Lufthansa Group, masks, ONT, Ontario, PAE, Paine Field, podcast, Qatar Airways, UAE, United Airlines

There are far too many idiots on planes today. Plus lasers, order drama, and more!

• Podcast

DLD 367: A Farewell to R32s

• January 13, 2022
• Tagged as: 5G, 737 MAX, 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8200, 737MAX, Air India, Allegiant, Boeing, FRA, frankfurt, ITA Airlines, lawsuit, Lufthansa Group, PEOPLExpress, podcast, Ryanair, special guest

Slightly bizarre to have the lead topic for an aviation podcast to be a subway story, but we’ve never really been a normal group. Plus, we’ve got Jason on to talk about that and many other airplane-related bits.