• 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 453: Shuffling the deck

• October 12, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8200, 787, A321neo, Air Canada, Air France, Air Malta, Airbus, Allegiant, awards, Boeing, business class, Delta Air Lines, Dreamliner, EAS, economy class, Essential Air Service, ExpertFlyer, Global Airlines, Hi Fly, Ireland, KLM, LOT, MEX, Mexico, Mexico City, NLU, premium cabin, Premium Economy, Recaro, rewards, routes, SAS, seating, seats, SkyTeam, Southern Airways, Star Alliance, Sun Country, United Airlines, VivaAerobus

Thank goodness change is such a constant in this industry. Otherwise what would we have to talk about every week?

• Podcast

DLD 452: Order Up!

• October 5, 2023
• Tagged as: 787, 787-10, A321neo, A350 XWB, A350-1000, Air Canada, Air France, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, Boeing, British Airways, business class, Cathay Pacific, economy class, Euphony, first class, HK Express, JAL, KLM, LATAM, podcast, premium cabin, Premium Economy, Safran Aerosystems, Trip Report, United Airlines

So many aircraft orders announced in the past week, and we didn’t even cover all of them. Plus, a suite new seat.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 450: Wait, there’s now lounge elite status??

• September 21, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737 MAX 8, 757-200, A350, Allegiant, American Express, Boeing, co-brand, cobrand, credit card, credit cards, Delta Air Lines, elite status, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, lounge, lounges, medallion, merger, Mexico, Mexico City, New York City, podcast, premium cabin, Premium Economy, seating, seats, Sky Club, SkyMiles, slots, Spirit Airlines, Swiss, Trip Report, United Airlines, Upgrade, Vietnam Airlines

Delta made waves with its SkyMiles/SkyClub rules changes last week. Plus, new seats, new routes, and an end to revenge.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 449: Trademarks and diversions

• September 14, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Biman Bangladesh, business class, catering, CFM, China, Condor, Delta Air Lines, diversion, engines, JAL, jetblue, New Pacific Airways, New York City, Northern Pacific Airways, Pratt & Whitney, premium cabin, routes, singapore airlines, Thai Airways, Trip Report, United Airlines

Intellectual property is a very real thing. So are weather-induced diversions these days.

• Podcast

DLD 441: Picking up lines with Landline

• July 20, 2023
• Tagged as: 777X, Air France, Air India, Alaska Airlines, Avelo, Bus, Emirates, first class, hotels, hyatt, JAL, Landline, MGM, Northern Pacific Airways, premium cabin, routes, United Airlines, WestJet, Winair

What does it take to bring motorcoaches into the airline world? We’ve got David Sunde, CEO of Landline, on the show to talk about getting the buses inside security, growth potential, and lots more.

• Podcast

DLD 440: Premium problems

• July 13, 2023
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, AAdvantage, American Airlines, awards, Boeing, Boom Supersonic, India, lounge, lounges, merger, Norse Atlantic, Norwegian, premium cabin, Premium Economy, Premium Plus, rewards, routes, United Airlines, Upgrade, Virgin Atlantic, Wideroe

Can economy class be considered an upgrade from premium economy? We’re talking about airlines, so you know where this is going.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 435: An eye on the future

• June 1, 2023
• Tagged as: A321, Asiana, British Airways, business class, dining, Dublin, elite status, Embraer, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Florence, FLR, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Frontier, immigration, ITA, Italia Trasporto Aereo, lie-flat beds, Lufthansa Group, Poznan, premium cabin, Premium Economy, routes, Ryanair, Scoot, Trip Report, United Airlines

New planes, new routes, and new seats all bode well for the future. And some lines being dropped might not be so bad, either.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 434: Trust buster

• May 25, 2023
• Tagged as: American Airlines, Antitrust Immunity, Breeze Airways, DCA, Department of Justice, DOJ, Emirates, Finnair, first class, Hertz, jetblue, lawsuit, Northern Pacific Airways, premium cabin, profit, Qantas, routes, singapore airlines, Southwest Airlines, Trip Report, union, Washington DC, WestJet

JetBlue and American Airlines have a lot of work to do if they’re going to keep the NEA alive. A judge ruled it illegal last Friday, setting up all sorts of challenges for the carriers.

• 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.