• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 558: Diversions and Distractions

• October 30, 2025
• Tagged as: A321XLR, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, ARJ21, Billy Bishop, C909, co-brand, cobrand, COMAC, credit card, credit cards, Delta Air Lines, diversion, jetblue, Korean Airlines, O'Hare, ORD, PDX, Portland, Riyadh, Riyadh Air, routes, SEA, Seattle, Toronto, Transborder, Trip Report, United Airlines

The adventure of getting there is part of the fun, right? Plus lots of new routes and a new terminal on the horizon.

• Podcast

DLD 554: Hearing the Blues

• October 2, 2025
• Tagged as: 737 MAX, 737 MAX 8, 787, 787-10, 787-9, American Airlines, Azul, Bluetooth, Boeing, Brazil, Breeze Airways, Canada, Cathay Pacific, E195-E2, Embraer, FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, Guam, GUM, LATAM, Lufthansa, Lufthansa Group, Norwegian, O'Hare, ORD, SEA, Seattle, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines

Big orders, big plans, and potentially big troubles across the industry, depending on who you are and how your fleet is structured.

• Podcast
• Trip Reports

DLD 526: Not so express

• March 20, 2025
• Tagged as: 787, Allegient Air, American Airlines, ancillary, ancillary fees, DCA, earnings, elite status, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Frontier, IndiGo, Korean Airlines, lifetime, livery, Los Angeles, Marrakech, NTSB, PAE, Paine Field, routes, Seattle, Southwest Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Transatlantic, United Airlines

Marrakech remains a mess for connections. And there are plenty of other messes around the world. But we find some good news, too.

• 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
• 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

DLD 462: Cool connections and an unlikely airspace plan

• December 14, 2023
• Tagged as: A330, Airbus, airports, American Airlines, Barcelona, Beluga, Cancun, cargo, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, elite status, engines, Goose Bay, Greenland, hyatt, Japan, Las Vegas, NATS, Nuuk, San Francisco, SEA, Seattle, South Africa, Taipei, TPE, Trip Report, United Airlines, United Kingdom

Maybe it’ll work, but there are some half-baked plans being bandied about. And we’re not a fan of that unless they’re our half-baked plans.

• Podcast

DLD 460: I dunno

• December 4, 2023
• Tagged as: Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Etihad, Flying Blue, immigration, lounge, lounges, MCO, Oneworld, Orlando, Pakistan, podcast, routes, SEA, Seattle, United Airlines

No, really, I have no idea what to put here.

• Podcast

DLD 428: Squeeze play

• April 13, 2023
• Tagged as: American Airlines, AMS, Amsterdam, British Airways, credit cards, Dubai, DWC, EWR, immigration, JFK Airport, Newark, Norse Atlantic, OTG Experience, points, routes, SEA, Seattle, slots, Upgrade

Trying to squeeze more planes into a terminal is rarely an easy task. When the terminal is brand new and someone screwed up the design work it is even worse.

• Podcast

DLD 379: Bucket o’ squirrels

• April 7, 2022
• Tagged as: A321neo, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, business class, Delta Air Lines, elite status, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Mexico City, podcast, SEA, Seattle, SkyMiles, TATL, Transatlantic

No squirrels were harmed in the making of this episode. And we cannot explain why that is even remotely relevant. But here we are anyways.

• Podcast

DLD 288: Hoppity hopper

• April 23, 2020
• Tagged as: Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Aviointeriors, business class, Delta Air Lines, economy class, Eva, Hello Kitty, jetblue, Mint, Oneworld, podcast, premium cabin, seating, seats, Seattle, transcon, Trip Report

An island hopper that only takes 8 hours and does not risk military base diversions has us pretty excited. Just need it to actually operate now.