Airlines Confidential Podcast

This week: Allison Pohle, Travel Reporter, The Wall Street Journal; Evacuating an aircraft; American comes to agreement with flight attendants; Exploding soda at Southwest; United reducing capacity; IT debacle hits airlines hard, especially Delta; Takeaways from TSA Administrator David Pekoske on stats & plans; Listener takes issue with Scott on fees; Q's on air traffic controller hiring lawsuit, fee display dropdowns.

This week: David Pekoske, Administrator, Transportation Security Administration (TSA); Delta and other's earnings; Delta announces partnership with Riyadh Air; Cirium seat data released; Rakesh Gangwal joins Southwest Airlines Board of Directors; Listener Q on bad weather flight decisions.

This week: Boeing pleads guilty to defrauding the government; Boeing to buy back supplier Spirit AeroSystems; and more Boeing news; The fee-based travel economy-Have fees gotten out of hand?; Universal Hydrogen burns through $100MM; SWA Q3 revenue down; Listener Q on Spirit Airlines furloughing while increasing executive pay.

This week: Scott McCartney interviews Ben Baldanza, Fmr CEO, Spirit & current Board Member JetBlue: Ben has been selected to receive National Aeronautic Association 2024 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy; FAA looking at new public charter rules; The Basic Economy misnomer with almost incomprehensible policies; SWA flight low altitude situations cause concern; Listener input: APUs, should a pilot stay at Spirit.

This week: Tim Toerber, VP Business Development, Assaia; A focus on Southwest - changes coming, overstaffing, the impact of Elliott Investment Management, and more; Mishandled bag numbers; Alaska must pay for a trademark they don't use; Listener suggestions for Southwest.

This week: Sammy Patel, VP/Commercial, Vantage Airport Group & CEO Midway Partnership and Simon Gandy, EVP/COO, New Terminal One: Rebuilding JFK: FAA understaffing continues; DOT issues minor fine to foreign carriers over passenger refunds; Increased flights to TLV; GBTA, business travel types, numbers, & average trip cost; Listener input: Differentiating between lower cost carriers; Unfair to blame F/A's for American operational issues.

This week: Michael Landguth, Pres. & CEO, Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority; American CEO Robert Isom fires CCO Vasu Raja, actual margins, a brain drain, and more @ AA; Weather issues at DFW; FAA meets with Boeing; A near collision at DCA; Listener Q: If Spirit went bankrupt how would other airlines react?

This week: Chris Sloan: In depth on Hawaiian Airlines; Also: The reality of the London-Singapore flight story; Adding clarity to Frontier's pricing/change fee policy; Remembering Norm Mineta; Listener input: Calling out Allegiant on a "rip-off" ticketing fee, Expedia's multiple brands. Bonus interview content from AFA available at https://airlinesconfidential.com/afa2024

This week: Simon Newton-Smith, SVP Americas, EL AL Israel Airlines; Cirium seat capacity growth data; Airlines For America sues DOT over fee listings; FAA reauthorization bill signed; Congress misunderstands aircraft capacity & evacuation reality; A change in Boeing assembly line process; Listener comments.

This week: Greg Schulze, Chief Commercial Officer, Expedia Group; A tribute to Colleen Barrett, "The Mother of Southwest Airlines"; Ted Christie says the game is rigged; Spirit's plan moving forward; A new FAA investigation of Boeing relating to 787 inspections; Multiple listener response to last episode's William J. McGee interview.

This week: William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel, American Economic Liberties Project; An in depth discussion on pros/cons of more regulation; Plus, can/will Embraer challenge Boeing & Airbus?

This week: John Breyault, VP, Public Policy, Telecommunications & Fraud, National Consumers League; Also, a dreadful week of business news for airlines; Big losses at AA & SWA; SWA cuts routes, open to new fees; DOT refunds & fee display policy changes; Listener Q on SWA commuter policy concern.

This week: Sam Coats, Retired Airline & Corporate Executive & Civic Leader ; United CEO Scott Kirby reports Q1 loss & Boeing order conversions; Strong Q2 ticket demand; A close call at DCA; Southwest launches new marketing campaign.

This week: Jay Sorensen, President, IdeaWorksCompany; Loyalty program values; Delta Q1 numbers; Spirit woes deepen; Breeze shows a profit; Huge payday for AA CEO Robert Isom; Listener Q on new Boeing aircraft.

This week: Kevin O'Toole, Chief Strategy Officer, Cirium; Data on 2023 Airfares; Airline C-Suite compensation - who's on top? Oakland CA airport wants San Francisco name; Listener input on passenger security screening, crew bases and scheduling.

This week: It's In The Bag - A Focus on the Business of Bag Fees; Breezy Rewards Valuation; Listener input: Feedback on John Heimlich, American shifting to more domestic flights, United's overhead bins.

This week: John Heimlich, VP/Chief Economist, Airlines for America; Boeing searching for a new CEO; FAA moves EWR TRACON to PHL; JetBlue cuts routes; Is cutting costs ultimately more costly? Listener feedback: Public charter security, Rudy Maxa's destination judgements, Maintenance techs in the future.

This week: Rudy Maxa, Travel Journalist; Positive comments on Ben's NVO; Airlines: Biggest? Most Profitable? Biggest airline crown; Southwest expects fewer new planes; Concerns around lack of Boeing paperwork/security video; Empty middle seats on Frontier; Listener feedback on Doug Parker interview.

This week: Doug Parker, Fmr CEO, American Airlines, outlines serious TSA safety concerns. Ben's AI "New Voice Option" (NVO); Spirit & JetBlue go it alone - Next moves? New proposed rule for handling wheelchairs; Fare fact errors made by Tim Wu on CNBC; Listener Qs on useful life of a commercial aircraft, business model for airport lounges.

This week: Zane Kerby, President & CEO at ASTA - American Society of Travel Advisors; 2023 numbers show safest year in aviation; Boeing supervision; AA same-day standby changes; What's with all the new Brisbane flights? Catherine & Richard Dotson remain at SAV; Listener Q: Overhead bin utilization, and a Flight Attendant asks how management really views F/As.