Australian Aviation Podcast Network

It's been a big week for drones, with news that Wing has quietly pulled its drone delivery operations from Australia, Vivid Sydney has pulled its drone show after 89 of them not-so-quietly fell in Darling Harbour, and Australian and Ukrainian troops are jointly training in counter-drone tactics.

With a report for Airservices a couple of years ago predicting Australia could see 60 million drone flights per year by 2043, it's clear drones are here to stay in our airspace – the only question is, in what forms?

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David ask whether drone delivery will come back to Australia and if drone show technology is truly ready for the big time, and examine how drone warfare is reshaping the modern battlefield.

Plus, airlines push back on the government's aviation consumer legislation – but do their arguments pass the pub test?

If the darkest hour is just before the dawn, it's going to be a long night for anyone looking to fly non-stop from the east coast to London or New York – yet another delay has pushed back the launch of Qantas' 22-hour "Project Sunrise" flights to later in 2027.

With the first of the Flying Kangaroo's specially-fitted A350-1000ULRs now not slated to arrive until April next year due to supply chain issues at Airbus, how much longer will Australians have to wait for the game-changing ultra-long-haul services?

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David look into the latest Project Sunrise delays and what's still needed before the flights can get off the ground.

Plus, welcome news for regional airports hit by the Rex collapse, while ASIC wins a surprising mea culpa from the airline's former boss.

t's been two years since the collapse of Bonza and Rex – and while Koala Airlines is yet to launch, another aviation contender could be entering the market before long.

Dubbed Zinc Airlines, the ultra-low-cost-carrier would pursue a business model similar to European airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair, with its founder saying Western Sydney Airport would offer a unique opportunity for new contenders – but is he right?

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David look at Zinc's plan to shake up the domestic aviation market, whether it can avoid the fate of failed carriers before it, and how it might take the fight to the big boys.

Plus, the 2026 budget is out – what's in the government's $731.1 million aviation package, and what's got the GA and tourism sectors all riled up?

We've all been delayed at the airport at some point, or know someone who has – but still, to learn that 55 per cent of Aussie travellers in a recent government survey were hit by a flight delay or disruption between August 2024 and 2025 puts the whole issue in sharp relief.

And yet, perhaps more surprising is how few of them have complained – not because of how happy they were with the service, but because they didn't think their complaints would go anywhere. That might be set to change with new government regulations and an independent ombudsman … but is it too little, too late for our trust in the airline industry?

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David swap war stories of flight delays and examine just how satisfied Australians are with our airlines and airports.

Plus, amid scandals and stoushes galore, could Western Sydney Airport's metro line end up delayed until 2028?

In the 1970s, a young pilot called Deborah Lawrie did something nobody had thought possible: took on the might of Ansett, at the time one of Australia's two big airlines, all the way to the High Court – and won.

Her goal? To overturn Sir Reginald Ansett's long-standing ban on women in the cockpit and become Australia's first female commercial airline pilot. Her landmark case – and her incredible subsequent career – paved the way for female aviators after her to make their mark on Australian skies.

Now working for Virgin Australia, Deb is the oldest and longest-serving female pilot at any commercial airline in the world, and has just released a new memoir, Touching the Sky, recounting her fight against Ansett and what came next. On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Deb sits down with Jake to discuss how she caught the flying bug at an early age, how she took down the aviation titan that was Sir Reg Ansett, and the highs and lows of more than four decades of flying.

When he was just 12 years old and growing up near Shellharbour Airport, Riley McDonald knew he wanted to fly – so he started spending his free time heading down to the airport and washing people's planes in exchange for lessons.

At age 16 he was flying solo and earning his pilot's licence, and now at 25, he works as a professional skydiving pilot and aircraft maintenance engineer, and has taken out a National Advanced Champion title for aerobatics.

Mentored by none other than Paul Bennet, Riley is now gearing up to fly with the Paul Bennet Airshows team at Wings Over Shellharbour this month, and says airshows and open days are the perfect entry point to bring more young enthusiasts into the industry.

On this Australian Aviation Podcast, Riley tells Jake Nelson how he chased his dream of a career in aviation – and how we can encourage other aspiring pilots and engineers to do the same.

With the Iran conflict driving up fuel prices amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, you might expect international travel to plummet and airfares to soar – but it turns out the real picture is a touch more complicated than that.

While airlines have been pruning services and hiking prices, both Qantas and Virgin have launched huge domestic sales to try to woo customers with millions of discounted seats, while Sydney Airport just saw the best quarter for international travel in its history.

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David try to make head or tail of the unexpectedly topsy-turvy outcomes of the Middle East crisis on our aviation sector, and examine how the world's airspace is being reshaped – for now or for good.

Plus, Western Sydney Airport's new flight paths are locked and loaded – what can Sydneysiders expect when the first cargo planes arrive in July?

It's well-known that the aviation and aerospace sector has been suffering under a talent shortage for some time now – not to mention the challenge of promoting greater diversity in the workforce.

One potential solution? To encourage more young people to enter the industry – to cultivate a love of aviation from an early age, and help kids realise it could hold their dream job.

Together with the CSIRO's STEM in Schools program, industry bodies like Aviation/Aerospace Australia are doing just that by going into schools and holding talks and workshops on what an aviation career could mean for students' futures.

On this Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake talks to Anntonette Dailey of Aviation/Aerospace Australia about the root causes behind the talent crisis, what the industry is doing about them, and the support it needs to bring young people along for the ride.

The government has rolled out its 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, and there's plenty to dissect for aviation – an early sunset for Tiger helicopters, the retirement of the C-27J Spartan, and a $7 billion boost to counter-drone defences, just to start with.

While the RAAF alone is slated to get between $34-41 billion over the next 10 years, as the world becomes more unstable and traditional alliances get shakier, is Australia doing enough to bolster its own air defences?

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David are joined by aerospace and defence lead Stephen Kuper to discuss what Australia is doing – and could be doing – to safeguard its skies.

Plus, the Iran conflict has driven Australian traffic to the Middle East off a cliff – which hubs are picking up the slack, and what's happening to our domestic capacity?

When plucky start-up airline Bonza collapsed in 2024, everyone was quick to point the finger at its business model as the reason for its failure – yet often overlooked was the role its financiers, 777 Partners, played in its demise by abruptly cutting off funding without warning.

With the Miami-based investment firm now drowning in lawsuits and criminal investigations, Bonza's former chief executive, Tim Jordan, this week came out swinging in an Australian Aviation interview where he pointed the finger squarely in its direction over the carrier's fate.

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David dissect the Tim Jordan interview, examine how 777 Partners pulling the plug spelt the end for Bonza, and look at the lessons for Australia's next potential domestic airline.

Plus, as the Qantas-Virgin duopoly continues to squeeze the domestic market, we ask: how much of it is actually the major airlines' fault?