It’s been a big news week for the two major domestic airlines, with Virgin confirming long-held speculation that Qatar Airways is looking to take a 25 per cent stake (and announcing wet-leased flights to Doha), while Qantas tries to resolve engineering strikes as it increases its international capacity and launches a slick new North American ad campaign. Rex couldn’t escape the headlines either – on the ABC’s Four Corners, chairman John Sharp revealed it had tried to sell its beleaguered domestic jet arm to Virgin before it collapsed; meanwhile, no “obvious” buyers have emerged for its regional operations, according to one source. Adam and Jake digest the week’s news and what it all means for the airlines and their passengers. Plus, Air New Zealand last week briefly had the best flight deals in the skies – but were trans-Tasman flights for under $10 too good to be true?

Between Qantas and Jetstar, Qantas Group is undoubtedly the biggest name in Australia’s skies, with Virgin Australia a fairly distant second – which has led some, including opposition transport spokesperson Bridget McKenzie, to call for its break-up.

In a recent poll, almost half of those surveyed thought Qantas should be made to sell its low-cost arm and an overwhelming majority wanted more competition in domestic aviation – but could, and should, it happen?

Adam and Jake examine the arguments and ask if there’s any way for a new player to break into the crowded domestic market.

Plus, the return of the “sky kittens” – will changes to parallel runway operations at Brisbane to route more flights over the water help keep “purring” over residential areas to a minimum?

It’s been almost two months since Rex collapsed into administration and scrapped its domestic jet services, and the latest BITRE data shows that airfares – both sale prices and standard economy seats – have seen a sharp increase. With the Qantas-Virgin duopoly once again ruling Australia’s skies, how much of this increase can be attributed to loss of competition versus normal seasonal factors? Adam and Jake look at the figures and what the experts are saying. Plus, Embraer says it could have more than 200 E-Jets in Australia by the end of this decade – could this be the key to a regional jet renaissance?

Amanda Harrison attempted to recreate the first solo flight by a woman from England to Australia in 1930.

That original journey was undertaken by the pioneering Amy Johnson in a Gipsy Moth, so Harrison, attempting to be as true to the challenge as possible, undertook hers in a 1942 Tiger Moth.

Unfortunately, she had to abandon her mission due to airspace restrictions in 2019, but she did have some adventures on the way.

In this special podcast, Harrison talks to host Adam Thorn about her incredible flight – and what’s next. 

It’s results season, and Qantas, Air New Zealand and Alliance have all posted profits – though the narrative around them is very different. Qantas is slightly down on last year, but still above pre-COVID profits, while Air New Zealand has seen its own profit slashed in half due to economic headwinds – and while Alliance posted the smallest profit in absolute terms, the record high has it celebrating a successful year. Adam and Jake cut through the spin and discuss what the year’s results say about how the airlines are really doing. Plus, there’s been a lot of buzz in recent weeks about “Koala Airlines” – but are we genuinely going to see a new domestic carrier any time soon?

It’s been a long time coming, and at last, this week saw the release of the federal government’s Aviation White Paper.

The government has pushed consumer protections to the forefront of its agenda, with a new independent ombudsman to take over from the industry-funded Airline Customer Advocate, and a Charter of Customer Rights on the horizon.

Adam and Jake dig into some of the white paper’s provisions and examine what they might mean for the sector.

Plus, as the Rex administration saga rolls on, what has the government been doing to keep the beleaguered airline’s regional services afloat – and could it be doing more?

Joel Neeb is a former F-15 pilot who flew thousands of missions for the US Air Force, including escorting Air Force One and patrolling the skies in the days after 9/11. Rising to become lieutenant colonel, he trained hundreds of others to do the same as chief instructor pilot. More impressively, after he left the military, he became a hugely successful business leader. In this special episode, Neeb, visiting Sydney from the US, talks through his amazing career and the secret sauce that makes the best fighter pilots.  

Later this month, we will host our first Australian Aviation Summit in partnership with Leidos Australia.

The event will tackle the biggest topics in the industry, including how the sector can begin to fix its chronic talent shortage.

In this special episode, Jesse Young, head of flight operations at Leidos, and Lea Vesic, CEO of RMIT’s Aviation Academy, talk candidly about what it will take to build and retain our future workforce.

They examine its causes, effects and what more needs to be done to solve this ongoing challenge. Plus, they also discuss their pioneering collaboration that will see Leidos provide $120,000 worth of scholarship funding to final-year students at RMIT.

With Bonza gone and Rex fighting for its life in voluntary administration, the spotlight has once again turned to an old argument: that slot allocation at Sydney Airport unfairly advantages the major players. As the federal government looks to put Sydney slot management out to tender, do Qantas and Virgin really have their thumbs on the scales, as former ACCC chair Rod Sims has suggested? Adam and Jake look at the arguments on each side and the other factors that played into Bonza and Rex’s respective failures. Plus, Boeing appoints an engineer as its new CEO – is this a positive sign for the planemaker’s culture, or will the same old failures continue?

In a matter of months, a second Australian airline has gone into voluntary administration: this time it’s Rex, whose ambitions of challenging Qantas and Virgin on capital city flights with 737-800s have dramatically hit the rocks. But with its regional Saab 340B flights still running, and the federal government signalling it doesn’t want to see Rex fail, there’s still plenty of hope that the airline won’t completely go the way of Bonza – or, for that matter, its predecessor Ansett. Adam and Jake discuss what went wrong at Rex, the possible paths forward, and whether something needs to be done about the dominance of the Qantas-Virgin duopoly. Plus, Air New Zealand scraps its 2030 sustainability target – are dreams of a greener sky in danger?