What does it take to build a strong Asia strategy for a North American airline? There are a few people in the industry with significant experience on that front and one of them recently jumped ship, headed to Fort Worth to work with American Airlines on its overall route strategy.

Also in this week's show:

* The Boeing 777X made its maiden flight* South African Airways trimmed some routes but then got some cash to drive its restructuring* Swiss plans to shift its Beijing flights to Daxing, assuming airlines are still flying to/from China in a few months* Airbus subsidiary Skytra wants to market derivatives related to future airline revenue* Emotional Support Animals won't fly in the DOT has its way, but Delta Air Lines has a swanky (and expensive) new pet carrier option* Delta also has new first class seats for its A321neo aircraft* Eastern Airlines wants to fly to Cabo* Condor was purchased by LOT's parent company* Korean has a new SkyPass loyalty program and is giving an incredible amount of advance notice on the shift

Lots more in there, too. This is a packed episode with all sorts of goodies.

Enjoy!