Will a Middle East merger happen? Did a plane run very low on fuel? Is the new UA boarding process a joke? Lots of answers in this week's show!

Stephan and Fozz are on this week, with some lively conversation including the following stories:

* An Air India Flight Loses Landing Instrumentation and Runs Low on Fuel

* For a short while, American Airlines was considering ending ticket changes

* Emirates and Etihad are Considering a Merger

* This New Zealander Has a Plane In His Backyard

We also talked about Fozz's United agent experience in Amsterdam and EU261 rules. And we talk about the first couple of weeks of the new United boarding process.

Is it fair that Turkey's president gets a new 747-8i before we do? Alas, it probably is. Questions remain around how long his government will be solvent to operate it, though.

Also in this episode:

* The gate crunch at SFO sucks for United passengers

* A new longest domestic US route as Hawaiian announces Boston service

* More lift to Miami for Europeans thanks to LOT's new flight from Warsaw

* United has new boarding groups, but will they really make a difference?

* British Airways improved catering which is a somewhat surprising shift to being nicer to passengers

* Mexico City's new airport is behind schedule, over budget, and at risk of seeing the project canceled; oopsie!

We also talk IATA forecasts and Hyperloop and Dubai and lots of other stuff. So solid off-topic rambling going on in here.

Are the days of Aerolineas Argentinas numbered? Norwegian is now selling seats for its domestic flights there, with service launching mid-October.

Plus:

* Primera adds Frankfurt as another base for TATL LCC flights

* United is investing $200 million in Hawaii and appears to be adding westbound redeyes to the islands

* Delta is looking for investors for its Trainer oil refinery operations

* Might PreCheck become Trusted Traveler only? Some Congress-critters want that to happen, but maybe that's not the true solution

And, as always, the usual ramblings of our intrepid crew.

 

Is Primera ready for Transatlantic prime time? Seth took a trip with the carrier this week and has a few thoughts on the product.

Also in this episode:

* Berlin is getting its TATL back

* Cayman Air is coming to Denver

* Carlsbad gets service again as California Pacific finally launches (only took 7 years!)

* The 737-10 landing gear is crazy cool

* United's efforts to avoid the China/Taiwan spat continue to come up short

* More engine woes for Pratt & Whitney

And lots, lots more!

 

Can a pair of –10 models from Boeing redefine the US transcon market? Or maybe United is just playing a bit of catch-up here, hoping to keep premium passengers from defecting to JetBlue's growing Mint product. And how does it affect the 757-200 fleet??

Also this week:

* Gatwick had a tech outage and handled it moderately badly

* Cathay's pilots all hate the company despite a ridiculous housing stipend

* United is moving to trade on NASDAQ and we have no idea why that matters

* Qatar's ruling family is selling its 747-8i and we need a new recording studio, so help us out!

* Long haul route shuffling from American and Delta as they jockey for new markets (or mere survival)

* Joon might be on strike soon, owing to crew wanting more pay despite knowing from the beginning they were going to be paid less

* A FAM flashed his weapon instead of a badge to a FA recently, causing all sorts of issues

And plenty more…

Will the Singapore-Newark route really fly? Some of us are more skeptical than others. But the first A350-900ULR is in test flights now so expect delivery soon enough.

Also in this episode:

* United has a new "elite" program for corporate contracts. And it could mean bad news for regular travelers.

* Body scanner cameras in the subways of Los Angeles (and NYC)

*

US inbound traffic from China is suffering mightily

And, the story of traveling on "hard" passports we didn't talk about

 

Daytime flights from the east coast of North America to London can be a great way to help recover from jetlag. But starting on the west coast can make them a mess. Fozz and Stephan both did that last week and agree that it isn't a great idea.

Also in this episode:

* United gets some new colors

* A stolen Q400 ends in tragedy

* Terminal dumps in Germany seem to keep happening

* They found a way to get some use out of the new Berlin airport given that it doesn't work for planes

* Maybe brand equity in international markets really does matter

* And, because it is the summer and travel sometimes sucks, plenty of IROPs discussion

 

This week we welcome special guest Linnea Hartsuyker (TW, IG) to the show to talk about her upcoming novel, The Sea Queen. Set in Viking-era Norway, The Sea Queen is the second book in The Golden Wolf Saga trilogy, telling tales of Harold's rise to power as the first king of Norway as seen through some of the associated characters surrounding him. The book's release is on 14 August 2018 so grab a pre-order copy now and settle in to hear some behind-the-scenes stories about how recent travel helped shape some of the details in the book.

The conversation with Linnea is the bulk of the episode, but we did squeeze in a couple other topics at the end:

* Is the TSA really considering dropping security screening on smaller planes at smaller airports? Probably not, but the idea made it far enough in the process to be written down and discussed within the agency. And, yes, it is probably stupid. But not for the security reasons most are bringing up.

* Munich suffered a security breach recently resulting in a full terminal dump. That was not an inexpensive incident.

Also, Linnea mentioned a Siberia travelogue as one of her favorites. This is it:

Aimia runs the loyalty programs for several airlines. A couple of them no longer want to be in that relationship and the process to untangle that web is interesting, to say the least. The Air Canada/Aeroplan buyout offer is still on the table while Aeromexico's offer was rejected outright.

Also in this week's show:

* Rehashing an older tale of the guy who scammed McDonald's Monopoly game for years. And his quest for Delta Gold Medallion status.

* The TSA "Quiet Skies" program is all sorts of sketchy

* American is deferring A321neo deliveries, slowing its growth

* An Air Canada 787 made a wrong turn at Narita, causing a 5 hour delay for itself and a runway closure and scores of other delays/cancels for other airlines

* A few more details on the new Marriott program are out

* Delta is confirming new routes guaranteed to have the DeltaOne suites and Premium Select premium economy seating. Less well publicized is the associated downgrade for Comfort+ passengers that comes with the shift.

https://twitter.com/crankyflier/status/1024040455900606464

 

Is American Airlines ready to cut back further on O'Hare's global connections? Given the shifting loads and capacity for the carrier that could be possible. Fozz appears to have some strong feelings on this one.

Also in this show:

* Turkish Airlines had its own executive outrage incident. But rather than firing the guy for being a jackass the company's top brass are being rewarded with a dedicated team of flight attendants.

* Aeroplan is losing Air Canada as its key airline partner in a couple years. It might start a charter operation to make up for the loss.

* Alitalia is getting the boot from its transatlantic joint venture with SkyTeam partners Delta Air Lines, KLM and Air France. But that's okay because the government might be willing to nationalize it again to keep it running.

* Uber drivers in Miami are scamming riders with fake vomit, ringing up huge revenues as the appeal process is stupid.

* Fozz was recently in Tokyo and has some thoughts about Haneda, Tsukiji and other bits.