Dots, Lines & Destinations

Mid-January means a trip to Europe for the crew, with creative flight

routings and adventures along the way. This year the trip brings us to Zagreb,

Croatia.

Also in this episode:

* Norwegian is slashing crew bases and a few benefits as it tries to shore up

its expenses. Can the company survive?* Avianca Brazil is fighting to keep control of 10 aircraft that lessor GECAS

wants to reclaim* United Airlines beat analyst

earnings estimates for 2018 and showed a bit of sass in celebrating that

accomplishment* A guy in China made his own A320. For real. * Marriott renamed its loyalty program to "Bonvoy" and there are

questions around how well that will age.* Air India is reportedly dropping first class service. Hardly enough to save

that operation, but maybe it'll help?* Who is buying food for TSA and ATC employees while they're not being paid by the US

government? Seemingly everyone!

And, as always, plenty more rambling, tangents and anecdotes. Oh, and a beer

tasting live in this episode. The best part of that is Seth trying to say the names of

the different brands.

Honoring premium cabin mistake fares? Turns out that's not an impossible

dream. Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand both decided to do so in recent days.

Also in this episode:

* The GE9X engine is massive* Joon is really dead* Iberia is desperate for a Brexit solution* Air Asia is slowing its expansion plans* United has a new Polaris lounge this week and two new UClub location opening this year* The government shutdown continues to be a mess for aviation, among

other segments of the economy

No one likes when flights are delayed or canceled. But why is dealing with it such a pain in the ass? We've got Brett from Cranky Flier/Cranky Concierge on this week to talk through some of the challenges airlines and passengers face.

Also on the episode we talk about delays to the new Istanbul airport and possible delays to the Delta A220 entry into service.  

Drones dominated the news last week with the closure of Gatwick over possible

sightings. That's just one of the many topics on the agenda in this episode.

Also in the show:

* United/XJET bought ExpressJet. But not really. Just a little bit. And the FA union is unlikely to be amused. * Air Italy announced a trio of new routes to the USA, riling up

the US3 and causing sternly worded letters to be sent.* Delta had a 767 divert to to Shemya, Alaska just before

Christmas. And a remarkable recovery once it happened.* ANA now has Premium Economy awards available for redemption. Seth and Fozz fight over that a bit.

* Just how creepy is facial recognition? US CBP and DHS/TSA both have efforts

underway. You may not need your passport out to cross the border in the near

future.

Enjoy the show!

Boarding planes in the USA is generally a shitshow. Delta Air Lines hopes to change that with a revised process kicking off in January. Colors are now part of the scheme, not just zone names and numbers.

Also in this episode:

* Russia plans to rename nearly 50 airports to honor various historical figures

* Delta is bringing a handful of business routes online in Boston to further challenge American Airlines and JetBlue

* Malaysia Airlines downgrades its First Class cabin

* A Norwegian 737MAX diverted into Iran which presents some logistical challenges

* United Airlines makes "historic" route announcements for San Francisco that includes some cool destinations but that was also terribly overhyped

* Disputing credit card charges following an airline bankruptcy doesn't necessarily always work

* A cool new way to see what visa(s) you might need for travel

* New security screening equipment goes live in Denver, adding a new pose to the repertoire

And, as always, plenty of other random conversation mixed in.

The WOW death watch continues, even as the carrier launches a new destination in Asia.

Also in the episode:

* Privatair went bankrupt

* Jet Airways is still a mess

* United Airlines has new Paine Field routes

* Stephan hates Kansas City's airport. And Denver. And lots of other stuff, too.

* AA CEO Doug Parker lost a bet that his company's stock price would jump up. And what is happening with that China growth?

* An inaugural flight from Portsmouth, NH.

 

WOW had a suitor, lost it and (maybe) got a new one. Will the carrier still be flying next year??

Also in this episode:

* LaGuardia's new terminal is (finally, partially) open and it is every bit as awesome as was promised. Photos here and here.

* Is Joon now dead?

* Marriott/SPG exposed data from 500 million members to an unauthorized party. That's a massive breach.

* Oneworld is getting a new member on Wednesday and might pick up another soon

* A Brexit Miracle – US/UK bilateral agreed

* JAL Drunk Pilot arrested, boss takes a pay cut

* United's Premium Plus is now on sale

Enjoy the show!

We're recounting our Thanksgiving travels this week with discussions around eastern Tennessee and Qatar Airways QSuites. Yee-haw!

Also in this show:

* More talk about the Lion Air crash and associated MAX training issues

* Rolls Royce, Airbus and Brexit

* The first A330neo delivery to TAP (also, a point of clarification from the episode: Seth says 500 hours of operations; it is 500 cycles on the ETOPS so not as dire as believed)

* A plane with no moving parts

* Spain changes the law on tickets and skipping segments

* Airlines are mad at the PANYNJ

And lots more!

Perhaps our most coherent episode yet. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Boeing has had a rough go lately. The Lion Air incident is revealing some interesting pilot training details and then a 757 and 747 both suffered incidents likely to result in hull losses.

Perhaps the good(??) news is that Boeing is not alone. Air Astana had a scare with an Embraer E190 last week coming out of maintenance. The crew strongly considered ditching the uncontrollable plane in the ocean before eventually landing safely.

Also:

* Ryanair had a plane impounded in Bordeaux; it eventually was returned

* A three day delay for a British Airways flight

* Should we all fly less to help combat climate change?

* Delta wants to tell ATC how to do its job better in NYC

* A flight attendant brawl results in a lawsuit a couple years later