RGN In Conversation

LIFT Aero Design’s Aaron Yong joins aviation journalist John Walton from Singapore, bringing an update from the aviation superpower citystate, as well as how aircraft interior designers are responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

What’s the situation in Singapore like right now? How will the forthcoming Singapore-Hong Kong quarantine-free air corridor work? And what exactly is going on with the world’s longest flight — or, it seems, not the world’s longest flight according to the airline — moving from Newark to New York JFK?

Inside the cabin, what are designers focussing on in the age of COVID-19? Are we set to return to the “wall of beige thermoplastic” in the name of hygiene? How are the details of the “visibly clean” trend shaking out? And what about incorporating antimicrobials into the very fabric (and plastics) of seats?

And how is Singapore Airlines making the most of its iconic brand to keep in touch with passengers even on the ground?

Joanna Bailey and Thomas Boon from Simple Flying join RGN deputy editor John Walton to face off about the newest business class seats from Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.

How does Virgin’s Safran Seats Cirrus NG hold up, beyond the well-discussed issue with the table — has the seatmaker fixed its problems? Is the lack of doors a dealbreaker for this new cabin? What about the new Loft lounge space that has replaced the signature Virgin Atlantic bar?

What about BA’s Collins Aerospace Super Diamond with its door? How has this seat changed, both compared with BA’s old business class seat and compared with existing Super Diamond seats? Do the colours, material and finish (CMF) stand up to scrutiny? What about the Club Kitchen?

And how do both seats compare with each other, face to face?

Every episode of In Conversation is available on iTunes. A transcript of this podcast will also be published on this page shortly: please email [email protected] with any feedback on formatting or with any recommendations for increasing its accessibility to the widest possible audience.

Reuters’ chief correspondent, Asia aviation and defence, Jamie Freed joins RGN contributing editor John Walton for a wide-ranging conversation about the effects that the ongoing instability in Hong Kong has been affecting aviation within the region.

How has it affected passengers, the airport, and the demand for its third runway? What about the airlines based in Hong Kong, including Cathay Pacific, HNA’s Hong Kong Airlines and newly-Cathay LCC Hong Kong Express? What do the new people in charge mean for Cathay Pacific after the departure of board chairman John Slosar, CEO Rupert Hogg and chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo?

What changes are likely to Cathay’s strategy, especially for Cathay Dragon and HK Express? How about other airlines who fly into Hong Kong, and the other regional hubs like Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok and so on? How is this new unidentified pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan fitting into the picture? And what are the challenges coming forward for the 2020s?

Australian aviation journalist Jordan Chong joins RGN deputy editor John Walton to get to the bottom of Project Sunrise, Qantas’ plan to fly nonstop to London and New York from Australia’s east coast.

What is Project Sunrise? What are these “research flights” Qantas has been doing all about? How do the two aircraft being put up by Airbus and Boeing for Project Sunrise stack up, and is Qantas happy with the offerings?

How does Qantas’ perspective as an airline at the “end of the line” inform its decisionmaking? How will Project Sunrise fit in with Qantas’ “longhaul U” strategy of using its Dreamliners for optimal efficiency to Europe, domestically and the US? How will Air New Zealand’s choice to move its flagship flights from London to New York affect the demand for Project Sunrise? And what might the passenger experience on board look like — does Qantas need a new business class seat for the world’s longest flight?

Nik Loukas from InflightFeed.com joins RGN deputy editor John Walton for a wide-ranging conversation about onboard catering and how airlines of all kinds keep us fed and watered on the aircraft.

What’s new in the world of plane food? What are low-cost airlines focussing on, and how are they doing? Which are the ones to watch…and which are the ones to watch out for? How do the airlines doing a great job with onboard grub do it? What are some of the best meals that Nik and John have enjoyed, and what were some of the shockers?

How is the trend of bigger main meals — and smaller side dishes — on full services carriers going? How important is the environmental movement in reducing waste and being more thoughtful about the impact of #PaxEx on the planet?

Head of the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance Nicole Noack joins RGN deputy editor John Walton for an in-depth conversation about the fascinating world of aircraft maintenance!

What is IAMA, and why does it exist? How does its work, and the work of its member companies, affect the passenger experience? Why did they decide to create an alliance, and what is it working towards?

What will IAMA produce, and how will it help airlines, aircraft manufacturers, the companies that maintain airplanes, and the lessors who own them, make passenger experience better? What are the gaps in the certification and regulatory system that mean that IAMA and its work are necessary? And what’s next for IAMA and its members?

Every episode of In Conversation is available on iTunes. A transcript of this podcast will also be published on this page shortly: please email [email protected] with any feedback on formatting or with any recommendations for increasing its accessibility to the widest possible audience.

ATR’s vice president and head of marketing Zuzana Hrnkova joins RGN deputy editor John Walton to talk about the past, present and future of the turboprop airframer.

What is ATR, and  where do its two aircraft, the ATR 72 and 42, fit in the aviation spectrum? How are they different from the rest of the market? Why are turbopropos more efficient, with a lower environmental impact, than jet aircraft? What’s the ATR-42S short-takeoff-and-landing version, and why is ATR proposing it? Just how many missions need an 800-metre runway, and where?

How has the passenger experience aboard ATR’s turboprops changed over the years, and how has the Armonia cabin helped? Just how have ATR and Geven fit 18-inch-wide seats into a turboprop fuselage, and are airlines still requesting seats with recline?

And lastly, how is ATR’s work to bring induction loop technology for Deaf and hard of hearing passengers going? What is the solution looking like, and how will it be implemented?

What’s new with the Mitsubishi SpaceJet, and where has the programme come from? What’s the latest on this delayed but very promising aircraft? How did its history — and Japan’s corporate landscape — lead it to where it is today, and what does today’s market look like for this size of plane in the context of Airbus’s A220, Boeing’s E2 partnership with Embraer, and indeed the CRJ moving to Mits?

How do the new M100 and M90 compare with the MRJ70 and MRJ90 in the 70-odd and 90-odd passenger space? What about a stretched M200? How does the new Safran ECOS family-based cabin stand up? Why is the future bright for Mitsubishi and the aircraft? And where might Mitsubishi base its US operations for the SpaceJet?

Listen here, or every episode of In Conversation is also available on iTunes. A transcript of this podcast will also be published on this page shortly: please [email protected] with any feedback on formatting or with any recommendations for increasing its accessibility to the widest possible audience.

Recorded live at Le Bourget during the 53rd Paris Air Show, Aérospatium's Caroline Bruneau joins RGN deputy editor John Walton to put this most unusual show into its wider aviation context.

Beyond the passenger experience, beyond the Boeing 737 MAX, Airbus A321XLR and others news in the commercial space, what are the problems facing the aviation industry more widely? What do we as an industry need to be doing in order to meet the growing forecasts for industry employees in the future, and how do we make sure that we can fill the proverbial pipeline?

Within France, what’s the latest on the political movement to ban domestic flying? Elsewhere, how are global low cost carriers moving forward with their aircraft, in the context of the absence of the A380? And what about the Boeing NMA with the new longer-range A321neo?

Fresh from the Airbus Innovation Days in Toulouse, aviation journalist and storyteller Howard Slutsken joins RGN deputy editor John Walton to talk about what’s new in the world of Airbus, from new faces at the top of the business to new options for the A321neo, new seating for the A350 and much more.

Will Airbus launch the A321XLR, YLR or ZLR at the Paris Air Show next month? Just how rocky is the “rock” and how hard is the “hard place” in the middle of the market? What’s new with the Airbus A220, né Bombardier C Series, and how did Airbus put some Canadian backs up at the Innovation Days?

Will Airbus fold yacht technology back into aviation? What other innovations is the airframer looking at? And will the new ten-abreast A350 configuration with sculpted sidewalls live up to the promises Airbus’ sales supremo Christian Scherer is making?

Listen here, or every episode of In Conversation is also available on iTunes. A transcript of this podcast will also be published on this page shortly: please email [email protected] with any feedback on formatting or with any recommendations for increasing its accessibility to the widest possible audience.