Fifteen years ago, freshly out of cubicle culture, I made the bold decision to start a travel blog. I felt travel was on the verge of a transformation and wanted a URL to reflect the changing times. But I soon found my first choice — newtravel.com – was already taken. By some travel agency in Bulgaria. Those days before Twitter and Facebook feel as ancient as the Dewey Decimal System now, but I’m fascinated that Bulgaria stumbled onto that phrase first.

One afternoon earlier this month, just before his whiskey “ambassador” was to begin serving customers at the 4 p.m. happy hour— “I think he was appointed by the Scottish government” — James Lang, who likely knows more about airplane seat leather than anyone alive, spoke wistfully about the time several years ago when his company hired a bagpiper in an attempt to curry favor with airline executives.

The Skift Airline Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter on the business of airline innovation. We look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports. Brian Sumers writes and curates the newsletter, and we send it on Wednesdays. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. Usually, when television news investigates a U.S. airline, insiders mock whatever the reporter has uncovered, complaining the segment got the story wrong.

The Southwest Airlines engine that failed Tuesday, leading to one passenger death — the first for a U.S. airline since 2009 and the first for Southwest since it began flying in 1971 — has long been considered among the most reliable, and until recently, had almost a perfect record, experts said. “This is the single most-used engine both now and ever,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at Teal Group, an aerospace and defense consulting company.

The sky seemed to be falling for online travel in October and November after Expedia Group and Booking Holdings reported third quarter results, and their stock prices plummeted around 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively. The pessimism was based on missed estimates, rising costs, and fears about the hyper-competitive environment, including the up-and-coming Airbnb. Suddenly, the obituary writers at Bloomberg were bemoaning that “growth is getting harder to come by in online travel.

Delta Air Lines has been chugging along over the last year, steadily growing revenue while experimenting with basic economy fares. The first quarter of 2018 was no different, with the airline beating estimates despite increased costs. The airline posted record revenue of $9.76 billion marking 8 percent growth year-over-year. But income was hurt by higher than anticipated fuel prices and the cost of increased capacity.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night, sweat on your brow, wondering about the most important things in life… like what’s going on with Deem? Me too. Deem wants to succeed by narrowing down its focus, and its leadership seems to have righted the ship despite two tough years. You can check out my story, and thoughts from CEO and COO John F. Rizzo, below.

The Skift Airline Innovation Report is our weekly newsletter on the business of airline innovation. We look closely at the technological, financial, and design trends at airlines and airports. Brian Sumers writes and curates the newsletter, and we send it on Wednesdays. You can find previous issues of the newsletter here. We often think airlines passengers will do anything for a deal. That’s usually true, but as we learned recently from Southwest Airlines, there are limits.

After Southwest Airlines permanentlyparked almost 90 of its smallest, oldest jets last year, it had a choice while it waited for Boeing’s new fuel-efficient replacements. It could cut its schedule, slashing flights and reducing revenues, or it could push existing aircraft harder. Southwest chose to do more with less, growing capacity by about 3 percent between January and June, despite starting 2017 with 17 fewer aircraft than a year earlier.

Two months after Steve Wynn resigned from the casino and resorts empire that he built, potential suitors may be circling Wynn Resorts. The New York Postthis week reported that MGM Resorts International may be interested in purchasing the embattled company and that new Wynn CEO Matt Maddox would be tempted to sell for the right price. The report contradicts statements made by MGM Resorts CEO James Murren in February.