Dots, Lines & Destinations » Podcast

What is it about ultra long haul flights that attracts so much media attention? The past couple weeks have seen a lot of long routes launched, including the new Qantas service between Perth and London. Huge thanks to Cynthia Drescher for joining the team this week for the conversation! That new 'Roo route is not the longest (and might not even qualify as a Kangaroo Route, depending on who you listen to). There's also the part where spending 17ish hours on the plane isn't especially new. Airlines have been running similar (and longer) flights for a while now. Including trips that are in economy class. New Zealand is pretty much always a long-haul flight from wherever and this week announced Chicago as a new destination, teaming up with joint venture partner United Airlines for that service. * Could Qantas be far behind with more US destinations? * Will the "Project Sunrise" flights from Sydney to London materialize? * What about Singapore Airlines and its promise of returning to NYC and Los Angeles nonstop? And a third US destination for them as well. * Singapore Airlines also has a new 787-10, the first of the type ever to fly. And the "regional" business class product looks pretty nice, though regional doesn't always mean what you think it does. * El Al is suing the Israeli government because its flights are longer than Air India's. That's awkward. [wandrad adid=2]  

What is it about ultra long haul flights that attracts so much media attention? The past couple weeks have seen a lot of long routes launched, including the new Qantas service between Perth and London. Huge thanks to Cynthia Drescher for joining the team this week for the conversation! That new 'Roo route is not the longest (and might not even qualify as a Kangaroo Route, depending on who you listen to). There's also the part where spending 17ish hours on the plane isn't especially new. Airlines have been running similar (and longer) flights for a while now. Including trips that are in economy class. New Zealand is pretty much always a long-haul flight from wherever and this week announced Chicago as a new destination, teaming up with joint venture partner United Airlines for that service. * Could Qantas be far behind with more US destinations? * Will the "Project Sunrise" flights from Sydney to London materialize? * What about Singapore Airlines and its promise of returning to NYC and Los Angeles nonstop? And a third US destination for them as well. * Singapore Airlines also has a new 787-10, the first of the type ever to fly. And the "regional" business class product looks pretty nice, though regional doesn't always mean what you think it does. * El Al is suing the Israeli government because its flights are longer than Air India's. That's awkward. [wandrad adid=2]  

Ryanair made plenty of noise about trying to get in on the Air Berlin bankruptcy shopping spree but never quite pulled the trigger. Until now, picking up a chunk of Laudamotion which is the successor to Niki. Why wait to make the purchase? We've got some ideas. Also in this episode: * How long after a storm can an airline claim weather-related cancellations? One NY Post reporter thinks Delta owes him (and his mom) some cash. * Fozz got to fly on one of the elusive United 767-300s with the new Polaris seats installed. And we talk about the cuts to United's Polaris soft product coming on May 1st. * Biometrics with Lufthansa in Los Angeles and at Delta SkyClubs; you might need your foil hat for this part of the show * Norwegian's Chicago service launches and someone writing about it thinks that Norwegian Premium should be price checked against flat-bed offerings from the legacies as a comparable product. * Bonus link: You can DIY a trip on the trans-Siberian railroad for a fraction of the price of the big tour companies. Up for an adventure??  

Ryanair made plenty of noise about trying to get in on the Air Berlin bankruptcy shopping spree but never quite pulled the trigger. Until now, picking up a chunk of Laudamotion which is the successor to Niki. Why wait to make the purchase? We've got some ideas. Also in this episode: * How long after a storm can an airline claim weather-related cancellations? One NY Post reporter thinks Delta owes him (and his mom) some cash. * Fozz got to fly on one of the elusive United 767-300s with the new Polaris seats installed. And we talk about the cuts to United's Polaris soft product coming on May 1st. * Biometrics with Lufthansa in Los Angeles and at Delta SkyClubs; you might need your foil hat for this part of the show * Norwegian's Chicago service launches and someone writing about it thinks that Norwegian Premium should be price checked against flat-bed offerings from the legacies as a comparable product. * Bonus link: You can DIY a trip on the trans-Siberian railroad for a fraction of the price of the big tour companies. Up for an adventure??  

Welcome to Loyalty 2018 in Bangkok, where representatives from around the travel loyalty world are meeting to talk trends and what the future of the industry looks like. We sat down with David Feldman from Catchit Loyalty to talk about his vision for the industry and some of the fun we had in Bangkok, too. Spoiler alert: There's a LOT more to loyalty than just points or miles. That makes for some interesting challenges when programs have been so obsessed with points for so long.  

Welcome to Loyalty 2018 in Bangkok, where representatives from around the travel loyalty world are meeting to talk trends and what the future of the industry looks like. We sat down with David Feldman from Catchit Loyalty to talk about his vision for the industry and some of the fun we had in Bangkok, too. Spoiler alert: There's a LOT more to loyalty than just points or miles. That makes for some interesting challenges when programs have been so obsessed with points for so long.  

There are topics in this episode. Lots of them. Some of the best topics. But I have no idea what they are so you'll need to listen to find out more. Some of the potential topics include: * Airbus formally cutting production on the A380 and A400, and 3700 jobs, too * Air Canada is de-Rouging some Hawaii routes * American is retiring some 737s * More engine issues and the costs adding up

There are topics in this episode. Lots of them. Some of the best topics. But I have no idea what they are so you'll need to listen to find out more. Some of the potential topics include: * Airbus formally cutting production on the A380 and A400, and 3700 jobs, too * Air Canada is de-Rouging some Hawaii routes * American is retiring some 737s * More engine issues and the costs adding up

Remember a few weeks back when Delta Air Lines and Marriott managed to piss China off by listing Tibet as a separate country. Turns out that move cost at least one guy a job thanks to China throwing a temper tantrum. Alas, it was probably the wrong guy. Also in this week's show: * A United/Mesa/Embraer E175 hop-scotched its way to China, drawing an amusing line along the way. * That O'Hare expansion project we talked about last week hit a snag, just as expected, mostly because American Airlines is crying foul. * United Airlines President Scott Kirby has a pretty awful new plan to motivate employees. * Flight plans aren't always about getting to the final destination as efficiently as possible. Sometimes there's an out-of-the-way stop or routing for a little bit of paperwork. * The OneWorld TATL JV carriers are launching Basic Economy fares across the Atlantic. * American wants more A319s, just like United. Are there enough used frames to go around? * Delta continues to struggle with its NRA discount kerfuffle.

Remember a few weeks back when Delta Air Lines and Marriott managed to piss China off by listing Tibet as a separate country. Turns out that move cost at least one guy a job thanks to China throwing a temper tantrum. Alas, it was probably the wrong guy. Also in this week's show: * A United/Mesa/Embraer E175 hop-scotched its way to China, drawing an amusing line along the way. * That O'Hare expansion project we talked about last week hit a snag, just as expected, mostly because American Airlines is crying foul. * United Airlines President Scott Kirby has a pretty awful new plan to motivate employees. * Flight plans aren't always about getting to the final destination as efficiently as possible. Sometimes there's an out-of-the-way stop or routing for a little bit of paperwork. * The OneWorld TATL JV carriers are launching Basic Economy fares across the Atlantic. * American wants more A319s, just like United. Are there enough used frames to go around? * Delta continues to struggle with its NRA discount kerfuffle.

Delta pulled its discount for NRA members over the weekend, pissing off Georgia's Lieutenant Governor and costing it a potential $40mm annually in tax savings. Also in this episode: * A blown tire on a United flight kept Stephan from joining us this week in a somewhat bizarre sequence of events * AF is flying SAN-CDG 11/29-12/4. Why?!? * Hawaiian Airlines is dropping its A330neo order in favor of the 787 * Ryanair is suing Expedia for screen scraping * O'Hare is set for a massive $8.5bn redevelopment effort * American & Qantas are trying again to collude

Delta pulled its discount for NRA members over the weekend, pissing off Georgia's Lieutenant Governor and costing it a potential $40mm annually in tax savings. Also in this episode: * A blown tire on a United flight kept Stephan from joining us this week in a somewhat bizarre sequence of events * AF is flying SAN-CDG 11/29-12/4. Why?!? * Hawaiian Airlines is dropping its A330neo order in favor of the 787 * Ryanair is suing Expedia for screen scraping * O'Hare is set for a massive $8.5bn redevelopment effort * American & Qantas are trying again to collude

The A350-1000 is finally in customer hands. Qatar Airways took deliver of its first this week and threw a massive party to celebrate. Maybe they should've invested some of that party money in making sure the IFE/C kit on boardwas fully functional. Also in this week's show: * Air Canada is increasing its Rouge fleet domestically * United publishes its initial 737 MAX 9 schedule. Yawn. * Joby is building mini electric "flying cars" with a fresh infusion of $100mm in capital. * Air Italy is the new Meridiana  

The A350-1000 is finally in customer hands. Qatar Airways took deliver of its first this week and threw a massive party to celebrate. Maybe they should've invested some of that party money in making sure the IFE/C kit on boardwas fully functional. Also in this week's show: * Air Canada is increasing its Rouge fleet domestically * United publishes its initial 737 MAX 9 schedule. Yawn. * Joby is building mini electric "flying cars" with a fresh infusion of $100mm in capital. * Air Italy is the new Meridiana  

Pratt & Whitney leads the show with a pair of engine issues on long-haul aircraft on Tuesday. United Airlines had an issue on a 777 inbound to Honolulu while a Delta A330 returned to Lagos immediately after departure. Plus, EASA has an emergency directive out on the Pratt & Whitney A320neo engines that is pretty spooky, with references to inflight shutdowns. Yikes! Also in this show * Air China wants to fly from Houston to Panama, competing with Star Alliance partner United Airlines. * Etihad is dropping the 777-200LR from its fleet and slashing capacity in some markets. Is the carrier collapsing? * Is there really a foreign airline willing to invest in Air India? * American Airlines' employees are speaking up and there's a lot of animosity in play. * The Maldives sit at the center of a political and economic battle. * JFK's massive (and expensive) animal terminal is on the brink of bankruptcy * Southwest Airlines is struggling to keep enough Glycol in stock at its Midway hub * The first (not quite really) A321LR crossed the Atlantic this week on a proving run