Airline Weekly Lounge

The airline industry is just one part of the larger travel ecosystem, and no one sector has been immune to the effects of a once-in-a-century pandemic. Skift Hospitality Reporter Cameron Sperance joins us for a state-of-play on the hospitality and cruise industries. To participate in Airline Weekly Lounge live, register at forum.skift.com.

Last week Skift and the Airline Weekly team hosted our first conference devoted to aviation. Guests including Southwest CEO and Chairman Gary Kelly, Air France CEO Anne Rigali, and Air Lease Corp. Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Házy discussed the current state of the industry. For today's podcast, the Airline Weekly team connects the dots between the conversations. To participate in weekly record...

Brett "Cranky Flier" Snyder joins Airline Weekly Lounge Live after trying Hawaiian Airlines' new rapid-response test from LAX. The process, aimed to allow travelers to avoid Hawaii's 14-day quarantine, was confusing, he said. And Cranky updates us with his latest installment of "Skeds of Airlines."

Capt. Joe DePete, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, argues that airlines are critical infrastructure, and pilots are essential workers. The industry needs more federal support in order to ensure it can bounce back when demand returns, or the economy as a whole will suffer, he says. Join us on November 19, 2020 for Skift Aviation Forum and learn from CEOs and leaders at Delta Air Lines,...

Boeing's grounded 737 MAX has been in the news a bunch recently, with European regulators and some airlines predicting it will be back in the air by year's end. What regulatory steps remain before the FAA approves it for flight, and what emerged in the investigation on why the aircraft's software malfunctioned? Aviation Week Air Transport and Safety Editor Sean Broderick helps break it down. To pa...

Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan is joined by Skift hospitality reporter Cameron Sperance to discuss the state of leisure and business travel.  Join events like this live by registering at https://forum.skift.com/mondays-airline-weekly/

PaxEx.aero founder Seth Miller joins us live from Philadelphia International Airport for an update on the passenger experience during this pandemic. The pandemic provides both opportunity and risk for airlines and their suppliers. With traffic light, now could the time to innovate, but with cash tight, do airlines and their suppliers have the wherewithal?

Few other airlines were as associated with luxury intercontinental travel than Singapore Airlines was before the pandemic. But when Covid travel restrictions went into force, Singapore's core business all but evaporated, and unlike many of its rivals, it has no domestic market at all to fall back on.  For airline industry intelligence every Monday morning, subscribe at Airline Weekly.

Brian Sumers, Skift senior aviation business editor, and Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan asked just why airlines are eliminating change fees (when passengers have complained about them forever). Are airlines ready to transport vaccines?  To join events like this live, visit https://forum.skift.com

Accenture's Jonathan Keane sketches four scenarios the airline industry could face, ranging from a "remarkable return" to "the darkest days." How should airlines prepare for a very uncertain post-pandemic future? Join future events like this at https://forum.skift.com/mondays-airline-weekly/

IATA Regional Vice President for the Americas Peter Cerdá explains the patchwork of travel restrictions that is making air travel in Latin America difficult and why governments in the region should invest more in air transport infrastructure. Get the latest aviation industry intelligence at https://airlineweekly.com

More Europeans may be taking their summer holidays, but it still was a historically bad quarter for the continent’s airlines, especially for those that staked their fortunes on long-haul premium traffic.   Join us live for similar events at https://forum.skift.com

Skift Senior Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers joins host Madhu Unnikrishnan to examine why the heads of four U.S. and European airlines are asking for quarantine rules to be eased. Also, how much more time do you have to fly in a passenger Boeing 747?   For more about the business of aviation, please visit https://airlineweekly.com

This week host Madhu Unnikrishnan is joined by Amy Burr, managing director of JetBlue Ventures, and Nirali Shah, director, Vantage Airport Group.   To stay on top of essential aviation industry news, please visit Airline Weekly. 

How has the passenger experience changed during the pandemic? In no good way, says Seth Miller, founder and editor of PaxEx.aero. Although less-full flights mean more space, airlines are halting or limiting food service, keeping lounges closed, and changing the way IFE is delivered. These are all good and necessary measures, Miller notes, but the passenger experience as we knew it is changing. Und...

Chris Jones, McCarran International Airport chief marketing officer, discusses the steep drop off in traffic when Las Vegas closed down and how traffic is slowly starting to recover now that many shelter-in-place restrictions are easing. Listen to how McCarran is “betting against the spread” by mandating social distancing, disinfecting public areas, and encouraging mask use. Understand more about...

Bombardier exits the commerical aviation market, and Mitsubishi considers what comes next with the MRJ. Aerospace journalist Jon Ostrower of The Air Current joins host Madhu Unnikrishnan to explain what he calls the rapidly moving tectonic plates in the airframer world.  Dive deeper into industry news with the latest issue of Skift Airline Weekly.

Covid-19 claimed its latest airline victim with the bankruptcy of Latam. Just how did one of the largest and most successful airlines in Latin America land in such dire straits? And what does its bankruptcy filing mean for Delta, which has a significant investment in Latam, and for connectivity in South America? Join Skift Airline Weekly’s editors as they hash out what happened and for when they t...

Brett Snyder, better known as The Cranky Flier, emphatically says passengers need to wear masks or facial coverings onboard aircraft. It’s not a question, Snyder says in this episode of Mondays With Skift Airline Weekly. Airlines dug themselves into a public-relations hole by promising social distancing by blocking middle seats — which doesn’t provide the necessary six-feet of separation and is fi...

Ty Osbaugh, architecture firm Gensler’s aviation lead and principal, joins Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan for a discussion on how airports need to change to handle a public-health emergency. Everything from check-in to terminal design needs to be rethought to adapt to travel’s new reality. Dive deeper with the latest issue of Skift Airline Weekly. 

The airline industry is ravaged now, but could this create an opportunity for new airlines to emerge? Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan and Seth Kaplan, Airline Weekly co-founder and current host of the Airlines Confidential podcast discuss the possibility. Dive deeper with the latest issue of Skift Airline Weekly. 

This week Skift Airline Weekly editor Madhu Unnikrishnan was joined by Skift Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers to discuss first quarter earnings -- and why they are likely the best numbers airlines will see for all of 2020. Dive deeper with the latest issue of Skift Airline Weekly. 

This week the Skift Airline Weekly team discussed Virgin Australia’s potential demise as well as how other airlines are weathering the coronavirus fallout. Dive deeper with the latest issue of Skift Airline Weekly. 

The coronavirus pandemic is bringing the world's airlines to their knees. The Trump administration's decision on Wednesday to suspend travel between the U.S. and the European Union's Schengen area is unprecedented. But how is this shock different from the aftereffects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks? On the one hand, the 9/11 attacks changed airports and airlines in noticeable ways, such...

Can all-business class airlines work? La Compagnie President Christian Vernet thinks so. But while others have failed — remember MAXJet? — Vernet said his airline's product sets it apart, and the A321 is the ideal aircraft for both the route and the on-board product. And as for the other 10 airlines that operate the Paris-New York route, including behemoths like Air France and Delta? Vernet said b...