Layovers - Air Travel podcast

Alex gets cancelled (not him, the flight!). Duty free to nowhere (and no good pricing anyway). No kidnap fee, a new product by Ryanair. Plague terminal at LHR. Amber, the color of confusion. Genomics quarantine. Digital health visas (aka Covid passports, what a silly name). The travel bubble that refuses to happen. BOOM, our supersonic hopes, the PR reality. The timing of corporate travel taking o...

Alex outsmarts a diversion, using all the on-air WiFi.  Paul talks Scrabble (he clearly spent too much time on the ground). Flights to nowhere and airplane food to your door are not for us, even if it's BA First. 2 Boeing 2 Airbus, Pandemic Drift. ITA, Italy's Troublesome Arrangement (we've come up with a better acronym in the episode). The Singapore Airlines 380 First STEAMPUNK experience, before...

Paul and Alex meet again. They haven't seen each other in a year. Recorded live, no edits, no music, no notes. Mentioned in the show: Seat 1A podcast, episode 038, with Paul   — For video, subscribe on Spotify or YouTube (or YouTube Music) Review, and rate us, on Apple Podcasts Follow us, and comment on: Instagram - Bluesky - Threads - Mastodon - Twitter/X Comment, like, review, and rate us, on Fa...

Flight 107. We might have been in a Golden Age of travel, and didn't see it — it's now time to reflect, and think about the next one, a different one, with perhaps more friction, and certainly some pain in the process. From the economical hurt, the airlines at risk, to the new borders to travel (green zones versus red zones of infection?), from health as the new visa to less interaction (more auto...

Flight 106. The 2020 Virus Crash, the world is shutting down, no one is flying — this could become the biggest downturn ever in aviation history and perhaps the biggest global recession since World War II (we certainly do not hope so, we all need to beat this damn Covid-19!). Our thoughts are with all the people in the wider travel industry. Tons of airlines are now at risk around the globe, with...

Flight 105. Everything you wanted to know (or not know) about the coronavirus (aka Covid19, Sars2, or World War Z) and its short-term effects on the world of air travel — from the hassles to the precaution to think about. Followed by the fan episode, with longtime listeners Elizabeth, Ed & Dan. Two out of three agree FRA is a disaster (not Elizabeth haha). The Heathrow volunteer program. The b...

Flight 104. The cheese cubes and hummus episode, with Doug Zschoche, aka OfficerWayFinder: everything you ever wanted to know about why flyers love Delta so much.  What it is to fly the KC-10, the flying gas station, and to play with flight simulators (the serious ones!) around the US.  Who owns the window? Airbus goes 787 dimming, and pulls a book (too many scandals?).  A 737 MAX update, from rev...

Flight 103. It's always fish, chicken, beef and lasagna, airplane food, airport food and more food: airline Christmas menus, First class samplings, FRA hunger games, fake meat, Air Yoshinoya. The healthiest US trays, the best global airline for your taste buds. The Bali pigs could lead to the next airline epidemic, its epicenter actually being US catering. From airline beers (yes) to jet lag powde...

Flight 102. Paul reviews the BA Club Suite (no door was hurt in the making of this podcast). Alex and the secrets of meeting rockstars in flight (mark them down!). The A380 misunderstanding: it should live on (and don't listen to the French, they just strike anyway). United will decide your fate: dark side or light side of the Force (United also ghost Force'd Munoz). Food pan pan, coffee pan pan,...

Flight 101. Everything you wanted to know about Emirates future. Vietnam Airlines has pizza, 350s, 20 million fines and some undefined (but good) meat. The 777X wings are automated. Lufthansa mulls rebranding its program Miles & Less (meaning, the new program rules are stupid). Aeromexico noise, can it be damped by the PowerBeats Pro (or pretending to be on the phone to enter the DXB First Cla...

Flight 100. To all of you, thank you so much for tuning in repeatedly, we couldn't have done any of this without your help, your feedback, your reviews, your comments, your corrections, your criticisms (and yes, Delta fans, we're again on your case in this episode haha), your photos and incredible stories you share back with us. Thank you whether you started listening last week or in 2015, whether...

Flight 099. Airways, the board game & softball, an avgeek game. Food galore, from the AirMos burger manual to the LHR AA chorizo hot dog, to the not-really-parisian Admirals baguette. UA Polaris confusion and AA absent service (ok, more like hit-and-miss): Paul and Alex compare their US travels (there's also AeroMexico, JetBlue, and Paul flies the longest possible AA route with a pajama). From...

Flight 098. Shinkansen Gran Class, Four Seasons Mexico and Popeye Chicken sandwich, are we still an aviation podcast? The Eagle's Nest at LAX. Aer Pluto Lingus. SFO goes stupid with plastic. The 777x decompressed explosively. The 737 MAX is still wingless. Alex gets BA at the top of their game for an almost-diverted flight. NRT gets e-gates and Tokyo will get aircrafts over it (point your finger a...

Flight 097. The TWA hotel is everything we wanted. Long haul narrowbodies, a new old debate. USB-A versus USB-C, a new new debate (we just want good power!). Delta goes all in for good economy food, the US goes all in for the Open Skies (fifth freedoms, please!!). The cool Virgin Pride flight. The not very cool alone-in-the-dark-forgotten-by-Air-Canada experience. The under water 747 (and a few ot...

Flight 096. Emirates fleet rejigging, 787 trashing, and basic business. The airport Lambo is nicer than the new Air Force One. What's in a name, MAX or no MAX, and other Boeing decisions. IAG steals the Paris Air Show PR. The A321XLR is amongst us. After beers and whisky, BA goes sparkling. What does Embraer actually stands for (it's a fun one). Space Jet gets a mystery sale. Do you need a door in...

Flight 095. EVA bakes pizza. Finnair does whisky. Airbus goes 50. Uber goes NY copter. Alex flies to South Africa, misplaces stuff (angry breakfast and angry lounge shower follow). Paul flies the Q Suite to Singapore, marvels at the Jewel waterfall (rain vortex!). United goes green. AF/KLM goes V plane. Alex survives a chipped E190 with rocky suspensions to Toronto. Paul falls in love with Singapo...

Flight 094. Niki Lauda the legend who pushed death aside. Beers and more beers: Betsy makes a come back, BA adds a secret First Class bottled beer, and more on the Speedbird 100 (toilet clog, anyone?). From Nando's to Taco Bell, zeitgeist food in travel (and debating whether there is one or two Michelin star airport restaurants worldwide). BA goes whisky, JetBlue opts for treason (I mean, Pepsi, r...

Flight 093. Paul sounds like a robot (sorry, guys), Alex sounds authoritative (he's always right, no?). The BA Speedbird 100 beer (when need Glen to assess it!). Some on-board pop that foams too much (Alex is the worst passenger). On-board food: increasing portions, farm-to-plane, rooftop potatoes. After the on-board food: the toilet to passenger ratio revealed (but also how to cram gold in a lava...

Flight 092. Alex loves Innsbruck 3000. Paul loves running in CDG 3000. We adore the new TWA infinity edge pool 3000. We love the new United livery 3000. We love tiny airports that behave like big ones, 3000. We love the BA coronation chicken 3000, the best shot haul airplane food in Europe. We love Emirates and Qantas IFE data 3000, and luxury brands love Emirates 3000. We're fascinated by the pos...

Flight 091. Warning, doesn't contain images of any aircraft in distress. BA pizza app delivery to Lagos (so many questions!). Risk of cheese smell upon landing at Moscow DME (does that make immigration go faster?). Virgin Atlantic unveils a half door (but it has nice colors). Paul flies BA First with round buttons (but fix that 789 IFE remote for Pete's sakes!!). Alex bids his Etihad way up (just...

Flight 090. BA flies to the wrong destination (Ryanair mocks, but did worse) and introduces its shortest hop ever. WOW is gone, Jet Airways is close to be gone, but StarLux goes bold. AMS has a direct view on the luggage delivery system (WHAT?!). Astana is no more (just the name of the city, we recorded 079 just at the right time!). Cathay buys Hong Kong Express (did we call it?). ANA gets its fir...

Flight 089. The Ethiopian disaster, the 737 MAX grounding and aftermath. A dress, a baby and a stupid passenger enter aircrafts, who gets tasered? (Not the red badge!) Lufthansa fights skiplagging, on-boards doctors (amazing program!!), ditches four engines aircrafts (and Airbus is buying the 380 back!) The best wine and champagne in the sky (but where is Emirates?) Random AirDrop, the new in-flig...

Flight 088. The end of the A380. Color printing is key to enter MEX. The new world of electronic authorizations of travel. The delicate art and science of aircraft forecasting (and everybody gets it wrong). The real prices of aircrafts. Rolls-Royce is losing a ton of money. Toulouse, both a name and a city. Wings can't be red anymore. Alex flies to SFO, or at least tries to, gets humiliated on the...

Flight 087. The beeping T-shirt, A Star Wars Story. Paul falls in love with Ethiopian, reviews Asiana and JAL. IAG gives up on Norwegian. WOW has no more wow. FlyBe might be saved. NRT celebrates 40, expands new signage, offers no-nonsense security, but no more whisky. JAL's First shoe shine service. A snow globe crashes. The never-ending 787 Trent story: ANA incident, Norwegian replacements. BA a...

Flight 086. Remembering Herb Kelleher, how he changed the aviation world, his legacy, his lessons, his arm wrestling. The Miracle of the Hudson, as witnessed by Alex. FRA comes to its senses and asks passengers to not come to the airport. Tipping flight attends, for or against? United loves Pacific Blue, Premium Purple, Atlantic Amethyst, and Apple. Cook your own United food. Is there always a doc...