The Next Trip - An Aviation and Travel Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from Amsterdam and Drew has a new flight instructor and, phew, he’s great. A listener said that we were ahead of the curve with our discussion about supertugs and then about mentioning “rawdogging” before it became an avgeek household word. Well, we did it again because the new Pan Am is considering branded airline lounges which we suggested last week, AND, the new Bo...

Send us Fan Mail Drew is back from New Zealand and Australia and Doug is just off a triangle route, going from San Francisco to Tokyo to New York and back. We recap our trips and discuss: Paris Olympics causes Delta and Air France financial losses. Crowdstrike strikes the airlines. Farnborough airshow orders.  Southwest Airlines low flying planes, seat assignments, and premium seating. Doug going...

Send us Fan Mail Drew made it to New Zealand but it wasn’t without some drama. Doug gives the 767 simulator a workout with some dangerours scenarios. We also discuss: Carriers increase service to New Zealand from the US. FAA grants Boeing a TIA (type inspection authorization) for the 777-9, giving it the green light for certification. We compare the 777-9 to its predecessor, the 777-300ER. Pan Am...

Send us Fan Mail Joe, Drew's flight instructor, joins us to talk about teaching people to fly. His last lesson as a CFI happened to be Drew's solo flight! We discuss: Drew's still on cloud 9 after soloing What got Joe into aviation  Boeing pleads guilty of fraud Lufthansa purchases 41% of ITA  TSA breaks a passenger screening record of over 3 million  Joe gives advice to prospective...

Send us Fan Mail Special guest, Ryan, joins us to talk about becoming a private pilot and supervising the Move Team. Doug is back from a domestic 777 circuit including SFO, IAH, DEN, and OGG (Maui). He talks about landing a huge plane on a tiny runway. We also discuss: CRJ200 hate speech is exposed Boeing brings Spirit Aerosystems, that makes 737 fuselages, back in-house Are Air Force uniforms as...

Send us Fan Mail Rawdogging is the challenge of taking a long flight with no IFE, books, music, or sleep. Rawdoggers sit there staring at the cabin, out the window, and at the airshow map - basically what avgeeks do everyday. We’re calling cultural appropriation! 🤣  We discuss this and: Drew’s prepping for his private pilot solo. Doug flies the triangle: SFO-EWR-HND-SFO. Aer Lingus pilot strike c...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from 777 simulator training at Denver and Drew is getting ready to solo a (real) Cessna 172. Doug is also choosing patio furniture and guess what… we’ve got an aviation patio furniture story! We discuss: Short runway, big planes at Maui. When did rocking chairs make their way into airports? Boom Supersonic completes its Overture factory in Greensboro. Archer Aviation...

Send us Fan Mail Virgin Atlantic celebrates 40 years of service this month. We reminisce about the groundbeaking airline's growth and how it's looking to rejuvenate with new management. In other news, Doug is summering in Breckenridge and, for balance, Drew's operations center is flooded. Spoiler…it was a crappy situation. Also on this episode: Alaska loses to the Virgin Group in a...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from steamy hot and bustling Manila,  and Drew’s still getting cockpit-blocked on his Cessna 172 training flights. This time Drew's training was canceled when a Yak 52 gear collapse caused the single runway airport to close. On this episode we discuss: We got featured in the New York Times! IATA predicts bigger airline profits in 2024 than 2023 NASA and Boeing’s...

Send us Fan Mail Doug thought he was flying a 777 to Frankfurt but ended up in Barcelona (sorry, Barthelona) while Drew was playing avgeek tour guide again in DC. We discuss: We broke a US air travel record on Friday . American changing course after weaker business travel numbers. El Al making profits despite the war in Gaza. Gol and Azul talk merger. Brazil's Varig 2.0? Travel boom or bust c...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from another Osaka trip and Drew is off for Memorial Day weekend…possibly the busiest in history. We discuss: (Airline) Summer has started with the TSA expecting almost 3 million passengers on Friday, a new record Airfares are down and passengers are finding deals Bark Air launched on Thursday and is providing “white paw" service to our furry friends Archer Midni...

Send us Fan Mail Drew got some good Cessna 172 training in with his first landing at an airport which wasn’t the one he took off from. Martin State Airport to Easton, MD was the route which was short but only 15 miles shy of a “cross country” training flight. Doug is home this week and has been dance dad (vs. soccer mom) . We discuss: Do customers like preordering meals? Customers and airlines lov...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from Paris after a triangle routing of SFO-EWR-CDG-SFO. He basically has no idea which time zone his body clock is in! He talks about the Olympic buzz already being felt around the city. We discuss: Paris airports prepare for the Summer Olympics. Dutch startup Elysian working on what could be the first electric airliner, the E9X Shots fired across the bay as SFO is no...

Send us Fan Mail Drew is back from an airport ops summer planning session in Chicago and Doug visited Amsterdam (not just the airport) for the first time. Drew also had a visit from, Aaron, our favorite podcast critic. We discuss: Boeing 767 slide falls near house of lawyer suing Boeing for a plug door falling out. Turkish orders up to 235 planes from Airbus and Boeing. Air China orders 100 COMAC...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from Raleigh Durham after flight simulator training on the KC46 and Drew is getting better at landings on a Cessna 172. We discuss: Lara from Non Rev Lounge Podcast visits DC. Will Gen Z, the Toolbelt Generation, fill aviation's need for skilled technicians? Southwest cuts service and expects to lose 2,000 employees this year. American has a loss in the 1st quart...

Send us Fan Mail Would you pay 30,000 miles for a flight to a mystery destination? We would, and so did several lucky passengers who got to fly on SAS to Athens. We discuss this and: Delta and United report 1st quarter performance. Southwest and United reduce schedule due to Boeing 737 delivery delays. Floods in Dubai shut down the airport. You're never too old for a new chapter….in aviation!...

Send us Fan Mail Science journalist, Jeff Wise, joins us to share his views on how Boeing lost its way after it acquired McDonnell Douglas.  We also look back at one of aviation's biggest unsolved mysteries - the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 just over 10 years ago.  Check out Jeff’s recent article on Boeing and his intriguing podcast uncovering the latest clues to what happened to...

Send us Fan Mail Drew is back from Hong Kong and Doug is about to do domestic legs from Chicago, to Denver,  and then to Maui. How does he pack for this? We discuss: US adds 303,000 jobs, more than forecast, promising a strong summer travel season. Doug and Drew love to name lounges according to their themes. Is the “Captain Cook “ lounge at SFO related to Pan Am’s Clipper Club lounges? Alaska Air...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from a nonrev family adventure to Santiago, Chile while Drew was busy getting snowbirds to the Caribbean. We discuss: Jetblue/Hawaiian/Alaska merge into Blue Pacific? Boom Overture tester, the XB-1, takes flight! Leadership shakeup at Boeing  Spring Break volumes and airspace bottlenecks  Do crews on turns to Canada and Mexico need to clear customs? We finish with Dre...

Send us Fan Mail Doug had 3 trips since the last episode - DC to SFO, SFO to Osaka, and an out and back KC46 flight at Travis AFB in California. Drew had a quiet week with a flight lesson and a smooth week managing the a hub operation. We talk about what may be the biggest airplane ever, the WindRunner by start-up Radia, which will transport wind turbines. We also discuss: United expects its busie...

Send us Fan Mail Doug and Drew meet up in DC with a crew of avgeeks that give us a lot of material. Two of them, Drew's coworkers Andy and Patrick, have been on the show. Doug definitely got an earful. We also discuss: Southwest slashes capacity due to Boeing 737 Max delivery delays. Cathay Pacific is back in the black with huge profits. Delta CEO says they're seeing record demand over t...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from Paris while Drew couldn't get off the ground in Baltimore. It’s Doug’s turn to talk about how his pilot work day starts. We also discuss: Jetblue/ Spirit merger drama ends. A United 777 departing SFO loses a wheel and diverts to LAX. American orders 737 Max 10s AND A321s. Why is pilot hiring slowing. It's not necessarily the economy. Join the conversati...

Send us Fan Mail Drew talks about how he begins his work day and how an airline hub operations begins. Doug is back from Beijing, where the 737 Max is flying again, and where eating shrimp isn’t as easy as it sounds - he explains. We discuss: Solar Eclipse travel and Delta’s flight along the path of “totality” . Chinese airlines can add another 50 flights to the US, further thawing relations. Amer...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is back from Hong Kong and we discuss the city's ups and downs as an aviation hub. We talk about how US airports are seeing billions of dollars of investment which are resulting in magnificent new facilities. Also on this episode: Winds over the North Atlantic propel airliners over 800mph. United plans to reinstate Tel Aviv service. Airport investments. Aircraft type rat...

Send us Fan Mail Drew recaps his round-the-world (kind of) trip and Doug is back from 777 landings training in Denver.   We discuss: Finnair pivots after Asia flights are complicated by Russia airspace issues Finnair asks customers to weigh in Russia buys previously leased planes Thai Airways buys 45 787s Engines engines engines Join the conversation! https://www.nexttripnetwork.com/