The Next Trip - An Aviation and Travel Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Doug has the smoothest flight ever to Eefrow (London Heathrow) and Drew is planning to fill in as ops manager at SFO where his airline career started. Doug’s flight from SFO to LHR carries the legacy of Pan Am flight 1 which flew the route in the 90’s. Pan Am flight 1 of yore flew around the world in 1947. We discuss the other “Flight 1’s” of the world which represent several airl...

Send us Fan Mail High wing or low wing, what’s better and what’s the difference? We discuss that, trying to sleep during a 3 hour break on an 11 hour flight (spoiler…it’s hard), and a glass cockpit in a Cessna 172. Also: Sizing airlines by available seat miles Inflation is easing and so are ticket prices Frontier is free from merger shackles with Spirit and plans for huge growth Join the conversat...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s show has an airport theme with  our buddy Francis, an airport ops supervisor, joining us for the 2nd time. Francis explains airport classifications, signage, and how they deal with diversions. We also dicuss: American Airlines joining the list of customers for the Boom SST Why tarmacs are made of asphalt or concrete  We end with a quick lesson on airport signage and li...

Send us Fan Mail Doug and Drew meet up in California and tape in person. Drew takes Doug to Concord Buchanan Airport  where he started his aviation career as a lineserviceman. Doug tells us about his first charter flight and how being on reserve is like nonreving for your job. Also on this episode: The Jetblue/Spirit merger and ticket prices We meet up with Nate of “In the Air” on Youtube for spot...

Send us Fan Mail Doug embarks on his Atlantic IOE with a flight to Frankfurt that is pure aviation magic from two sunsets, during takeoff, and a rare view of the aurora borealis on a summertime flight. Drew might be changing from Team Piper to Team Cessna with a new instructor and flight school. A Cessna with a low budget “EICAS” system…whaaat? Also: In-class vs. in-the-field training 787 deliveri...

Send us Fan Mail Are we seeing aviation stabilizing as airlines hire workers back and the travel surge starts to ease? We discuss positive trends we’re seeing in the supply chain, load factors, and our daily work life. Also on this episode: The Spirit merger Toronto Pearson Airport struggles with explosive travel growth Boeing forecasts the global air fleet to double in the next 20 years Engine fa...

Send us Fan Mail Summer travel is in full swing and so are Doug with a family vacation, and Drew with a busy airport operation. We give you tips on how to avoid drama at the airport by planning ahead. Get there early, have back up plans, use the airline apps, and check the FAA's National Airspace System Status to avoid problem airports. Also on this episode: The Boom Overture SST makes progre...

Send us Fan Mail Would you pay extra to use a flat bed on a long flight? Air New Zealand thinks you will with their Skynest which are 6 stacked bunks mid cabin. We discuss this and commiserata about both of our crazy work days negotiating East Coast thunderstorms and a pigeon (?).  Drew is hitting the private pilot training books and Doug has a previous KC10 pilot and coworker jumpseating on his f...

Send us Fan Mail Matt joins us for the third time and is now an official co-host! His love for aviation started as a nonrev flying on his dad’s benefits on the original Frontier. He then went from ramper, to operations agent, to zone controller, to customer service supervisor, and finally to travel agent. He regales us with stories from when suits were required for employees.  We also discuss: Tra...

Send us Fan Mail Happy 4th of July to our American listeners! On this holiday weekend Doug gets a call to fly to Taiwan, 20 minutes after the check-in time, to cover a 777 first officer opening. We tape with Doug in a glorified hotel “jail” cell in Taipei with the country still under severe Covid-19 restrictions. We talk about Doug’s trip to Asia, Drew’s “seconds to cancelation” story about how ev...

Send us Fan Mail Just off our Boeing 777 and Piper Warrior flights we are pumped up and ready to talk aviation! Doug gets to fly a frequent flier across the 4 million mile mark and Drew gets comfortable with Warrior landing patterns and touch and goes.  We then dive into: A listener’s poll about how you decide on what ticket to buy (price, schedule, service?) Jetblue increases its offer for Spirit...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is fresh off his first 777 flight with a trip from San Francisco to Honolulu, to Guam,  and back. Drew has a bunch of questions for Doug on the 777 and the airports he visited, and has his own story flying the other end of the spectrum - a single engine Piper Warrior.  Other topics on this episode: Biden Administration lifts the testing requirement to travel to the US Jetblue...

Send us Fan Mail Drew heads out to California with Next Trip contributor, Greg from Kentucky, while Doug waits to fly the 777. We discuss Kentucky aviation and our crazy trip out to LAX which involved a few changes due to full flights everywhere. Greg talks about Cincinnati, Ohio’s airport, CVG, which is actually in Kentucky, the large cargo hub at Louisville, and the lack of air service at Lexing...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is still waiting to be called to work his first 777 flight and Drew gets some family time in between crazy busy operations shifts. Busy or not, we always find time for our avgeek podcast break. Speaking of work and pleasure, what’s a good term for a combination business/leisure trip? Bleisure, Lisness, WFV (working from vacation)? We share your great ideas. What is CRM, crew...

Send us Fan Mail Doug is going stir crazy at home waiting for “the call”, with his first 777 assignment, and Drew is trying to keep the operation from getting crazy with 4 ramp closures for lightning within a few hours. To get our minds off our week, we obsess about why the 767-400 wasn’t successful with only 37 built. We continue our discussion about a new “Golden Age” of aviation with Bombardier...

Send us Fan Mail What was the first airline alliance  - was it STAR, NW/KL, oneworld, Wings? We discuss international alliances that help improve revenues and ease passenger connectivity across carriers.  Also, we believe we may be entering a new Golden Age of Aviation with supersonic airliners running on sustainable fuel, electric sea gliders, and airlines competing on improved passenger experien...

Send us Fan Mail What's better, having a middle seat open, lounge access, and high quality meals, or a bigger seat? We discuss Eurobiz vs US domestic First. Other topics on this episode: Non-pairwise widebodies…what are they? Japan may open to tourists Fedex gets it’s first SkyCourier - weird but functional Republic Airways asks for minimum new pilots hours of 750 vs 1,500 WN improves infligh...

Send us Fan Mail Drew is fresh off his third private pilot training flight so get ready for more small plane pilot memoirs. Doug is more excited about Drew’s business trip and asks him if it was better than Zoom - spoiler…..uhhh YES!! Also on this episode: Qantas orders the A350-1000 to launch Project Sunrise nonstop flights between Sydney and London and New York Spirit rejects jetBlue's offe...

Send us Fan Mail We’re going from Guppies (737’s) to Bigfoot (777) as Doug finishes 777 training. One of the striking features of  the 777 is its huge main landing, the largest on any aircraft. We dig into landing gear and getting aircraft on the ground vs. off the ground on this episode.  Other topics discussed Drew flies jetBlue Mint for the first time Delta flight attendants start getting paid...

Send us Fan Mail We’re partying like its 2019! Load factors and fares are up as Americans throw off their masks and head back to the skies as COVID19 wanes. We go through the spreadsheets as the major US carriers reveal their 1st quarter results. We also talk about Russia cranking up the TU-214, cough Russian 757, and IL96-300, cough Russian A340, production lines.   In our pilot and airport memoi...

Send us Fan Mail Next Trip was the #1 aviation podcast in Dubai this week so who better to have on this episode than the #1 avgeek in Dubai? Return guest, Roxi or @roxavgeek on Instagram and Twitter, is a flight attendant for a Dubai based carrier and also has a large following as an aviation influencer. Traffic is up 215% in the Middle East and we ask Roxi if it seems like the area is beyond COVI...

Send us Fan Mail Move over Frontier, jetBlue also has its eye on Spirit and makes a bid to buy it. Of course we have opinions on this  - would a jetBlue/Spirit merger help or complicate jetBlue’s current operational issues? Would the cost of reconfiguring all of Spirit’s aircaft be worth it? Would the merger be denied because the two control so much New York to Florida traffic? Listen to what we t...

Send us Fan Mail Longtime listener and avgeek friend Ryan joins us to talk about changing lanes in his aviation career. Ryan has been an avgeek his whole life and had dreams of being a pilot or working for the airlines. His road took him to driving trucks for a major cargo airline and loving his quality of life in a “flyover'“ state. Doug starts the transition from the 737 to the 777 and Drew...

Send us Fan Mail Pilot memoirs continue with Doug doing his last 737 flights, before going to 777 training, and Drew regales you with his second Piper Warrrior flight above the DC Area. Topics covered: FAA increasing reviews of midair collision warnings China Eastern Flight 5735 crash update Russia creates its own laws for aircraft leased from other countries CEO of Spirit and Frontier says they h...

Send us Fan Mail Drew finally has his first private pilot training flight and, as expected, it was amazing. Doug enjoys his last few weeks on the 737 before 777 training next month. We both talk about last week’s busy operation with full flights during and weather issues around the country.  Topics on the episode: Staying calm and professional in stressful situations Travel and airline profits are...