Airlines Confidential Podcast
Scott McCartney
Hosted by Scott McCartney, Fmr. Travel Editor/"Middle Seat" Columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Top Stories, C-Suite Guests, Listener Q's. The Leading Podcast Reaching Travel Industry Insiders, Frequent Flyers, & Aviation Geeks. Created by & Dedicated to Ben Baldanza.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 5, 2025 • 1h 24min
311 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt. Guest: Alex Mans. Founder & CEO, FLYR
This week: Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guest: Alex Mans. Founder & CEO, FLYR. Topics: AI for airlines; Yahrzeit for Ben Baldanza; The case for using the $18B trust fund to pay controllers; Listener input includes a correction relating to Ryanair, travel spend by different disposable income levels.

Oct 29, 2025 • 1h 8min
310 - Scott McCartney with Guests: Andrew Watterson & Jay Sorensen
Scott McCartney with Guests: Andrew Watterson, COO, SWA and Jay Sorensen, Pres, IdeaWorks; Topics: An SWA update; 2025 ancillary revenue report. Also: Results for American, Southwest, and Alaska; Nat Pieper joins American as CCO; Listener input from Storrington, England.

Oct 22, 2025 • 1h 22min
309 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance.
This week: Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance. Also: A deep dive into the low cost sector; United earnings and aggressive growth; Shai Weiss to step down at year end, Corneel Koster to be named new CEO, Virgin Atlantic; Seat cleaning grounds Finnair A321s; Spirit projects more losses; with cash stability; Observations from the Wings Club Gala; Listener Input on LCC growth.

Oct 15, 2025 • 1h 19min
308 - Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis, Guests: Architects Luis Vidal & Carolyn Sponza - New Pittsburgh Int. Airport
Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis, Guests: Architects Luis Vidal & Carolyn Sponza - The new Pittsburgh International Airport. Also: Fall earnings season, Delta numbers; Spirit sheds aircraft - is deal with Frontier more likely? Listener input on Delta Tech Ops and Airport gate allocations.

Oct 8, 2025 • 1h 23min
307 - Scott McCartney, Doug Parker, and Richard Anderson
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Doug Parker, Fmr CEO, American Airlines and Guest: Richard Anderson, Fmr CEO, Delta Air Lines. A conversation with two transformative leaders.

Oct 1, 2025 • 1h 12min
306 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines
This week: Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines; Topics: Top level change at Alaska Airlines; Breeze comes to Norfolk VA; Ramifications of judicial decision on United / American gate reallocation in Chicago; WSJ updates & expands story on toxic fume events; Info on the "Aviation EMBA Program"; A Spirit - AerCap update; JetBlue brings joy to 12 year old boy and family; Listener input on Holly Hegeman interview and the SWA network.

Sep 24, 2025 • 1h 16min
305 - Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman, Guest: Holly Hegeman, Founder, PlaneBusiness
This week: Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman, Guest: Holly Hegeman, Founder, PlaneBusiness. Topics: Job cut warning and cash concerns at Spirit; US tells Delta - Aeroméxico to unwind joint venture; L3 Harris and Frontier Communications cables cause huge Dallas area disruption for American; C.D. McLean, Fmr COO, Continental, passes; "The Ontario Tower Buzzards" will play at ONT Field; Listener input on WSJ article on toxic cabin fumes.

Sep 17, 2025 • 1h 7min
304 - Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Guest: Nat Pieper, CEO. Oneworld
This week: Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Guest: Nat Pieper, CEO. Oneworld. Topics: Conference season comments; Southwest moves towards introducing premium experiences and international service; Listener Q's on social media impacting Spirit's brand, Southwest O & D saturation and use of RJs.

Sep 10, 2025 • 1h 10min
303 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guests: Mark Streeter & Jamie Baker, Analysts, JP Morgan Chase
This week: Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guests: Mark Streeter & Jamie Baker, Analysts, JP Morgan Chase; News: Spirit shrinks; United adds flights in Spirit markets; SWA offers up a freebie; Passenger compensation rules changing; Steven Udvar-Házy retires with sale of Air Lease; International visits to the US down; Listener Q's all center around Spirit.

Sep 3, 2025 • 1h 3min
302 - Host Scott McCartney with Guest: Peter Ingram, Fmr CEO, Hawaiian Airlines
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest: Peter Ingram, Fmr CEO, Hawaiian Airlines. Breaking News: What really forced Spirit back into Chapter 11? AerCap claims default triggered; Spirit's poor communication, what markets will see reductions in service, and Frontier Chairman Bill Franke talking with Spirit Chairman Robert Milton and Pres/CEO Dave Davis.


