
Airlines Confidential Podcast
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.
Latest episodes

Mar 24, 2021 • 48min
076 - Helane Becker-Airline Analyst
This week: Special Guest Helane Becker, Airline Analyst-how she builds her financial models and much more; Plus a listener question on Allegiant's earnings call; We hear from a female pilot about federal funding, seniority list placement; A complaint about Lufthansa on a minor being split from travel companion-Fine? or Whine? A shoutout to Alaska Airlines.

Mar 17, 2021 • 35min
075 - Covid Funding Saves 27,000 Jobs
This week: Covid Funding bill passes & 27,000 furloughs recalled; Restrictions with the money? CDC with a confusing travel alert; A good time to start an airline? Which one would Ben bet on? Listener question on Allegiant's disruption capability; shout-outs of the week.

Mar 10, 2021 • 32min
074 - Bob Crandall
This week: Airline icon Bob Crandall. Topics include deregulation, stock buy-backs, government bailouts, and how the industry is handling the Covid crisis; A listener question on how airlines design & research their routes; What is refrigerator scheduling? Complaint: The air nozzles didn't work-Fine or Whine?; plus our shout-outs of the week.

Mar 3, 2021 • 28min
073 - IAG Aquires Air Europa
This Week: The IAG acquisition of Air Europa - will it create a mega-hub in Madrid? Can the Frenchbee A350 with 488 seats be profitable? What % of people would give up sex for a year to be able to travel again? Listener question: Why was Qatar flying from LAX to Mexico City? Plus this week's shoutouts...including the TSA?

Feb 24, 2021 • 28min
072 - $14,000,000,000 Stimulus
This week: Weather & damage; $14 billion stimulus to airlines?; Are single pilot planes coming soon?; Amy has a question about "QC" airplanes; Kyle asks: Is there a "list price" for a commercial jetliner? Fatima has a complaint about Qatar Airways - Fine? or Whine?

Feb 17, 2021 • 26min
071 - New Routes
This week: A trial balloon that didn't fly; New routes announced; A look OAG data indicates who's actually travelling; Listener complaint: Hawaiian Airlines charged $300 in change fees - Fine or Whine? and this week's shout-outs.

Feb 10, 2021 • 44min
070 - Scott McCartney - Best & Worst Airlines
This Week: Special Guest WSJ Travel Editor Scott McCartney with the Best & Worst US Airlines of 2020; Airline staffing and who's asking for more government funding; A listener upset with United ticketing "schemes"- Fine? or Whine?

Feb 3, 2021 • 30min
069 - Staggering Financial Losses
This week: The staggering amount US Airlines lost this past year; What were Southwest and American really saying in their earnings calls? Will pre-flight Covid testing for all domestic passengers be a requirement soon? New slot rules...now? A pilot/listener follows up on pilots breaks during flight; Shout-outs to Peter Ingram and Gary Kelly.

Jan 27, 2021 • 35min
068 - Leadership Changes
This week: United shows leadership; A look into the new Washington DC leadership change; What qualifies someone to be Secretary of Transportation? Special guest Richard Mintz; and a Spirit complaint-Fine? or Whine? *Note: We apologize for some audio technical difficulties this week.

Jan 20, 2021 • 28min
067 - Delta's Break-Even Date
Delta says they can hit cash break even by summer. Can they? Norwegian ceases transatlantic flights.How long is OK for a pilot to be out of the cockpit during a flight? and Dan gets the Geek of the Week Award for his question of Yield vs PRASM