Airline Weekly Lounge Podcast

Delta Air Lines is making a play for more premium passengers in Los Angeles. Our reporter Brian Sumers took a field trip to LAX to talk to Delta leaders to see what the airline thinks sets it apart at the country's second-largest market. Then, Brian and Madhu Unnikrishnan use the "garden center index" to gauge how far the travel recovery has come.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine initially sent oil markets into a spiral. Prices may have come back down to earth, but oil remains volatile. Yet, U.S. airline executives aren't terribly concerned. More pressing is how to hire enough pilots to operate flights. Edward "Ned" Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan report on what they learned at a recent industry conference and discuss which airlines plan to add or trim capacity this summer.

How does a country that spans 11 time zones function without long-haul aircraft? That is among the questions Russia Edward "Ned" Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan consider in this week's episode. Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to roil the airline and aerospace industries, as lessors write off their assets in the country and a growing list of companies say they no longer will support Russia's airlines. Meanwhile, the war's economic effects are only now beginning to come into focus. And Ned learns why edible oils are critical to the the world's economy.

In this week's episode, Edward "Ned" Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan break down the many ways the Ukraine war will affect global aviation. Will lessors repossess jets by March 28? How will airlines reroute their polar flights? This global crisis has the potential to set aviation and aerospace back years. After the break, Madhu and Ned turn their attention to the growing U.S. pilot shortage and what that may mean for airline recovery.

This week, Accenture's Emily Weiss, global travel lead, and Scott Davidson, managing director-travel industry, talk to host Madhu Unnikrishnan about how different business travel may look when it returns. If the pandemic has taught the travel industry anything it's the "art of the possible," Weiss noted. Will digital nomads offset the slow return of business travel for airlines? And just how promising are eVTOLs in solving the urban mobility conundrum? Listen to this week's episode to find out.

Big news in the U.S. ultra-low-cost-carrier market this week, as Spirit and Frontier announced their plans to merge. Meanwhile, Allegiant's long-serving CEO Maury Gallagher, who helmed one of the most profitable airlines in the world, announced his retirement. Madhu Unnikrishnan and Edward "Ned" Russell. discuss the hurdles ahead for the merger, why Gallagher's retirement is significant, as well as why India's IndiGo is not concerned about a revitalized Air India.

Boeing hinted it would launch a new aircraft, and it did: The 777-8F, a freighter variant of its 777X program. Launch customer Qatar Airways put in an order for up to 50 of the new aircraft. Meanwhile, Ryanair's normally bullish CEO Michael O'Leary is less confident about summer demand. And network changes at the discounter make us wonder where the airline will put all its new Boeing 737 Maxes, or as Ryanair calls them "Gamechangers." Madhu Unnikrishnan and Edward "Ned" Russell ask why Ryanair is still trying to make "fetch" happen.

Cathay Pacific is struggling under new travel restrictions from the Hong Kong government, and the lack of any significant support from the government means it’s back in the red. Hosts Edward “Ned” Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan also discuss cargo’s continued growth in 2021, and Airbus’ plan to launch a new cargo carrier with its bulbous Belugas, and they wrap with the throughline from the U.S. Big 3’s results.

The rollout of 5G wireless technology threatened major disruptions to the U.S. air transport system until it didn’t, in a crisis that J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker likened to Y2K. Hosts Madhu Unnikrishnan and Edward “Ned” Russell also discuss the pilot shortage, and what they expected from American Airlines and United Airlines 2021 results.

Airbus and Boeing have split the commercial aircraft market for a while, but analysts say Boeing could become the junior partner if it doesn't come up with something for the middle of the market. Hosts Madhu Unnikrishnan and Edward "Ned" Russell chew on Boeing's options and discuss Airbus's rather good 2021.