Airways Podcast

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! In this first episode of 2020, Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique jump right into three very interesting topics:  • JetBlue unveils the interiors of its brand-new Airbus A220-300. • The Boeing 737 MAX flies back into service. • Analyzing President Biden's new PCR testing and Quarantine order for international travelers flying into the USA. Stay tuned, The Airways Podcast is here! 

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! In this last episode of 2020, Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique jump right into three very interesting topics:  • Hawaiian Airlines announces three all-new domestic routes to Orlando, Austin, Ontario. • Alaska Airlines announces the retirement of the Airbus A320 fleet. • The Top 5 most-read news on Airwaysmag.com • Closing remarks on 2020. Stay tuned, The Airways Podcast is here! Happy New Year to all our listeners.

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! In this third episode of Season 4, Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique jump right into three very interesting topics:  • The Skift Forum • Emirates and the Airbus A380 • The State of the Industry and COVID-19 • The Top 5 most-read news on Airwaysmag.com Stay tuned, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! In this second episode of Season 4, Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique jump right into three very interesting topics:  • Singapore Airlines to retire some Airbus A380s and Boeing 777-300s. • Air Canada cancels some Airbus A220s and Boeing 737 MAX orders. • Alaska Airlines names new CEO (bonus: fleet discussion) • The Top 5 most-read news on Airwaysmag.com And in this episode, we welcome Chris Sloan, founder of The Airchive, who shares with Rohan the details of the re-launch of his "webseum" of Aviation. Stay tuned, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! Season 4 of The Airways Podcast launches with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique chatting about what's happened in the commercial aviation world since Season 3 ended in June. Discussion topics: • Southwest Airlines announces new routes in the middle of the pandemic / Potential Airbus A220 order to replace the aging Boeing 737-700 fleet. • The Boeing 737 MAX is back on schedule to fly. • The Airbus A380 is on its way out. • Singapore Airlines swaps Newark for Kennedy on the world's longest flight. This new season brings many new features and interviews. The show will air every 1st and 15th day of each month on every Podcast platform. Stay tuned, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 56th episode of The Airways Podcast launches with a slightly different tune. Rohan and Vinay dive into the end of Pride month, in which hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ airline industry personnel were involved. Later on, Enrique welcomes the Chief Development Officer of Airways, Vincenzo Pace, for a quick interview in which he reveals his latest airside adventure at New York-JFK, where he was blessed to spot numerous heavies landing and taking off after a lengthy period of partial shutdown due to COVID-19. Tune in, the Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 55th episode of the show launches with our three hosts chatting about their encounters with abnormalities during this prolonged COVID-19 quarantine. Rohan talks about his recent experience traveling between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Chicago-O'Hare onboard a 1/4-full Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner while both Enrique and Vinay share some of their experiences in Boston and in Caracas. Up next, James Field, Europe Correspondent for Airways Magazine joins our episode to bring up the Top 10 most-read news during the last four weeks of quarantine—a good summary that will let our audience get situated as we enter the 12th week of COVID-19 contingency. Tune in, the Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 54th episode of the show kicks off with Enrique sharing some details of his super technological surgery with Rohan and Vinay, finding an aviation angle that made it quite a unique anesthetic experience. The analysis segment of this episode covers the current state of the airline industry as it navigates through the COVID-19 crisis, with Vinay and Rohan weighing in with their well-informed data. This episode's interview features Andy Luten, an accomplished public speaker and author of Andy's Travel Blog, which has been around since 2012 and has since piled up millions of page views, thousands of pictures, a ton of great comments from readers, and quite a few sarcastic remarks. Through his blog, Andy talks about travel, photography, and travel, showcasing the amazing work that he has produced for almost a decade. In this episode's interview, our hosts focus on Andy's most recent project: 'They Will Fly Again,' showing breathtaking photos of grounded airplanes throughout the US because of COVID-19. Also, Andy shares the details of his most recent adventure: photographing the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral as it departed to the International Space Station. As the world continues to battle COVID-19, the Airways Team hopes you will enjoy this episode.

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 53rd episode of the show starts with Rohan Anand, Vinay Bhaskara, and Enrique Perrella chatting about how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the world's airlines, focusing on Avianca, Colombia's flag carrier, which just filed for Chapter 11. The next segment of this episode welcomes our Senior Correspondent, Chris Sloan, who jumped on a phone call with Gordon Bethune, a retired US airline executive who was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2004. Bethune weighs in and shares his thoughts on the current state of the aviation industry and shares some comments on Boeing and the extended crisis it's been mitigating. This episode closes with a different approach: Vinay and Rohan ask Enrique which are his favorite aircraft, airline, and airport, entering into an entertaining AvGeek debate. As the world continues to battle COVID-19, the Airways Team hopes you will enjoy this episode. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 52nd episode of the show kicks off with a completely different tone. Rohan Anand and Vinay Bhaskara take control of the show while Enrique is left behind battling with a lack of internet connectivity, not making it into the recording room on time.  Rohan and Vinay dive into a potpourri of aviation-related topics while trying to keep things spiced up in an environment where only bad news are reigning the headlines. As the world continues to battle COVID-19, the Airways Team hopes you will enjoy this episode. Even though it might be a bit off from what you're used to listening twice a month! Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 51st episode of the show kicks off with Rohan Anand and Enrique Perrella sharing their isolation stories as the world continues to be under lockdown due to COVID-19. To steer away from the trendy negative news that has overwhelmed the globe, this episode focuses solely on an interview with David H Striner, the history editor at Airways Magazine.  David is responsible for the history department at Airways and has written an extensive feature on the 90th anniversary of the creation of American Airlines. In this episode, David narrates a few highlights of his story, which takes us back to the late 1950s when several small airlines were brought together to form American Airways—the predecessor of today's American Airlines—all the way until the late 1960s when the carrier entered the jet era. The interview with Stringer evolves into a great conversation in which Rohan and Enrique reveal some great AvGeek memories, such as their first flights on American Airlines 727s and DC-10s, and their shared love for the MD-11. As the world continues to battle COVID-19, the Airways Team hopes you will enjoy this episode. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 50th episode of the show launches with our hosts sharing their occurrences while on quarantine due to the major coronavirus spread that has brought the world to a halt. Enrique introduces the new Airways Digital Suite, which brings an all-new interface, upgrading the standards in our readers' digital magazine reading experience. The new app is based on a platform that allows readers to search, read, listen to, customize, bookmark, print, share, and enjoy every Airways Magazine article that has been published since 2014. Then, the first analysis in this episode dives into the US airline bailout that will take place soon. Vinay and Rohan discuss the positives and negatives of such bailout, providing deep analysis and commentary. The second analysis in this episode tackles the Twilight of the Jumbo Jet era, following up on Vinay's article that was published on the 26th-anniversary issue of Airways Magazine. Our hosts discuss why the 747 and A380 are no longer viable and provide some insights on the future of the very large airplane (VLA) segment of the market, including why Vinay thinks the Boeing 777-X is in danger. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! This bonus episode welcomes Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart), an author (The Diff), financial analyst, consultant, and equity research professional who likes to focus on using complex datasets to understand company fundamentals.  Hobart discusses with our host, Vinay Bhaskara, what the outcome of Coronavirus might be for the US airline industry, including analysis of the US airline bailout and forecasts for the industry's once Coronavirus is contained.

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! This bonus episode welcomes Gary Leff, editor of View from the Wing, who discusses with our host, Vinay Bhaskara, whether the proposed airline bailout in the US should happen. US airlines and airplane manufacturing giant, Boeing, have all requested aid from the Federal Government following the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has forced the grounding of almost 80% of the country's fleet and crippled Boeing's output further. Boeing said that “a minimum of $60 billion in access to public and private liquidity, including loan guarantees” was appropriate for the aerospace-manufacturing industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, airline executives are seeking $50 billion in government money. Vinay Bhaskara and Gary Leff discuss whether such a bailout is necessary, and most importantly, whether it is fair. Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel—a topic he has covered since 2002. Leff is the co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present). Tune in! The Airways Podcast is here.

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 49th episode launches with our hosts recapping on Rohan’s recent trip to India and Vinay’s fears that the Coronavirus will cause major disruption in the US commercial aviation industry. To analyze further, this episode’s special guest is Will Horton, a renowned airline analyst based in Hong Kong—close to the epicenter of the first Coronavirus spread, and home to Cathay Pacific, one of the airlines that has suffered the most. Horton, who’s worked for Flightglobal and CAPA, now contributes regularly to Forbes as a Senior Contributor. He provides some interesting takes on the COVID-19’s effects on the Asia-Pacific commercial aviation industry, as well as the recent dramatic reduction of travel in Europe and the United States. To conclude this episode, our hosts share the goods and the bads from the commercial aviation scene, even though the negatives are much more prominent than the positives around the globe. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 48th episode starts off with our hosts discussing the importance and threat of the current Coronavirus outbreak, which is causing endless trouble on the worldwide commercial aviation scene. Rohan's trip to India ignites Vinay's fears, diving into an initial discussion that will carry on in our next episode with invited experts. Stay tuned! Our first analysis segment in this episode features Vinay and Rohan chatting about David Neeleman's newest airline startup, Breeze Airways. Is this airline set on a successful business plan? Neeleman, who successfully launched and developed Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue, Azul, and transformed TAP Portugal into a healthy carrier, is now re-entering the highly competitive US market with an all-new low-cost carrier. Breeze’s initial markets will be mid-size city pairs that currently have no nonstop service, all served with low-fare, high-quality nonstop flights that will bring “new consumer technology innovations, according to Neeleman. Secondly, this episode features a long interview with Airways Senior Correspondent, Chris Sloan, who witnessed the first flight of the Boeing 777-X. In his long conversation with Rohan, Sloan dives into the event's behind-the-scenes and analyzes Boeing's current and future strategy to put this aircraft in service. Lastly, our hosts discuss the goods and the bads from the commercial aviation scene and conclude this episode with a few personal remarks on the Coronavirus trending topic. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 47th episode kicks off with our hosts chatting about Enrique's recent scare with a potential case of Coronavirus onboard a SAS Airbus A350; Rohan's upcoming trip to India; and Vinay's shock at American Airlines' new Seattle adventure. Because of that, this episode's first analysis segment offers a long discussion between Vinay and Rohan, analyzing whether the move by American Airlines to jump into the Seattle market with two new long-haul flights to Bangalore and London make any sense. Secondly, this episode features a long interview with Willy Boulter, the Chief Commercial Officer of India's fastest low-cost carrier, IndiGo. Boulter offers some exclusive insight on the Indian commercial aviation scene, revealing some exciting plans for the airline once it takes delivery of its first Airbus A321XLR. Lastly, the final segment of this episode's interview brings back Aboudy Nasser, the Chief Commercial Officer at London Stansted Airport, who talks about the future of distribution channels in the commercial aviation industry with Willy Boulter. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The 46th episode kicks off with Vinay, Enrique, and Rohan chatting about Enrique's recent experience at the TWA Hotel, which he liked so much he's going back to it very soon. Then, the first analysis segment covers Air Canada's Inauguration of its brand-new Airbus A220-300, which the airline deployed on the Montreal-Calgary route on January 16. Our team analyzes how the plane will transform the Canadian carrier's domestic and regional network. The second analysis segment covers Delta's clever move into the Miami market by adding several flights to key destinations in support of its newest partner, LATAM Airlines. Our hosts also mention American Airlines' activities in Boston and Austin. As a bonus of this episode, an interview between Rohan Anand Chris Sloan will be published as a stand-alone, full-length discussion about the first flight of the Boeing 777X. Stay tuned, this bonus episode will be available shortly. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

This bonus episode of The Airways Podcast welcomes Aboudy Nasser, Chief Commercial Officer at London-Stansted Airport to discuss the future of the industry's newest trend: Long-Haul/Low-Cost Carriers. Nasser, who has 20 years of airline and airport commercial expertise in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has worked with British Airways, Etihad Airways, Oman Air and AirAsia, before joining the fastest and fourth busiest airport in the UK, London Stansted Airport, as its CCO. This discussion is part of Episode 45 of The Airways Podcast, in partnership with London-Stansted Airport.

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The first episode the year kicks off with Vinay, Enrique, and Rohan chatting about the retirement of two of the world's most iconic and influential airline CEOs, Tim Clark from Emirates and Willie Walsh from IAG. These two fine gentlemen have re-shaped the global aviation landscape as we know it. Clark grew Emirates to become one of the world's largest and most powerful airlines, whereas Walsh was key in the consolidation of the airline industry in Europe by merging British Airways with Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, and soon, Air Europa. What will happen to Emirates and IAG? Who are the right successors to Clark and Walsh? Is the future as bright as Clark and Walsh hope it to be? Our team analyzes. As a bonus of this episode, an interview with the Chief Commercial Officer of London Stansted Airport has been published as a stand-alone, full-length discussion about The Future of Long Haul Low-Cost Airlines. Be sure to check it out! Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The eight episode of Season 3, and the last official episode of the year, kicks off with Vinay and Enrique welcoming Henry Harteveldt, President of the Atmosphere Research Group about United Airlines and its new CEO, Scott Kirby, who will be replacing Oscar Munoz in May 2020. Harteveldt weighs in on Kirby's experience as a top airline executive, all the way since his tenure at America West, US Airways, American Airlines, and now United Airlines. Later on, our hosts also analyze United's recent order for 50 Airbus A321XLRs, which will replace the oldest Boeing 757s in its fleet. The second topic covers the TWA Hotel and its current underperformance, reporting a ~30% load factor. Harteveldt, a former TWA alumn, shares his take on the hotel's current state and what he thinks should be done to make it a profitable and successful venture. Lastly, the one and only JFK Jets (Vincenzo Pace), New York's best aviation photographer, shares his take on the hotel's prime planespotting benefits and locations, as well as his experience as a guest of the hotel on a myriad of occasions. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The seventh episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique chatting about Emirates confirming an order for 30 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, worth $8.8 billion at list prices. The Dubai-based carrier firmed up the Memorandum of Understanding that it had signed with Boeing in 2017, swapping the 787-10 for the smaller 787-9. The second topic covers the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charging Allen Onyema, the Chairman and Founder of Nigerian carrier, Air Peace, with bank fraud and money laundering. According to the DOJ, Onyema has moved of more than $20 million from various foreign accounts through American bank accounts to pay for living expenses, luxury cars, and other high-priced goods. The Nigerian carrier ordered 10 Boeing 737 MAX 10 worth $1.17 billion last year. Lastly, our hosts chat about El Al’s new test route from Tel Aviv to Melbourne, considered ultra-long-haul, as it’s scheduled to last more than 17.5 hours on the airline’s new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Will this route come to fruition? Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The sixth episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique chatting about IAG's move to purchase Spain's second-largest carrier, Air Europa, for the sum of €1 billion. Is this an anti-competitive move by the airline conglomerate, which already owns Spain's other two carriers, Iberia and Vueling? Secondly, our hosts chat about WOW Air's resurrection as PLAY, which will launch with a small and modest fleet of Airbus A321s to a handful of destinations in Europe. The airline has chosen a playful name and a very distinctive bright red livery. Will they succeed? Last but not least, Vinay sits down with Duncan Robertson, Manager Aircraft Product Development at British Airways, to chat about the airline's newest aircraft, the Airbus A350-1000, and its new cabin hard and soft products. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The fifth episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique chatting about Air New Zealand's exciting news, which will see the Kiwi carrier link Auckland and New York on an ultra-long-haul nonstop flight on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This will be the sixth-longest flight in the world when it launches next year. The second segment has Rohan and Vinay interviewing Chris Sloan, Managing Editor at Airways, who was lucky enough to be onboard the farewell American Airlines MD-80 flight.  Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The fourth episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique chatting about Ed Bastian's remarks on the alleged failure of SkyTeam Alliance. In addition to the 10 most relevant headlines in the aviation arena, our hosts analyze the future of the airline alliances after the CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, said that SkyTeam has failed to add value to its customers. The second analysis segment has Rohan and Vinay discuss the repercussions of Delta's new partnership with former American Airlines partner, LATAM Airlines. The Atlanta-based carrier finalized a $1.9 billion investment for a 20 percent stake in the Latin American carrier, who will effectively be leaving the oneworld alliance and become Delta's largest partner in South America. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The third episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique analyzing the most relevant headlines in the commercial aviation industry. In this episode, we welcome the Founder and CEO of Volaris, Enrique Beltraena. Together with Indigo Partners in the US, Beltraena has managed to outgrow its competitors and become the country's largest domestic airline by passengers transported.  Enrique Beltraena tells Airways some interesting facts about Mexico's domestic low-cost carrier industry and how his airline plans to continue growing despite the fact that the country's new government has decided to cancel the construction of Mexico City's new airport. In addition to this episode's interview, our three hosts also analyze the two following topics: Thomas Cook Shuts Down. The new Mexico City International Airport is canceled.  Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! The second episode of Season 3 kicks off with Rohan Anand, Vinay Bhaskara and Enrique Perrella going over the most relevant headlines in the commercial aviation industry since this month's Episode 1, two weeks before. In this episode, in the second part of our exclusive interview with David Neeleman he tells Airways Managing Editor, Chris Sloan, his thoughts on the ultra-long-haul segment of the industry, the A321XLR, what he thinks about his involvement with TAP Portugal, and a few personal remarks. Our three hosts also analyze three topics drawn from the top headlines in the commercial aviation scene: American Airlines retires the MD-80 from its fleet. British Airways is crippled by two days of flight crew strikes. Frontier opens new base in Newark with all-new routes. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

Welcome Aboard The Airways Podcast! Season 3 kicks off with an all-new format. Rohan Anand and Vinay Bhaskara welcome Enrique Perrella as the third host of the show. Enrique, the Publisher & Editor in Chief of Airways Magazine, also joins the production team, bringing in numerous guests from the industry to be featured in this season's interview segment. This new season will be edited and cured by our new team member, Jeffry Nova, a professional radio veteran who's taking The Airways Podcast to a new level of quality. In this episode, David Neeleman exclusively tells Airways Managing Editor, Chris Sloan, the tentative launch date of his new startup, code-named Moxy. Rohan, Vinay, and Enrique analyze three topics drawn from the top headlines in the commercial aviation scene: Boeing mothballs the launching of the 777-8X. Cathay Pacific changes its top management. Tokyo-Narita gives way to Haneda as the prime airport for US carriers. Tune in, The Airways Podcast is here!

We start off by wishing Vinay a Happy Birthday, but certainly, a "mediocre birthday" (his words) pales in comparison to the continued woes for AirBerlin and Alitalia (1:10) after we perform a health check on Europe's biggest ailing carriers (for now). And the drama doesn't end there: Ryanair, which once appeared to be one of the highest bidders for some of Alitalia's assets, is suffering from extensive operational and commercial fallouts over a pilot shortage (16:35). With no end in sight, will they be able to recover from a tarnished image in spite of its, "Always Getting Better," program oriented around customer service? However, not all is woeful in Europe: Turkish Airlines seems to have recovered from a crummy 2016 and placed a blockbuster order for 787-9s (30:18) and may have more orders in the pipeline from both Boeing and Airbus. Furthermore, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic JV partner Delta will be adding new routes and cities to Europe in Summer 2018 (36:30), diversifying beyond traditional bread-and-butter markets and going places where long-haul LCCs are absent. 

Vinay breaks down all of the action from day one of the 2017 Paris Air Show in a solo podcast.   If you enjoy the show, please consider contributing to our IndieGoGo campaign.

Vinay and Rohan kick off the show discussing Qatar's diplomatic spat with several Middle Eastern neighbors (0:45), which may spell sinister things for Qatari aviation. Rohan and Vinay don't expect the situation to subside very quickly, or at least without repercussion. On a more positive note, they discuss United Airlines' announcement of nonstop service from Los Angeles to Singapore on the Boeing 787-9 (12:44), which certainly took everyone by surprise, even though an 18-hour flight in 9-abreast seating doesn't sound like many peoples' cup of tea. North of the US border, Canada's WestJet will be taking a huge step as its pilots voted in favor of unionization (22:25) under the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA). Will its flight attendants be next? Back on US soil, Donald Trump has expressed interest in privatizing Air Traffic Control (29:00). What could this spell for US aviation, and who may be against the idea? If you enjoy the show, please contribute to our Indiegogo campaign.  

Vinay and Rohan kick off the show discussing the fact that Air India is still in growth mode (2:05) and will be expanding in Scandinavia, not to mention stated intentions to grow in the U.S., thanks to the electronics ban that has affected Gulf competitors operating to the U.S. Will Air India fill the remaining void for the underserved nonstop U.S. - India markets? They then move on to discuss the great "Terminal Shuffle" at LAX airport (12:58) last month went relatively smoothly, which we talk about in greater depth, since this was precipitated by Delta and its desire to become closer to SkyTeam partners at LAX. Alaska will begin services to Seattle's Paine Field (22:25) in the fall of 2018, starting with 9 daily services. What does this mean for Alaska, now that it will be operating at two airports in the same metropolitan region, not to mention its home city? Finally, Vinay and Rohan give their updated take on the infamous electronics ban and the potential for it to expand to Europe (30:30). Remember to support the Airways Podcast on Indiegogo!

It's been some time, but Vinay and Rohan lend their thoughts on the UA 3411 incident with Dr. David Dao, along with some commentary on some minor follow-up stories that have taken place since (2:32). Next, WestJet is launching an ultra-low cost carrier - WestJet Lite? WestJet Encore Minus? What are the implications (15:10). Emirates is doing what was unthinkable three years ago: cutting US capacity in wake of the electronics travel ban (27:19) - or is it? Finally, Jet Airways is growing again, leveraging its burgeoning relationship with Air France - KLM and Delta in Europe (34:33).    Bonus: Rohan and Vinay discuss the new kick-starter campaign to help us get HUGE on Indiegogo, along with some of Vinay's, "thoughts" on Chris Christie's aviation policy.    Support the Airways podcast on Indiegogo

At the suggestion of listener Tak Wong, Vinay and Rohan discuss aviation in the Bay Area, covering San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. They begin the episode talking about United's growing hub at SFO (4:00), before moving on to cover new foreign carrier services from SFO to various points around the world (6:20). They then move on to discuss the secondary airports at San Jose (12:00) and Oakland (15:00). The episode concludes with thoughts on whether the growth in Bay Area air travel is sustainable through the next dot-com bust or tech industry recession (17:00). 

Alaska Airlines is adding routes out of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego and many places in between to points North, South, East, and West. This week, Vinay and Rohan discuss the new additions (2:00) and what the logic is behind the new routes and capacity changes given the new assets and fleet that the combined carrier will leverage (6:00). In particular, they take note of many of the new red-eye and trans-con routes (14:20) that Alaska is adding that indicate how Alaska is building a network differently than Virgin would have. Finally, they talk about Alaska's decision to keep its Dallas Love Field gates (18:30), which has been the talk of the town.

SUPPORT THE AIRWAYS PODCAST ON INDIEGOGO Rohan and Vinay kick off the show discussing the abysmal April for US carriers beginning with Delta's 4-day operational meltdown (2:10) which lead to thousands of canceled flights after its Atlanta hub was throttled by bad weather. Was it REALLY as bad as the media said it was, or was it simply "schadenfreude" for people wanting to chastise the widget for its, "on-time machine" hubris? United is pulling Tokyo - Seoul and shifting 737s from its Guam base to the U.S. mainland (15:50), further decreasing its intra-Asia footprint. Ryanair's, "Always Getting Better" program will now include connecting flights and other customer-friendly perks - and no, this was not an April Fool's joke (28:40). Finally, Norwegian heads West of the Rocky Mountains to launch services to Denver and Seattle. Better get started on that flannel-themed 787, stat.   

United's revenue underperformance versus its peers is now front and center, thanks to Scott Kirby's transition to United and greater transparency on levers the carrier is pulling to improve its unit revenues relative to Delta and American. But why is United lagging, despite having hubs in some of the largest and wealthiest U.S. cities (1:10)? Vinay's theory: the carrier is over-exposed to the volatilities of a large international network that could be off-set if the carrier were to re-allocate capacity back to its domestic hubs (3:00). In this network beat episode, Vinay outlines his thesis (which is a complement to his article, "United Should Cut Back International Flying to Fund Domestic Growth," which published in Airways digital on April 5, 2017) and Rohan asks a few clarifying questions. For the revenue management and network planning geeks, this is an episode you will not want to miss!

  It's time to put the issue du jour to rest with a brief discussion of the #LeggingsGate situation (1:43). Once they're done poking fun at Lululemon, Vinay and Rohan move onto more pressing topics, namely Delta and Korean Air's proposed Joint Venture Agreement (8:30), which will (finally) give Delta the fortress hub of its dreams in North Asia, after years of head-wringing. And the transpacific partnership plot thickened further with American's new $200 million stake in China Southern Airlines (33:30), hopefully a sign that OneWorld will be able to ante-up its position in mainland China relative to SkyTeam and Star Alliance. Back home, Frontier has come clean with its IPO plans (44:40) which may be the poorest-kept secret of 2017.

Vinay and Rohan kick off this week's episode by discussing the electronics ban on flights from certain Middle Eastern countries to the US and UK (2:40). Does this mean that Vinay won't be able to take selfies on his iPad on certain airlines despite getting Global Entry? While on the subject of UK-based carriers, the two discuss the business case for IAG's new Barcelona-based long-haul, low-cost carrier, "LEVEL," (23:32) and what impact will it have alongside the other North Atlantic, "disruptor" LCCs taking the skies by storm in summer 2017? Meanwhile, across the ocean, IAG's JV partner American Airlines had some words for Wall Street Analysts, spearheaded by CEO Doug Parker admonishing that investors are taking "too narrow" of a view on airline RASM performance (36:15). Finally, a star has fallen - somewhat - with Cathay Pacific in the red (45:30). How can Thai be profitable while Cathay is not?

As a companion to Vinay's two-part series featured on www.airwaysmag.com, "The Rise, Fall and Eventual Resurgence of the Middle East's Airline Giants," Rohan and Vinay discuss all things Gulf-Aviation in a unique special on the MEB3 and Turkish Airlines. They kick things off by talking about the "rise" of Emirates, Etihad, Qatar and Turkish thanks to political will and pro-aviation government establishments relative to their peer countries (5:00). But in today's world, low oil prices, the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Brexit, political strife and changing nationalist attitudes around the globe are cutting holes in the business model of these four carriers, which is dissected in the "fall" section of the episode (22:50). But the future is anything but bleak: new aircraft is on the way, with suppliers like Boeing and Airbus eager to work with the MEB3 and adjustments to be made on the commercial roadmap, there will eventually be a resurgence (41:00) of the MEB3 as well.

Vinay and Rohan head west to discuss airport changes in Europe, Latin America and North America. In Europe, they start off in Stockholm (1:31) and make their way through the Continent, while also covering Russia and Turkey (you can look forward to hearing Vinay school Rohan on Russian airport pronunciations). Next, they make the long jump across the Atlantic to cover Latin America (38:25) beginning with Rohan's favorite country, Chile. Then they'll travel up north, inching closer to the U.S. border before chiming in on Mexico, particularly in context of the Trump administration and the implications on passenger numbers and the Mexican aviation industry. After making their way around the world, they finally land back in the good 'ol US of A (55:00) and cover airports from Sea to Shining Sea. Oh, and they do conclude on a Canadian note, eh (1:21:00).

Vinay and Rohan invite you to join them a special two-part series featuring airport traffic changes from around the world. This week, we hit up Oceania, Asian, African and Middle Eastern airports that experienced the most salient passenger traffic adjustments. We'll not only provide objective data on the numerical changes, but also our insight and analyses explaining the trends. We start off in Oceania (4:05) wrapping up in Auckland and landing in Mumbai (11:02) and covering the Subcontinent. Next, we'll cover the largest connecting market from South Asia, aka the Middle East (23:36) with a unique take on Iran's traffic developments with a split-airport strategy. Heading South, we briefly cover Africa (38:00) then loop East to Southeast Asia (41:00) and North Asia (1:02:04). We conclude by covering the mysterious, yet fascinating People's Republic of China (1:09:15). We'll bring you part II next week!   For a limited time only, Airways Podcast listeners get 15% off their first Cranky Concierge travel support package. Visit https://crankyconcierge.com/airways to take advantage of this special offer through March 15th. 

This week, Vinay and Rohan conclude their synopsis of the Q4 and FY 2016 earnings with coverage of airline earnings. But first, a bonus gift for our listeners: learn how you can get 15% off of Cranky Flier's Cranky Concierge travel service (1:55). In the core segment, they head to Seattle to talk about Alaska Airlines' earnings results (4:45) during the quarter in which its merger with Virgin America. They then move across the coast to the District to slice and dice the major takeaways of Donald Trumps' meeting with major U.S. carrier CEOs. Finally, they hop onto a 787-10 (maybe someday, or at least an A350-900ULR from Newark/New York in the near future) to Singapore to talk about SIA's large Boeing order for the 787-10 and 777X.

Your Airways Podcast duo Vinay Bhaskara and Rohan Anand continue their coverage of the Q4 and FY 2016 earnings reports for American (2:25), Southwest Airlines (18:42) and JetBlue (28:18). Extending beyond the usual humdrum of strong earnings, we analyze and dissect attributes unique to each airline, and baseline them against broader trends in the industry, to create our interpretation on revenue forecasts, Wall Street reactions and potential customer perceptions. For the route gurus, we did a hybrid of network beat and core, where we do a rapid fire on new route developments (36:10) like Air India to Washington, Finnair's A340 retirements, Aer Lingus to Las Vegas, Frontier's growth in Cincinnati and Cleveland and more. 

We head to Iceland this week in the Network Beat bonus segment of the Airways Podcast, where Creator and Co-Founders Vinay Bhaskara and Rohan Anand dissect the Whos, Whats and WOWs of Islandia.  We start by delving into the strategic importance of Rekjavic's Keflavik International airport (1:30), paying close attention to the capacity breakdown at KEF and its unique connecting model as a transit and stoppover point between Europe and North America. We'll then discuss Icelandair (6:40), the largest carrier at KEF airport with over 50% of the market share, its innovative and FREE "stoppover program," and the future of its network and commercial strategy with the 737-MAX entering the fleet later this decade to replace its workhorse 757s. We compare this to WOW Air (11:55), comparing the use of larger, widebody and Airbus-exclusive fleet. The remainder of the episode, we'll do some additional compare and contrasts on the successes, threats and opportunities for Icelandair and WOW, and how these two will vie for similar types of traffic flows but with one utilizing a hybrid model and the other as a fully un-bundled LCC.

This week Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and columnist Rohan Anand kick-off the first Airways podcast of 2017, starting with in-depth coverage of the Q4 and FY earnings reports for Delta (1:42) and United (19:47), who posted their results during the earlier half of the month. No conversation of the Big Three in the U.S. can take place without bringing up American Airlines, who, despite not reporting Quarterly and Fiscal Year results at the time of recording, had still taken headlines with the details of its new Basic Economy product (33:52). Finally, the duo decided to stay in the contiguous 48 this week and concluded on a somber note by discussing the retirement of United's 747-400 fleet by the end of 2017 (50:37). 

*RE-UPLOAD TO CORRECT FILE ERROR* This week Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and columnist Rohan Anand conclude 2016 by recapping the top stories of year. The team discusses various leadership changes within the industry (1:42), major labor deals reached throughout the year (4:43), the breakup between Alaska and Delta (8:34), Delta's codeshare agreement with Korean Air (10:34), the DOJ's changing position on joint ventures (12:41), new international service launched during the year (17:24), security problems and terror threats (21:03), product improvements (22:12), Delta's Bombardier C-Series order and interesting aircraft/routes to fly (23:12), and a fun wrap-up (31:50).

This week in the Network Beat bonus segment of the Airways Podcast, Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and Columnist Rohan Anand discuss Qantas' new London-Perth route debuting in 2018 (0:14), and the potential for the route to be transformative (4:41).

This week Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and columnist Rohan Anand discuss the DOJ granting its stamp of approval for the Alaska/Virgin America merger (1:20), the DOT clearing Norwegian Air International to grow long-haul service in the United States (12:56), Avianca seeking out a joint venture partner (23:28), and President-Elect Donald Trump criticizing Boeing for the price of Air Force One (34:12).

This week in the Network Beat bonus segment of the Airways Podcast, Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and Columnist Rohan Anand discuss Aeroflot looking into potential joint ventures (0:28), the fading importance of airline alliances (0:36), and where Aeroflot is going (1:27).

This week in the Deep Dive bonus segment of the Airways Podcast, Airways Senior Business Analyst Vinay Bhaskara and Columnist Rohan Anand discuss Thai Airways International, providing an overview of the carrier (1:27) and discussing what is going on at Thai (3:57).