#PaxEx Podcast

In this episode, co-hosts Max Flight and Mary Kirby consider whether the aviation industry is poised for a faster-than-expected recovery given the extraordinary pent-up demand for air travel. They discuss IATA’s latest survey, which suggests that people will fly once they receive the COVID-19 vaccine.But has the pandemic reset our passenger experience expectations?Next, Cathay Pacific’s decision to let first and business passengers remove their masks when sleeping in the lie-flat position has generated a mixed response from readers. Some reckon that it makes common sense, others see it as classist and unfair. Mary and Max explore both sides of the argument.Finally, aviation seems to be largely in agreement that, in a post-COVID world, its eco-credentials must improve. Myriad new ideas have been tabled to date including new turboprops, blended wing body aircraft, hybrid electric aircraft, plus new turbofans and synthetic fuel, not to mention exploratory studies into hydrogen-powered aircraft. A former executive for Pratt & Whitney, Max shares some insight into the challenges of going green, and some of his favorite ideas.

Welcome to Episode 073 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks the evolution of the airline passenger experience.

Welcome to Episode 072 of the #PaxEx podcast, which tracks the evolution of the airline passenger experience.

Welcome to Episode 071 of the #PaxEx podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 070 of the show where we talk about how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 069 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 068 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 067 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 066 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 065 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to Episode 064 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

IWelcome to episode 063 of the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to the Episode 062 of the #PaxEx podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world.

Welcome to the Episode 061 of the #PaxEx podcast, which tracks how the airline passenger experience is evolving in a mobile, social, vocal world. In this episode, co-hosts Max Flight and Mary Kirby tackle a variety of issues that could have a very real impact on #PaxEx for economy class passengers and passengers with reduced mobility.

Welcome to Episode 060 of the #PaxEx podcast. Our guest is Becca Alkema, who serves as operations manager at Runway Girl Network, overseeing our advertising assets and client relationships, and assisting with multi-media content generation. As the mother of a severely allergic child, she is well versed in the challenges posed by allergens, whether in daily life or on the road.

Our guest for this show is John O. Graybil, a FAA designated master pilot with over 50 years of aviation experience. After John’s wife had a near-death experience as a passenger in a friend’s private airplane, he wrote “Private-Airplane Passenger Safety: What You Need to Know” as a guide to help other passengers know if their pilot and their flight will be a safe one.

Welcome to Episode 058 of the #PaxEx Podcast. Our guest for this show is journalist Harriet Baskas, who writes about airports, travel, museums and a wide variety of other topics for outlets that include NBCNews.com, CNBC.com, USATODAY.com and others. She is also the creator of the StuckatTheAirport.com blog, and a contributor to Runway Girl Network.

Our guest is Maryann Simson, who has been active in the #PaxEx media world for nearly a decade. Before joining the Airline Passenger Experience Association as APEX Media director, she served in a variety of editorial and PR positions, including as creative editor and then managing editor at PAX International Magazine. She also oversaw the conversion and update of the Jetliner Cabins book into an interactive app. And she was one of the original contributors to Runway Girl Network, later serving as director of partnerships.

Our guest is Marisa Garcia, who has worked directly in the design and manufacturing of aircraft interiors and safety equipment for many of the world’s leading airlines. Garcia now applies that hands-on experience to her reporting on product innovations, certification requirements, new programs and trends. She is the founder of the aviation news site Flight Chic, and contributes to many of the world’s premier travel titles.

Our guest for this episode is long-time industry executive Martin Cunnison, who now serves as CCO of fast-growing portable inflight wireless entertainment provider AirFi.

Welcome to Episode 054 of the #PaxEx Podcast. Our guest for this episode is Mark Naylor, who serves as Head of Compliance for Gate Gourmet in Oceania, the world’s biggest provider of airline catering and onboard products and services.

Our guest for this episode is well-known aviation geek Isaac Alexander, a freelance aviation writer who blogs as and at Jet City Star. Isaac also is on the committee for the weekend long Aviation Geek Fest held annually in the Greater Seattle area. 

Our guest for this episode is Ron Chapman, who serves as President of ASI Group, which provides low-cost inflight connectivity solutions to the business aviation market, and is now working in the commercial airline space. Based in Australia, Chapman has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry, having pioneered new technologies and world firsts in-flight.

Our guest for this episode is Becca Alkema, who works as operations manager for Runway Girl Network. As the mother of a severely allergic child, Becca is well versed in the challenges posed by allergens, whether in daily life or on the road.

Our guest for this episode of the #PaxEx Podcast is Kendall Creighton, director of communications for consumer advocacy group Flyers Rights.

Our guest is industry veteran John Wade, who serves as Chief Operating Officer at inflight connectivity firm Gogo.

Our guest is Jon Norris. A long-time aviation industry veteran with plenty of OEM experience, Jon works as senior director, corporate sales & marketing for Panasonic Avionics.

Our guest for this episode is long-time aviation marketing and comms veteran Jane Stanbury. Jane is managing director at UK-based Arenagroup, which uses a wide range of marketing, commercial and practical experience at an international level to help clients in aviation, travel and commercial sectors. Among her clients, Jane is spearheading marketing and comms for the popular business aircraft modification house Flying Colours Corp.

Our guest for this episode is Paul Eden, who has been editing and writing for aerospace publications since 1996. Editor of Executive & VIP Aviation International, Paul writes for Aircraft Cabin Management; Airliner World; Aerospace, the journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society; Aerospace Testing International; and MRO Management.

Our guest for this episode is Mika Pyyhkala. Focused on technology and transportation, Mika is Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts and Vice President of the Association of Blind Citizens. He has attended the US DOT Air Carrier Access Act working group forums on behalf of these organizations since about the year 2000.

Our guest this episode is aircraft interiors and travel expert John Walton. A global nomad, John pens the hugely popular Up Front column on Runway Girl Network, as well as articles covering passenger safety, comfort, connectivity and services. He is also a regular contributor to Australian Aviation and other titles. And he has been interviewed by myriad news agencies and publications.

Our guest for this episode is Tomás Romero, an award-winning writer/producer from Los Angeles. He has written dozens of screenplays for such studios as Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Telemundo and MTV, two of which were produced as feature films. A contributing editor at Runway Girl Network since March 2014, Romero pens the popular IFE Film Review column for RGN. His work has also appeared in such publications as Airline Passenger Experience magazine, Airline Retail News (A.R. News), and Aircraft Interiors International.

Our guest for this episode is Paul Thompson, an aviation and travel journalist for Airways Magazine and Travel Pulse, and a 15-year airline industry veteran.

Our guest for this episode is long-time industry consultant Michael Denis. With 29 years of experience in aviation, aerospace, defense, rail, high-tech and software industries, Michael and has become a regular commentator on aviation MRO and flight tracking initiatives. Welcome to the show, Michael.

Our guest for this episode is Chris Kjelgaard, an aviation and travel-industry reporter and editor with more than three decades of experience. In addition to serving as Editor of various print and online magazine titles, he has written for dozens of aviation trade and consumer magazines and websites and has been interviewed many times by television, radio, print and online media on aviation and travel topics. He is also a contributing editor to Runway Girl Network.

Our guest for this episode is aviation journalist, world traveler, aircraft interiors expert and Runway Girl Network contributor John Walton, who joins us again from Japan.

Our guest for this episode is Nik Loukas, founder of the InflightFeed.com website where he chronicles his experiences from around the world and sees the fun side of airline meals. Nik works as a training manager in Europe, assisting with training and product development projects specifically for airlines, and he has become a go-to source for media on the topic of onboard food & beverage.

Our guests for this episode are Sylvester Pittman and Darin Topham, two veteran former flight attendants who now consult for the airline industry, and are widely known as the Airline Guys.

Our guest for this episode is Jason Rabinowitz, who has quickly become one of the most high-profile #AvGeeks in the aviation industry. His Twitter feed combines intelligence about aviation and rail with a dash of millennial sarcasm, and unsurprisingly his following is growing quickly. He’s also Routehappy’s chief data guy, meaning he is sitting on a treasure trove of #PaxEx info. And we’re also proud to count him as a member of Runway Girl Network.

Our guest for this episode is Benet Wilson, founder and sole proprietor of Aviation Queen, an aviation/travel freelance writing and consulting business. She’s the Air Travel Expert for About.com, and freelances for a wide variety of prestigious industry publications.

Our guest for this episode is Philip Robinson, the founder of AeroPatent, whose mandate is to reveal intriguing and potentially important aerospace technology that is so often hidden behind misleading patent titles and exhaustive patent descriptions.

Our guest for this episode is Cynthia Drescher, a professional travel journalist who is more than a little obsessed with transportation. She has flown on aircraft fresh from the factory, scuba dived with sharks and shipwrecks, visited all seven continents, and still it’s not enough. She’s probably the person on your flight who’s connected to the WiFi to book yet another flight.

Our guest for this episode is long-time industry veteran Michael Miller, who serves as head of content and industry relations at Routes, which organizes world-renowned airline and airport networking events. Prior to this role, he was an aviation public relations consultant, and former Aviation Week editor.

Our guest for this episode is Scott Carmichael, serves as community marketing manager for inflight connectivity provider Gogo, and is an expert in the wonderful world of consumer electronics.

Our guest for this episode is Nigel Pickford, who serves as director of marketing operations and market insight for SITA, a multi-national IT company to the air transport industry.

Our guest for this episode is Anthony Davis, a British broadcaster, aviation journalist and private pilot who provides airline industry analysis for TV, radio and print. He regularly appears on Sky News, Al Jazeera, Channel 5 News, Good Morning Britain, ITV News, and MSNBC and is the resident aviation analyst for the Daily Mirror newspaper. Across London his late night LBC radio news talk shows earned him a reputation on the airwaves for almost a decade. He currently presents the drivetime show on Smooth Radio.

Our guest for this episode is John Walton, an international aviation journalist who writes for a variety of titles including Australian Aviation, Airways News, Aircraft Interiors International and of course Runway Girl Network. He also pens the very forthright Up Front opinion and analysis column on RGN.

Our guest for this episode is Christine Negroni, a highly regarded freelance journalist covering aviation and travel, including for the New York Times. Christine is also an author – she wrote the book Deadly Departures about the TWA Flight 800 disaster, and is penning a book about crash investigations – as well as an avid blogger, and a regular expert source for major media titles.

Our guest for this episode is John Walton, an international aviation journalist who writes for several industry titles, including Australian Aviation, AirwaysNews and of course, Runway Girl Network. A contributing editor at RGN, John also pens our popular Opinion column, Up Front.

Our guest for this episode is Nigel Pickford, who serves as director of marketing operations and market insight for SITA. SITA is a multi-national IT company to the air transport industry, and recently held its annual IT Summit in Brussels, where a number of important announcements emerged.

Our guest for this episode is Dominic Green, executive VP, Americas at Inflight Dublin, which is a content service provider to airlines. Dominic recently joined Inflight Dublin from Thales, where he led the development of content-related services for wireless IFE and connectivity solutions. He is also a member of the board of the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX).