Airways Podcast

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 b

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. Wi

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-a

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 s

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.