Dots, Lines & Destinations » Podcast Dots, Lines & Destinations

Getting its first electric-powered aircraft off the ground was a pretty big deal for MagniX late last year. But the company shows no signs of resting on that success, with another test flight last week of a larger prop. There's clearly a market for this sort of operation, though we're still a ways out from it being commonplace.















Also in this episode:







* KLM is also joining the electric revolution, or at least joining in on Schiphol's testing of electric tugs* American and United CEOs are not amused by investors questioning them on the likelihood of bankruptcy* LATAM is the latest and largest airline to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, though little appears to be changing right now, other than a few lease returns* British Airways is adjusting some rules for its Executive Club members; you'll be shocked to learn the changes are not in favor of the consumers* Several Canadians are challenging their national airlines to finally follow the rules and the US DOT to actually enforce them* SpaceX launched crew successfully to the International Space Station and it was an incredible spectacle







And plenty more. Enjoy the show!

It is always a good idea to make sure the airport is going to be open before setting off on a journey. Making that U-turn proved to be an expensive proposition last week for Eurowings.















Also in this episode:







* Berlin's Tegel airport is closing, and while officially it is just temporary the clock could run out on the operation permanently this summer* Delta's plan to keep Johannesburg service depends on making an extra stop on the way home thanks to different performance metrics between the A350 and 777LR* Air Canada is using some of its fancier planes for flights from Toronto to Montreal and Ottowa* Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection, but maybe it isn't just the travel downturn that caused the company's financial troubles??* Domestic flights resumed in India this week after two months offline, and the process proved chaotic and uncoordinated, as travel in India often does* European regulators might not approve the Air Canada/Air Transat merger without concessions* Air New Zealand reopened a dozen airport lounges across its domestic network as the carrier and the country inch back towards normalcy* Lufthansa gets a few billion euros from the German government in exchange for a 20% ownership stake







There's also a couple listener questions and plenty more. Enjoy the show!

What does high school shop class have to do with our travel experiences? Absolutely nothing, but that's rarely stopped us from talking about other topics, so why start now??















Among the real topics in this episode:







* TSA Caught Hoarding N95 masks* New Cessna SkyCourier First Flight * Boeing has a new “Confident Travel Initiative”* Former Garuda Indonesia CEO jailed for eight years for bribery* History of PSSen and is NDC really making a difference? Plus we talked about some of this stuff on a prior episode* New United staffing levels* First UAE-Israel Commercial flight* InfiniteFlight Getting STARS and SIDS* Thai Airways will, once again, survive* UA regional jets may have fewer seats come October* AA/QR Codeshare (re)launching* Airbus A220 Final Assembly Line now live in Alabama







And plenty more. Enjoy the show!

We're deep in the throes of learning what requirements will exist for passengers to prove they're healthy and resume travel. This week's episode has a very unlikely candidate for one such test.















On a more serious note, some of this week's topics include:







* Should United (or other airlines) grant lifetime status credit for award trips* Did Mahan Air break a bunch of rules and cause increased COVID spread in Iran* Avianca filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because somehow it is a US company running a Colombian airline* Will the new normal for travel require getting to the airport 4 hours early?* Emirates is delaying the rollout of its Premium Economy product* United (and other US carriers) got smacked by the DOT on changing its refund policy







And, as always, plenty more. Enjoy!

Before you listen to this episode go check out the photos here. It is a stellar collection of images from around the USA of planes parked. Truly stunning, in every sense of the word.















Now that we've got that out of the way, a few topics consider for this week's show:







* Airport as a drive-in movie theatre* WizzAir still planning AUH operation/expansion - Budapest and Bucharest from June 2020 and with Cluj-Napoca, Katowice and Sofia from September 2020* Air France will be limited on selling some short-haul flights as the French government puts conditions on its bailout funding* Air Canada will retire 79 older planes; United is less committed to its fleet retirement plans, but it is talking a little about moving things around, including a return to the SIN-HKG route in the near-term* The Qantas ultra-ultra-long-haul plans are on hold as Project Sunrise is suspended. We talk about that and other very long flights and the economics of such* Virgin Atlantic is bailing on Gatwick and shedding 3,000 jobs, as well as grounding its 747 fleet immediately* IATA says there's no need for the seat blocking if passengers wear masks. But airlines are still marketing that idea anyways, including Frontier charging $39 for the block* United Airlines is selling pins and shirts from the "United Together" campaign, with proceeds supporting the company's We Care Employee Relief Fund.* A listener question about flying old planes in Iran* New Zealand and Australia defining a "travel bubble" safe zone







Also, big thanks to the Producer for rejoining us this week. We'll try to include Rolo more often assuming schedules permit.

Is it time for airports to join the consolidation game? We talk a lot about airlines and mergers (and bankruptcies these days) but airports might also benefit from joining forces. As airlines fight today to quickly shed less profitable markets the discussion is perhaps more poignant than ever.















Also in this episode:







* Masks are coming and on some airlines you might not be able to avoid it* Delta Air Lines is manufacturing COVID transport pods for the US military* The Embraer/Boeing deal is dead* None of the Virgin brand airlines are doing particularly well* So many fun new routes from Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and JetBlue to try to address the CARES Act requirements, but we won't be flying any of them* Are the airlines really blocking seats on board? Or is that just marketing hype? For American Airlines it seems to be more the latter.* Air Sinai is one of the coolest airlines you've probably never heard of* United Airlines is changing some of the rules for the MileagePlus program, including removing more award charts. That's probably bad news, but also an opportunity, perhaps, for some travelers to reconsider their loyalties* The new Berlin airport might finally really open this year







And, as always, lots more. Enjoy the show!