Airlines Confidential Podcast
Hosted by Scott McCartney, Fmr. Travel Editor/"Middle Seat" Columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Top Stories, C-Suite Guests, Listener Q's. The Leading Podcast Reaching Travel Industry Insiders, Frequent Flyers, & Aviation Geeks. Created by & Dedicated to Ben Baldanza.
Episodes
February 17, 2026 • 87 mins
Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis. Guest: Sean Donohue, Fmr CEO, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Also: Party Balloons (not drones) over El Paso Airport; Government shutdown & potential disruption in TSA operations; Two Elliott Mgt-aligned Board Members step down at SWA; Spirit & Frontier reduce number of planes; Labor concerns continue at AA, Does American have an internal cultural problem? Should DFW and Love Field ownersh...
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February 10, 2026 • 74 mins
Guest Co-Host, Charles Duncan, Guest: Scott Hamilton, Founder & Managing Director, Leeham Company and author: The Rise and Fall of Boeing: And The Way Back. Also: Elliott Mgt sells some SWA shares; Spirit sells more Chicago gates; AA employees vote no confidence; International travel bookings down; Listener Q on hub economics.
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February 3, 2026 • 73 mins
Guest Co-Host Charles Duncan. Guest: David Seymour, COO, American Airlines. Topics: AA hit hard by weather related operational issues; A good week for Southwest, cash pouring in, will Elliott Mgt cash out? American earnings drop; JetBlue down; NTSB report issued on chopper collision with AA flight; Big increase in flights by United at ORD; Listener questions: Is there room for a new airline? What's the cost to start service at an a...
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January 27, 2026 • 79 mins
Guest CoHost Dave Hilfman. Guest: John Heimlich, VP/Chief Economist, Airlines For America. Also: Michael O'Leary and Elon Musk spar over Starlink; The latest Wall Street Journal airline scorecard; Is Castlelake an answer to Spirit's woes? American corrects "most profitable hub" statement on previous episode; Listener input on Southwest's new revenue prospects.
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January 20, 2026 • 34 mins
Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz. Topics: Do the rich fly Delta? Frontier not yet selling tickets for Spring/Summer - Did Barry Biffle run off with the scheduling system password? Looking at the Frontier-Spirit potential in a different way; ALPA appeals to Spirit bondholders; JetZero completes Series B Round; Listener thoughts on Basic Economy purchasing decisions, and American's seeming lack of investment in CL...
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January 13, 2026 • 70 mins
Guest Co-Host Maya Leibman, Guest: Don Carty, Chairman, Porter Airlines. Also: The Allegiant- Sun Country deal; Is Frontier-Spirit now more likely? Altimeter conflict - FAA putting out 5G plan for public comment; Airport debt increase rises; Expansion at (AUS) Austin, TX; SWA transformation progress; Listener input on baggage fee structure and an alternative method.
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January 7, 2026 • 74 mins
Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guest: Jeremy Bowen, CEO, Cirium. Topic: 2025 On Time Performance Award Winners. Also: Storms caused holiday travel challenges; Two operational mismanagement examples; American increases Chicago flights; Spirit burning through cash; Listener questions if Pratt & Whitney sponsorship impacts the podcast's news coverage.
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December 23, 2025 • 61 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Chris Sloan. Reviews: American's new A321XLR Flagship Suite & JetBlue's new JFK Lounge. Also: The $50MM Spirit Christmas gift; More Spirit-Frontier talks; Frontier CEO Barry Biffle out, James Dempsey named Interim CEO; Volaris and Viva Aerobus seek to combine; Delta President Glen Hauenstein to retire; Memphis renames it's airport; Positive listener feedback on the Doug Parker airline pricing...
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December 16, 2025 • 56 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis. Topics: 13 years of unpaid parking comes due; Spirit refutes competitors' talk of impending shutdown; Losses due to government flight reductions; Lots to say about Southwest - Leadership, lounges, and more; AUS Execs and others stopped by for PIT re-opening; Sec. Duffy works out at the airport; Peraton selected to overhaul FAA systems; Listener comments on Love Field, a correction re Fin...
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December 10, 2025 • 99 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney attends Doug Parker's "School of Airline Pricing" - Extensive insights into pricing considerations.
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December 2, 2025 • 88 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Charles Duncan, Guest: Phil Washington, CEO, Denver Int. Airport. Also: Ramifications from the Airbus immediate software requirement; DFW gets Turkey Award; Holiday travel vs last year; Bids for TAP Air Portugal; Listener input on where the projected new DFW passengers will come from, an idea of an AA-SWA merger, and the political environment's impact on international visitors.
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November 25, 2025 • 58 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman. Topics: Thanksgiving travel projections; US Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy releases "Golden Age of Travel" PSA; Dress codes & bare feet on seat backs; JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty calls for policy equity; Visit USA Act introduced; UPS 2976 crash update; Tribute to Peter J. Dolara, Fmr SVP, American Airlines; Listener response to Scott Kirby interview. Plus: Will Americ...
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November 18, 2025 • 60 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Fmr CEO United, Guest: Scott Kirby, CEO, United. Topics: Air travel as a political tool; Credit card swipe fee change impact on airlines; A Scott Kirby job assessment by the person who hired him.
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November 11, 2025 • 61 mins
Guest Co-Host Maya Leibman, Guest Alex Cruz, Fmr. CEO, British Airways. News: Tripadvisor kills SeatGuru; US Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy reduces air traffic; Government shutdown breakthrough in the works; UPS Flight 2976 crashes on takeoff; Listener questions on the value of international partnerships.
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November 4, 2025 • 84 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guest: Alex Mans. Founder & CEO, FLYR. Topics: AI for airlines; Yahrzeit for Ben Baldanza; The case for using the $18B trust fund to pay controllers; Listener input includes a correction relating to Ryanair, travel spend by different disposable income levels.
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October 28, 2025 • 67 mins
Scott McCartney with Guests: Andrew Watterson, COO, SWA and Jay Sorensen, Pres, IdeaWorks; Topics: An SWA update; 2025 ancillary revenue report. Also: Results for American, Southwest, and Alaska; Nat Pieper joins American as CCO; Listener input from Storrington, England.
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October 21, 2025 • 81 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance. Also: A deep dive into the low cost sector; United earnings and aggressive growth; Shai Weiss to step down at year end, Corneel Koster to be named new CEO, Virgin Atlantic; Seat cleaning grounds Finnair A321s; Spirit projects more losses; with cash stability; Observations from the Wings Club Gala; Listener Input on LCC growth.
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Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis, Guests: Architects Luis Vidal & Carolyn Sponza - The new Pittsburgh International Airport. Also: Fall earnings season, Delta numbers; Spirit sheds aircraft - is deal with Frontier more likely? Listener input on Delta Tech Ops and Airport gate allocations.
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October 7, 2025 • 82 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Doug Parker, Fmr CEO, American Airlines and Guest: Richard Anderson, Fmr CEO, Delta Air Lines. A conversation with two transformative leaders.
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September 30, 2025 • 71 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines; Topics: Top level change at Alaska Airlines; Breeze comes to Norfolk VA; Ramifications of judicial decision on United / American gate reallocation in Chicago; WSJ updates & expands story on toxic fume events; Info on the "Aviation EMBA Program"; A Spirit - AerCap update; JetBlue brings joy to 12 year old boy and family; Listener input on Holly Hege...
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