Airlines Confidential Podcast

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

318 - Scott McCartney with Chris Sloan - Reviews of American & JetBlue New Offerings

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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317 - Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis

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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316 - Host Scott McCartney attends Doug Parker's "School of Airline Pricing"

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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315 - Guest Co-Host Charles Duncan, Guest Phil Washington, CEO, Denver Int. Airport

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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314 - Host Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman

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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313 - Scott McCartney with Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Fmr CEO United, Guest: Scott Kirby, CEO, United

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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312 - Guest Co-Host Maya Leibman, Guest Alex Cruz, Fmr. CEO, British Airways

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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311 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt. Guest: Alex Mans. Founder & CEO, FLYR

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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310 - Scott McCartney with Guests: Andrew Watterson & Jay Sorensen

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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309 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance.

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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308 - Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis, Guests: Architects Luis Vidal & Carolyn Sponza - New Pittsburgh Int. Airport

October 14, 2025 • 79 mins
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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307 - Scott McCartney, Doug Parker, and Richard Anderson

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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306 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines

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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305 - Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman, Guest: Holly Hegeman, Founder, PlaneBusiness

September 23, 2025 • 76 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman, Guest: Holly Hegeman, Founder, PlaneBusiness. Topics: Job cut warning and cash concerns at Spirit; US tells Delta - Aeroméxico to unwind joint venture; L3 Harris and Frontier Communications cables cause huge Dallas area disruption for American; C.D. McLean, Fmr COO, Continental, passes; "The Ontario Tower Buzzards" will play at ONT Field; Listener input on WSJ article on toxic cabin fumes.
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304 - Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Guest: Nat Pieper, CEO. Oneworld

September 16, 2025 • 66 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Guest: Nat Pieper, CEO. Oneworld. Topics: Conference season comments; Southwest moves towards introducing premium experiences and international service; Listener Q's on social media impacting Spirit's brand, Southwest O & D saturation and use of RJs.
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303 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guests: Mark Streeter & Jamie Baker, Analysts, JP Morgan Chase

September 9, 2025 • 69 mins
This week: Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guests: Mark Streeter & Jamie Baker, Analysts, JP Morgan Chase; News: Spirit shrinks; United adds flights in Spirit markets; SWA offers up a freebie; Passenger compensation rules changing; Steven Udvar-Házy retires with sale of Air Lease; International visits to the US down; Listener Q's all center around Spirit.
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302 - Host Scott McCartney with Guest: Peter Ingram, Fmr CEO, Hawaiian Airlines

September 3, 2025 • 63 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney with Guest: Peter Ingram, Fmr CEO, Hawaiian Airlines. Breaking News: What really forced Spirit back into Chapter 11? AerCap claims default triggered; Spirit's poor communication, what markets will see reductions in service, and Frontier Chairman Bill Franke talking with Spirit Chairman Robert Milton and Pres/CEO Dave Davis.
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301 - Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host Maya Leibman

August 26, 2025 • 55 mins
This week: Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host Maya Leibman; Topics: Tribute to Ginger Hardage; Cash management changes at Spirit; Air Canada back to work - who's next? Chris Sununu appointed President & CEO, Airlines for America; Questions from "The Sorting Hat" - Should the government make an investment in Spirit? Why are European low cost carriers doing better than USA counterparts? Will supersonic travel return? How will airli...
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300 - Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host Charles Duncan

August 19, 2025 • 64 mins
Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host Charles Duncan; Southwest writes Mrs McCartney a check, and other recent passenger experiences; Spirit Q2 not good, issues "Going Concern" statement; Relevancy of July airfare price increase; Air Canada flight attendants strike; SWA adds flights in vacation cities, divests renewable fuel, and upgrades their coffee; Listener Q on SWA booking window timing.
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299 - Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host: Christina Cassotis

August 5, 2025 • 58 mins
Host Scott McCartney & Guest Co-Host: Christina Cassotis; Topics: Change in the Southwest Airlines boardroom - Gangwal steps down as Chair; National Transportation Safety Board report on American Airlines / U.S. Army Helicopter crash - outrageous errors made; Tariff deal benefits aviation industry; No deal at United; Q2 loss for JetBlue; Listener Q on the future of Middle East airlines, Delta Air Lines' loyalty program value. Next ...
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