Layovers - Air Travel podcast

Flight 078. The Etihad experience: 787 Studio, 380 First Apartment, AUH lounges. The JetSuiteX experience: flying private at Southwest prices. Immigration and e-gates in LHR, AUH, MEL. Japan airports can't get a break. The uncertain future of Etihad, from a new strategy to a possible Star Alliance joining (Lufthansa already likes them). The AUH tower. MEXit or not, the referendum. JetBlue confirms Europe, but no timeline. Clear or no Clear. Melbourne love. Remembering Swissair 111, 20 years on.

Flight 077. Google is making ITA Matrix suck, and they don't tell us why. Smart luggages are dying, yay. United elegantly ends its 747 program. US airlines shift their Asian hub strategy. Alitalia goes nowhere. A tank shell, a sex toy, a mistake, crazy security stories in German-speaking Europe. The TSA gets unlimited powers and secretly spies on fliers. The sad story of the stolen Q400 from SEA. CDG is the sequel to Logan's Run...

Flight 076. Alex flies Alaska (you've been waiting for that one!) and JetBlue, which one did he prefer? Norwegian flies the A380 thanks to Hi-Fly (but it's always late). Rolls-Royce registers huge losses, while airlines look to scrapyards to replace their 787s. Paul flies Delta, the violet uniforms don't match the blue seats. Alex sends Paul a gift from the Boeing factory (it's more than a sticker). California experiences massive fires, and DC-10s and the 747 supertanker are on-site...

Flight 075. Is the A220 the future of the A320? Boeing marries Embraer (for a fortune). The diplomacy of Russian airspace. KLM offers the worst beef ever (but good pasta). LHR has half of the top 10 highest revenue routes in the world. CDG layover trick (trust us!). 100 days until the new IST opens, it's going to be really tight. Turkish VIP coffee. The best eye-mask of them all. Paul serendipitously meets the BA olive oil provider. Alex praises BA for his flight to SJC...

Flight 074. Alex witnesses the worst passenger ever. Paul witnesses the best passenger ever. The new Lufthansa livery explained. Flying First in the nose of the Lufthansa 747-8i. Singapore confirms its longest flight. The A380 is scrapped for parts. Can we believe SkyTrax? Etihad encourages its pilots to fly for Emirates. LiveATC joy. The inconsistency of airport security. LHR gets approval for its 3rd runway. FRANKFURT AIRPORT IS A TOTAL DISASTER.

Flight 073. Discomfort is why we travel, a tribute to Bourdain. Alex falls in love with AA. Paul goes to NYC for half a day. E190 configurations. Europe business class v the rest of the world. ANA 789 experience. The upcoming wave of Chinese tourism. US extreme vetting. Dreamliner RR engines fall out. 787 dimming windows speed. Privilege Style for Norwegian. BA First let down. Seaplanes in the Maldives. And more.

Flight 072. Rebooting a A320 in-flight. The 787 RR saga gets bigger, has BA un-retiring 747s. Toy Story and joyful liveries. Norwegian strategy stalls. An A330 slaps a A321 at IST. The US reaches an agreement with the ME3. Emirates and Bvlgari have more amenity kits that you can handle. Air France could get bankrupt this time. Heathrow has flights to the Death Star. Lufthansa blues. Airbus renames the Bombardier CS. Singapore gets better by the day. Alitalia might have gotten illegal money...

Flight 071. The Southwest engine failure. The Dreamliner Rolls Royce engine saga. A 7.37 beer. Hello Kitty gate at TPE. No standing up seats please. Bidets and urinals in the air. No one wants Air India. Etihad downsizes. WOW goes business. SWISS auto-rebooking tool. Grappa lounge. The JFK TWA hotel.

Flight 070. IAG buys a bit of Norwegian, wants more. EU wants to reduce passenger rights. Alex flies to ICN, KIX, HND, tries Peach. Paul flies to TPE, DXB and LUX, tries the Apple Watch. Beijing builds a massive airport, Berlin keeps failing at its one. Two A380 go charter. Avios (finally) shuts down. LHR T1 is auctioned off. The robots of ICN.

Flight 069. The week United killed a dog and went from bad to worse. The in-flight WiFi black hole over Europe. Narita gets a new runway. Banning frequent flyers from flying in Russia. Diamonds fall from the sky. Why are there ashtrays in new planes? Attache Travel goes to Kyushu and release its book. Layovers meets Mastication Nation over plane food. Air Italy gets off the ground. The rocking chairs of CLT.