June Dispatches
The IATA annual meeting in Delhi, United and JetBlue "DTR'd", and RIP Silver Airways
Notes from the runway
The dust. The chaos. The noise. The smells. All hit you as you bike through Old Delhi. Cycling there is not for the faint of heart and, in fact, I was not doing it alone. In Delhi for the recent IATA annual meeting, I joined one of Delhi by Cycle’s tours to explore a bit of the city before flying home. And what a tour it was. From cycling down streets as wide as my arms can reach to exploring the former haveli now home to a very aromatic spice market, it was a small taste of this great city that, as William Dalrymple wrote in City of Djinns, “a graveyard of dynasties.” Down Chandni Chowk. Past the Red Fort. There’s Jama Masjid closed between prayers. And all of this in a city that has existed, in one form or another, for centuries.
Words
The terrible tragedy of Air India flight AI171 in Ahmedabad comes amid massive corporate change for the carrier. (The Washington Post)
United and JetBlue, to quote
, “DTR’d” their relationship last month. It’s loyalty, JFK (and Newark), and sales of travel product like hotel rooms and rental cars. (The Washington Post)Dispatches from IATA’s annual meeting, the largest airline CEO confab of the year: IndiGo, the biggest airline most Americans don’t know, is dipping its toes into the U.S. market. JetBlue’s CEO had a one-word answer when asked if it was in talks to merge with United. Air India’s evolution faces challenges. Southwest’s internationalization. And Oneworld’s big plans. (The Points Guy)
Supersonic transport developer Boom won a paper victory with an executive order calling for the repeal of the supersonic flight ban over the U.S. But it’s still a long way from entry into service, and even further from being a plane that airlines actually want. (CNN Travel)
Under pressure, American Airlines changes its tune on Chicago. Silver Airways shuts down. Play Airlines ends U.S. flights. And Starlux heads to “Silicon Desert” next year. (The Points Guy)
Reading
I wrote about private infrastructure investment in a prior life, in other words: public-private partnerships. Will Guisbond’s recent piece in The Air Current on how the $19 billion privately-led redevelopment of JFK could be a model for other U.S. airports hit home. He touched on many of the same issues I wrote about 13 years ago when the industry was focused on the privatization of San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport. The question is: is it really different this time?
"The battle over [Schiphol Airport] has become so bitter that it’s even given rise to a new Dutch word, schiphollen, meaning 'manipulation, lies and distortion of facts,' something people living near the airport say they’ve been subjected to," wrote Politico. The European Commission has tentatively approved a flight cap, which is different from the last time this happened but the controversy remains unchanged: noise.
Times are tough at JetBlue with more route and fleet cuts coming.
I love a good runway run. “Being out there with the airplanes on a space at the airport where the general public isn’t allowed to go … is just very, very cool.”
With GOL exiting its bankruptcy reorganization, majority owner the Abra Group is expected to pursue a potential tie-up with Azul in a bid to create Brazil’s largest airline.
Washington, DC’s Metro may be a decade late but you can finally just tap your credit card at fare gates (and it works!).
Speaking of tapping, one group speedran all 98 Metro stations in just 15 hours 35 minutes.
Wow, Simon Yates’ come-from-behind in the Giro d’Italia on the Colle Delle Finestre (14% grades!) to win his second Grand Tour in Rome.
Here’s to more museums — spaces really — that engage kid’s imaginations and teach them that “you get burned if you touch the stove.” And, I do realize that this is mostly an American issue and not in many other countries.
Listening
A good analysis by Today, Explained on what it takes to make a North American city bike friendly. Spoiler: some political power and a coalition of support.