September Dispatches
Entertaining kids and adults inflight, US-China flights, and American's summer 2025 plans.
Notes from the Road
I spent Labor Day weekend with my youngest son in the Denver area visiting family. I love Colorado, and hitting the trails there is one of my favorite things. Unfortunately, my family tends to sleep late and my 18-month-old does not. What to do? Take him for a hike! I’m fortunate as my family lives close to the foothills — Denver itself, as
points out, is not in the mountains but on the plains at their foot — making it a quick drive to some reasonably interesting hikes. This trip, I hit up Red Rocks (yes, that Red Rocks) and after a solid stair climb we hit the Trading Post Trail for a hike in and among its namesake rock formations. If you find yourself with time to spare on the west side of Denver, check it out or one of the many other easy-to-access foothills trails.What I’m Writing
Every parent of young children has faced this challenge: how to keep them occupied on a long flight? Some airlines hand out activity kits to help with that. I put six to the test with a group of 4 and 5 year olds to see which is best. (The Washington Post)
Free and fast inflight wi-fi is coming to United Airlines next year when it will begin rolling out Starlink satellite-based connectivity across its entire fleet (yes, even regional jets). The carrier plans to offer free WiFi on all flights within a few years. (The Washington Post)
The recovery in US-China travel has stalled with flight numbers at about a quarter of 2019 levels and only incremental increases coming. Why? It's a complicated mixture of high ticket prices, "aeropolitical challenges," and low US outbound demand. (The Points Guy)
United CEO Scott Kirby last week avoided commenting on the DOT's inquiry into airline loyalty plans, and instead used the stage at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual aviation summit to push back against legislation that could affect loyalty programs. (The Points Guy)
American, confident in strong transatlantic demand to core leisure markets, is adding five new European routes next summer. Highlights include the build back of its Philadelphia hub, and more hub-to-European hub flying. (Travel + Leisure)
Air Canada and its pilots narrowly avoided a strike with an eleventh-hour deal. (The Points Guy)
Allegiant Air finally has its first Boeing 737 Max 8-200. CEO Greg Anderson hopes to have it in service by November from one of its Florida bases. (The Points Guy)
Aeromexico is adding nine new routes to five U.S. cities from Guadalajara and Monterrey this winter. (Travel + Leisure)
What new routes are launching in September? Some new hub connections on American, Delta, and United; a new route to Maine for JetBlue; Norse Atlantic is linking Las Vegas and London; and a whole lot more. (Travel + Leisure)
What I’m Reading
"I will always opt for public transportation when I travel ... A city’s heartbeat pulses along its tracks." From Buenos Aires to Dubai, Istanbul, and London — this is how I travel.
The mobile lounges are a unique — some might say antiquated — quirk of Washington Dulles. But as
writes, they're enjoying a renaissance.The Lufthansa Group, fresh off European Commission approval of its takeover of ITA Airways, now has its eyes on TAP Air Portugal (who doesn’t?). Leonard Berberi broke that Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr flew to Portugal to pitch a 19.9% investment in TAP to the Portuguese government. Why less than 20%? A deal wouldn’t require EC approval.
The hits keep coming for Boeing. For safety reasons, NASA brought the Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without the crew. This turns what was supposed to be about a week-long trip to the International Space Station into a roughly eight-month sojourn. But, maybe, it’s not so bad for the astronauts? “This is just the way learning more about Space and your capabilities works.”
Entry level pay for flight attendants has long been terrible and, even with recent wage increases, remains poor.
wrote a good piece on struggling flight attendants, including one who worked nearly 24 hours across several jobs — including in the air — to make ends meat. A reminder: always be nice to your inflight crew — they’re there for your safety.From flying leisure travelers to sunny locales to carrying boxes for Amazon, Jude Bricker has led a dramatic transformation of Sun Country. The focus going forward is bigger profits rather than growth, writes Adam Platt who spoke to me for the piece.
Cape Air will suspend flights to Provincetown this winter for the first time since the airline landed there in 1989 — it was Cape’s first destination, former CEO Dan Wolf told me once — citing a “negative revenue environment.” The town is not happy.
“What [DC] and other cities need to do is change rules to allow more market-rate housing to be built, thus stabilizing the tax base while residential demand remains high.”
on why the U.S. government should repeal DC’s Height Act.Amtrak's $16.7 billion New York Penn expansion "proposal is perhaps the most expensive evidence of the cold war among the three transit entities at [New York] Penn, which, instead of cooperating to make the most out of the current station, are pushing for an outcome that would effectively give each one their own.”
Can downtown Denver come back as a live, work, play destination for everyone — not just 20-somethings and empty nesters? That's the hope of Mayor Johnston who wants to replicate the success of the city's Union Station redevelopment a decade ago.
I love big infrastructure projects, and the Fehmarnbelt tunnel that will connect Denmark and Germany is certainly big. When complete around 2029, it will cut train journeys between Copenhagen and Hamburg by 2 hours and “symbolizes the culmination of a transformation of the Danish psyche over the past quarter of a century, from a relatively isolated peninsula and collection of islands to an international hub.” But, RIP the train ferries.
The airline network planner in me really enjoyed this post from Brett Snyder: JetBlue’s history on the West Coast. From just Oakland and Ontario in 2000 to the Long Beach focus city and its slow downfall, and the regrettable LAX base.
What I’m Listening To
The Smithsonian’s AirSpace podcast did a fun episode on airline memorabilia. My personal favorite are the old maps airlines handed out or included in inflight magazines (RIP).
Is you city ready for climate change? Probably not. That’s the take from the new 99% Invisible podcast series, Not Built For This. The built environment we live in today is not ready for the changes that are here.
NPR’s Throughline did a good episode on how Los Angeles acquired its water supply: “It’s sort of mind boggling to think how the downhill affect of one aqueduct leading to the growth of a city, the growth of a region, growth of the western United States — it’s hard to get your head around.”
I recently joined Stephan Segraves on the Dots, Lines and Destinations podcast to chat the new PDX terminal. The carpet, to be clear, rocks.
A new lax metro station will open November. And a tram will connect the airport to the station in 2026 barring delays of course 😂