Airlines Confidential Podcast
Scott McCartney
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
Mentioned books

Nov 5, 2025 • 1h 24min
311 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt. Guest: Alex Mans. Founder & CEO, FLYR
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.

Oct 29, 2025 • 1h 8min
310 - Scott McCartney with Guests: Andrew Watterson & Jay Sorensen
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.

Oct 22, 2025 • 1h 22min
309 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance.
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.

Oct 15, 2025 • 1h 19min
308 - Guest Co-Host Christina Cassotis, Guests: Architects Luis Vidal & Carolyn Sponza - New Pittsburgh Int. Airport
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.

Oct 8, 2025 • 1h 23min
307 - Scott McCartney, Doug Parker, and Richard Anderson
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.

Oct 1, 2025 • 1h 12min
306 - Guest Co-Host: Charles Duncan, Guest: Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines
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 Hegeman interview and the SWA network.

Sep 24, 2025 • 1h 16min
305 - Guest Co-Host Dave Hilfman, Guest: Holly Hegeman, Founder, PlaneBusiness
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.

Sep 17, 2025 • 1h 7min
304 - Guest Co-Host Oscar Munoz, Guest: Nat Pieper, CEO. Oneworld
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.

Sep 10, 2025 • 1h 10min
303 - Guest Co-Host Henry Harteveldt, Guests: Mark Streeter & Jamie Baker, Analysts, JP Morgan Chase
Mark Streeter, a 30-year airline debt and credit analyst at J.P. Morgan, and Jamie Baker, a veteran J.P. Morgan equity analyst, join Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group. They dig into Spirit’s bankruptcy, asset values and who might buy jets and gates. They compare U.S. low-cost struggles with global LCC success and debate capacity, business travel recovery, and investment timing.

Sep 3, 2025 • 1h 3min
302 - Host Scott McCartney with Guest: Peter Ingram, Fmr CEO, Hawaiian Airlines
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.


