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Simple Flying Aviation News Podcast
#285: Delta Air Lines Teams Up With Amazon Leo, The Best April Fools' Aviation Stories, Alaska Airlines' New Business Class & More
00:29:33
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- [00:05]
A
Hello, my name's Tom Boone.
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B
And I'm Channing Reed.
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A
Welcome to a brand new episode of the Simple Flying podcast where we'll give you the lowdown on the latest news from the world of commercial aviation. Here's what we have for you this week.
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B
Coming up today, Delta Air Lines just launched a new partnership with Amazon LEO to bring a new high speed WI fi experience to the skies. I'll share all the details before Tom takes a look at some of the best 2026 April Fool's aviation stories.
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A
Channing will then cover Alaska Airlines new long haul business class experience that was just unveiled while I explore the latest developments with the Airbus A350 freighter.
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B
And finally, I'll explore one of the most famous airports for parallel Runway operations is saying goodbye to the iconic arrival procedure.
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A
So now you know what's installed. Let's get on with the show. And Channing, like, what is Amazon leo? It sounds like it's a Starlink competitor maybe.
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B
Yeah, you're the right track there. I guess some people could say move over Starlink. Delta Airlines and Amazon, they are launching a long term collaboration to unlock the next generation of tech enabled travel experiences. Of course, Delta saying that itself and Amazon are two global leaders driving the future of travel and technology. Now this new agreement will bring high speed, low latency Internet from Amazon LEO to Delta Aircraft, building on the airline's use of Amazon web services across its operation and delivering a new era of connected experiences to benefit Delta customers and employees alike. So Delta is going to harness Amazon leo's cutting edge satellite technology to bring more fast personalized digital experiences onboard its domestic and international flights. This includes streaming movies and TV shows, or listening to podcasts such as the Simple Flying podcast and audio books, or staying conn to friends and family, colleagues and more. I do have to say Tom, it would be pretty fun to listen to our podcasts at 35,000ft. Just saying.
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A
Yeah, I mean also just a public service announcement if you want to do that, you can pre download our episode before your flight takes off. If you don't have super fast WI fi.
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B
There you go. A little bit of in flight entertainment provided from yours truly. But this unmatched upload capacity of Amazon LEO enables passengers to instantly share life moments from uploading vacation photos, videos in real time and to securely sending presentations or business files if you are traveling for work. This partnership means that the Amazon LEO is going to have an initial installation on 500 aircraft beginning in 2028. Of course, Delta saying that it's going to elevate the WI Fi experience with this new low Earth orbit satel communications network, which essentially is exactly what Starlink the same type of technology that Starlink uses as well. So back in 2023, Delta introduced fast free Wi Fi for SkyMiles members and this redefined its passenger expectations for gate to gate connectivity. Its fast WI Fi is offered free of charge to SkyMiles members by t Mobile and since then Delta has rapidly scaled the experience across more than 1100 aircraft with streaming qual connectivity on board that now reaches nearly all of Delta's global network. I do have to say I have experienced this. It's called Delta Sync. It is a pretty great product so it'll be very interesting to see how Amazon LEO will change that, transform it or complement it for that matter as well. Delta's CEO Ed Bastian said Delta's future is global. This agreement gives us the fastest and most cost effective technology available to better connect the world today. And it deepens our work with a global leader that shares our ambition to build what's next, creating even stronger human connection for our people and our customers for years to come. This is Andy Jossi, the President and CEO of Amazon said we've designed LEO to provide high speed Internet to the billions of people on Earth without reliable connectivity. And this agreement with Delta is a great example of the impact and scale of the technology, bringing an even faster in flight WI Fi to tens of millions of passengers who fly Delta every year. People increasingly want to stay connected wherever they are in the world and leo's speed and reliability is going to have a big impact for businesses, governments and consumers. It's going to make the in flight experience so much better and it's going to change what's possible while traveling. United has Starlink, Hawaiian Airlines has Starlink.
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A
Everyone has Starlink, I feel.
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B
Yeah. So Delta seems to be the first to have this partnership and again it'll be very interesting to see how it will roll out and how passengers will be able to stream the web.
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A
Definitely, definitely. I can't wait to see. Maybe, hopefully someone in Europe can get this up and running so I can have a little play with it here. But I do have something exciting to talk about today and that is my favorite day of the year when it comes to our news coverage, which means I have to take a quick detour from regular news because we recording this podcast midway through April Fool's Day and the aviation industry, as it always does every year, has absolutely shown up. This year I'm going to start close to home and you may have seen earlier that Simple Flying published a rather exciting announcement about the launch of our very own airport lounge. Unfortunately, it is an April Fool's, but I'm not going to pretend I had nothing to do with it. It was my story. But the concept is genuinely what I might build if somebody handed me a blank check. And an airport terminal. You've got a plan spotting terrace with telescopes, live ATC broadcasts and a ground radar showing incoming traffic. A business class experience zone is where you can sit in the world's best premium seats without actually having to fly anywhere. And since I had it in Finland last month, Finnair's reindeer pasta bake is absolutely on the menu. I will stand by this as perhaps the best detail in the entire piece, but this lounge will have the world's first loo river view. This is a sort of idea that I got from the Star alliance lounge in Paris, but essentially you've got windows with a bit of frosted glass at the bottom so you can see what's going on on the tarmac. The opening date of the lounge is April 1st. We don't exactly know which year, but free entry on open day to anyone who says the code phrase happy April Fools. And if you did somehow miss it, please go and give it a read, because I think it's a really great April Fools. I am biased, of course. It's on the site now and be sure to check out the video attached because that is absolutely wonderful.
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B
How can we make this actually happen? Because I like this concept a lot.
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A
Well, maybe next year we'll launch it for real. Who knows? But if somebody knows how to make this happen. Answers on a postcard, please. Beyond our own contribution to the day, though, there's been some genuinely good ones from across the industry and we've been updating a live tracker on the site. So at the time of recording, here's the highlights so far. Ryanair kicked things off actually yesterday by announcing a dramatic change in their communication style. A solemn corporate pinned post declaring that the airline would be adopting a more professional approach. Now, the Internet immediately called it out as a gag and sure enough, Ryanair later followed up with their usual energy to confirm it was all a ruse. Nobody was shocked. I think it would be more surprising if Ryanair actually went corporate.
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B
I got stumped by that. I thought it was real.
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Yeah, no, this one was too good to be real. I think it was the ultimate troll from Ryanair. German carrier Eurowings announced it's becoming the first airline in the world to offer weddings on Board scheduled flights. Now, these would be administered by the captain and are available on any route longer than two hours. The press release even floated that you could combine a wedding and a honeymoon package through Eurowings Holiday. So while love is in the air, I guess it's just not in this case. Hamburg Airport got in with a concept called hobby flying. I don't know if you've heard of hobby horsing, Channing.
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B
No, never heard of it.
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Okay, well, hobby horsing is apparently where you run around with one of these horse heads on a stick between your legs and pretend you're horse riding. Hobby flying takes this one step further with visitors to the airport donning cardboard planes to move around a designated area. It's described as a family friendly activity for team building events and bachelor parties. Yeah. The Heathrow Express announced a partnership with Pure Gym, which is a gym brand in the uk, to launch a training train. This is a converted gym carriage offering 15 minute high energy workouts on the way to and from the airport, including moves specifically designed for travelers named things like luggage lunges and overhead locker lifts. Now, I would actually use this, though my workouts usually run a little longer and I think I would have to have lounge access at the airport to shower off after these, these exciting activities. Another one that I thought was quite fun on that sort of theme, Dublin Airport claimed to be launching a park and slide service from May to September. Now the idea of this is that you park on the roof of the car park and slide directly down to departures around a big spiraly bendy slide. There's integrated bag support, drop on the way. And again, I think this is a real idea that somebody should actually build.
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B
That sounds fun.
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Yeah. The last one that I have for now is that Swiss said it had installed integrated pedal devices under certain seats for passengers to exercise during long haul flights. Now I actually don't think that's such a bad idea because if you're on a really long haul flight, you want to be moving your legs and your feet to avoid deep vein thrombosis. So maybe this one should come up. All of these and more are being tracked in the live blog that we're updating today. And we'll keep updating them so there might be more ones for listeners of the podcast to take a peek at after listening to this.
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B
Wow. I would have to say that this year's April Fool's a little unhinged across some of those airlines. But back to our lounge. I would absolutely love that. That would be fantastic. So if anybody has any, any leads on that, how we can get that in an airport, that would be so fantastic. But thanks for sharing Tom and merry April fools to everyone. But I am going to go back to some real news that we have to report and that is Alaska Airlines. They are currently working on updating their international and long haul experience. And I say updating because it's not entirely new and I'll get into those details in just a minute. But this happened on March 31. Airlines announced the debut of its all new International Business Class, a premium long haul experience which is launching this spring as the airline expands to Europe and Asia. The unveiling marks a significant milestone in Alaska's transformation into the west coast global carrier and Seattle's new leader in international travel. One that now connects guests to over 900 worldwide destinations through the One World Alliance. Now, now basically just to sum it up, these are Hawaiian airlines, former Boeing 787, nine Dreamliners, of course, Alaska taking over. They pretty much have the same exact International Business Class seats, but Alaska is kind of zhuzhing it up if you will with their own brand and different things to add on to that experience. The airline says of course it's designed for long haul travelers while delivering Alaska signature West coast warmth and hospitality. This new International Business Class experience offers fully lie flat suites with privacy doors, direct aisle access and spacious lounge style seating that converts into a true flatbed. Modern cabin design featuring 18 inches of HD entertainment screens, over 1500 movies and TV shows and noise reducing headsets, personal power outlets and wireless charging. Now what's going to be offered in terms of the culinary situation on board? It says elevated restaurant quality dining delivers a multi course culinary journey before guests even reach their destination. Each menu celebrates the flavors of the west coast and the global destinations that Alaska serves. The experience begins with a sophisticated welcome service featuring a cheese and charcuterie board paired with an expanded selection of wines from the west coast and regions in Europe such as as Stag's Leap, including Rotoru's Champagne, handcrafted cocktails, west coast craft beer and mineral water, and freshly brewed Stumptown coffee. Now for the meal we have an appetizer that's followed by a personalized main dining experience with up to six entree choices tailored to each route. Some of those include roasted chicken or pasta carbonara on flights to Rome and other flights of course, or other dishes on flights to Asia as well.
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A
Can we get these European dishes in our lounge?
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You know what, I fully agree with that. That would be fantastic. But yeah, These meals, of course, the airline says that they can be selected in advance through its industry leading pre order feature in the airline's app. Going to the bedding, of course that's going to be on board. It says luxury bedding designed in collaboration with Pacific Northwest icon Filson. The international business class amenities. Amenities include a plush mattress pad, a soft sleeping pillow and of course, other amenities that are on board, including salt and stone skincare products and other travel essentials. Passengers flying internationally will have premium lounge access across Alaska's network of lounges and they will also Enjoy access to OneWorld partner lounges worldwide. And then coming soon, Starlink, of course, the fast, fastest wifi in the sky. That it says. Who knows? We'll have to see what Delta has to say about that. Of course, Delta is a big competitor to Alaska, but this is scheduled to be installed on Alaska's 787nine Dreamliners this fall. Starlink is already available on select aircraft across the airline's fleet. But starting in May, guests flying on any Starlink enabled aircraft will need to sign in using their Atmos rewards number to enjoy the full experience. So a lot coming to this, this new experience, if you will, a transformed, updated version of Hawaiian's original Boeing 7879 Dreamliners. And I do have to say, going to the WI Fi conversation, Tom, I find it very interesting that and I experienced Starlink at the United Airlines event last week and I'm so glad that airlines are not charging for this, but I find it interesting that they aren't.
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A
I think I've got an answer for you there. I've got an answer for you there. A fun one. I believe it's in the terms of service for providing Starlink on an aircraft that the airlines aren't allowed to charge for it.
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That's interesting. I mean that's a great rule because I feel like airlines could definitely make a lot of profit from that.
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I mean it's really good to see this though, because I'm really getting fed up with WI Fi chargers. It's 20, 26. You don't, you don't need to pay to use WI fi on a train. You don't need to pay to use WI Fi. Let's get rid of these WI FI chargers. And when it's super fast, all the better. I think at the end of the day, if nothing else, it's great publicity for Starlink itself.
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B
Oh, absolutely, absolutely. And I remember back just even a few years ago having to pay $26 for Wi Fi and Then it would be super slow too. So this is great across the entire industry. And of course, great news for Alaska Airlines. I know some people are a little upset about Hawaiian Airlines kind of being erased in this case, but we'll have to see how things move forward. But speaking of moving forward, what's going on with the Airbus A350 freighter?
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A
That's a good question. So some news from Toulouse. It'll be of particular interest to anyone that's following the 350F because it's officially started ground testing.
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B
Now.
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Ground testing is one of those phases in a new aircraft program that doesn't tend to grab headlines the way the first flight does, but it's, it's just as important and a genuinely complex process. And you know, Airbus itself described it as evidence of, and I'm quoting the company here, the complexity of bringing a new aircraft variant to the market. It takes place during final assembly before the jet ever leaves the ground under its own power. And for the A350F specifically, the challenge is amplified by the sheer number of systems on the aircraft that are either completely new or represent major modifications from the passenger variant. So what exactly are they testing? Well, let's start with the one that caught my eye because it's a bit unexpected. One of the first and most significant tests involves flooding the aircraft's drainage system with more than 180 liters of water. The goal is essentially to verify that when the main cargo deck gets wet from snow, or for cleaning, the residual water drains cleanly away and isn't going to stagnate anywhere in the airframe. I quite like that one because it's one of these things that when you think about it, it really makes makes sense. But I never would have thought about it myself, you know, Airbus's Guillaume Terrine describes it as probably the most dramatic ground testing challenge the team faces. And while filling pipes with water sounds trivial, he explains, it's actually one of the most complex procedures in the entire program because it has to be carried out with the aircraft floor at exactly 0 degree inclination in a strictly controlled environment, using purpose built equipment developed specifically for this test. So you're not just developing an aircraft, you're also developing the equipment to test the aircraft that is probably only going to be used once or twice. The 50 meter long cargo compartment that needs to be flood tested and verified. Yeah, I mean, once you put all of this together, you can see why it takes some engineering. Now, beyond drainage, the other new systems that are getting close attention right now, there's two of them, the first is the tail tipping warning system. Now, because the A350 is a freighter, it carries the risk inherent to any long fuselage freighter of the aircraft tipping tail down if it's loaded incorrectly with the centre of gravity too far aft. Now, this warning system is designed to catch that before it happens, because we keep seeing every now and then a picture of a plane tipped over. It just doesn't look look good for the airline or the aircraft or anyone involved. But testing it requires tricking it, because the teams have to use special equipment to stimulate landing gear extension and folder sensors into registering the condition they're designed to prevent. The second, other system that I was talking about just now, which is the cargo loading system, as Airbus notes, comprises hundreds of individual electrical components installed into the floor. Testing each one separately would take an enormous amount of time. So Airbus has devised automated self tests that run through all the wiring via the cockpit computer. This means that the whole thing takes minutes rather than days. And this in itself is another significant engineering efficiency for a program that has a lot of ground to cover. On top of those, the testing program also covers the main deck, cargo door, a courier area with seating for up to 10 occupants, the water and waste system, a multi zonal air distribution system, the oxygen system, the video monitoring system, and the list goes on. Now, as a quick reminder for where the A350 freighter sits within the Airbus family, it's physically between the350,900 and the 351,000 in length at just under 71 meters. But structurally, it's much closer to the larger Dash 1000, sharing its engines and wings. Its range is set to be 4,700 nautical miles. And in terms of market interest, Airbus has now accumulated more than 100 firm orders for the type. Atlas Air is the biggest customer, and they have 20 aircraft. They're followed by Etihad and Starlux with 10 each. And then there's Air China, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Turkish and several others also on the order book. Ground testing beginning now is a meaningful milestone. And the first flight and ultimately certification still lie ahead. But the program is visibly moving forward. And for cargo operators that have been waiting a long time for a credible modern widebody freighter option, that matters.
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B
Yeah, for sure. And we've covered this a little bit. One of our articles on this was, why was the world's first carbon fiber large freighter have Boeing worried? And it is kind of interesting because of course, the 777X will have a freighter variant, but 787 doesn't have a freighter variant. So it is kind of interesting to see how Boeing might react to this. But nonetheless, I think a lot of airlines are excited for this. Didn't we report it was at Atlas Air that made an order for the A350F? I think so, yeah. So it'll be interesting to see other cargo airlines get on board with this plane. But good to see that the testing, at least so far, is going well. Back here in the US this is some big news here that has made the headlines this week involving San Francisco International Airport. Of course, everyone know that this airport is known for its famous parallel landings. I'm not sure if you've ever been on a parallel landing approach, Tom, but I haven't. But I've seen so many videos. It's probably one of the best things about spotting at San Francisco International Airport is you see those planes coming in, it looks like they're literally right next to each other.
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A
I might have, but I honestly couldn't tell you.
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Yeah, but it is, it's a great procedure and approach at the airport and now looks like that is going away. And this happens to be a part of the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules, which is also expected to bring delays to the airport. This is because the San Francisco International Airport's cutting a third of its arrivals due to safety concerns and Runway construction. Now a temporary Runway project and permanent FAA rule change announced earlier this week means that San Francisco' airport will go from 54 plane arrivals an hour to just 36 arrivals. It's not clear if any flights have been canceled yet. This, of course, comes after a deadly Runway crash between an Air Canada jet and a fire truck at New York LaGuardia Airport last month and the latest air traffic safety, which of course was the latest air traffic safety concern. But then we also had other close calls as well that we reported in the recent weeks. And the Aviation Administration, of course, FAA is saying that this rule is not triggered by broader safety concerns, but it only does affect San Francisco's airport. And the reason is because these runways are so close to each other. I was scrolling on X this morning and I saw a really fun, not fun, but interesting take with how this whole rule is kind of affecting everything. Last year, last April, I went to San Francisco International Airport. I was invited by United because they were talk about how they're really investing in the airport, expanding for international operations as well as domestic flights. And just looking at this post, it reminded me of how much the airline really was focusing on growth at San Francisco International Airport. This post is from Akash Gupta. He's a product leader and I just want to read it because it really sums everything up in terms of United's take on this. It says United just bet $2.6 billion on an airport the FAA permanently cap. United committed, of course, $2.6 billion to expand SFO, grew capacity 20% year over year, hired 2800 new employees and added routes to Adelaide, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh city and Manila. 300 daily flights this summer. The entire strategy is premised on SFO scaling with them. But the FAA just killed that premise. 54 arrivals per hour, just down to 36, a 33% capacity reduction with no end date. The construction project runs through October, but the parallel landing ban stays after the concrete dries. Now here are the physics SFO's two main landing runways sit only 750ft apart. Most airports with parallel operations have 3,000 to 4,400ft of separation. SFO was the exception because pilots could fly visual approaches in clear weather, essentially eyeballing the other plane and maintaining the separation themselves. Now of course, the Washington D.C. mid Air Collision. We also had a near miss at San Antonio International Airport and then just recently, John Wayne Airport helicopter incident. The FAA looked at the accident chain and ultimately decided that 750ft of human judgment isn't worth it. So SFO already had 69% on time arrivals before this change. One in four arriving flights will now be delayed 30 minutes or more. And this is just not even talking about fog season. And that's right around the corner. Here in Southern California we call it May gray or April. I forgot what we call it for April, but May gray, April or full weather? I don't know. I'm having a brain fart.
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A
I'm going to Google it while you finish up.
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Yeah, please, please do. Actually, no, I'm just now remembering it's not April, it's May and June. We have May gray and June gloom GR April Graeperl. Really? Is that right?
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This is just what I found on Google. But if it's not a thing, this is my official petition to make it a thing.
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I'll say it's a thing. Looking outside my window right now in Southern California and it is indeed gray outside. But nonetheless, with the fog at sfo, it's going to. Obviously it could drop things even further in terms of delays or make delays delays more so this is a whole situation for a lot of avgeeks. I think a lot of people are a little upset that the FAA is making this change. And we should also note that these runways, they were built back in 1960, and of course, traffic back then is not anything like it is now. So FAA making some changes there, of course. Better safe than sorry. But unfortunately, you'll have to sacrifice again some of the most iconic approaches that you can find in the world.
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A
Yeah, it's a shame, but I mean, at the end of the day, safety always has to be number one.
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Absolutely. It sure does. And we will have to see when the Runway is supposed to open back on October 2nd. So the airport is saying that some of those delays that are expected will be alleviated, which will be good. But it looks like it might be a long summer ahead for San Francisco International Airport. But with that, that's all the time that we have for today. And we really hope you enjoyed our podcast when we welcome any feedback that you might have@editorialimpleflying.com for more great content,
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you can visit our website@simpleflying.com or find us on social media. Simply search for Simple Flying.
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And if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a rating on your favorite podcast player. Thanks for listening.
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A
Bye.