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Simple Flying Aviation News Podcast
#297: American Airlines Delay Affects Lawmakers' Votes, Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 Double Diversion
00:23:46
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- [00:05]
A
Hello, my name is 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, Tom will explain why he was in Copenhagen yesterday, while I will cover why American Airlines was recently criticized by some lawmakers over a long delay.
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A
I'll take a look at why two Boeing 747s bound for the US didn't make it this week before Channing covers the new signature lounge concept that Emirates is rolling out globally this year.
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B
And finally, Tom will explore how he put our new flight tracker to use on a recent trip.
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A
So now you know what's in store. Let's get on with the show. And I wanted to tell something firsthand because I was actually in the room for this one. So we're recording this on Wednesday. And yesterday morning in Copenhagen, I watched SAS commit to the largest investment in its history. An order for up to 40 Airbus A330s. Now, this wasn't a leak or a rumour. SAS called a press conference and I was there as CEO Anko van der Werth stood up and confirmed it. 18 firm orders for the new A330 900 Neo, plus options for 10 more. And on top of that, 12 of the older A3, 3300 model to bridge the gap in the near term. Add it all up at list prices and you're looking at more than $10 billion. So obviously, no one pays sticker price on a deal this size. But here's why it matters. SAs already flies eight A333 hundreds, and they're getting old. The average age is almost 15 years, and those extra CEO generation jets slot straight into the existing fleet and keep growth moving while SAS waits for the new aircraft. But the real story is the A330 900. It's a genuinely different jet to what SAS runs today. More range, more seats. And Airbus says it shares 95% of its airframe parts with the older A330 300. So the transition for SAS's engine engineers and pilots should be relatively painless. What struck me sitting there was how van der Ver framed this. He wasn't just talking about fleet numbers. He was talking about Scandinavia's place in the world. His line was something like, the world needs more Scandinavia. And the whole presentation leaned into that. Connecting the aircraft order to a wider economic push, expanding Copenhagen as a hub. And a report SAS put out Claiming this growth could support 25,000 jobs and add close to $4 billion to Scandinavian GDP by 2030. But here's the detail that's often missed if you're not watching this closely. SAS is configuring these new A339 hundreds for around 290 seats. And that number isn't a coincidence. It puts them almost interchangeable with SAS's 300 seat a 350s. That tells you SAS wants flexibility on its long haul network rather than two totally separate widebody products. You could swap an A330 Neo onto a route built for an A350 and barely notice the difference from a scheduling standpoint. There's also a sustainability angle that didn't get a huge airtime in the room, but is worth flagging. SAS announced a memorandum of understanding with Skycraft to look into ESAF sustainable fuel as part of this longer transition. It's early and non binding, but it shows where the thinking is heading alongside the fleet decisions. The financing is interesting too. This isn't SAS buying outright. They're partnering with Lessor's, Avalon and Bank of China Aviation to make the deal work. Which tells you something about how SAS is managing its balance sheet while making its biggest bet ever. And this doesn't happen in isolation. SAS placed an order for the Embraer E195 E2 Regional Jet exactly a year ago. And it's also in the middle of renewing its short haul A320neo fleet. Put those together with this A330 commitment and you can see a carrier methodically working through every part of its network at once. Regional short haul and now long haul. That's not a common thing to see all lined up together. Most airlines tackle one segment of the fleet at a time and leave the rest for later. These NEO jets won't start arriving until sometime in the2030s, so it's still very much a long game. But sitting in that room in Copenhagen watching SAS go all in on the 330 family after years of more modest fleet moves, one thing was clear. This airline believes its long haul future is worth staking everything on right now, not waiting to see how the market shakes out. And given that investment, the largest investment in company history wasn't a phrase SAS used lightly. It's hard not to be a little impressed being there for it.
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B
Yeah, that's some exciting news. And I mean, the Embraer E2, the 195 E2 is very. It's good to see that another airline is interested in that as well. I don't think any US Airlines have committed to that, but I know Porter Airlines in Canada flies that to the U.S. so, yeah, pretty exciting. Sounds like a very modern fleet and it will be very cool to see all of that roll out over the next few months and years. I to talk about a flight delay, of course that can be annoying for anyone, but when it happens to a member of Congress, it can actually change what happens on the House floor. And that's exactly what played out this week. Ohio Republican Representative Max Miller says a lengthy American Airlines delay left him and two other lawmakers unable to get back to the Capitol in time for votes on Monday night. Miller didn't hold back. In a post on X, he accused the carrier of repeated operational failures, saying three members of Congress would miss that night because of, in his words, an incompetent airline. According to Miller, the aircraft sat on the tarmac for more than two hours before turning back to the gate, where passengers had to get off and head back to the terminal. He said, quote, we've been on the tarmac for over two hours and are now going back to the gate. He also wrote in reference to American Airlines, quote, pathetic. And here's a detail that shows how deep the frustration runs. Miller says he's been driving from his Ohio district to Washington for the past seven months because of recurring air travel problems. And that is a long drive to do weekly. If that's actually how long or how frequent he's making that drive, that's a long drive. What votes did those lawmakers actually miss? Among them, final passage of the Kids Internet and Digital Safety act, which cleared the House 267 to 117. That bill would require major online platforms to add new protections for minors. Now American American Airlines responded publicly, apologizing to Miller. The airline said it knows how important it is to get where you're going on time and that its ground team was working hard to get the flight moving. Now this wasn't just an isolated bad moment for the airline. According to FlightAware, American canceled nine flights on Monday and delayed more than 700. That's about 19% of its entire schedule that day. Across all airlines worldwide, there were nearly 25,000 delays. And the timing could hardly be worse. This is shaping up to be one of the busiest travel stretches of the year. The TSA expects to screen nearly 18.7 million passengers between June 30 and July 6, with more than 3 million on Thursday alone. That's July 2. The agency says it's fully staffed for the Independence Day rush with extra resources for Both the nation's 250th birthday celebrations and of course the 2026 World cup being hosted across North America. We have seen those, Del. I think we're in the middle of a big summer travel rush, of course, and then we have the holiday weekend this weekend. But I also was flying on American on Monday and my flight was delayed. I also flew last Friday and it was delayed. I think we were delayed by almost an hour. So of course those evening flights later in the day, they. Cause it's likely that those are going to get delayed more just because it's the ripple effect as the day goes on. They always say if you need to fly, if you're trying not to, if you're trying to avoid any disruptions, then try to get that first flight of the day wherever you're going. But yeah, it definitely is a busy time for aviation across the nation. And hopefully these delays, we won't be seeing major delays this weekend. But the other thing that you have to take into account is Washington D.C. alone and how busy that corridor is for aviation traffic. And as I reported on the podcast, I think it was last week or two weeks ago how we are going to be looking at the closure of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport coming up this weekend as well, due to all of the celebrations. I would say pack your patience, especially if you are planning on traveling around the nation's capital this weekend as we will be seeing that closure. And of course just delays that may not even be related to weather. It just may be operational, just as we have seen from this lawmaker's account earlier this week.
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A
Yeah, it's definitely not ideal when these things happen, but some other unideal things are when your airplane doesn't get where it's going. Also going to the US but from Frankfurt. So picture this. Within the space of 24 hours, two Lufthansa Boeing 747 8s take off from Frankfurt bound for the US East Coast. And neither one makes it. Both come straight back down heavy with full tanks and still nearly full of fuel. This happened between the 26th and 27th of June. And first up was LH418 headed for Washington Dulles. Shortly after departure, the crew dealt with a medical emergency on board based on a passenger's account online. Rather than climb, hold and burn off or dump fuel before landing, which usually takes 20, 30 minutes on a jet that heavy, the crew choose to get it on the ground fast. They diverted to Cologne Bon and landed overweight with no fuel dump. Less than a day later, it happened again. LH402, this time bound for Newark, turned back to Frankfurt after the crew reported a burning smell. About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilots made the same call. Land now. Rather than spend half an hour circling to get down to a safe landing wait. Video that circulated afterwards showed fire trucks surrounding the jet at Frankfurt as a precaution against overheated brakes. An aviation enthusiast online going by TurboTax Turbine Traveller caught the whole scene. And separately, somebody on Reddit posted live tracking data of LH418's approach into Cologne Bon as that one happened. Which is honestly one of the most useful things about this hobby. You get eyewitness details from people who happen to be watching the exact right flight at the exact right moment. Now, here's the thing that's genuinely worth understanding, because overweight landing sounds alarming, but it is not, especially on modern jets like this. The 7478 is built to absorb exactly this kind of event. When you land heavier than the max landing weight, the extra kinetic energy doesn't go into the airframe or the structure. It gets soaked up almost entirely by the brakes in the tyres. So in both of these cases, the damage was confined to landing gear components. Brakes that overheated, tyres that likely need replacing, brake lines that need checking. So it is expensive, a few days of work, but it's fundamentally routine maintenance and not structural repair. That's also why both flights were cancelled rather than just delayed. LH402 had brakes too hot to fly against that day, and LH418 couldn't get a maintenance technician to the aircraft at Cologne Bonn fast enough to inspect the gear and clear it before the schedule slipped past saving. So both routes were scrubbed and Lufthansa had to figure out what to do with two stranded jumbos and lots of inconvenienced passengers. Here's the part I find most interesting about this story, though it's not really about brakes at all. It's about the fact that Lufthansa genuinely cannot afford to lose a 7478 for long. Right now, the airline's in the middle of retiring its old A346 hundreds and 747 to 4 hundreds. And at the same time, its 777X deliveries have been slipping further into the future. And it's hard to pull Airbus A380s out of storage just to cover transatlantic and premium demand. Now, the 747 8, despite being decades old technology in Some ways remains the newest quadjet Lufthansa has, and it's genuinely load bearing for their whole long haul network. Right now, two of them are going down in the same weekend. And that's not a minor inconvenience. That's a real capacity headache for an airline that's already stretched thin on widebodies. So, yes, this is a story about two dramatic sounding diversions and overweight landings. But the real story underneath it is that Lufthansa's fleet renewal is running behind and every one of these unplanned 747 groundings lands at the worst possible time. It's also a decent reminder to check how these emergency decisions actually get made on the flight deck. Neither crew was reckless here. They weighed a genuine time, critical risk, potential fire in one case, a medical emergency in the other, against a landing that both of them knew the aircraft was designed to absorb. That's exactly the kind of judgement call pilots train for. And both times it worked out. The 747s are fine. It's just the schedule that took the hit.
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B
Yeah, for sure. And you know, you can only imagine not one, but two. So you're right. Those capacity struggles, I'm sure that the airline had later on, and I'm sure that, you know, those flights were canceled. And then there were probably other flights canceled considering that the flight, when it lands in the US it turns around and it goes straight back. So there were probably some challenges there too. And I'm sure, Emirates or not Emirates, Lufthansa can't wait to get the 777X in their fleet so they can help mitigate some of those capacity challenges should a delay like that occur. But also, yeah, it's great hearing about how the 7478 is equipped to handle those and it is relatively safe. And at the end of the day, it comes down to maintenance, probably a hefty cost to replace, brakes, wheels, all of that. But good to hear that everyone was safe with these diversions there. I did speak, just mention Emirates very quickly because that is my next story. Airport lounges, of course, they used to be an afterthought. A quiet room with a coffee machine, if you will. Well, Emirates is betting big that they can be a destination in their own right. The airline just unveiled a brand new signature lounge concept that's rolling out across key cities around the world this year. The price tag tells you just how serious it is. Emirates says it's investing more than Dh50 million. Is that how you pronounce It Tom, I believe.
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A
Yep, that's right.
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B
Great. Into each lounge. That's over US$13.5 million per lounge. The new look has already dated. Debuted in Munich and Frankfurt. Manchester is next in July, followed by Mauritius in August and Istanbul in October. So what's actually different here? Emirates says the design brings the look of its newest cabin interiors down to the ground. So think contemporary architecture. Marble and gold accents, herringbone floors, and a backlit motif of the gaff tree, the national tree of the United Arab Emirates. So in total, the airline points to more than 50 design and enhancements with distinct zones for four things travelers actually do, which is relax, work, socialize, and dine. Now, for people who need to get things done, there's Italian eco leather seating, wireless charging, and power at every seat. For people who want to eat well, the dining areas are built around live cooking stations, an international menu, and a dedicated bread turn oven turning out fresh pizzas and flatbreads. That sounds so good. There's even a barista and a mixologist bar serving specialty coffees and locally inspired cocktails. And for travelers on a long layover, a silent, quiet zone offers plus seating, soft lighting and sleep kits with blankets, eye masks and earplugs. This is all part of a much bigger footprint. Emirates operates 42 dedicated lounges worldwide, eight of them in Dubai alone, and 34 more in major airports from New York, San Francisco to Tokyo, Sydney, London. And access isn't only for the front of the plane. First and business class travelers get in, but so do Emirates skywards, Platinum and gold members. And even when they're flying premium, economy or economy. And paid access is available, too. So the bottom line here, the battle for premium travelers increasingly starts before you ever board. And Emirates is, of course, spending big to win it on the ground. And we did have a quote from Adele Al Reda, the Deputy President and Chief Operations Officer at Emirates, who said, quote, our investment in our next generation signature lounge concept reflects Emirates continued commitment to delivering a seamless premium experience at every stage of the journey. These new lounges have been designed to combine refreshed luxurious interiors with the elevated hospitality and innovation that Emirates is known for. A space for our customers to relax, enjoy, dine, and prepare for their travel and comfort. As we expand this concept and theme across our global network, it will set a new benchmark and standard for airport lounges and further strengthen our premium proposition. It is very exciting to see this, and I would love to try this out. It's quite incredible to me that they've got eight lounges alone at their home airport, Dubai International Airport. That's quite a lot. I think that might be more than maybe any other carrier at their main hub. So perhaps Emirates, you could make a lounge here in Los Angeles. I'd love to try it out. Otherwise I'll have to fly the A380 over to Dubai, which would be also a first for me. So good news, exciting news there and sounds very, very premium, of course, as premium seems to be the name of the game here in the aviation industry.
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A
Yeah, definitely. I know British Airways has at least five lounges at Heathrow. I think when you've got lots of split up terminals, it makes sense. But I think it's interest. They probably chose Frankfurt to be the first one because they just opened Terminal 3, which has the new Emirates Lounge, because the Terminal 2 Lounge is now closed. So that's really a natural time to launch that. But speaking of Frankfurt, last week, as we spoke on last week's podcast, I flew from Air Canada from Frankfurt to Montreal, and I wanted to just take a little bit of time to talk about our wonderful flight tracker that is available@simpleflying.com because instead of watching a single movie or TV episode the whole way, I spent the whole flight staring at our own flight tracker, watching myself fly by. So, as you know, we launched Simple Flying's flight tracker back in May, and it's built specifically for avgeeks like me and I'd guess a lot of you listening too. It shows notams, military traffic and altitude, all sorts of details that regular consumers don't bother with. So I figured why not actually put it for its paces on a real flight? Tracking my aircraft the entire way from my seat. Now here's the funny bit. Air Canada's own inflight map on the 7878 we were flying kept falling asleep. You had to keep tapping the screen to wake it up, which got annoying fast. Our tracker, running on my laptop, just sat there live the whole time. So very quickly it became my actual entertainment for a long transatlantic flight. I didn't watch anything else. Now, the bit I found genuinely useful and not just fun was flying over Western Europe and the uk. Because I know the geography well enough that I can usually place roughly where we are just by looking out the window, but you can never look straight down. And with the tracker open, I could see exactly where we were crossing. And it turns out we flew directly over the town I grew up in and I'd have had absolutely no idea that we'd flown directly over otherwise. And that's the kind of detail a normal seatback map just doesn't give you the resolution for. You know, you can tell roughly which part of the country you're over, but not which street. Now, the other feature that I actually used properly was filtering by destination, because for the last hour or so, as we tracked along the St. Lawrence river into Montreal, I filtered the map to show only other Montreal arrivals. That let me see which Runway the traffic ahead of us was using, and from that I could tell we'd probably land on Runway 24R, which small personal detail meant I wasn't going to be able to look at our parent company Valnet's office from the window on the way in. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. No view from the office. I could also see how much traffic was stacked up ahead of us, and it turned out there wasn't much. So we had a pretty clean direct arrival into Montreal, no lengthy holding, which the tracker basically told me before the seatbelt sign even came on for dispatch. It is worth saying this thing it's still in beta and we're adding features nearly every week based on reader feedback. Since the launch, we've added route and airline filtering. And one nice touch, all of those filters show up in the URL along with your latitude, longitude and zoom level, so you can bookmark your favorite view and just go straight back to it. There's more under the hood too. You can see exactly what altitude and stage of flight an aircraft is in. There are visual notams plotted right on the map, and if something is flying erratically, the tracker will actually fly it as an alert. None of that mattered for my flight, thankfully. Nothing erratic about a Dreamliner cruising calmly across the Atlantic, but it's the kind of feature set that tells you this was built by people who actually spend their spare time watching airplanes and not just a generic map with dots on it. And I know how this sounds, a grown man ignoring the in flight entertainment system to stare at flight tracking data on his phone instead. But if you're the kind of person who already knows what an arrival routing filter is useful for, you understand exactly why this. This beats the movie for sure.
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B
And as an AV geek myself, that's exactly what I would be doing as well. Yes, and I love that we are constantly adding more features of course based off of reader feedback. So again, yes, anybody who hasn't checked it out already, make sure you go do that. Provide us some feedback so we can make it better. But I also have used it. I was flying earlier or last weekend and I was, I was just like you Tom, sitting in my chair. Of course I was not American so there was no seat back screen in front of me but I was looking at my phone, looking at the flight, looking at the direction of the runways as well and it was quite interesting. We actually did an unusual approach into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and all of that was documented on the flight tracker as well. So very, very good. Awesome development that we have here and looking forward to seeing how it will evolve of course as time goes on with that feedb back. But that is it for today's podcast and we hope you enjoyed it and we do welcome any feedback of course@editorialimpleflying.com
- [23:29]
A
for more great content you can visit our website@simpleflying.com or find us on social media. Simply search for Simple Flying.
- [23:35]
B
And if you enjoyed this podcast please leave us a rating on your favorite podcast player. Thanks for listening.
- [23:41]
A
Bye.