When Small Airports Aim High – and Afar

Small airports can be a pleasure to fly from. Easy parking. Walkable concourses. Few delays. But behind the scenes and on the balance sheet, they have some economic challenges. It was through this lens that I read about South Bend Regional Airport in Indiana changing...

SFO–TPE, or 777s and a Flat World

Saturday I attended a ceremony to send off United Airlines’ inaugural flight from San Francisco to Taipei. It was a party! United decorated the boarding area with paper lanterns and served dim sum and Chinese-style coffee, while brightly costumed characters...

Boeing 747 Nostalgia

One of my most memorable childhood vacations involved two weeks in Hawaii. Aside from the allure of the islands, I suppose the reason it was particularly memorable was because my parents required each child to contribute $100 to the project, no small goal when my...

Backseat Drivers Not Welcome

I am not a nervous flyer, but every once in a while I will observe something that concerns me.  Inevitably this leads to an internal debate about whether I should second-guess the pros. After all, the pilots have wall-to-wall indicators and sensors to monitor...

My Favorite Seat Innovation

Airplane seat design is finally getting some out-of-the-box thinking. I don’t mean flatter lie-flat seats; I mean completely re-imagining coach seats so they are more passenger-friendly, versatile and light-weight. Unfortunately, much of this is speculative thinking,...