Amy Laboda joins as the guest for this episode. Amy is an aviation writer, Editor in Chief for Aviation for Women, the official publication of Women in Aviation International, and she’s an instrument-rated commercial pilot, and an instructor. Amy lives and breathes aviation and we chat with her on a range of topics.

• EU Warns On Protectionism As Northrop/EADS Drop USAF Bid
• Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal
• Airlines More Likely to Cancel Flights to Avoid Fines
• Unified brand name for Republic, Frontier and Midwest airlines set for April
• FAA Renames GA Magazine, Readies Stand Down

Also, David Vanderhoof has his This Week in Aviation segment, and Courtney returns with a wild Wisky Tango Foxtrot.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Jill Rutan Hoffman is a pilot, author of two aviation books (First Flights and Oshkosh Memories), and she comes from a family of aviation dreamers. Her father, Dick Rutan, piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop, and her uncle, Burt Rutan, designed the Voyager, SpaceShipOne which won the Ansari X-Prize, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, and many others. Jill joins us to talk the week’s aviation news and her aviation experiences.

Also making an appearance is Kim Welch, an Airplane Geeks listener and frequent commenter on our content. We’d heard so much from Kim that we decided to get him on the show.

• The Last Four Minutes of Air France Flight 447
• Kim Kardashian outs air marshal via Twitter
• General aviation offers a reminder of vulnerability
• New air traffic control technology could mark a revolution in travel efficiency
• Will Northrop Grumman bid on tanker?
• Republic Airways Holdings Becomes First North American Customer for Bombardier CSeries Aircraft with Order for up to 80 Airliners
• Bombardier’s Win May Prod Airbus, Boeing to Upgrade Engines

David Vanderhoof has his This Week in Aviation segment, and Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk report.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Guest Allen Howell joins the conversation about the role of aviation in the Haiti disaster, as well as the private jet business in general. Allen is the CEO of Corporate Flight Management which offers aircraft services and charters from facilities in Smyrna and Nashville, Tennessee. He also writes at the Plane Conversations blog which offers content about private jet travel.

• Air Force Brings Order To Haiti Airport
• Airlines organizing Haiti earthquake aid
• Tighter airline security could increase business jet use
• U.S. Airlines May Raise Fares, Fees Further in 2010 Profit Bid
• Government fixes up airline gripe site

David Vanderhoof has another This Week in Aviation, and Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk report.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Our guest this episode is Joshua Abramson, he’s the Airport Manager at Winchester Municipal Airport, and also an aviation advisor for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) which carries out applied research on problems that are shared by airport operating agencies. We talk with Josh about issues of concern to regional airports. His website is Airport Solution, which is home of the Airport Executive blog.

The news:

• Airbus, Boeing wooing United Airlines for plane order
• Virgin America Sees Ownership Shift Over 10% With New Investors
• American Airlines ups the ante in battle with Delta over JAL
• Seeking FAA funds, airport hopes sale fares lure fliers
• Metro Airport Explores Wind Power
• American’s flight attendants stage mock strike

David Vanderhoof has another This Week in Aviation. His links this week are The Flying Clippers and Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats.

We also have Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast with their Australia Desk report. The guys sent along a second bonus clip that we found very funny and think you’ll enjoy. We also have some listener mail.

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line:  (361) GEEKS01.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. Visit his site at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Max and Court spend some time with Kevin Michaels of the AeroStrategy Management Consulting group talking about the week’s event’s.  Kevin lend’s his expertice on aircraft maintenance and a variety of other topics.  We always have a good amount of news to discuss, and this week was no different:

Top 5 Mainstream Travel Blogs

What Happened on Flight 1549, Inside and Out

Effort under way to remove aviation restriction from rescue package

Max and Court are joined this week by Shashank Nigam of Simpliflying.com.  Shashank is an airline branding guru, and stops by to lend his thoughts to the various personalities of the airlines.

Tell TSA what Large Aircraft Security Program means to you

As distressed Detroit drops its jets, bizav ponders the fallout

WORLD EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: WhiteKnightTwo flies!

Honda to sell 100 jets a year from 2010

Investigators Focus on Likely Wind Gust in Denver Crash

NZ airline flies jetliner partly run on biofuel

Boeing considers 737 enhancements

GLOBAL AVIATION FORECAST – IATA issues forecast for 2009

16-Year-Old Sitka High School Student Wins ‘Paint the Plane’ Contest

Max’s pick of the week is How to Become A Private Pilot.

The Airplane Geeks are now on Twitter!  You can follow us @AirplaneGeeks.

Make sure to sign up for our new newsletter, “Airplane Geeks Week in Aviation.”
We’ll be bringing you these show notes, as well as some of the week’s news we didn’t have time to cover.
You can sign up at AirplaneGeeks.com.

Brother Love is responsible for this episode’s opening and closing
music, and you can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.

If you have a question or a comment for the Airplane Geeks, you
can send it to thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com.

You can also leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252. If you have
a question you’d like mentioned on the podcast, this is the best
way to go about it.

This week, Max and Court focus on news.

• United to Eliminate 950 Pilot Jobs
• American Airlines Details Flight Cutbacks
• Denver wins big in Southwest Airlines’ schedule changes
• EU strikes deal to cap airline emissions
• Abandoned change adds up for TSA
• Mother and Autistic Child Kicked Off Airplane Flight
• High Flyers and Soaring Inequality

Max’s pick of the week can be found at http://www.techinflight.com.  Please visit their site and tell them The Airplane Geeks sent you.

The winner from last week’s trivia  is Leslie from Michigan.  Don’t miss this week’s trivia question.

You can also leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252. Leave a message and we’ll get you on the podcast.