Our guest this episode is Fred Gevalt, founder of The Air Charter Guide and a bit of a political activist, having successfully sued the FAA in 1998 on behalf of his air charter constituency. Fred’s a pilot, he’s built airplanes himself, and he flies aircraft for business and recreation. Fred is also the executive producer of a new documentary film titled “Please Remove Your Shoes” which takes a critical look at airport and airline security, both pre and post September 11.

The week’s aviation news:

• 787 first delivery delayed to mid-Q1 2011
• Boeing May Risk More Penalties After Sixth Delay on Dreamliner
• U.S. Approves Merger of United and Continental
• Mexicana to Suspend All Flights by Tomorrow After Last Week’s Acquisition
• Aeromexico offers discounts for Mexicana customers
• Future of Aviation Advisory Committee

Mentions:

• Bruce Schneier – Schneier on Security, a blog covering security and security technology.
• Desert Pilot Podcast

Thanks to special guest Steve Frischling from http://www.flyingwithfish.com/.

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

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast join Max, Rob, and Dan to talk about the weeks aviation news.

• France Concorde crash trial begins outside Paris
• No user fees in Obama budget
• TSA Scraps Plan To Toughen Private Air Travel Rules
• Pilot License Certification Requirements Under Review By The FAA
• Sukhoi flies new PAK FA fighter & T-50: A Preliminary Analysis
• Singapore Airshow News
• Airbus aiming for A320 re-engining decision by Farnborough air show
• Republic Airways winding down Lynx Aviation, regional carrier it bought with Frontier

The Flight Global Webbies 2009 winners have been announced, and our own Dan Webb won Best Blog for his Things in The Sky!

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/.

Travel writer Christopher Elliott joins the airplane geeks to talk aviation and airline security. Chris is one of the two blogger/journalists served with a subpoena by the Department of Homeland Security after posting the government directive for airline security procedures after the attempted Christmas 2009 terrorist bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Chris is the reader advocate for National Geographic Traveler magazine, he writes the syndicated Travel Troubleshooter column, produces a weekly commentary and podcast on MSNBC.com, writes the Navigator column in Sunday’s Washington Post, and authors the Elliott.org travel blog.

• Boosting flight security measures
• Child Porn Laws Impede Airport Searches
• Mesa To Drop Aircraft In Chapter 11
• Analyst Predicts 150-Seat CSeries
• Japan Airlines Closes In on Potential Bankruptcy
• Gates Returns Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop Programs to Spend Plan

David Vanderhoof has another This Week in Aviation, Steve Visscher and Grant McHerron from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast have their Australia Desk report, and Court returns with another Whiskey Tango Foxtrot segment.

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/.

Henry Harteveldt, Vice President & Principal Analyst with Forrester Research, Inc. makes a return guest appearance to talk industry news and travel technology. Follow Henry on Twitter.

• United Airlines To Seek More New Aircraft In ‘10
• United to consider Bombardier Cseries
• United Applauds Open Skies Accord with Japan
• Airlines Disagree Over Business Travel Recovery
• More Flap About NWA 188
• Asking For Orange Juice On American Airlines May Violate Federal Law
• TSA Deals With Their Security Blooper By Treating Americans Like Morons
• SpaceShipTwo Christened – VSS Enterprise

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

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/.

Benet Wilson, Aviation Week’s Online Managing Editor for Business Aviation, again joins Max, Rob, and David to talk about the week’s aviation news. We also discuss how aviation journalists keep current with the news (or ahead of it) and we have some tips and resources that help you stay current with aviation news.

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. We also have some listener mail.

• Hawker to attend Dubai Airshow
• Delta suspends pilot held in Georgia plane incident
• London arrest just the latest in pilot drinking episodes
• Airbus Freighter Makes Maiden Test Flight
• Boeing’s 747-8 Freighter Leaves Factory
• Boeing completes first round of 747-8F gauntlet tests
• Airbus military transporter cleared for testing
• Side-of-Body Installations Complete on First Boeing 787 Dreamliner
• Film: Amelia
• Hilary Swank drenched in sweat after her first flight lesson
• Southers Flies High at Confirmation Hearing

For aviation news:

• Alltop
• Jetpedia
• Addict-o-matic (airline example)

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail on our listener line at (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/.

The news:

• Revised LASP proposal in the works
• GA General Manager: TSA Tries, Tries Again
• Business & General Aviation: Letters Can’t do it all
• Boeing vs. Northrop Grumman: Round 2 of Air Force tanker fight to kick off
• Report walks airlines through the world of social media
• New Rules Needed to Attract Better Pilots, Aviation Experts Tell Congress

From David’s This Week in Aviation:

• Garros after his flight
• N2Y-1 Biplane
• Pitcairn PCA-2
• Skytrain
• Video of Miss Champion, a restored Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogyro at the EAA museum.
• David’s favorite T-Shirt

and David’s new blog, What Just Flew By!

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

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/.

The usual cast is joined this episode by Tom, author of The Airline Blog, Max Trescott, an author, CFI, and the man behind the Max Trescott on General Aviation blog, and Steve Visscher, one half of the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk and also co-host, along with Grant McHerron, of the new Plane Crazy Down Under podcast.

• Sydney-Los Angeles game of chicken continues
• Albuquerque Mayor: Offer made for Eclipse assets
• Airport tests scanners detecting more than threats
• No Apologies From the Boss of a No-Frills Airline
• Southwest Jumps Into Bidding for Frontier Airlines

Rob and Max Trescott talk about their experiences at the 2009 AirVenture Fly-in at Oshkosh. We also have a report from the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk, a This Week in Aviation segment, listener mail, and more.

Don’t forget to send us your ideas for Airplane Geeks T-Shirts!

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

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/.

Dan, Rob, and Max are joined this episode by two guests:  Chris Webb, who directed and co-produced the documentary film, Air Racer: Chasing the Dream, and Blogger Bob from The TSA Blog, a very active site.

This week’s news:

• American Airlines parent AMR posts 2Q loss
• Discount air carrier JetAmerica folds
• Continental’s Smisek to Be CEO as Kellner Plans Exit

As always, we have a report from the boys down under at the Airplane Geeks Australia Desk.  Steve and Grant, by the way, now have their own podcast, Plane Crazy Down Under. We also have a This Week in Aviation segment.

Don’t forget to send us your ideas for Airplane Geeks T-Shirts and we’re still collecting good United stories so send them in by email, voice mail, or mp3.

Follow the Airplane Geeks on Twitter as @AirplaneGeeks, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave us voice mail at (812) 757-4252.

This episode’s opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love. You can visit his site at brotherloverocks.com.

Brett Snyder, from the Cranky Flier blog joins us for the third time this week as we talk about all of the bad things happening in aviation lately. We were able to find some (kinda) good news, though.

• FedEx Plane Crashes on Landing In Tokyo
• Second Skycatcher Prototype Crashes
  

• On the brighter side: some positive aviation news

• U.S. General Aviation Gets TSA Liaison

• ‘High risk’ NextGen’s planning, leadership questioned

• IATA: Premium traffic tanking, first/business revenue down 25% in January

• Ryanair pilots agree to pay freeze, productivity increase

Rand Peck joins Max and Court this week and Court goes on a couple of rants.  Rand joins us from his site at FlyingWithRand.com and his blog, Rand Peck, a Life Aloft.  There’s plenty of news to talk about, and we hit the highlights.

GA groups call for industry input on TSA plan

US House Transportation chairman takes aim at alliances

Aurora Flight Sciences Displays GoldenEye 80 Unmanned Aircraft at Virginia AeroSpace Legislative Reception

Max and Court welcome Martt Clupper of AirPigz.com on this episode as they talk about the latest in aviation news, and provide a bit of commentary to spice it up.

Victims of Plane Crash Worked for Air Travel Sites

Pilots turn out in force to tell TSA impact of security plan

Obama Officials Tell Citibank To Ditch Plans For $50 Million Private Jet

JAL Flight Brings Aviation One Step Closer to Using Biofuel

Airline losses for fourth quarter mount

S7 cancellation latest hurdle for 787 program

News:

First LASP Hearing Draws A Crowd

TSA catches heat over private aviation proposals

Aviation Biofuels: More Hype Than Hope?

NTSB gives an update on the Denver crash

AirAsia unveils plans for own airport outside Malaysian capital

Five Big Changes Coming to Air Travel in 2009

Max’s pick of the week is www.air-valid.co.uk.

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.

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.

Max and Court welcome Will Hawkins, Rico Sharqawi, and David Allen from APilotsStory.com and Pilots Flight Pod Log Podcast.  We wrap up 2008, and discuss the breaking news out of Denver:

Data recorders found after Denver plane accident

ExcelAire Pilots Face Criminal Trial

British Airways, Qantas Talks Fail on Ownership Split

AOPA: TSA Plans To Step Up GA Scrutiny At Commercial Airports

TSA to listen to pilot concerns on proposed security program

Ten Worst Air Travel Stories of ‘08

Max’s pick of the week is the Plane Spotter Radius Search.  Drag the little plane spotter guy to some location on the map (typically someplace near you) and it shows the planes within a 10 mile radius.

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.

Susan Pruitt of Flight Plan Magazine join Max and Court this week. The new magazine is the topic of discussion, as well as the news of the week.

787 first flight date now officially up in the air

Embraer posts 70% profit drop, ’studying’ larger aircraft

Air Taxi Company Closes New Round Of Financing

Tough Times In Wichita: Cessna Says It Must Reduce Workforce

EAA Rallies Members to Demand More Time to Comment on Onerous TSA Proposals

Max’s pick of the week is the hoglogblog. In the author’s own words, it is created by “Kevin Garrison, Aviation expert and professional smart-ass”.

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.

We’re also happy to announce our partnership with Flightline Internet Radio.
You’ll be able to hear excerpts of The Airplane Geeks weekly.

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.

It’s all VLJ’s this week as Max and Court welcome Shane Price from the Eclipse Aviation Critic NG Blog. Shane shares his expertice with the VLJ industry in some interesting conversations about the new industry.

Southwest to challenge Northwest with Midway flights to Minneapolis (Chicago Tribune)

JetBlue’s eBay auction scores a big hit with buyers (ATW)

TSA Likely to Relax Restrictions on Liquids in 2009 (Wall Street Journal)

The World’s Greatest Aviation Innovations (Wired)

Eclipse Aviation Meets Congress (AIN Online)

Eclipse Will Make Its Small Jets in Russia (New York Times)

Market, Aircraft Issues Sealed DayJet Fate (Aviation Week)

Pick of the week:

Sky-Lens.com is by French aviation writer and photographer François Brévot and has some very impressive photography of air shows and other events.:

Sky-Lens.com

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.

We’re also happy to announce our partnership with Flightline Internet Radio.
You’ll be able to hear excerpts of The Airplane Geeks weekly.

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.

• FAA, Congress revisit Eclipse 500 certification
• Boeing may bail on tanker competition
• American launches inflight Web services
• TSA Snafu Grounds Nine Planes at O’Hare Field
• United Tests Food Choices in Business and Economy

And don’t miss this week’s main topic as Max, Court, and Dan discuss their top five picks for history’s least successful airliners.

The intro music is once again produced by Bruno Misonne.  Check out Bruno’s aviation music at http://www.brunomisonne.com.   Brother Love is responsible for the closing music, and you can visit his site at http://www.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.

Of course, there’s a bunch of news that has come out of the Oshkosh EAA Air Venture 2008.

• Eclipse founder, CEO Steps Down
• White Knight Two Oshkosh bound
• Jetpack jumpstarts at AirVenture

Max also offers his pick of the week at http://www.jetpedia.com.

But the big news to come out of episode 9 is the announcement about episode 10.  We’ll be holding the first live aviation new media meet-up through Talkshoe.com.  Sunday evening at 8:00 pm EST (That’s midnight zulu, for you true airplane geeks), we’ll be holding a live podcast.  If you have an aviation related site, blog, or podcast, we want to hear from you.  You can view the detailed information at http://www.airplanegeeks.com/live.

The intro music is once again produced by Bruno Misonne.  Check out Bruno’s aviation music at http://www.brunomisonne.com.   Brother Love is responsible for the closing music, and you can visit his site at http://www.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.