Tag Archives: airport lounges

729 Airport Lounges

We speak with the operator of the world’s largest network of airport lounges. In the news, United’s order for Boeing planes, air travel trends for 2023, Boom Supersonic plans to develop its own engine, the U.S. Army selects the Bell V-280 over the Sikorsky/Boeing offering, and passengers are injured by turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight.

Guest

Stuart Vella is Vice President of Commercial Development and Operations with the Plaza Premium Group (PPG), an award-winning leader in premium airport hospitality services. PPG operates the world’s largest network of airport lounges. In the U.S. the company operates the Plaza Premium Lounge at DFW Terminal E and recently opened a lounge at Orlando (MCO) Terminal C. Stuart has been in the hospitality industry for some 30 years and has an extensive travel background.

Stuart Vella
Stuart Vella

We talk with Stuart about airport lounges and making the travel experience less hectic. He explains how PPG was formed to cater to those without access to elite lounges. PPG offers lounges for all travelers, regardless of cabin class or airline. Customer demand is high for more lounge access not necessarily tied to an airline or credit card.

PPG owns the lounges they operate and offers full food and beverage service with production kitchens, full bars, showers, play areas for children, and quiet areas for business people. The benefits of each lounge are tailored to the demographics of travelers going through that specific airport.

We discuss the PPG pricing model, LEED ratings, and the “ALWAYS” meet and greet at DFW.

Plaza Premium Lounge Opens at Orlando International Airport

Plaza Premium Lounge Wins Skytrax Awards Six Years in a Row [PDF]

Airport lounge

Aviation News

United places order for 200 Boeing planes, giving two troubled jets a vote of confidence

The United order represents 35% of the orders received by Boeing commercial airplanes this year. The announced order includes 100 firm/100 option 787 Dreamliners and 56 firm 737 Max planes for delivery between 2024 and 2026. The airline also exercised options on 44 737 Max jets with delivery between 2024 and 2026.

3 air travel trends to watch for in 2023

Three trends are noted in a conversation with United’s Director of UK, Ireland, Israel and Off-line Sales:

  1. “Alternative” airports will increase in popularity
  2. Greener air travel will remain a top priority
  3. Travel will become a lighter-touch experience

Boom plans new Symphony supersonic engine design

Boom Supersonic could not get any of the major engine manufacturers to commit to developing an engine for them. Boom now plans to develop its own engine, called Symphony, a medium-bypass engine producing 35,000 pounds of thrust. Three partners were announced:

Boom Supersonic Symphony engine.
Symphony (conceptual render). Courtesy Boom Supersonic.

Kratos purchased Florida Turbine Technologies in February 2019 and formed the Kratos Turbine Technologies (KTT) division. KTT develops and produces small high-performance jet engines for cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

A Reality Check On The Army Picking V-280 Valor Over SB>1 Defiant

U.S. Army’s fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters is to be replaced under the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft initiative, or FLRAA. The Army has chosen the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor over the Sikorsky/Boeing Defiant X, a compound coaxial helicopter based on Sikorsky’s X2 technology. The Army said the V-280 offered the “best value proposition” without providing any specifics.

Note: Paul Wilson, chief engineer for the Bell V-280 Valor program was our guest in Episode 576 Bell V-280 Valor.

Passengers and Flight Attendants Hit the Ceiling After Severe Turbulence Strikes Hawaiian Airlines Plane From Phoenix

The A330 flight from Phoenix to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence, injuring as many as 36 passengers, 11 seriously. The pilots declared an emergency following the incident due to the number of injuries and the plane was given priority clearance to land.

See inside of Hawaiian Airlines plane rocked by turbulence

David’s Christmas Story

Hosts this Episode

Max Flight, Max Trescott, David Vanderhoof, Brian Coleman, and our Main(e) Man Micah.

AirplaneGeeks 299 – The Airport Lounge

Viking Twin Otter UV-18C

We talk Loungebuddy CEO Tyler Dikman about access to airport lounges, airline baggage and other ancillary fees,  and therapy and service animals on the airplane.

Tyler tells us about the benefits of airport lounges, which are used by only about 6% of the traveling public. Airports are often not relaxing or conducive to work, and lounges are an alternative that is more available than some people think. Many are available to anyone for a one time fee, which might be an inexpensive upgrade for road warriors.

The lounges range from basic to luxurious, and each has their own access requirements, rules, and amenities. Loungebuddy provides a global directory of airport lounges (currently 425 airports), how to get into them, how many guests you can bring, if they are free or charge for entry, and what you’ll find in those lounges.

We also talk about social interaction in airport lounges and the business case for airport lounges. Most are carrier-operated, but sometimes third parties manage the lounge, like Plaza Premium Lounge and Serviceair (now Swissport).

Tyler gives us his thoughts on the airport lounge with the best food, best WiFi, and most unusual amenity.

The week’s aviation news:

David Vanderhoof’s Aircraft of the Week:

The deHavilland, now Viking, DHC-6 Twin Otter. David got talking about Twin Otters with Ken Breeden, one of the US Army Golden Knights C-31 pilots for his flight.  Ken is also the Contract Project Officer for the team and that led to the discussion of the newest aircraft the UV-18C Twin Otters.

Videos:

In this week’s Australia Desk:

The boys are back and recovered from working at Wings Over Illawarra airshow last week and they’re reporting on the Australian Federal Government’s recent approval to purchase an additional 58 F35s, taking our total confirmed purchase to 72 aircraft.

Meanwhile, a brand new Cirrus SR22 had an engine failure over the Blue Mountains and the pilot deployed the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) to land in the front yard of a house. The landing caused a bit of a media sensation and also led to Grant being quoted in a newspaper article and interviewed on radio 2UE.

Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124.

Mentioned:

Listen to the NBAA Flight Plan podcast from the National Business Aviation Association.

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.

Seaborne Airlines : Coming Off the trailer…