Episode 34 - Checking in on AirBerlin, Alitalia, and Ryanair

We start off by wishing Vinay a Happy Birthday, but certainly, a "mediocre birthday" (his words) pales in comparison to the continued woes for AirBerlin and Alitalia (1:10) after we perform a health check on Europe's biggest ailing carriers (for now). And the drama doesn't end there: Ryanair, which once appeared to be one of the highest bidders for some of Alitalia's assets, is suffering from extensive operational and commercial fallouts over a pilot shortage (16:35). With no end in sight, will they be able to recover from a tarnished image in spite of its, "Always Getting Better," program oriented around customer service? However, not all is woeful in Europe: Turkish Airlines seems to have recovered from a crummy 2016 and placed a blockbuster order for 787-9s (30:18) and may have more orders in the pipeline from both Boeing and Airbus. Furthermore, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic JV partner Delta will be adding new routes and cities to Europe in Summer 2018 (36:30), diversifying beyond traditional bread-and-butter markets and going places where long-haul LCCs are absent.