Living in the greater Seattle area has its advantages. Being able to go pretty much any time and drive around Paine Field Airport (KPAE) is for sure one of them. Plus, if you book yourself a night at the Hilton Garden Inn, you are very likely to get a room that looks over the airport. Heck, you can even spot from your room and/or car and have yourself a bit of an AvGeek hootenanny. I recently did just that and my pal Jeremy joined me. Although this story might mostly be photos, I am likely to add a snarky comment here or there.

I decided to do a little blast from the past and use my “real” DSLR camera instead of my iPhone. It is amazing for the close-ups, but I think I might need a refresher course. Jeremy ended up taking a few of the photos, but I was too lazy to label them properly. Just assume if one looks like someone with talent took the picture, it was him. Here we go…

Sometimes it’s hard to beat a classic. Japan Airlines’ 777-300ERs are the heavy lifter of their long-haul fleet. And although the current premium cabins have been flying for around ten years, they’re still a fan favorite.

I had my first chance to fly JAL’s Sky Suite business class on a flagship route from New York JFK to Tokyo Haneda – now I completely understand why it’s so popular. As an added bonus the window seat views were pretty amazing, since it was nothing but daylight for the full 15 hours from boarding to deplaning.

Read on for more photos, videos, and highlights from this classic long-haul route.

April 2nd Author’s Note : we hope everyone appreciated this April Fool’s joke (or at least realized it was a joke by the third line in). Fake news is a problem, so to make sure nobody gets confused, we wanted to drop this disclaimer to make it clear that this is not a real story. Thanks for reading!

Elon Musk announced he will purchase a 51% stake in American Airlines. This continues his recent pattern of acquiring companies that play central roles in American society and infrastructure.

He announced the news on Twitter and in a press conference. When asked about his interest in American Airlines, Musk stated “I realized that I simply enjoy buying companies with birds on their logos. And when I have such an obscene amount of money why should I try to fight those urges?”

Elon Musk making his announcement

Later in the press conference Mr. Musk outlined a series of major changes he plans for the airline’s operations. Effective immediately, American will accept dogecoin for ticket purchases, and in coming years will transition to a completely blockchain-based payment system. The airline will start charging flyers a nominal fee of $10 for passengers to display their TSA PreCheck status on their boarding passes.

Major changes are in store for American’s workforce as well. All employees will be required to work in-office at corporate headquarters. This may prove challenging for the airline’s pilots and flight attendants, who are accustomed to working on aircraft, but Mr. Musk expects them to rise to the challenge. In line with his views about free speech, Mr. Musk wants the Twitter handle @AmericanAir to take controversial political stances and to share conspiracy theories. To maximize profits, Mr. Musk plans to lay off around a third of the airline’s workers. However analysts expect that move to be followed by frantic attempts to rehire most of the furloughed employees shortly thereafter.

American Airlines aircraft at Miami International Airport

Some industry experts also expressed excitement that Mr. Musk’s family of companies could offer multimodal transport itineraries. For example, passengers could hire a Tesla-operated rideshare to the airport, fly an American Airlines flight, then connect to a SpaceX moon rocket that may or may not explode on landing. Said SpaceX employee April Phules, “after experiencing the inside of a Falcon 9 rocket, I think American Airlines passengers will be a little more forgiving about the airline’s economy class legroom.” 

While some passengers seem worried about the impact Musk’s takeover will have on the airline, others approved of the move. “As a proud owner of three Teslas I enjoy feeling better than other people,” said Bay Area resident Hugh Jassol. “I look forward to experiencing that same sense of superiority when flying American Airlines too.”

N576AA above LAX's famous spotting park across from In-N-Out in 2015.
American’s MD-80s are likely glad they retired before all this went down

American Airlines shareholders readied themselves for extreme volatility in the airline’s stock price in the weeks ahead. When asked for comment, SEC Chair Gary Gensler simply burst into tears.

Note from the editor: This story is not real. Elon if you are reading this PLEASE DO NOT ACTUALLY BUY AMERICAN AIRLINES.

Southwest drink coupons. These won't work since they are expired. - Photo: JL Johnson
Southwest drink coupons. These won’t work since they are expired. – Photo: JL Johnson

Southwest flyers, rejoice! The airline has finally added a non-alcoholic option to their premium beverage menu. This is something I’ve wanted for over a decade. I even included it in my 2019 A-List wish list.

Community Coffee's new Espresso option. - Photo: JL Johnson
Community Coffee’s new Espresso option – Photo: JL Johnson

During the opening day of MCI’s new airport terminal, the fine folks at the LUV airline were handing their new Community Coffee Espresso + Cream beverage. It’s good. If you are familiar with the store-bought bottles of Starbucks Frappuccino, it’s a lot like that. Only not nearly as sweet which is a good thing in my book.

Laura Swift with the Southwest Airlines media team confirmed, “the new Espresso + Cream can be purchased with a valid, non-expired SWA drink coupon.”

As a non-drinker I’ve made it a habit to routinely give away my drink coupons. But now that there’s a non-alcoholic pick-me-up option I might have to get a little more stingy. So go book a business select fare which includes a free premium drink, or fly 10 revenue segments to earn four coupons of your own ☺️

Our flight from Keflavik to Seattle boarded via a proper jetbridge
Our flight from Keflavik to Seattle boarded via a proper jetbridge

The COVID-19 pandemic made for some mighty strange times. A January 2023 trip to Reykvavik with Icelandair marked my first time out of the United States since early 2020. I’ve been able to fly a lot domestically, but this would be the first time I’d get to use a passport in nearly three years, ending my longest international travel dry spell in decades. And, boy, was I looking forward to it, especially as Iceland is one of my very favorite destinations.

Speaking of time slipping away, we last reviewed Icelandair’s Saga Class service in 2017, so we’re long overdue for an update.

In-flight experience

A Saga-class seat aboard an Icelandair 757-200
A Saga-class seat aboard an Icelandair 757-200

The trip was from Seattle to Keflavik on TF-FIN, a 25-year-old Boeing 757-200, a jet Icelandair has owned since it was built back in 1998.

Icelandair seems to work hard to keep its aircraft interiors in good shape; I’ve flown with them roughly 10 times in both Saga and economy, on their 737 MAX-8, 757-200, and Bombardier Dash-8s, and don’t recall having seen anything in the cabins that was in desperate need of repair.