Airline Shakeups, Close Calls, and Snack Smarts

Audio By Carbonatix

Kevin and Linda kick things off with some warm, candid banter about what it’s like when people learn what you do for a living—suddenly everyone wants your “hot take.” Their workaround? Skip the labels, talk ideas, and keep conversations human before they become headline-shaped.

Then the episode taxis onto the runway of airline industry drama, with Kevin recounting a surprisingly decent family experience flying Spirit (including the “bigger seat” front section that feels like first class’s thrifty cousin). From there, they unpack the JetBlue–Spirit merger that fizzled, arguing it could’ve helped jobs and kept fares competitive—yet its collapse may actually make smaller carriers more vulnerable to getting swallowed by the big players.

Linda pivots to what happens when a low-cost spot opens up: airlines like Breeze stepping into routes (including chatter around Atlantic City), plus the perks of small airports—fewer gates, less chaos, often better prices—balanced against real limitations like shorter runways and reduced international capability.

Next: Newark, because Newark apparently wakes up each morning and chooses aviation chaos. They react to a United plane incident involving ground equipment near the Newark approach and riff on how wild that corridor is—low approaches, tight maneuvering, and all the reasons pilots earn their coffee.

Finally, Linda delivers this week’s “Perillo Pointer”: bring snacks and water, because airline service keeps shrinking—specifically with Delta reducing food/beverage service on very short flights. Her advice is practical (self-contained snacks = sanity), plus a legendary cautionary tale about why turning your row into a flying buffet can end… dramatically.