Last month I was invited to Qantas’ North American headquarters, where I met with Ashley Howell, executive vice president, and Anie Hong, North American marketing director. The meeting room overlooked the hangar where a beautiful Airbus A380 was undergoing maintenance—an ideal sight for aviation enthusiasts.
© Francis X. Gallagher
Later in the month I met with colleagues from Delta Air Lines to discuss Delta Business Traveler. Benjamin van der Horst, general manager, Loyalty Partnerships and Small Business Strategy, and Alvaro Megias, senior manager, Loyalty Partnerships, joined me and Carrie Cox, our senior account executive, for lunch at Restaurant 356 at the Porsche Experience in Atlanta. While we dined, we watched aircraft arrive at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, spotting many Delta and Turkish Airlines tails as they landed.
I also visited United Airlines’ headquarters in Chicago’s Willis Tower to review developments with MileagePlus and Kinective Media by United, and to advance the goal of featuring every United destination in Hemispheres’ “Three Perfect Days” travel guide articles. United’s fleet-wide Starlink upgrade is poised to be a major enhancement for MileagePlus members, a point I discussed with Luc Bondar, COO and president, United MileagePlus. I enjoyed conversations with Emily Fyhrie, director, Loyalty Brand Marketing, and Lilly Feehan, associate analyst, Marketing & Loyalty, and we highlighted MileagePlus’ recognition from Global Traveler and our interview with Richard Nunn, CEO, United MileagePlus (see page 19).
We also interviewed TAP Air Portugal’s Carlos Antunes, director of the Americas. Carlos and his team, including Fernanda Ottavio, manager, North America, have driven TAP’s expansion in North America; the airline now serves 11 gateways, eight of them in the United States. Carlos, Fernanda and I had a longer conversation that will be available on Global Traveler’s YouTube channel this month; many readers will receive an email with a link to the video.
This week I travel to New York to meet Mohammad Maragha, area manager, USA, Royal Jordanian Airlines, to discuss the carrier’s business-class product and to attend the monthly Wings Club luncheon at the Yale Club, where Nathaniel Pieper, CEO of oneworld, will speak. The alliance is undergoing a rebranding scheduled for spring 2026.
I’ll finish the week with a visit with Alp Ozaman, regional marketing manager, Turkish Airlines, to talk about the airline’s North American growth and the role of İstanbul (iGA) as a global hub. I’ll also be flying British Airways’ business class this month for my annual birthday trip.
Wherever your travels take you, join me in exploring the many ways aviation connects people and places around the world.
Francis X. Gallagher, publisher and CEO