May Dispatches

The constant tinkling of water in the Fontana della Barcaccia. The footfalls of a running group moving at the speed of their own (Italian pop?) soundtrack. Morning in Rome. Where to go for a run in the Eternal City? The obvious choice was along the Tiber River, a relatively flat, car-free path that winds its way through the city. I opted instead for something a bit off the tourist path: the recently opened Monte Ciocci–San Pietro Cycleway (apologies if that’s not the official name), a Roman rail-trail winding its way through the city’s northeastern environs. It was a bit of an adventure getting there but, once found off the Vatican’s east flank, the multi-use path was a lovely (uninterrupted) run through quiet neighborhoods of Rome. Runner beware: Rome is not flat as this runner’s climb up and over Monte Ciocci confirmed.

Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci is, understandably, bullish on the airline’s new European flights. Why now after 90 years in business? It’s some combination of relevancy, loyalty and that very of-these-times view of an air service trade imbalance, he told me on a Roman rooftop after the carrier’s inaugural sortie. Read the full interview, what the airline still needs to do and Alaska’s chances of success. (FlightGlobal)

Onboard that inaugural flight (the airline provided my travel), Alaska got a lot right. The bedding was amazing. The food was delicious. And the amenities on point. What it missed, though, it missed hard. The lack of inflight connectivity is noticeable and the airline needs to streamline its new Suites service. (Business Traveler)

While jet fuel supplies may no longer be an issue in Europe this summer, some tips on what should travelers do if there are flight disruptions. (The Washington Post)

Allegiant closed its purchase of Sun Country earlier in May. It’s not the mega-airline deal everyone is waiting for but it does give the discounter more scale, and a new hub in Minneapolis-St. Paul, to leverage for future growth. (TPG)

On the Spirit front, airlines abhor a vacuum and competitors are lining up to fill the gap left by the budget airline’s demise, including Frontier, JetBlue and Southwest. (TPG, FlightGlobal)

Plus, Landline and Massport will open the first remote airport terminal with a TSA checkpoint in the U.S., Alaska raised $1 billion in new debt and Copa continues to mint profits. (TPG, FlightGlobal)

Spirit Airlines closed its doors in the wee hours of Saturday, May 2, after more than three decades of flying. I only flew them once, a trip to Orlando and back, and the experience was fine — a seat for my airfare and everything else for a fee. Below is a brief collection of the voluminous coverage of Spirit’s collapse that I appreciated.

• Wall Street Journal columnist Dawn Gilbertson aptly wrote how everyone, even those who never flew Spirit, will miss them. “I saw and welcomed Spirit’s place in the airline world. And I’m sorry to see it go … Even if you never flew Spirit, you benefited from the airline’s presence.”

• For everyone who thinks the JetBlue merger would have saved Spirt, think again. William Swelbar wrote how the failure of that deal saved JetBlue.

• The AvGeek in chief in the White House.

• The complex but mundane task of repossessing Spirit’s planes on the AvTalk podcast.

Speaking of JetBlue, with Spirit gone they can now build a true connecting hub in Fort Lauderdale.

Jonathan English wrote a fascinating analysis on why Newark should have been New York’s main international airport.

“Subways do this funny thing — they make cities bigger and smaller at once. Bigger because more places are suddenly in easy reach. Smaller because distant neighborhoods become everyday destinations,” India Mandelkern told Christopher Hawthorne, the former architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times, in his newsletter Punch List Architecture. Los Angeles opened one of the most important transit expansions in the U.S. on May 8.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is an architectural icon and a great aquarium. But the 45-year-old structure by Peter Chermayeff faces many of the same challenges of middle age as its elder Millennial counterparts.

Rachel Entrekin, who won this year’s Cocodona 250 ultramarathon, is badass.

Tower running — yes, it’s a real sport — reveals “the hidden logic of buildings, particularly the architectural nuances and eccentricities of their often unseen stairwells.”

And who isn’t loving the stunning visuals out of the Giro d’Italia?

I joined the FlightGlobal Focus podcast the other week to chat about the upcoming IATA Annual General Meeting — think the Met Gala of global airline events, some say — and Spirit’s demise.

Planet Money, the venerable NPR economics podcast, made a book with author Alex Mayyasi. Much like their past projects — the t-shirt, the toxic asset, the superhero — they chronicled the process in a fascinating four-part series. From selling the idea (blind auctions!) to the supply chain, bookstore economics and the crazy world of bestsellers.