To be honest, it\u2019s a really tough macro environment nowadays, between media increasingly switching to video, the way search engines display information, the increasing use of AI, etc. However, I don\u2019t in any way view that as some existential issue, and big picture, the goal is to keep the core of the blog the same. Personally, I\u2019m rather bullish on written media long time, but perhaps that\u2019s a topic for a different post.<\/p>\n
I want to fully acknowledge that in some ways, everything in the miles & points blogosphere (including OMAAT) has become a bit more stale, and it\u2019s and to get the same dopamine hits as in the past, so to speak. Miles & points deals aren\u2019t what they once were<\/a>, we\u2019ve all had just about every credit card at this point, and unfortunately it\u2019s the slop garbage posts out there that generate page views, because apparently that\u2019s what consumers want.<\/p>\n It\u2019s really easy to get into the tendency of just trying to chase what you think Google wants you to post, rather than focusing on what actually interests readers, and what creates a sense of community. And I have to be honest, the community aspect of this is something I\u2019ve done a lousy job with in recent times. For a while that was largely stalled because of my mom\u2019s illness (she passed last year)<\/a>, and then having two little kids sometimes<\/a> just depletes your mental energy, lovely as they are.<\/p>\n I have a bunch of ideas in my head for concepts I\u2019d like to launch that lean into community, but I\u2019ve kind of been pushing those down the road, always hoping there would be a perfect time to focus on these things. I\u2019m kind of a creature of habit with my everyday work, and then a perfectionist when it comes to launching new things, which is why\u2026 I haven\u2019t launched many new things lately. <\/p>\n Well, that mentality changes now. In the coming weeks and months, there are several initiatives I\u2019m hoping go \u201clive,\u201d and they\u2019re all about one thing \u2014 focusing on what I think readers will enjoy, and creating a sense of community. Why? Well, because I think that\u2019s something we can actually do a good job at, unlike a faceless 100-person VC-owned blog, so there\u2019s no reason not to lean into that. And I\u2019m putting this post out there so that others can hold me accountable for this.<\/p>\n So while I\u2019ll share more details in the next few weeks (as some of those ideas get closer to launch), I\u2019d like to share the first concept y\u2019all can expect. Let me explain, because while I have the concept nailed down, there are still some areas for feedback.<\/p>\n I\u2019d love some feedback on my new video series concept<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying that media content is increasingly switching to short form video rather than written text. I have to be honest \u2014 to me, the thought of doing \u201ceverything I ate on my 16-hour Qatar Airways flight,\u201d or doing videos where I have to fake the interest of a tween girl at a Taylor Swift concert about something mundane is just sort of soul-crushing.<\/p>\n First and foremost, it\u2019s important to me that I enjoy what I do, and that I\u2019m authentic to myself, because that\u2019s the only way that any passion will come through in what I do. So I thought to myself, what kind of video content would I actually enjoy producing, without in any way factoring in monetization?<\/p>\n I feel like we don\u2019t need another middle aged dude doing a podcast \u2014 I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m not quite having a midlife crisis (yet) \u2014 and for that matter, there are some good airline podcasts out there, like Airlines Confidential and The Air Show Podcast.<\/p>\n While I get a lot of offers to interview people in the industry, I almost never take them up on them. Why? Well, interviews are generally so rehearsed, and rarely tell me anything I didn\u2019t already know. I just don\u2019t need a regurgitated press release, and if I want those kinds of things, I\u2019ll just watch CNBC in earnings season.<\/p>\n So that brings me to the angle I came up with. Even if y\u2019all don\u2019t enjoy it, I know I\u2019ll have a blast doing this, and I think that\u2019s important. One of my favorite things about the airline industry is the people \u2014 there\u2019s so many absolutely fascinating, passionate, interesting (and sometimes downright strange) characters. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n I\u2019d love the focus on the series to not be exclusively discussing current events or one specific thing at the airline (or brand) they\u2019re working at, but instead, to be a bigger picture look at how they got where they are, their passion, and\/or their insights into whatever they focus on at work.<\/p>\n So think of it as more of a fireside chat type concept, where I get to ask people questions. While I\u2019m introverted, I absolutely love being able to ask interesting people questions. My goal isn\u2019t to trap people with \u201cgotchas,\u201d or to grill them endlessly, but instead, to give them the chance to share their story or side of things, whether I agree or disagree with them. While I hope to make the conversations interesting, I promise to be respectful.<\/p>\n There are so many people I know in the airline industry who fascinate the heck out of me, and I feel like the world doesn\u2019t know them for who they really are. I\u2019ve not yet approached anyone about this, so who knows, maybe I won\u2019t get any bites. <\/p>\n Let me give one prime example. I\u2019d absolutely love to talk to Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. People know him for doing a great job running an airline group, but they don\u2019t necessarily know him as a person. He\u2019s truly the world\u2019s biggest aviation geek, and his career progression has been incredible and inspiring. My goal is to add a human element to people like this, rather than having their entire identity focused around their airline, their earnings that quarter, their short term initiatives, etc.<\/p>\n Again, I\u2019ve not approached anyone about this, but I\u2019d love to speak to people like the following (and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m partly shooting for the stars here, but I\u2019m just trying to give you a sense of the goal, and the wide range of the types of people I\u2019d be interested in talking to):<\/p>\n Mark Nasr, Air Canada\u2019s Chief Operations Officer; he started as a mileage runner back in the day, and is one of the brightest guys in the airline industry, and I\u2019d also love to pick his brain on how he thinks miles & points have evolved, how airlines can keep people engaged, and what the future holds<\/p>\n Patrick Quayle, United\u2019s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances; he\u2019s in charge of one of the most incredible route network developments we\u2019ve seen, and I\u2019d love to hear how you decide to fly to places like Mongolia and Greenland, how you actually do the math on the way that loyalty programs contribute to route decisions, what the process is actually like when you want to launch flights to a new airport, etc.<\/p>\n Akbar Al Baker, former CEO of Qatar Airways; what is he up to, and what does he make of how the industry has evolved in recent years?<\/p>\n Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Group; okay, this is perhaps the longest shot of all, along with Al Baker but can he show us a human side, his passion, etc.?<\/p>\n Tiffany Funk, Head of Flying Blue; okay, I worked with Tiffany for nearly 15 years, and now that she has crossed over to the \u201creal\u201d loyalty side, her perspective on things would be very cool to learn about<\/p>\n James Asquith, CEO of Global Airlines; do I just completely misunderstand him, or can be actually make the case for how the airline makes sense?<\/p>\n Heck, I\u2019d even have on Tim Dunn, if he\u2019s willing to make an appearance; maybe we can take the debate from the comments section and turn them into a video format, so give our fingers a break \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Those are just several examples, and that\u2019s obviously by no means comprehensive. I should probably reach out to these people rather than just throwing their names out.<\/p>\n Now, a few general thoughts:<\/p>\n My intent is to do these roughly every two weeks, though not always at the same time or on the same day (since I may be talking to people from all over the world)<\/p>\n My goal is for each to last around 30 minutes, so I don\u2019t want this to be some super long thing where people get bored<\/p>\n The plan is to have this be primarily on YouTube, and then people can either tune in \u201clive,\u201d or choose to watch it after the fact<\/p>\n I\u2019m not some smooth talker who is trying to compete with network television, so my true goal here is to make this authentic and completely unscripted, literally just like I\u2019m having a conversation with someone for the first time with no agenda, no notes, etc.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll post about scheduled interviews in advance, so that people can tune in and even pose questions, and then after the fact I\u2019ll do a post summarizing the conversation, sharing my thoughts on it, etc., and welcoming others to chime in as well, of course<\/p>\n How will I get anyone to actually talk to me? Well, here\u2019s my pitch, plain and simple. First, people in the airline industry love to talk. They love to talk about airplanes, they love to talk to others, and (some) love to talk about themselves.<\/p>\n Second, quite honestly, I think it could be a good opportunity for them. If you Google most airline executives making multi-billion dollar decisions, the first several search results are them being quoted in random press releases, in the mainstream media, etc., rather than things that are actually about them. A real, human discussion could be a real value-add for them as well. An airline executive is more than the two sentence quote that appears in CNBC after they announce their earnings. <\/p>\n Sorry for how long I\u2019ve gone on here, but I\u2019d love some general feedback:<\/p>\n Does anyone have an idea for a name for the series? The only things I\u2019ve come up with are OMAAT Chat (oh-mat-chat, at least it rhymes?) or OMAAT Live, but if anyone comes up with something better that I end up using, there will be a prize<\/p>\n Would you be interested in watching something like this?<\/p>\n Is a once every two week frequency correct, or is that too often, or not often enough?<\/p>\n Is there anything in particular you\u2019d like me to incorporate into the questions I ask people, or the format?<\/p>\n Is YouTube the right medium for this? Is there merit to also streaming this on Facebook, or just linking to YouTube is fine?<\/p>\n Lastly, if you are someone from the industry or have a fascinating story that you think would be a good fit, shoot me an email at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n Bottom line<\/p>\n We\u2019re working on several new initiatives in the coming months, which I plan to share more details on soon. For so long I\u2019ve been pushing off these things, but it\u2019s time to get started. I\u2019d like to share the details of the first of these concepts, which is that I plan to start doing a video series, talking to some of the more interesting people in the industry, across all kinds of functions.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see to what extent people are willing to talk to me, but I promise to be persistent, so we\u2019ll see how this evolves. There are many podcasts out there discussing current industry events, so my goal is to take a different approach. I\u2019d just like to do 30(ish)-minute interviews with some of the industry\u2019s most interesting people, so we can get to know them, or so they can share with us their knowledge in a particular area.<\/p>\n The goal would be for this to be something people can tune into live, or watch after the fact, and there would be accompanying posts about the conversation, plus the opportunity for people to ask questions.<\/p>\n I promise there\u2019s more coming, but this is what we\u2019re starting with. So if anyone has any ideas or thoughts, I\u2019d certainly welcome them! And while I\u2019ll be reaching out to some of the above folks soon, if there are other industry people who would be receptive to this concept (and are willing to authentically be themselves), shoot me an email at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the coming weeks, we\u2019re planning on launching a series of new initiatives, which I hope readers will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-745047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Royal-Jordanian-Business-Class-Embraer-E190-E2-59.jpeg\")
The airline industry has lots of interesting characters<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/New-Lufthansa-First-Class-Service-20.jpeg\")
Carsten, in the 0.0001% chance you want to talk, I\u2019m here!<\/p>\n