A conceptual rendering of a supersonic airliner under development by Boom Technology.
A conceptual rendering of a supersonic airliner under development by Boom Technology.Courtesy of Boom Technology
In the latest air travel news, the U.S. is eliminating a decades-old rule that bars new supersonic commercial jets from flying faster than sound over land; a major low-cost airline is jumping onto the Starlink bandwagon to offer in-flight Wi-Fi for the first time; United Airlines reports strong revenue gains in the second quarter as passenger demand remains immune to sharply higher fares; United and Virgin Atlantic will trim their winter international schedules out of San Francisco International Airport; United will convert one row of economy seats from six to four on its new Airbus A321XLRs; a new survey finds companies are concerned that artificial intelligence is helping more business travelers to cheat on their expense reports; Delta says fewer than half the seats in its new 787-10s will be in regular economy class; and Sacramento’s airport is polling customers on its long-term future direction.
When United Airlines starts flying its new fleet of single-aisle Airbus A321XLRs, passengers will notice something unusual in one row of Economy Plus (i.e., extra legroom) seats: The middle seat on both sides of the aisle will be blocked out by installation of a permanent table between the armrests. This will convert a row of six seats to a row of four, “giving customers sitting in the window or aisle seat extra space to stretch out on longer international fights,” United said in a news release. That middle seat will be blocked on all 50 A321XLRs that it has ordered, United said, adding that it is considering “offering these types of seats on other aircraft types in the future.”
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The airline said it will start operating its first A321XLR domestic flights this fall, followed by international flights early next year. “United will operate the A321XLR with five flight attendants on most transatlantic flights, consistent with its practice on the Boeing 757s it is replacing,” United said. Some aviation bloggers had contended that United’s real purpose in blocking out two seats on the aircraft is to bring its total seat count down from 152 to 150 — a move that would allow it to operate the A321XLR with one fewer flight attendant under federal regulations.
A Frontier Airlines jetliner sits outside a repair hangar at Denver International Airport on May 11, 2026.
A Frontier Airlines jetliner sits outside a repair hangar at Denver International Airport on May 11, 2026.David Zalubowski/AP
Low-cost Frontier Airlines is the latest U.S. carrier to announce it will install SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi across its fleet, with availability starting in early 2027. Renowned for its high data speeds and low latency thanks to a network of thousands of low-Earth-orbit satellites, Starlink is fast becoming the airline industry’s preferred Wi-Fi provider. United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska/Hawaiian and American Airlines have committed to installing Starlink on some or all of their aircraft, while Delta and JetBlue are going with the rival Amazon Leo product, which is not yet in commercial service.
Frontier said in its announcement that it will be “the first US airline to offer passengers access to Starlink’s high-speed internet through a new system managed directly by Starlink. Beyond enhancing the customer experience, Starlink will provide gate-to-gate connectivity for Frontier’s pilots, flight attendants, maintenance teams, and ground operations, enabling improved operational performance and more seamless customer service.” One thing Frontier didn’t talk about is whether it will charge passengers a fee for the Starlink service. Other U.S. airlines adopting Starlink are offering it free to members of their loyalty programs. Frontier currently has no in-flight internet or entertainment. As Simple Flying noted, “The Starlink announcement represents one of the biggest changes to the carrier’s onboard product in its history and continues its broader strategy of attracting higher-spending travelers with premium upgrades.”
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Frontier is one of several airlines in the portfolio of Indigo Partners, a Phoenix-headquartered private equity fund, and the other carriers in that group will also get Starlink, the company said, including Europe’s Wizz Air, Mexico’s Volaris, South America’s JetSmart and the Philippines’ Cebu Pacific.
A United Airlines passenger jet approaches Los Angeles International Airport on May 20, 2026.
A United Airlines passenger jet approaches Los Angeles International Airport on May 20, 2026.Jae C. Hong/AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Even though domestic airfares shot up by more than 25% year over year after the Iran war started, that apparently hasn’t deterred travelers from shelling out the extra bucks in order to fly. That’s one conclusion from United Airlines’ financial results for the April-June quarter, which were released this week. The company reported a bigger-than-expected profit, with pretax earnings of $1 billion and strong revenue gains across the board as customer demand remained strong. “Premium revenue was up 16% compared to the second quarter of 2025, revenue from Basic Economy was up 11%, loyalty revenue was up 11% and cargo revenue was up 23%,” United said. “Close-in demand remained robust with contracted business revenue up 27% in the quarter. The economy cabin continues to recover with unit revenue up 12%, marking two consecutive quarters of positive growth.” The airline said that after the spike in oil prices caused by the war, its second-quarter jet fuel bill jumped by 84%, or $2.3 billion more than expected, and it expects its full-year fuel costs to increase by $6 billion. But higher fares helped to recoup half that cost in the second quarter, with more to come. “In the third quarter the Company expects to recover approximately 80% to 90% of the increase, and 100% by the fourth quarter,” United said, meaning fares are likely to remain elevated for the foreseeable future.
In international route news, Aeroroutes reports that United Airlines will make some changes to its winter schedule from San Francisco International Airport. United still plans to operate seasonal 787-9 service three days a week from SFO to Adelaide, Australia, but that service will be offered Dec. 17-Feb. 8 instead of the previously scheduled Dec. 3-March 25. United will also suspend its SFO-Paris Charles de Gaulle service from Jan. 5 through Feb. 10. Meanwhile, Simple Flying notes that Virgin Atlantic will trim its SFO-London Heathrow schedule during September and October from 10 flights a week to seven. On the domestic side, Frontier Airlines announced a new route from Los Angeles International to Detroit, operating one daily round trip starting Nov. 20.
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Back in the days of the European-built Concorde supersonic transport, or SST, which was operated by British Airways and Air France, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration barred the aircraft from flying faster than sound over the continental U.S. due to noise concerns — specifically, the unsettling sonic booms generated by the planes. The Concorde stopped flying in 2003, but in recent years, a U.S. manufacturer called Boom has been developing a next-generation SST for use by commercial airlines. The company says it has orders and pre-orders for 130 supersonic aircraft from United Airlines, American Airlines and Japan Airlines, and now the U.S. government wants to make sure the aircraft’s deployment, which could begin in the next few years, isn’t hampered by that old FAA rule. Boom’s prototype SST, called the Overture, would carry 60 to 80 passengers. The company said it could cut the air travel time between San Francisco and Tokyo from more than 11 hours to 5 hours and 30 minutes, and Los Angeles-Sydney from more than 15 hours to 7 hours and 45 minutes.
“Thanks to massive innovations in supersonic technology, it will be possible to safely operate these innovative aircraft without a sonic boom,” the FAA said in announcing a proposed rule that would eliminate the over-land restriction on SST flights. “When operational, next-gen supersonic planes will drastically reduce travel times–enabling faster movement of people and goods.” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said that new developments in aerospace engineering, materials science and noise reduction technology “will eliminate the old sonic boom,” so the aircraft should be able to fly faster than sound without disturbing people on the ground. Commercial airliners generally fly at 550 to 600 mph, while planes going faster than Mach 1 (the speed of sound) would operate at 770 mph and above.
The logo of expense management software SAP Concur.
The logo of expense management software SAP Concur.Timon Schneider/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
When you travel on business for your company, are your expense reports impeccably honest? A new survey finds corporate bean-counters are increasingly suspicious that traveling employees may be using artificial intelligence to pad their expenses. SAP Concur, a technology company that helps corporations track and manage travel expenses, conducted a poll of hundreds of corporate chief financial officers, travel managers and business travelers and found that AI is causing some serious concerns. “Ninety-two percent of CFOs say it is likely that employees are using AI to falsify travel expenses or receipts, while 60% say travel expense fraud is already increasing in their business,” SAP Concur reported. “The concern is well-founded: AI tools can generate convincing fake receipts quickly and at scale, lowering the barrier to expense fraud in ways that traditional audit processes are not built to catch.”
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The concerns over company business travel are not just about expense reporting. Company-endorsed booking processes are essential to maintaining adherence to corporate travel policy (using preferred suppliers, observing spending limits and so on), but according to the survey, “Eighty-five percent of CFOs are concerned that employees are already using unauthorized AI tools when booking travel, and 72% of business travelers say they would willingly use these tools. Whether organizations sanction it or not, employees will be using AI, raising concerns about its potential use in fraud.” But SAP Concur noted that AI can also work to the company’s advantage: “Sixty-four percent [of CFOs] now expect AI-assisted expense automation to catch more errors and fraud than current methods, up from 55% in 2025.”
In January of this year, Delta Air Lines raised some eyebrows in the industry when it announced it had placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, because in recent years, the airline had been relying on Airbus for new wide-body aircraft. And this week, Delta revealed some of its plans for those new planes — the largest in Boeing’s 787 line. According to Simple Flying, Delta Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito said during a conference call that once deliveries of the 787-10s start in five years, they will be used mostly to replace 767s on transatlantic routes. But unlike the 767s’ layout of 30% premium seats, more than half of the 787-10 seats will be premium. That follows a longstanding Delta pattern of adding more expensive seats over time, and it has proved successful in recent years, as the growth of Delta’s premium cabin revenue has outpaced the main cabin. Part of that is due to Delta’s focus on attracting the higher-spending business travelers who normally inhabit the front cabins. For example, Delta said this month that corporate sales grew by double digits during its April-June 2026 quarter, “led by Aerospace & Defense, Banking, and Automotive, with strong performance in coastal and core hubs. Sustained strength in premium product demand drove a more than 25 percent increase in premium corporate sales, benefiting from recent investments in Delta Comfort and Delta Premium Select.”
“Leap,” a 56-foot-long sculpture of a red rabbit, hangs in Terminal 2 at Sacramento International Airport on Jan. 1, 2026.
“Leap,” a 56-foot-long sculpture of a red rabbit, hangs in Terminal 2 at Sacramento International Airport on Jan. 1, 2026.Al Drago via Getty Images
Do you fly out of Sacramento International Airport? That fast-growing facility is working on an update of the Airport Master Plan that will guide its development for the next 20 years, and it is seeking public input as to what kind of improvements or changes travelers would like to see. Through Aug. 14, the airport is conducting a public survey where customers can express their opinions. “The public survey is now open and takes only a few minutes to complete,” the airport said in a news release. “Residents and travelers are encouraged to share feedback on topics including flight options, terminal amenities, parking, and accessibility.”
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July 18, 2026
Freelance Writer
Jim Glab is a freelance writer.