The Plane You Fly On Could Soon Look Very Different
Plus, an exciting new hotel in Forte dei Marmi, Four Seasons Yacht F&B renderings, most-visited National Parks, and Southwest sneakily devaluing reward earnings.
There is an argument in certain circles that we’re all delusional if we think we’re living a modern life full of innovation. Instead, it’s argued that little has changed in the physical world since the 1970s. The ways we travel, sleep, eat, etc are still functionally the same. We aren’t closer to Star Trek.
One of the best examples of that is aviation. It’s cheaper and a lot of the process around it is easier, but in very broad terms the planes we get on aren’t wildly different from those introduced decades ago in the “tube-and-wing” form. They certainly aren’t getting us there any faster. And the Concorde is no longer.
But a couple of days ago Delta Air Lines issued a press release that adds weight to the possibility we’re on the cusp of some big things in aviation. The airline announced a partnership with JetZero to help the aviation startup design its planes for commercial use. For the unfamiliar, JetZero is a Long Beach-based company working on a blended-wing-body plane.
Today’s commercial airplanes are, as mentioned, tube-and-wing which is exactly what it sounds like. Blended-wing-body basically means there’s no delineation between the wings of the aircraft and the body (but structurally there is still a “body area,” it’s just blended into the wings). This contrasts with flying wing planes that have no defined body area or my favorite, the inelegant lifting bodies that look like gronckles from How to Train Your Dragon.
If your eyes are glazing over, my apologies. But if the lofty ambitions of JetZero and Delta are met—test flights in 2027 and commercial flights in 2030—your experience of a plane could soon be very, very different. For one, JetZero’s engine placement is such that the experience is theoretically significantly quieter. Second, with a much wider fuselage (body of the plane) the ways airlines can configure seating is, frankly, up for grabs. The rendering issued by Delta and JetZero is sort of meaningless but still visually interesting.
Nonetheless, the plane you walk into will look very different from that of your parents or grandparents.
Now, I’m skeptical of the timeline, even though big players like the U.S. Air Force are involved and footing a lot of the bill. But the JetZero news is far from the only movement in this arena. The last two months have seen big testing breakthroughs for Boom Supersonic, which is building a new line of supersonic planes. In the last couple of months it managed to achieve supersonic speeds without supersonic booms. (United and American Airlines have purchase agreements with Boom. Part of its bet is slightly slower speeds than the Concorde but with greater range.)
Just this week Boom released the photo above it got from NASA of a recent supersonic test and it’s pretty damn cool.
And at some point in the first half of 2025, Heart Aerospace is supposed to carry out its test of the first fully-electric experimental flight in Plattsburgh, New York.
It could all be hot air, of course, but I find myself more and more excited each time one of these bits of progress come each time one of these bits of progress comes into my inbox.
DEPARTMENT OF GRIEVANCES
I don’t love list stories, but I absolutely love it when the National Park Service releases its list of the most (and least) visited parks. First, because it’s a window into what people like and if there are any changes. Second, because of how many things one might not know are technically NPS parks actually are: the White House, GW Parkway, etc. And third, which is somewhat related to the second, is how many of these obscure ones provide great inspiration for an off-the-beaten-path trip! There’s no surprise at the top of the list—Golden Gate and Blue Ridge Parkway have dominated for years. Golden Gate because it’s in a major city and Blue Ridge because it’s jaw-dropping beautiful and car-focused. Overall, 2024 was a record year for national parks with roughly 331.9 million visitors. Here’s the top ten list of what people typically think of as national parks:
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.19 million)
2. Zion National Park (4.94 million)
3. Grand Canyon National Park (4.91 million)
4. Yellowstone National Park (4.74 million)
5. Rocky Mountain National Park (4.15 million)
6. Yosemite National Park (4.12 million)
7. Acadia National Park (3.96 million)
8. Olympic National Park (3.71 million)
9. Grand Teton National Park (3.62 million)
10. Glacier National Park (3.20 million)
As much as I love a beautiful hotel, if there was a hotel designed to maximize the quality of sleep and comfort I get in it, I would willingly sacrifice most aesthetics for it. Quiet, light control, a good mattress, non-rustley sheets, a variety of pillows, and good water pressure are all I often care about.
Airlines really are so, so, so slippery about reward reductions. The latest offender is Southwest, which secretly cut the accrual value of its lowest fares. It’s a reminder for readers that airline loyalty is well and truly over. Stop chasing status or pretending there’s some kind of “relationship” between you and a specific airline. It’s gone. Also, earn and burn! Don’t sit on points, as they’re also continually being devalued.
The Atlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker is out with a well-reported piece on the deeply worrying state of things at the FAA. Human error—not Boeing’s planes—remains my biggest concern when it comes to flight safety, so I read this piece with growing alarm.
Roughly a decade ago, America’s premier print tabloid got beaten at becoming the dominant national tabloid online. The Daily Mail was and still is the first source of celebrity, crime, and strange news for Americans and not the storied New York Post. A lot of this was because the Post transitioned too slowly from New York-centric lifestyle coverage and The Daily Mail realized that an obese person in Iowa falling asleep on their dog and killing it was interesting to everybody everywhere. But over the last couple of years, the Post has found one entry point back in that it has absolutely dominated—the influencer backlash cycle. Essentially, it pulls a random Instagrammer or TikToker with anywhere from a few dozen thousand to millions of followers and does a story on some rant, life hack, take that they’ve posted and has gone viral. It’s a guaranteed win because the virality has already been tested. I bring this up because the ones they’ve been doing a ton of lately—and elevating some truly stupid people in the process—have been travel ones. The latest? An influencer claims the best way to find cool neighborhoods in a city you’re visiting is to look for Lululemons and Whole Foods.
The prices for next year’s Ikon and Epic Passes have been released and, surprise surprise, the cost has gone up.
My main takeaway—and area of agreement—with former Village Voice restaurant critic Robert Seitsema’s column on the end of the “foodie” era is that I hope at some point the emphasis swings back to actually enjoying food.
One hotel I’ve had my eye on for 2025 openings, the Pensione America in Forte dei Marmi is officially opening next month. Here are some early images of the 18-suite villa:
And finally, we accept absolute slop in a lot of airline lounges. I recently had the displeasure of experiencing the Star Alliance lounge in the international airport and the food was inedible. At most lounges that aren’t brand new or focused on first-class, the food is indistinguishable from what you’d get at a La Quinta—if you’re lucky. A perfect example is the United Lounge at DCA which I love for its great views, quiet, and lots of seating, but really has weak offerings food-wise.
TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS
JetBlue unveiled plans for overhauling Terminal 5 at JFK (its flagship terminal)
Starwood Hotels is back! (It’s a rebrand of SH Hotels & Resorts which owns 1 Hotels and others)
Four Seasons has released renderings for the food & beverage options on its upcoming yacht
US issues travel advisory for Turks and Caicos
More Delta flights are getting Shake Shack as an option
Edinburgh hotel that “looks like a poop emoji” wins Scottish hotel of the year
Austin is the next city getting self-driving Uber rides on Waymo, and Atlanta will follow
U.S. drivers set a record for miles driven in 2024
Poland is building a 180-foot Virgin Mary statue that will set a world record
Aaand a week after reopening to foreigners, North Korea has already shut it down