Australian Aviation Podcast Network

With the Iran conflict driving up fuel prices amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, you might expect international travel to plummet and airfares to soar – but it turns out the real picture is a touch more complicated than that.
While airlines have been pruning services and hiking prices, both Qantas and Virgin have launched huge domestic sales to try to woo customers with millions of discounted seats, while Sydney Airport just saw the best quarter for international travel in its history.
On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David try to make head or tail of the unexpectedly topsy-turvy outcomes of the Middle East crisis on our aviation sector, and examine how the world's airspace is being reshaped – for now or for good.
Plus, Western Sydney Airport's new flight paths are locked and loaded – what can Sydneysiders expect when the first cargo planes arrive in July?

It's well-known that the aviation and aerospace sector has been suffering under a talent shortage for some time now – not to mention the challenge of promoting greater diversity in the workforce.
One potential solution? To encourage more young people to enter the industry – to cultivate a love of aviation from an early age, and help kids realise it could hold their dream job.
Together with the CSIRO's STEM in Schools program, industry bodies like Aviation/Aerospace Australia are doing just that by going into schools and holding talks and workshops on what an aviation career could mean for students' futures.
On this Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake talks to Anntonette Dailey of Aviation/Aerospace Australia about the root causes behind the talent crisis, what the industry is doing about them, and the support it needs to bring young people along for the ride.

The government has rolled out its 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, and there's plenty to dissect for aviation – an early sunset for Tiger helicopters, the retirement of the C-27J Spartan, and a $7 billion boost to counter-drone defences, just to start with.
While the RAAF alone is slated to get between $34-41 billion over the next 10 years, as the world becomes more unstable and traditional alliances get shakier, is Australia doing enough to bolster its own air defences?
On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David are joined by aerospace and defence lead Stephen Kuper to discuss what Australia is doing – and could be doing – to safeguard its skies.
Plus, the Iran conflict has driven Australian traffic to the Middle East off a cliff – which hubs are picking up the slack, and what's happening to our domestic capacity?

When plucky start-up airline Bonza collapsed in 2024, everyone was quick to point the finger at its business model as the reason for its failure – yet often overlooked was the role its financiers, 777 Partners, played in its demise by abruptly cutting off funding without warning.
With the Miami-based investment firm now drowning in lawsuits and criminal investigations, Bonza's former chief executive, Tim Jordan, this week came out swinging in an Australian Aviation interview where he pointed the finger squarely in its direction over the carrier's fate.
On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David dissect the Tim Jordan interview, examine how 777 Partners pulling the plug spelt the end for Bonza, and look at the lessons for Australia's next potential domestic airline.
Plus, as the Qantas-Virgin duopoly continues to squeeze the domestic market, we ask: how much of it is actually the major airlines' fault?

When Bonza burst onto the scene in 2023 with its bright purple tails, its budgie smugglers, and its unique "point-to-point" business strategy, the scrappy start-up airline – and its chief executive Tim Jordan – looked to be sparking a revolution in the domestic market.
Just over a year later, however, the lofty goal of being "here for Allstralia" lay in ruins, with Bonza's financier 777 Partners abruptly pulling funding and letting its aircraft be repossessed, leaving Jordan and the rest of the airline's staff and passengers holding the bag.
It's easy in hindsight to say that the idea was doomed from the start, that there was no market for Bonza's idea of connecting regional centres and holiday destinations without connecting through big hubs, but according to Jordan, that's far from the real story.
In this exclusive interview with the Australian Aviation Podcast, his first since his airline's collapse, Jordan tells Jake Nelson how the Bonza dream turned into a nightmare – and why he still thinks there's room for more domestic airlines in Australia's skies.