Photo: United Airlines In the fourth quarter of 2025, something happened at Delta Air Lines that had never happened in the company's nearly 100-year history. For the first time ever, the airline made more money from the front of the plane than from the back. As reported in Delta's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings results, premium cabin revenue reached $5.70 billion, edging past main cabin's $5.62 billion—premium up 9% year over year, economy down 7%. It wasn't a fluke. A company

Delays, cancellations, and diversions have exposed a fragmentation problem that runs from the first decision to the last payment — and the airlines that unify that chain will win the passenger. Part 1 of a two-part series on IROPS. A departures board at the San Francisco International Airport on 7 November 2025. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA Ask any traveler heading to an airport this summer what they expect, and the honest answer is no longer “a smooth trip.” It is “a dela

If you've ever booked a $29 flight to Fort Lauderdale, grabbed a last-minute weekend fare for under $100, or squeezed into a no-frills seat because the price was just too good to pass up—Spirit Airlines made that possible. And now, Spirit is gone. The ultra-low-cost carrier's shutdown marks the end of an era for budget air travel in the United States. For millions of travelers, Spirit wasn't just an airline—it was the airline that made flying accessible. But for the aviation