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thatjohn.bsky.social
John Walton
@thatjohn.bsky.social
3.4K followers 260 following 4K posts
Editor in chief of @theupfront.media: in-depth independent aviation journalism for the digital age. Subscribe today!

Journo, Japan travel expert, bon vivant, lover of gardens, fan of 22°C, crocheter, Champagne enthusiast.

Big 🏳️‍🌈 w/the 🏳️‍⚧️, 🇪🇺 in 🇫🇷, he/him.
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thatjohn.bsky.social
John Walton @thatjohn.bsky.social · May 26
I couldn't be more excited to bring you my newest exciting challenge: The Up Front.

Creating, designing and building the site — and over 15,000 words of content at launch — with @garius.bsky.social has been nothing short of incredible.

Join us for a fresh new approach to aviation journalism.
theupfront.media The Up Front @theupfront.media · May 26
Hello and welcome to The Up Front — in-depth, independent aviation journalism on the topics that matter for the people who live and breathe the passenger experience in aviation: airlines, passengers, designers, manufacturers, and the supply chain and ecosystem that surround it all.

theupfront.media
The Up Front
In-depth independent aviation journalism for the digital age
theupfront.media
Reposted by John Walton
theupfront.media
Don't miss the latest edition of The Up Front Update — fascinating news on Eurostar, WestJet, American (and Collins' Aurora seat), Emirates, Finnair and more!

theupfront.media/update-22-eu...
Update #22: Eurostar’s new trains, WestJet’s new owners, American’s new A321XLRs, Emirates’ new accessibility options, Finnair’s new seat covers, and more…
What’s behind Eurostar’s small order for big TGV trains, the Delta-Korean-Air France-KLM purchase of a chunk of WestJet, American’s A321XLRs (and Collins Aurora) arrive, plus more on those Finnair air...
theupfront.media
October 25, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by John Walton
sillysyntax.bsky.social
all this omg if you use these words ppl will think you use chatgpt! Omg stop using emdashes. Excuse, I will use whatever the hell I want. Writers wrote whatever they wanted and this machine gobbled it all up and now we can't use words and punctuation because the machine spits it out? Absurd.
October 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by John Walton
chrisjrn.fyi
"Why is the governor who is old running in this Senate seat when there's already an excellent-looking progressive candidate running?"

(3-7 days later)

"I regret to inform you that progressive guy hangs out with milkshake duck"
October 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
surely he’s just spaffing everyone’s money on being utterly shite at candy crush
direthoughts.com Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 23d
sort of curious to know what video games the disgraced royal is playing. is he a big paradox guy or is he just putting 100s of hours into romance visual novels
October 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by John Walton
unseenjapan.com
When it comes to Japan's APA Hotels, you can’t separate the man from his creation. The founder’s extreme political views and aggressive business tactics have significantly shaped the hotel’s image, adding a complex new layer to its identity and branding.
More Than a Budget Stay: The Controversy Behind Japan's APA Hotels - Unseen Japan
APA Hotels in Japan are ubiquitous and affordable. Behind the cheap prices lies an aggressive business strategy and war crimes denialism.
buff.ly
October 18, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by John Walton
eva.computer
white house has joined bluesky
click here to block all official us government accounts instantly

bsky.app/profile/did:...
October 17, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by John Walton
theupfront.media
Out now: how Cathay is targeting top-tier frequent flyer members with its new Diamond Exec super-elite tier.

Plus: Finnair gets done dirty with seat cover cleaning, MORE Lufthansa fleet-and-seat details, and our weekly filter of the firehose of aviation news.

theupfront.media/update-21-ca...
Update #21: Cathay revamps its top-tier loyalty offer, plus your passenger experience news filter this week
How Cathay is making genuine improvements to its loyalty program, aiming at top tier spenders — plus news from Finnair, updates on proposed China-US flight bans, yet more Lufthansa fleet and seat move...
theupfront.media
October 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by John Walton
rahaeli.bsky.social
A small bit of bright news for trans men in the UK and their right to bodily and reproductive autonomy. The judge's opinion is an excellent read!
October 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
High on my list of Websites I Really Want is one that just lists, for each city's transit system:

• the best mapping/journey planning app
• the city transit app
• payment details: fare model (turnstile/proof-of-payment), stored value/NFC-tap, daily/weekly options, tourist deal cards, etc
astrokatie.com Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 25d
Living in the Future benefit: the combination of Google Maps public transit directions and phone-tap onboard payment makes it SO EASY to take public trams/buses/metros when traveling now. It’s fantastic not to have to resort to taxis just for lack of easy access to the local transit ticketing system
October 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
This is REAL and the PDF is linked in the thread.
wafflecut.bsky.social Waffle 🧇 @wafflecut.bsky.social · 26d
Learned that an anonymous outside expert on submersibles did an interview with the OceanGate Titan investigation, and they released a transcript, with all the names redacted. The first line of his first answer? "I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic."
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD ***************** Investigation of: LOSS OF THE SUBMARINE TITAN IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN ON JUNE 18, 2023 * * * * * * Accident No.: *********** * * * * * * Interview of: Co-designer/Pilot Deepsea Challenger DCA23FM036 via Microsoft Teams Friday, July 26, 2024 INTERVIEW OF 10 BY LCDR 11 Q. So how did you get yourself started into submersible 12 operations? 13 A. Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic. When I 14 set down the path to make that film, the first thing that I did 15 was arrange to be introduced to the head of the submersible 16 program at the P.P. Shirshov Institute in Moscow, a guy named 17| Professor I. I did that through a mutual friend 18 of ours, a guy named , who is one of the preeminent underwater cinematographers in the world. And had been on a 20 submersible expedition out to Titanic the previous year with the 21 Russians. And that was organized by a Canadian company that was 22 doing an IMAX film which was released under the title Titanica.
October 17, 2025 at 7:01 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
*Gojira playing Ça ira intensifies*
financialtimes.com Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 26d
Opinion: More than any other western European country, France is dominated by powerful billionaires paying relatively low taxes. Most voters agree that France should cut its deficit, and the majority says: the super-rich first. on.ft.com/4hedHHZ
October 17, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Reposted by John Walton
theupfront.media
Part 2 of our in-depth analysis of Lufthansa's Capital Markets Day dives into the seats, fleets, onboard product… and just where those two extra types of Allegris seat from 2023 disappeared to.

As the great philosopher Tatianna once said: "Choices."

theupfront.media/a-coda-for-a...
A coda for Allegris: Lufthansa’s fleet and seat strategy problems, from its Group Capital Markets Day, Part 2
Completing our analysis, we examine the Lufthansa Group’s airline fleets, its seats onboard, the history and reality of Allegris (and FICE), and what Lufthansa needs to do to pull itself out of the bu...
theupfront.media
October 16, 2025 at 10:34 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
Did I use @airlineflyer.net's updated fleet harmonisation diagram in this piece?

No.

Was I tempted?

Yes, 346 times.
The Lufthansa Capital Markets Day "Widebody fleet simplification" slide with a yellow ? added next to the 777X and my grinning face superimposed over the end date for the A340-600.
October 16, 2025 at 10:45 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
Okay, so I know this is niche but… why is the new American centenary livery Flagship flag flying the wrong way round?

The flag is supposed to fly as if it were hanging on the aircraft, fluttering towards the rear — as it is on the DC-3 livery in this picture they distributed.
A 777 with a vintage American livery in mostly silver, with the pennant-like flagship flag flying to the right, as if the plane were going backwards. The inspiration DC-3 version of that livery, with the flag flying in the right direction.
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
@rahaeli.bsky.social blessings once more upon your house for the COVID vaccine antihistamine prophylaxis advocacy, had the double vaxburger yesterday and do not feel like crap, thank you forever
October 15, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Reposted by John Walton
theupfront.media
We talk about CMF — colour, materials, and finish — of airline cabins a lot, and folks are often surprised at how high-tech something like a seat cover can be in order to meet requirements like flammability, smoke toxicity and heat release.
flightradar24.com Flightradar24 @flightradar24.com · 28d
Finnair is canceling some flights and performing inspections on 8 of its A321s because the seat covers on those aircraft were cleaned using water. www.flightradar24.com/blog/aviatio...
The cabin of a Finnair A321 looking aft.
October 14, 2025 at 6:50 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
Quick (ahahahahaha lolsob) FYI for any other overseas-residing US citizens or others who need to file the FBAR: the new online system isn't working but you only discover this when you get to the end.

The download-PDF-fill-in-upload system is working, but of course you need Acrobat.
October 13, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by John Walton
thatjohn.bsky.social
My take on the new BA lounges in Miami and Dubai — oh, and why they're more bad news for BA Gold and oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers.

theupfront.media/update-20-ba...
Text: You know that old adage from Coco Chanel about removing one accessory before leaving the house? That feels like it might have been good advice for the many, many colours, textures and elements of this lounge. The aesthetic doesn’t really feel like anything new either. I first summed it up as if BA fed the Cathay-Ilse Crawford and Etihad Design Consortium lounge brand elements from the mid-2010s into an AI image generator, and on reflection I’d include adding some instructions to turn the colour saturation about three notches past the “Wes Anderson” setting, and to incorporate the airline’s union flag brand colours as much as possible.
October 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by John Walton
jasonrosewell.bsky.social
Blake Boom is a bigoted asshole. Full stop. #pickme
A screenshot of an X (formerly Twitter) post. At the top, the time on the phone reads 22:40. The post shows user stepfanie tyler (@wildbarestepf) writing, “when looking for a mate, you should always seek out people with an obvious mental illness.” Below her post is another embedded tweet from i/o (@avidseries) that says, “Dumb: First question. Dumber: Second question.” That tweet includes an image of a Psychology Today article headline reading, “Will Straight Men and Women Date a Trans Person? Evidence suggests the answer is often no—but why not?” The article is by Ritch C. Savin-Williams, Ph.D., under the category “Sex, Sexuality, and Romance.” Underneath, Blake Scholl (@bscholl) has quote-tweeted it saying, “I fixed it.” Another screenshot of Blake Scholl’s post on X showing his quote tweet that says, “I fixed it.” Below, there’s an image of the same Psychology Today article, but the publication title has been edited so that “Psychology Today” now reads “Psycho Today.” The post shows it was made at 21:31 on October 12, 2025, with about 1,000 views. The top reply from stepfanie tyler reads, “it took me way too long to figure out what you did 😂.” The phone time again reads 22:40 at the top.
October 12, 2025 at 8:49 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
I did some maths and wrote about this in July. If Airbus and Boeing don’t produce markedly more widebodies than they have ever managed before, there is a hole of somewhere between 5 and 20 Emirates-sized airlines in the widebody market.

theupfront.media/as-productio...
Text: Historically, production data (from Boeing and Airbus, cross-referenced with production charts) show widebody deliveries peaked in the mid-2010s at just over 350 per year. In 2024, Airbus and Boeing together manufactured about half that number. That gives us two edges of the manufacturing envelope between today and 2044: • assuming 350 widebodies per year: 7,000 aircraft produced, gap of 1,300 • assuming 175 widebodies per year: 3,500 aircraft produced, gap of 5,000
October 12, 2025 at 4:16 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
My take on the new BA lounges in Miami and Dubai — oh, and why they're more bad news for BA Gold and oneworld Sapphire frequent flyers.

theupfront.media/update-20-ba...
Text: You know that old adage from Coco Chanel about removing one accessory before leaving the house? That feels like it might have been good advice for the many, many colours, textures and elements of this lounge. The aesthetic doesn’t really feel like anything new either. I first summed it up as if BA fed the Cathay-Ilse Crawford and Etihad Design Consortium lounge brand elements from the mid-2010s into an AI image generator, and on reflection I’d include adding some instructions to turn the colour saturation about three notches past the “Wes Anderson” setting, and to incorporate the airline’s union flag brand colours as much as possible.
October 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
Hot damn, I wish I voted in the city and not the suburbs.
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Oct 11
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
October 11, 2025 at 6:39 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
What an absolutely outrageous statement.

Some airport lounges are genuinely nice places to spend an hour or two.
samfr.bsky.social Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Oct 11
I've been to Dubai for work a few times. It's like the world's biggest airport lounge. Utterly soulless. Can't imagine wanting to live there whatever the financial benefits. (That's before you get to the ethical issues...)
katie0martin.ft.com Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · Oct 11
People keep telling me the UK is so over and they're going to move to Dubai and, like, fine. Go on then. Would you like directions to the airport?
October 11, 2025 at 8:26 AM
thatjohn.bsky.social
I've spent the last couple of days trying to read between the lines of Airbus' services forecasting numbers for "modifications & upgrades", which includes cabins.

But it really does seem like Airbus is forecasting a sharp drop in that demand. Does that make sense to you?
October 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
thatjohn.bsky.social
Why do those new BA lounges look like someone fed the 2014 Cathay/Ilse Crawford and Etihad/Landor/Facets lounges into an AI slop machine and said "make it a bit Union Jack-y"?
October 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM