John Walton
@thatjohn.bsky.social
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.
Journo, Japan travel expert, bon vivant, lover of gardens, fan of 22°C, crocheter, Champagne enthusiast.
Big 🏳️🌈 w/the 🏳️⚧️, 🇫🇷 in 🇪🇺, he/him.
i think my favourite moment is Jason Alexander greenscreen dad dancing behind Tonya Harding, who is — and I do not speak Norwegian, let’s be clear — i trobbel
January 25, 2026 at 10:57 AM
i think my favourite moment is Jason Alexander greenscreen dad dancing behind Tonya Harding, who is — and I do not speak Norwegian, let’s be clear — i trobbel
…in which I also dig out photos from as recently as 2017 where Japan Airlines was handing out ENORMOUS power banks in domestic first class seat pockets!
January 16, 2026 at 5:22 PM
…in which I also dig out photos from as recently as 2017 where Japan Airlines was handing out ENORMOUS power banks in domestic first class seat pockets!
oliver i cannot unsee this now, you absolute can't
January 12, 2026 at 5:06 PM
oliver i cannot unsee this now, you absolute can't
😢 ai mis #faveplane s no
(Also why is there a half-disassembled BA A321 at Madrid in the Iberia MRO zone?)
(Also why is there a half-disassembled BA A321 at Madrid in the Iberia MRO zone?)
January 7, 2026 at 12:02 PM
😢 ai mis #faveplane s no
(Also why is there a half-disassembled BA A321 at Madrid in the Iberia MRO zone?)
(Also why is there a half-disassembled BA A321 at Madrid in the Iberia MRO zone?)
For some unfathomable reason every single piece of tableware on Air Nostrum has a separate brand to daddy Iberia.
Genuinely baffling from a cost and complexity point of view — not least because the bloody AIRPLANE wasn’t even painted! Why bother? Just use the Iberia ones! Nobody books Air Nostrum!
Genuinely baffling from a cost and complexity point of view — not least because the bloody AIRPLANE wasn’t even painted! Why bother? Just use the Iberia ones! Nobody books Air Nostrum!
January 7, 2026 at 11:58 AM
For some unfathomable reason every single piece of tableware on Air Nostrum has a separate brand to daddy Iberia.
Genuinely baffling from a cost and complexity point of view — not least because the bloody AIRPLANE wasn’t even painted! Why bother? Just use the Iberia ones! Nobody books Air Nostrum!
Genuinely baffling from a cost and complexity point of view — not least because the bloody AIRPLANE wasn’t even painted! Why bother? Just use the Iberia ones! Nobody books Air Nostrum!
There were four separate announcements and two placards per seat trumpeting Air Nostrum-Iberia’s Immfly-powered “Regional Play” stream-over-wifi entertainment.
Which has a whopping TWO television shows on it.
Which has a whopping TWO television shows on it.
January 7, 2026 at 11:54 AM
There were four separate announcements and two placards per seat trumpeting Air Nostrum-Iberia’s Immfly-powered “Regional Play” stream-over-wifi entertainment.
Which has a whopping TWO television shows on it.
Which has a whopping TWO television shows on it.
Inflight, Air Nostrum was genuinely dreadful. 10am departure and the breakfast was dire. I can’t decide if the cold-in-the-middle tortilla-omelette or the dusty dry pan-au-chocolat napolitana thing was worse.
Crew then poured one cup of coffee and disappeared for the whole 90 minute flight.
Crew then poured one cup of coffee and disappeared for the whole 90 minute flight.
January 7, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Inflight, Air Nostrum was genuinely dreadful. 10am departure and the breakfast was dire. I can’t decide if the cold-in-the-middle tortilla-omelette or the dusty dry pan-au-chocolat napolitana thing was worse.
Crew then poured one cup of coffee and disappeared for the whole 90 minute flight.
Crew then poured one cup of coffee and disappeared for the whole 90 minute flight.
So the first flight of my #IberiaButNotIberia flight was Europe’s worst business class: this genuinely dreadful Air Nostrum CRJ.
I’m 6’2” so I can’t even stand up fully in these awful things — and Iberia doesn’t even block the neighbour seat in 2-2 business.
I’m 6’2” so I can’t even stand up fully in these awful things — and Iberia doesn’t even block the neighbour seat in 2-2 business.
January 7, 2026 at 11:12 AM
So the first flight of my #IberiaButNotIberia flight was Europe’s worst business class: this genuinely dreadful Air Nostrum CRJ.
I’m 6’2” so I can’t even stand up fully in these awful things — and Iberia doesn’t even block the neighbour seat in 2-2 business.
I’m 6’2” so I can’t even stand up fully in these awful things — and Iberia doesn’t even block the neighbour seat in 2-2 business.
Meanwhile, in the British Airways lounge: adjectives they should not describe scrambled eggs include “grey”, “desiccated” and “crunchy”.
January 7, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Meanwhile, in the British Airways lounge: adjectives they should not describe scrambled eggs include “grey”, “desiccated” and “crunchy”.
@x626.bsky.social @kjcharleswriter.com I’m not saying that this is oracular in some way, but please be careful…
January 6, 2026 at 1:58 PM
@x626.bsky.social @kjcharleswriter.com I’m not saying that this is oracular in some way, but please be careful…
This piece on AI from @seamas.bsky.social is apt, cogent and pithy. I recommend it to you in its entirety.
(I am also delighted to see another indepedent publication using @ghost.org, which @garius.bsky.social and I use for @theupfront.media — where we hold very similar views about the use of AI.)
(I am also delighted to see another indepedent publication using @ghost.org, which @garius.bsky.social and I use for @theupfront.media — where we hold very similar views about the use of AI.)
January 5, 2026 at 11:41 AM
This piece on AI from @seamas.bsky.social is apt, cogent and pithy. I recommend it to you in its entirety.
(I am also delighted to see another indepedent publication using @ghost.org, which @garius.bsky.social and I use for @theupfront.media — where we hold very similar views about the use of AI.)
(I am also delighted to see another indepedent publication using @ghost.org, which @garius.bsky.social and I use for @theupfront.media — where we hold very similar views about the use of AI.)
in fairness to Mr Scarry, airport baggage handling has changed little from the days of my origin story
December 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
in fairness to Mr Scarry, airport baggage handling has changed little from the days of my origin story
This guy, seventeen versions of whom I can introduce you to in a single evening in Gran Canaria's Yumbo Centre, likes his winters like he likes his men.
December 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This guy, seventeen versions of whom I can introduce you to in a single evening in Gran Canaria's Yumbo Centre, likes his winters like he likes his men.
Opening my ereader after a lovely family evening on Christmas Eve — time for one of my favourite Christmas traditions, the Innsbruck Christmas section of "Jo of the Chalet School", published 1926. It's so atmospheric and lovely.
Start at Chapter XIV:
www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php...
Start at Chapter XIV:
www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php...
December 24, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Opening my ereader after a lovely family evening on Christmas Eve — time for one of my favourite Christmas traditions, the Innsbruck Christmas section of "Jo of the Chalet School", published 1926. It's so atmospheric and lovely.
Start at Chapter XIV:
www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php...
Start at Chapter XIV:
www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php...
And, in case the film wasn’t enough proof… Clancy himself sets the novel to finish on 21 December, with Ryan flying home the morning after The Eighteenth Day, with Stanley’s little bear brother-by-another-mother sitting next to him.
December 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
And, in case the film wasn’t enough proof… Clancy himself sets the novel to finish on 21 December, with Ryan flying home the morning after The Eighteenth Day, with Stanley’s little bear brother-by-another-mother sitting next to him.
And then we come to what is *actually* the worst airline #avgeek howler of the film, which is that Ryan is flying back to London (with a little bear brother for Stanley — who, remember, is NOT A BEAR) with the sun on the left-hand side of the aircraft when it should be on the right.
December 24, 2025 at 2:34 PM
And then we come to what is *actually* the worst airline #avgeek howler of the film, which is that Ryan is flying back to London (with a little bear brother for Stanley — who, remember, is NOT A BEAR) with the sun on the left-hand side of the aircraft when it should be on the right.
I HAVE to talk about the cinematic genius that is this scene with Connery and Peter Firth as — post-hoc nominative yikes, political officer Putin — where we zoom in close as Firth (in okay Russian) reads Revelations in Russian and then he (and the whole film) changes to English as we pull out.
December 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I HAVE to talk about the cinematic genius that is this scene with Connery and Peter Firth as — post-hoc nominative yikes, political officer Putin — where we zoom in close as Firth (in okay Russian) reads Revelations in Russian and then he (and the whole film) changes to English as we pull out.
Anyway, back to my "The Hunt for Red October is a Christmas Movie" argument. Greer sends Ryan off to Skip Tyler at Patuxent River, and the very same day Ryan is at the White House doing the briefing where we learn that it is the 23rd, the anniversary of Ramius' death. And it looks like this outside.
December 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Anyway, back to my "The Hunt for Red October is a Christmas Movie" argument. Greer sends Ryan off to Skip Tyler at Patuxent River, and the very same day Ryan is at the White House doing the briefing where we learn that it is the 23rd, the anniversary of Ramius' death. And it looks like this outside.
Back in the late 1980s, Jones being both Black and an Admiral in the movie — and a smart, heroic character — was a pretty big thing.
The behind-the-scenes talks about it in a bit of an "I Don't See Race" way, but still, it's an impressive move, especially with how huge Clancy was at the time.
The behind-the-scenes talks about it in a bit of an "I Don't See Race" way, but still, it's an impressive move, especially with how huge Clancy was at the time.
December 24, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Back in the late 1980s, Jones being both Black and an Admiral in the movie — and a smart, heroic character — was a pretty big thing.
The behind-the-scenes talks about it in a bit of an "I Don't See Race" way, but still, it's an impressive move, especially with how huge Clancy was at the time.
The behind-the-scenes talks about it in a bit of an "I Don't See Race" way, but still, it's an impressive move, especially with how huge Clancy was at the time.
And then we get to this, one of my favourite moments in the whole of The Hunt for Red October, which ABSOLUTELY did not need to go this hard.
I mean, you hire James Earl Jones for a reason — and why would you stop him when he starts chewing the scenery?
I mean, you hire James Earl Jones for a reason — and why would you stop him when he starts chewing the scenery?
December 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
And then we get to this, one of my favourite moments in the whole of The Hunt for Red October, which ABSOLUTELY did not need to go this hard.
I mean, you hire James Earl Jones for a reason — and why would you stop him when he starts chewing the scenery?
I mean, you hire James Earl Jones for a reason — and why would you stop him when he starts chewing the scenery?
Now, for our redeye continuity, note that Ryan, *in his Lovely Navy Jumper*, is collected by two CIA minders inside the baggage hall (!) and driven to the CIA in Langley in a Crown Vic.
But when he gets there and greets James Earl Jones' Jim Greer, he's in a suit and tie — and it's still daylight.
But when he gets there and greets James Earl Jones' Jim Greer, he's in a suit and tie — and it's still daylight.
December 24, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Now, for our redeye continuity, note that Ryan, *in his Lovely Navy Jumper*, is collected by two CIA minders inside the baggage hall (!) and driven to the CIA in Langley in a Crown Vic.
But when he gets there and greets James Earl Jones' Jim Greer, he's in a suit and tie — and it's still daylight.
But when he gets there and greets James Earl Jones' Jim Greer, he's in a suit and tie — and it's still daylight.
Anyway, back to Famous Christmas Movie The Hunt for Red October. Ryan walks through baggage claim with his briefcase.
It's marked as being Washington (presumably Dulles) but I'm not familiar enough with IAD to confirm (one for @middleseatview.bsky.social and @airportarchitecture.byerussell.com?)
It's marked as being Washington (presumably Dulles) but I'm not familiar enough with IAD to confirm (one for @middleseatview.bsky.social and @airportarchitecture.byerussell.com?)
December 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Anyway, back to Famous Christmas Movie The Hunt for Red October. Ryan walks through baggage claim with his briefcase.
It's marked as being Washington (presumably Dulles) but I'm not familiar enough with IAD to confirm (one for @middleseatview.bsky.social and @airportarchitecture.byerussell.com?)
It's marked as being Washington (presumably Dulles) but I'm not familiar enough with IAD to confirm (one for @middleseatview.bsky.social and @airportarchitecture.byerussell.com?)
NOW. I debunked the big #avgeek complaint about The Hunt for Red October, that Ryan flies a westbound redeye.
ACTUALLY, the REAL #avgeek complaint should be that this Club World cup was not introduced until 1988, four years AFTER the movie is set. In 1984, this would have been Super Club branding.
ACTUALLY, the REAL #avgeek complaint should be that this Club World cup was not introduced until 1988, four years AFTER the movie is set. In 1984, this would have been Super Club branding.
December 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM
We and our Club World cup and saucer are treated to Jack Ryan's treatise on turbulence ("Solar radiation heats the earth's crust, warm air rises, cold air descends. Turbulence. I don't like that.") before, in accurate British Airways 1980s stewardess fashion, he is instructed "try to sleep anyway".
December 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
We and our Club World cup and saucer are treated to Jack Ryan's treatise on turbulence ("Solar radiation heats the earth's crust, warm air rises, cold air descends. Turbulence. I don't like that.") before, in accurate British Airways 1980s stewardess fashion, he is instructed "try to sleep anyway".
We then see Jack on, presumably, a Boeing 747, in British Airways Club World (clock the nine-square branding on the cup). It is dark outside.
Enter a common #avgeek complaint about The Hunt for Red October: there are no westbound red-eyes to the US!
But this is winter. Departing London.
Enter a common #avgeek complaint about The Hunt for Red October: there are no westbound red-eyes to the US!
But this is winter. Departing London.
December 24, 2025 at 10:44 AM
We then see Jack on, presumably, a Boeing 747, in British Airways Club World (clock the nine-square branding on the cup). It is dark outside.
Enter a common #avgeek complaint about The Hunt for Red October: there are no westbound red-eyes to the US!
But this is winter. Departing London.
Enter a common #avgeek complaint about The Hunt for Red October: there are no westbound red-eyes to the US!
But this is winter. Departing London.