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Delta announced its first nine routes with its new flagship domestic aircraft — the Airbus A220-100 — and they all touch competitor hubs. Do you think that's by chance? I said no. So does Bob Mann, the industry consultant. "They are going to poke the bear," he said.

On their third quarter earnings call, Delta executives confirmed what I had been hearing anecdotally for a while: Customers are buying premium seats at an increased rate. With a hot economy, more business and high-end leisure travelers are deciding they can afford business class, domestic first class, premium economy, and extra-legroom economy class seats. The business is so strong Delta executives said they would consider installing more premium seats.

Aer Lingus is no longer a stand-alone airline, so it makes sense that its CEO, Stephen Kavanagh, who joined the company in 1988, is stepping down. Newish owner International Airlines Group, owner of Iberia and British Airways, is putting its own man in charge. Skift Europe Editor Patrick Whyte has the story.

This excellent enterprise piece from Skift's Sarah Enelow-Synder is not about airlines, though the Mexican carrier Volaris figures prominently. Holger Blankenstein, who runs the airline's commercial team, explains why marketing to Mexican-Americans is different from targeting vacationers. "In a Mexican-origin family, the son or daughter are the ones who buy the flight ticket for the parents," he said. "How the family gets to know Volaris and the brand is passed down from generation to generation."

Traditionally, online travel agencies only show the fare price. That's beginning to change, with some sharing with customers information about seat pitch, on-time performance, and Wi-Fi. Still, you usually still must check with the airline if you want to know how many miles you will earn. But Ctrip is working with a California-based company called 30K to show miles earnings to customers, according to Skift contributor Grant Martin.

This may creep out some passengers, but it's probably the right move. Facial scans don't have a 100 percent success rate, but neither do humans. And facial scans are probably faster than today's process, in which humans must check a face against an ID card or passport. Alan Levin of Bloomberg explains what TSA plans.

Did anyone else have FOMO over the weekend? That stands for Fear of Missing Out, for those not familiar with millennial acronyms. Many reporters — but not me! — flew on the new longest flight in the world, Singapore Airlines' nonstop service between Newark and Singapore. Bloomberg's Sarah Wells was on board and filed a full report. By hour 14, she said, the Airbus A350 "was starting to feel like a luxurious prison."

United Airlines tweaked its network over the weekend, and I found its moves at Los Angeles, where I live, to be the most interesting. A decade ago, United was one of Hollywood's preferred airlines, and it flew to many of the largest markets for entertainment, as well as bigger Western cities. Now, it's focused on smaller markets from L.A., including some unusual additions: Eugene, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; and Pasco/Tri-Cities, Washington. Ben Mutzabaugh of USA Today has details.