News and notes from around the interweb:

• United’s fleet plans for 2016

• American launches its new Sydney flight today complete with improved premium service including pajamas in business class. But while American got the jump on Delta becoming the first US airline to announce a premium economy cabin, Delta actually retaliated a bit and introduced pajamas in business class on its existing Sydney flight two days ago.

• What to pack.. and what not to pack. Here’s what I told Wendy Perrin:

  I do two-night trips with just my laptop bag. If you can avoid checking a bag, you avoid losing a bag, and you save precious moments of your life at baggage claim. If you can avoid even needing overhead bin space, you don’t have to board the plane as early, and you move around unfettered through the airport and through life.

• The Wall Street Journal on all the unfilled senior roles at United. More curious to me is that more people haven’t left (or been asked to leave) since the ouster of Jeff Smisek as CEO.

• Man, I just like this guy less and less.

  [Delta CEO Richard] Anderson showed strong support for the current state of the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA). The TSA “is a sophisticated risk-based model and Jeh Johnson has led a very important transformation of how we use intelligence to manage risk in the aviation industry,” he said.

• Kuwait Airways finally resolved the issue of the US ruling that it could not discriminate against Israeli passports on flights to and from the US in the way that I predicted by cancelling New York – London service and flying only New York – Kuwait non-stop. They will no longer refuse Israeli passports (which are valid for travel to the UK), only service to passengers without proper documentation (they cannot get visas for Kuwait).

• United’s new in-house show ‘Big Metal Bird’… I really like it.