News and notes from around the interweb:

• Riyadh Air says that its premium economy will be more business-minus than economy-plus while business class will be suites with doors, with a large screen, wireless charging and free wifi.

• Ukranian-born anti-Ukraine aid congresswoman Victoria Spartz was charged with a weapons violation at Washington Dulles

• Many of you probably don’t get around to putting your passport away immediately when you board an international flight. Maybe you should.

  My passport is currently under the foot rest which is nailed down… the crew can’t get to it so they are hoping it will fly out when we take off! Otherwise it’ll likely be a long wait for an engineer on landing…. ‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/Guzf6NBwjG

  — Gabriella (@gabrielladriver) June 30, 2024

• Don’t be shy asking for these! The worst they can do is say no, and they may love being asked!

  on my flight from msp-icn i asked the pilot for a trading card and he was so excited he gave me 5
  byu/mspdeltaflock indelta

• Ravn Alaska and Northern Pacific ousted its CEO, architect of the plan to fly Boeing 757s to Asia one-stop via Anchorage and become the ‘Icelandair of the Pacific’. While I was skeptical of the plan, it never really had a chance to get started because of restrictions on use of Russian airspace put in place due to the invasion of Ukraine. Surprisingly, Alaska Airlines retaliated over Ravn’s move against the airline boss by suspending their mileage partnership.

• Given the problems at Spirit AeroSystems – a major reason Boeing is re-acquiring them – this seems.. unwise?

  Seattle Times exclusive:

  Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan deflected but didn’t deny interest when asked if he might be Boeing CEO.

  “This is a fabulous industry. I’m proud of playing the role of making it stronger and better.”https://t.co/vjZfFHFKap

  — Dominic Gates (@dominicgates) July 2, 2024

• The irony of the Supreme Court’s decision allowing a North Dakota truck stop’s lawsuit over debit card interchange fees to move forward – saying that the clock on the six year limit to challenge new regulations started for them when they began to accept debit cards, not when the regulation was issued – is that while the rule is viewed as a blow to regulatory authority (because regulations can face more challenges), the underlying suit is that the Federal Reserve did not regulate strictly enough – the truck stop argues that interchange caps were set higher than they should have been under the Durbin amendment.

  So if the litigants ultimately prevail, that would be tighter interchange regulation on debit cards… not a rollback… sadly, therefore, not a return to the halcyon days of debit card rewards.

• What level of sheer incompetence at the FAA’s air traffic organization allows such poor management where Newark approach-control remains so understaffed after years that they’re still throttling flights?

• Avianca, having emerged from bankruptcy, plans U.S. IPO.