I’m Launching An OMAAT Video Series (If Anyone Will Talk To Me): Any Feedback?

In the coming weeks, we’re planning on launching a series of new initiatives, which I hope readers will view as entirely positive. I mean that seriously, not like when an airline devalues a frequent flyer program, or cuts free food in the name of a buy on board selection, and calls it an “enhancement.”

I’d like to talk a little about where my head is at on these changes, and then share the details of the first initiative y’all can expect, in hopes of getting some feedback.

I’m trying to make some (genuinely) positive changes to OMAAT

I’m incredibly fortunate that I’ve been able to write OMAAT full time for 18+ years — following this industry is a hobby and passion above all else, and the fact that it also largely pays my family’s bills is the icing on the cake, and an incredible blessing. I’ve written in the past about the general business of blogging, and all the ways the internet has changed over the years.

To be honest, it’s a really tough macro environment nowadays, between media increasingly switching to video, the way search engines display information, the increasing use of AI, etc. However, I don’t in any way view that as some existential issue, and big picture, the goal is to keep the core of the blog the same. Personally, I’m rather bullish on written media long time, but perhaps that’s a topic for a different post.

I want to fully acknowledge that in some ways, everything in the miles & points blogosphere (including OMAAT) has become a bit more stale, and it’s and to get the same dopamine hits as in the past, so to speak. Miles & points deals aren’t what they once were, we’ve all had just about every credit card at this point, and unfortunately it’s the slop garbage posts out there that generate page views, because apparently that’s what consumers want.

It’s really easy to get into the tendency of just trying to chase what you think Google wants you to post, rather than focusing on what actually interests readers, and what creates a sense of community. And I have to be honest, the community aspect of this is something I’ve done a lousy job with in recent times. For a while that was largely stalled because of my mom’s illness (she passed last year), and then having two little kids sometimes just depletes your mental energy, lovely as they are.

I have a bunch of ideas in my head for concepts I’d like to launch that lean into community, but I’ve kind of been pushing those down the road, always hoping there would be a perfect time to focus on these things. I’m kind of a creature of habit with my everyday work, and then a perfectionist when it comes to launching new things, which is why… I haven’t launched many new things lately.

Well, that mentality changes now. In the coming weeks and months, there are several initiatives I’m hoping go “live,” and they’re all about one thing — focusing on what I think readers will enjoy, and creating a sense of community. Why? Well, because I think that’s something we can actually do a good job at, unlike a faceless 100-person VC-owned blog, so there’s no reason not to lean into that. And I’m putting this post out there so that others can hold me accountable for this.

So while I’ll share more details in the next few weeks (as some of those ideas get closer to launch), I’d like to share the first concept y’all can expect. Let me explain, because while I have the concept nailed down, there are still some areas for feedback.

I’d love some feedback on my new video series concept

There’s no denying that media content is increasingly switching to short form video rather than written text. I have to be honest — to me, the thought of doing “everything I ate on my 16-hour Qatar Airways flight,” or doing videos where I have to fake the interest of a tween girl at a Taylor Swift concert about something mundane is just sort of soul-crushing.

First and foremost, it’s important to me that I enjoy what I do, and that I’m authentic to myself, because that’s the only way that any passion will come through in what I do. So I thought to myself, what kind of video content would I actually enjoy producing, without in any way factoring in monetization?

I feel like we don’t need another middle aged dude doing a podcast — I’d like to think I’m not quite having a midlife crisis (yet) — and for that matter, there are some good airline podcasts out there, like Airlines Confidential and The Air Show Podcast.

While I get a lot of offers to interview people in the industry, I almost never take them up on them. Why? Well, interviews are generally so rehearsed, and rarely tell me anything I didn’t already know. I just don’t need a regurgitated press release, and if I want those kinds of things, I’ll just watch CNBC in earnings season.

So that brings me to the angle I came up with. Even if y’all don’t enjoy it, I know I’ll have a blast doing this, and I think that’s important. One of my favorite things about the airline industry is the people — there’s so many absolutely fascinating, passionate, interesting (and sometimes downright strange) characters. 😉

I’d love the focus on the series to not be exclusively discussing current events or one specific thing at the airline (or brand) they’re working at, but instead, to be a bigger picture look at how they got where they are, their passion, and/or their insights into whatever they focus on at work.

So think of it as more of a fireside chat type concept, where I get to ask people questions. While I’m introverted, I absolutely love being able to ask interesting people questions. My goal isn’t to trap people with “gotchas,” or to grill them endlessly, but instead, to give them the chance to share their story or side of things, whether I agree or disagree with them. While I hope to make the conversations interesting, I promise to be respectful.

There are so many people I know in the airline industry who fascinate the heck out of me, and I feel like the world doesn’t know them for who they really are. I’ve not yet approached anyone about this, so who knows, maybe I won’t get any bites.

Let me give one prime example. I’d absolutely love to talk to Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith. People know him for doing a great job running an airline group, but they don’t necessarily know him as a person. He’s truly the world’s biggest aviation geek, and his career progression has been incredible and inspiring. My goal is to add a human element to people like this, rather than having their entire identity focused around their airline, their earnings that quarter, their short term initiatives, etc.

Again, I’ve not approached anyone about this, but I’d love to speak to people like the following (and I’m sure I’m partly shooting for the stars here, but I’m just trying to give you a sense of the goal, and the wide range of the types of people I’d be interested in talking to):

• Mark Nasr, Air Canada’s Chief Operations Officer; he started as a mileage runner back in the day, and is one of the brightest guys in the airline industry, and I’d also love to pick his brain on how he thinks miles & points have evolved, how airlines can keep people engaged, and what the future holds
• Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances; he’s in charge of one of the most incredible route network developments we’ve seen, and I’d love to hear how you decide to fly to places like Mongolia and Greenland, how you actually do the math on the way that loyalty programs contribute to route decisions, what the process is actually like when you want to launch flights to a new airport, etc.
• Akbar Al Baker, former CEO of Qatar Airways; what is he up to, and what does he make of how the industry has evolved in recent years?
• Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Group; okay, this is perhaps the longest shot of all, along with Al Baker but can he show us a human side, his passion, etc.?
• Tiffany Funk, Head of Flying Blue; okay, I worked with Tiffany for nearly 15 years, and now that she has crossed over to the “real” loyalty side, her perspective on things would be very cool to learn about
• James Asquith, CEO of Global Airlines; do I just completely misunderstand him, or can be actually make the case for how the airline makes sense?
• Heck, I’d even have on Tim Dunn, if he’s willing to make an appearance; maybe we can take the debate from the comments section and turn them into a video format, so give our fingers a break 😉

Those are just several examples, and that’s obviously by no means comprehensive. I should probably reach out to these people rather than just throwing their names out.

Now, a few general thoughts:

• My intent is to do these roughly every two weeks, though not always at the same time or on the same day (since I may be talking to people from all over the world)
• My goal is for each to last around 30 minutes, so I don’t want this to be some super long thing where people get bored
• The plan is to have this be primarily on YouTube, and then people can either tune in “live,” or choose to watch it after the fact
• I’m not some smooth talker who is trying to compete with network television, so my true goal here is to make this authentic and completely unscripted, literally just like I’m having a conversation with someone for the first time with no agenda, no notes, etc.
• I’ll post about scheduled interviews in advance, so that people can tune in and even pose questions, and then after the fact I’ll do a post summarizing the conversation, sharing my thoughts on it, etc., and welcoming others to chime in as well, of course

How will I get anyone to actually talk to me? Well, here’s my pitch, plain and simple. First, people in the airline industry love to talk. They love to talk about airplanes, they love to talk to others, and (some) love to talk about themselves.

Second, quite honestly, I think it could be a good opportunity for them. If you Google most airline executives making multi-billion dollar decisions, the first several search results are them being quoted in random press releases, in the mainstream media, etc., rather than things that are actually about them. A real, human discussion could be a real value-add for them as well. An airline executive is more than the two sentence quote that appears in CNBC after they announce their earnings.

Sorry for how long I’ve gone on here, but I’d love some general feedback:

• Does anyone have an idea for a name for the series? The only things I’ve come up with are OMAAT Chat (oh-mat-chat, at least it rhymes?) or OMAAT Live, but if anyone comes up with something better that I end up using, there will be a prize
• Would you be interested in watching something like this?
• Is a once every two week frequency correct, or is that too often, or not often enough?
• Is there anything in particular you’d like me to incorporate into the questions I ask people, or the format?
• Is YouTube the right medium for this? Is there merit to also streaming this on Facebook, or just linking to YouTube is fine?
• Lastly, if you are someone from the industry or have a fascinating story that you think would be a good fit, shoot me an email at [email protected]

Bottom line

We’re working on several new initiatives in the coming months, which I plan to share more details on soon. For so long I’ve been pushing off these things, but it’s time to get started. I’d like to share the details of the first of these concepts, which is that I plan to start doing a video series, talking to some of the more interesting people in the industry, across all kinds of functions.

We’ll see to what extent people are willing to talk to me, but I promise to be persistent, so we’ll see how this evolves. There are many podcasts out there discussing current industry events, so my goal is to take a different approach. I’d just like to do 30(ish)-minute interviews with some of the industry’s most interesting people, so we can get to know them, or so they can share with us their knowledge in a particular area.

The goal would be for this to be something people can tune into live, or watch after the fact, and there would be accompanying posts about the conversation, plus the opportunity for people to ask questions.

I promise there’s more coming, but this is what we’re starting with. So if anyone has any ideas or thoughts, I’d certainly welcome them! And while I’ll be reaching out to some of the above folks soon, if there are other industry people who would be receptive to this concept (and are willing to authentically be themselves), shoot me an email at [email protected]. Thanks!