Pop quiz: What kind of airline has dreams of being a regional operator but has no interest in actually operating airplanes? The answer: Landline.
The co-founder and CEO of the “airline,” David Sunde, has a background in airline networks, and his team is building a regional feeder that won’t fly a single airplane. Anything else, however, is fair game. It’s all about multi-modal, and so far Landline’s fleet of vehicles ranging from private cars to buses feeds Sun Country’s hub in Minneapolis/St Paul and United’s hub in Denver.
Hasn’t this been tried before? Sure, but as you’ve probably heard before, this is different. This time, it really does seem to be, and the exciting stuff hasn’t even happened yet.
Come join me for this episode of The Cranky Flier Interview presented by Ontario International Airport, a half hour chat with David about everything from putting an airport at Disneyland to clearing security before you even get on the bus.
Download the episode here or listen below.
Thank you to our presenting sponsor Ontario International Airport.
Recently, ONT was honored by the Airports Council International with its distinguished Airport Health Accreditation, in recognition of Ontario’s unbending commitment to protect travelers, visitors and employees from health risks during these challenging times. From ONT’s use of powerful antimicrobial technology and enforcement of masks and social distancing to its opening of an on-site COVID testing clinic for passengers and the community, the airport has been a model for putting safety first.
Keep it safe, keep it simple. Get ONTo What Matters Most. Visit flyontario.com for more.
5 comments on “The Cranky Flier Interview #22 – Landline Co-Founder and CEO David Sunde”
Great interview. We’re excited to have Landline connecting smaller communities into MSP!
Fascinating stuff! Great interview Cranky. Excited to see what Landline does next with multimodal.
Very interesting. I’d love to see how the cost compares to a shared airport shuttle, and would like to see them expand to ATL & BOS areas (or for Groome to offer a similar service with DL to ATL).
I’ve got two flights booked already in a couple weeks. Once I heard this was available I tried to change my flights. Key takeaway is do this with your flight from the start because I have to modify my flights to add it now and I have to pay flight difference as well which only made sense for one outbound leg. I’ve changed my DEN – MSN (Madison, WI) to FNL (Fort Collins, CO) to MSN. This will let me experience the service and see if they really do allow TSA screening prior to getting on the bus. I’m guessing I’ll do this from now on when booking flights since pricing should be better.
Another note, I tried to test this months ago but I mistakenly was trying FNL – DEN to see pricing. It always showed no flights available. You have to put your actual destination in for this to work. Side note, the return flights would have had me layover 3 hours before getting on the bus back to FNL. No way that is happening. I can barely handle the 1 hr drive home after a trip, let alone waiting in your home airport…
I’ll test this June 1.
Sig – They do not yet have TSA screening in Fort Collins. That’s something they’re hoping to have later this year.