It’s that time of year again. The sixth annual Cranky Network Awards will be held in Phoenix this evening, celebrating the strategic moves in the airline networks.

While the event itself is an exercise in not taking ourselves too seriously, it is bracketed by panels and deep discussions about the industry. The Cranky Confab commences this afternoon, with two panels: Bridging the Pacific and The Future of Aircraft Supply.

Brett Snyder will lead the Bridging the Pacific discussion with Dexter Ho of STARLUX, Alexandre Lefèvre of Air Canada, and Brian Znotins of American Airlines.

Yours truly will lead the discussion of the Future of Aircraft Supply with Darren Hulst of Boeing, Brent McBratney of Embraer, and Yves Renard of Airbus. This is a great opportunity for the airlines to ask the tough questions of the OEMs.

Tomorrow, we will dive deep into ever-changing industry dynamics at the annual forecast breakfast. I have 40 slides ready to discuss the latest trends in commercial aviation, from the challenges in the international market, to the fate of ULCCs, to the impacts of the aircraft shortages, to engines. We’ll be talking about it all with the airlines and the OEMs under that most glorious of rules dictated by the Chatham House.

Of course, a major topic of discussion at the events will be the arms race in Chicago between American and United. The long history of capacity in the market shows the full context of the multi-generational fight between these two airlines in the windy city.

This feud runs deep.

But Chicago will only be a small piece of the overall discussion. We’re talking supply and demand, the need (or not) for new technology aircraft, the fate of the low-fare market, global dynamics, engines, and expectations for the future. These discussions are always lively, sometimes contentious, but never boring.

For those of you inbound to Phoenix for the awards, I look forward to the next two days of competing industry outlooks and candid debate, with a dash of questionable formal attire.

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