quaxxx

A320 captain by day, avgeek & tech nerd by night ✈️🚀 Explaining aviation, Starship & AI in plain English. Views my own.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Hi, I'm Steffen 👋 Airline captain flying the A320 family across Europe. Trained in Bremen and Phoenix, 23 years in the cockpit, still grinning at every sunrise at FL370.

Here you'll get:
✈️ Aviation explained from the flight deck: news, incidents, tech, without the hype
🚀 Starship & SpaceX through a pilot's eyes (yes, I'd fly on it tomorrow)
🤖 AI tools I actually use and test, honestly compared
⚡ Tesla, FSD in Europe & the gadgets I can't resist

Ask me anything about flying. Views my own.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Source: BBC on the Jet2 Birmingham landing https://t.co/MFLPPtpmQx

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Storm Boelo hits the UK tonight, so a word on crosswind landings 🌬️

On approach you fly crabbed, nose into the wind. The hard part comes at the very end: timing the flare and the de-crab. The moment you align the nose with the runway, the drift starts pulling you off the centreline, and you only have limited bank to fight it before a wingtip or engine gets too close to the ground.

Steady crosswind is manageable. Gusty crosswind gets demanding, fast.

A firm landing on the centreline beats a pretty one next to it ✈️

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

About yesterday's Jet2 737 that briefly left the runway in Birmingham during Storm Boelo: no judging a crew from a video. But in gusty crosswind, one thing matters a lot to me: be on the centerline before the flare. Otherwise you're fixing alignment while you decrab, and that's when it gets really hard.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: CNBC/Reuters https://t.co/L4zYPy3mc9
DOT consent orders summarised (Inside Aviation): https://t.co/mDxu3WMyJN

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Air France and KLM just got a $425k US fine for flying over Iraq below FL320. Not because of the pilots.

Those flights carried a Delta code, and that brings the FAA rule for US operators: nothing below FL320 in the Baghdad FIR.

The airlines say local ATC told crews to descend, or wouldn't let them climb, because of traffic.

In the air that's a bad spot. Follow ATC, or say "unable" and come up with a plan B right there.

The DOT says fix it on the ground: reroute, or drop the code. The order doesn't penalise the crews for following ATC.

A codeshare isn't just a sticker on the ticket. It comes with someone else's rulebook.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: https://t.co/JiWS5sKL7M and, from January, https://t.co/iHdLaAfIjZ

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

In January easyJet said the Starlink economics didn't work. Now a company spokesperson confirms it's going fleetwide.

When a low-cost carrier that counts every kilo signs up, the antenna weight and drag argument is losing. Fast Wi-Fi on short-haul is turning from perk into standard.

[Eva Fo𝕏 🦊 Claudius Nero's Legion @EvaFox]

Europe's biggest budget airline, easyJet, is putting Starlink on every single plane ✈️🛰️

easyJet, one of Europe's biggest budget airlines, has signed a deal with SpaceX to put Starlink Wi-Fi on its entire Airbus fleet. A company spokesperson confirmed the agreement. Terms and rollout timing haven't been made public yet.

This is a real turnaround. Back in January, easyJet's CEO Kenton Jarvis said they'd talked with Starlink but the numbers didn't work for them yet.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

@corinthianswhi2 Exactly. Much better to find the surprises on the pad than in flight. Airliner ground runs just come with slightly fewer than 33 engines 😄

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Booster 22 just lit up on Pad 2 at Starbase 🔥

That was the last big ground test for the booster before Flight 15, the one where SpaceX wants to catch both the booster AND the ship with the tower. Ship 42 still needs its own static fire.

Airliners get engine ground runs too, usually after maintenance. Nobody's bolting a 33-engine booster to the ground though 😄

My girls and I watch the Starship launches together. Double catch on the first try: yes or no?

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources:
ABC News: https://t.co/uOfKwPfkdx
SMH: https://t.co/Qs4YaWmjRt

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Australia just opened its first new major airport in more than 50 years ✈️

Western Sydney International, 45 km from the CBD, open 24/7. First passenger flight today: Jetstar JQ362 to the Gold Coast.

Day one at a brand-new airport is special for crews. Every chart, taxi route and procedure is fresh, and nobody has the local tricks yet. Lots of careful briefing.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources:
Static fire via @NASASpaceflight: https://t.co/WQOBe4qkvD
Flight 15 plans (NET Nov 8, double catch): https://t.co/eDxQ9Zsxmg

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

SpaceX conducts Static Fire of Booster 22 https://t.co/mqtuH0XN7Z

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: ICAO uses UTC as the time reference for international air navigation (Annex 5 via SKYbrary) https://t.co/ZZx1Pjf5EU · IATA winter season W26 runs 25 Oct 2026 to 27 Mar 2027 https://t.co/BqLqcihgAe · EU clocks go back 25 Oct at 03:00, US on 1 Nov https://t.co/4VpkzCu66J

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Clocks go back tonight in Europe 🕒 In the cockpit, nothing changes.

We live in UTC, "Zulu" on the radio. Flight plans, ATC, weather reports, NOTAMs: all Zulu, all year.

The tricky part is everything else. Countries switch on different dates (the US only on Nov 1), and the real trap for crews: automated hotel wake-up calls and crew pickups that fall right into the switch window. That's when you double-check everything 😅

Airlines' winter schedule starts tomorrow too ✈️

Extra hour of sleep or mini jetlag, how does the switch hit you?

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: SpaceX on the FCC approval and 800 MHz deal https://t.co/FJsZ40HKO9 · Mobile World Live on the 2028 target and tower talks https://t.co/JKZ3DAVyFK

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Starlink is spreading through airline cabins fast. Next target: your phone plan.

Today it's mostly texts and light data where there's no tower. The plan: 15,000 new satellites, indoor spectrum, own US service in early 2028.

Would you switch to Starlink as your mobile provider?

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: aeroTELEGRAPH https://t.co/TfcdEJUohv · AeroInside https://t.co/fin9Ov4mdF

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

A Pegasus A321neo lined up mid-runway at Frankfurt, cleared for 18, then rolled toward 36. Tower caught it, rejected at ~35 kt, nobody hurt.

Cause is for investigators. My takeaway: fly every critical phase deliberately, with short mental checkpoints. Great catch, tower.

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

Sources: AA pilot contract terms via One Mile at a Time https://t.co/9MnhuzlsNb · Simple Flying https://t.co/uK5WhanKGy

[quaxxx @quaxxx80]

That pilot in first class didn't steal your seat. They're deadheading: the airline is repositioning them, often to fly the next trip.

At American they mostly get leftover seats. Only on routes like Hawaii is the top cabin guaranteed by contract.

Rested crew or your upgrade?