Hello earthlings.

It’s that time again. Time for this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.

Subscribers can access this week’s issue here.

Last week we were honored to deliver the luncheon speech at the third annual The Beat Live Conference in Chicago.

Right off the bat Jay Campbell and the rest of the folks at ProMedia made news of their own, as it was announced that ProMedia, the parent company of The Beat, and its related business travel publications, had been acquired by Northstar Travel Media.

Northstar currently owns both Travel Weekly and Business Travel News.

After all that news was digested — it was time for the show.

As I have told readers in the past, the reason I am such a big fan of The Beat Live is because of the people who go to the conference. Confrontation is encouraged and embraced. This is not a “polite” gathering. People are not afraid to speak their mind. This is a good thing.

If it has anything to do with corporate travel, it was probably discussed. The biggest problem I had this week was trying to decide what exactly to write about. There was way too much to choose from.

But aside from my traipsing around the country, it was a fairly heavy news week.

American Airlines jolted the markets Wednesday when they announced guidance for the third quarter that was below expectations. While the airline should still post a profit for the quarter, it will post a loss for the year.

On the international front, we talk about the interesting comments made by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary this past week about why it is the Ryanair model may now begin to change. If you want an idea of what he is talking about — think Southwest Airlines.

Then there was the bizarre fine imposed on United by the DOT last week. Of course we are talking about that. Speaking of United and Continental — this coming Friday is the big day! Unless something unforeseen happens between now and then, the two airlines will close on their merger Friday.

Analyst Dan McKenzie with Hudson Securities talks about why investors should not be concerned with Delta’s increase in fourth quarter capacity (hint: the power of the airline’s Tokyo hub).

Union votes? The big AFA representational election begins this week for the Delta Air Lines‘ flight attendants. I give you my take on what they should do and why.

Then there is that DOT proposal that would see new rules concerning passengers, fees, denied boarding payments and more. The public comment period ended this last week. Our stance? Transparency yes. But these are commercial items that do not lend themselves easily to heavy-handed governmental regulation.

There is a lot more that we’re talking about this week. You just need to subscribe to find out!