Welcome to Episode 39 of the #PaxEx Podcast. Our guest for this episode is aviation journalist, world traveler, aircraft interiors expert and Runway Girl Network contributor John Walton, who joins us again from Japan.

Firstly, listeners will no doubt have heard about the replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that exploded on a Southwest Airlines 737 recently. Since then, the DOT has banned all Note 7s from aircraft. The incident serves as yet another reminder that inflight PED smoke and fire events are on the rise in aircraft cabins. John has written extensively about what crew should do in the event of a fire, and he shares what he has learned on the topic. He also weighs in on why airlines are augmenting their usual procedures with the adoption of fire containment kits (Delta and Alaska Airlines are two customers of these bags).

John also recently penned a deep dive piece about American Airlines’ decision to dump its patented business class seat on the 787-8 and some refitted 777-200ER aircraft due to problems with embattled seatmaker Zodiac. Co-hosts Max Flight and Mary Kirby pepper John with questions about the big #PaxEx lessons learned from American’s “Concept D” experience.

Last but certainly not least, high-speed rail is attracting attention again in the US with some states *trying* to move forward with projects, including the latest high-speed rail effort in Fresno. Japan is known for excelling in high-speed rail, and John knows the system like the back of his hand. He shares some #PaxEx ideas from Japan that US rail operators should consider.