Graham and Lewis talk through the growing list of consolidation moves within the global industry, discussing why deals take such a long time to get over the line. They then look back on Graham’s recent interview with Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr and what he had to say about the Italian market, before considering the launch of Riyadh Air and a bumper widebody deal for Saudi carriers. Finally, Lewis talks through our latest survey of women in the C-suite, with data showing the number of female chief executives has shot up over the past 12 months. Music credit: Tea K Pea “highabove”/Creative Commons Airlines struggle to fast-track consolidation https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/airlines-struggle-to-fast-track-consolidation/152276.article Significant rise in women leading airlines offsets falls elsewhere in C-suite https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/significant-rise-in-women-leading-airlines-offsets-falls-elsewhere-in-c-suite/151863.article Carsten Spohr on how Lufthansa is back on the front foot https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/carsten-spohr-on-how-lufthansa-is-back-on-the-front-foot/152353.article Saudi aircraft orders underscore home carrier ambitions https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/saudi-aircraft-orders-underscore-home-carrier-ambitions/152465.article Jazeera to create new Saudi low-cost airline https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/jazeera-to-create-new-saudi-low-cost-airline/152463.article Saudi government unveils new national airline Riyadh Air https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/saudi-government-unveils-new-national-airline-riyadh-air/152436.article