Hello everyone. I know, long time no see. Or hear.

I was originally going to publish our last issue for the year late last week anyway, as a result of both Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines issuing updated 2013 guidance to investors last week.

But as Friday morning rolled around, and I began to put together the information Southwest had issued, the Twitter feed began to go nuts with reports of a shooting at a school in Connecticut.

It didn’t take too long before it was clear I was not going to publish PlaneBusiness Banter on Friday.

So, here we are.

This week we have a quite extensive end-of-year issue of PlaneBusiness Banter to share with you as we cover the news of the Delta/Virgin Atlantic proposed JV; we give you our take on the announced (and some not announced) changes in the management structure at United Airlines; we discuss the latest problems with the Boeing 787; we talk about how the proposed valuation of the American Airlines/US Airways deal could portend a rather nice jump in the price of US Airways stock; we talk about just what is going on with the American Airlines/US Airways merger discussions; we let you know how badly Sandy impacted the U.S. airline industry’s operational performance in October, and we give you the details of what both Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines told investors and analysts last week.

Oh, and yes, I was in New York last week as well. I presented at the BTN Corporate Travel Management Conference and I also attended the BTN Hall of Fame dinner. Great time to be in New York. It was great to see Bob Crandall, Herb Kelleher, Gordon Bethune, and a who’s who of the corporate travel community at the St. Regis.

But that was then. This is now.

Now it is time for us to take our usual holiday hiatus. A trip to see PlaneDad is on the agenda, as well as taking the time to reach out to those people who were an important part of my 2012.

Those are just some of the things I’ll be doing the next couple of weeks.

Oh, and I point subscribers this week to a great recipe for potato latkes — compliments of a dear friend and spectacular artist, Sandy Sallin.

Just because I am in the holiday spirit, I’ll share the link with you as well! These things really do rock!

One final note. If something dramatic develops in regard to the US Airways/American Airlines merger, I will check in here. I’ll be hanging out over on Twitter as well. Handle is easy to remember: @planebusiness.

Have a great holiday everyone!

Talk to you again next year!