From Alpha to Omicron

FromAirline Weekly Lounge

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From Alpha to Omicron

FromAirline Weekly Lounge

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Length:

23 minutes

Released:

Dec 2, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

This week Edward Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan mull the new Omicron variant, and what impact it may — or may not — have on the airline recovery. Also, how EasyJet and SAS did during their 2021 fiscal years (hint: Lots of red), and the busy, yet uneventful, Thanksgiving holiday travel week in the U.S.

Released:

Dec 2, 2021

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

The editors of Skift Airline Weekly discuss the most interesting developments within the commercial airline industry. In keeping with Skift Airline Weekly’s style, conversation generally centers on one question: How do you make money in this industry?

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Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 14: IAG Is A-OK: Whew! The busiest week of earnings season has us hustling. We kick off our around-the-world sprint with IAG, the airline group that is British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and more recently Aer Lingus. While IAG led Europe’s Big Three in profits, Lufthansa n... by Airline Weekly Lounge
23 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 7: Checkmate for United? Not Quite: Can United Airlines’ new CEO overcome the carrier’s inherent challenges? United is big, powerful and, at the moment, very profitable. But it’s also underperforming Delta and American. When United and Continental merged, it was supposed to be “checkmate.”... by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 30: Qantas' Boomerang Effect: After hitting the floor in 2013, Qantas, has—like a boomerang—come all the way back and more. In fact, the Australian carrier set an annual profit record in 2015. Despite enjoying the same advantages inherent to the Land of Oz right now, Virgin Australia... by Airline Weekly Lounge
28 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 1: Can It Get Any Better?: Our inaugural episode of the Airline Weekly Lounge went live today. Within it, Seth Kaplan and I discuss this golden age for U.S. aviation. Can profits get any better? Along those lines, Delta reported earnings last week. They were exemplary, of course, ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 4: The Wild, Wild Eastern Market: The creditors of bankrupt Skymark Airlines chose All Nippon Airways (ANA) as its equity partner going forward. This of course leaves Delta—again!—without a dance partner in Asia. With that news, we take the opportunity to consider the condition of Japan’... by Airline Weekly Lounge
23 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 9: A New Frontier: Posting a $54m profit in its second quarter, Frontier Airlines has joined the ranks of America’s most profitable airlines. Frontier and America’s other ultra-low-cost carrier, Spirit, are both highly profitable and have big growth ambitions. As long as o... by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 11: Lufthansa's Competition Grows: Lufthansa is facing competition from Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet, Air Berlin, Vueling, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and probably your brother. Competition is not a new thing, but the severity is growing. Meanwhile, Air New Zealand resides in a small country... by Airline Weekly Lounge
24 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 2: Postcards from the Hedge: American Airlines doesn’t hedge its jet fuel, and now it’s enjoying the fruits of that somewhat contrarian strategy. Is AA onto something here? Is fuel hedging a smart play? Will other airlines mimic AA and reject hedging altogether? Those are some of th... by Airline Weekly Lounge
23 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 5: Cold Comfort in Canada: Canada may be a cold place, but right now its two major airlines are cruising along with comfortable profit margins. Still, what we’re seeing from WestJet and Air Canada is a far cry from what U.S. carriers are experiencing. Why is there such a disparity... by Airline Weekly Lounge
20 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 21: Ultra Low-Cost Competition: Ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier Airlines are facing in 2016 a whole different animal—a beast that we call “fare compression.” In fact, America in 2016 might see a first-time experiment in which the ultra-low-cost model goes up against the forces of... by Airline Weekly Lounge
28 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 3: The European Earnings Picture Is Complicated: With most European airlines having now reported second-quarter earnings, the picture is filling in. But it’s a mosaic—not a portrait. Some carriers did well. Some did lousy. One thing we learned from Ryanair and Wizz Air is that it’s good to be an ultra-... by Airline Weekly Lounge
23 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 10: Southwest’s Golden Years: In airline years, Southwest is certainly old enough to be put out to pasture. Instead, the massive airline is making money like never before. Could some of its contrarian moves, like no bag fees, actually be working? Or is it something else? Oil prices a... by Airline Weekly Lounge
20 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 13: Great American: Well that didn’t last long. American Airlines, the biggest carrier in the world, set a new quarterly profit record, with a $1.9b net profit in the third quarter. Of course, there are some technicalities at play here, but it broke Delta’s two-week old rec... by Airline Weekly Lounge
22 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 12: Delta's Payday: How did Delta achieve its record-breaking quarter? We touch on some of the root causes, including Delta’s push for cheap aircraft and near-perfect operations. Also, we discuss Delta’s plan for flat or zero capacity growth in the fourth quarter. And will ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
20 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 16: Spirit Air CEO Interview: More than anything, Spirit Airlines’ business model is built on low fares, which it uses to stimulate demand and fill its planes. But what happens when fuel prices drop, enabling airlines like JetBlue to drop fares too? In a wide-ranging interview, we as... by Airline Weekly Lounge
29 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 19: American Air CEO Interview: Shouldn’t Doug Parker be dancing in the end zone? He is, after all, the CEO of a mega-airline with mega-profits at a time of economic strength and falling fuel prices. But even this airline has challenges. In this week’s episode, we ask him how American ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
37 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 26: Singapore's Swing: Singapore Airlines swung back to solid profits in 2015. Does this turnaround mean the airline is returning to its former glory, not seen since 2010? Or are low fuel prices just making everyone look good? Korean Air and Asiana continue to struggle with pr... by Airline Weekly Lounge
22 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 25: JetBlue Breaks Out: JetBlue’s big fourth quarter was kind of a big deal. Low oil prices essentially mean that every airline is making money right now, but JetBlue’s 21% operating margin is about more than just oil prices. The airline is changing, and the results are visible... by Airline Weekly Lounge
35 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 8: Africa's Biggest Airline?: Ethiopian Airlines is growing aggressively—and apparently profitably—while other African carriers are struggling. The airline’s centralized location seems to give it a big advantage over other African carriers. Meanwhile, Ethiopian doesn’t face a lot of ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
22 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 68: Turkey’s Tough Times: Once again we consider the ongoing demand problems in Turkey. The numbers are in, and they’re not pretty. Turkish Airlines posted a $300 million loss in 2016. Pegasus Airlines chipped another $50 million loss, a comparably bad number. But there are signs... by Airline Weekly Lounge
31 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 42: Ryanair's Runaway Success: Ryanair is like a runaway train, in that nothing seems to be able to stop it. Despite unfavorable hedges, terrorism, air traffic control strikes and plenty of economic weakness, the airline still managed to turn a profit during the historically weak firs... by Airline Weekly Lounge
32 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 17: EasyJet Does It: Not so surprisingly, easyJet wrapped up a strong earnings season in Europe with some strong numbers of its own. We looked at what’s working for easyJet but also why it can’t quite top rivals Ryanair or Wizz Air. Then it’s pretty much all downhill from th... by Airline Weekly Lounge
24 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 23: Relatively Resilient Revenues by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 18: Korean Air's Success Amid the Struggle: The number of challenges facing Korean Air could fill an A380. Nonetheless the airline remains quite profitable. Korean Air’s prime competitor, Asiana, has not been as fortunate, and we discuss the differences. Meanwhile, Aegean Airlines is doing just fi... by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 83: Solid Start to Earnings Season: Despite being dinged by rising costs, Delta opened the third-quarter earnings season with its customary show of strength. Revenues rose 6% on just 2% growth, and it posted a 16% operating profit margin. While things aren’t quite as good in Europe, airlin... by Airline Weekly Lounge
33 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 80: Dismay at Cathay Pacific: Cathay Pacific has seen all its oxygen sucked out of the room by the hyper growth of the Chinese carriers. Is there anything to be done? Sometimes waiting is the best option. Australia has two major airlines with two very different stories to tell. While... by Airline Weekly Lounge
35 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 41: Korean Divergence: Why are we seeing such different results from the two big Korean airlines? Korean Air again overcame systemic challenges to deliver a standout performance in the first quarter. And although the fuel situation certainly helped, the story wasn’t only about... by Airline Weekly Lounge
25 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 20: Mexico's Low-Cost Renaissance: Mexico is finding joy in a low-cost carrier renaissance as Volaris, Interjet and VivaAerobus are all growing and profiting. But the profits aren’t being distributed equally. Why is one carrier performing so much better than another? Also, how long can th... by Airline Weekly Lounge
36 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 27: Profits Cool in Scandinavia: Finnair, Norwegian and Icelandair all had rather forgettable off-peak fourth quarters, but not because of the chilly weather they are all enduring. Rather, each has a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Finnair’s challenges include exposure to As... by Airline Weekly Lounge
23 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 45: Six Degrees of Singapore Airlines by Airline Weekly Lounge
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The Rising Fortunes of Ryanair: Ryanair has its problems, but it is doing much better than most. by Airline Weekly Lounge
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What do United Airlines and easyJet Have in Common? by Airline Weekly Lounge
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From Alpha to Omicron

From Alpha to Omicron

Description

Titles in the series (100)

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