The Thick of Airline Earnings

FromAirline Weekly Lounge

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The Thick of Airline Earnings

FromAirline Weekly Lounge

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Length:

22 minutes

Released:

Apr 29, 2022

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Edward “Ned” Russell and Madhu Unnikrishnan are in the thick of first quarter earnings. The takeaway so far: demand changed for the better in March but summer may not be as rosy as many hoped, at least for travelers. Staffing concerns continue to weigh on schedules, threatening limited and pricey options for those with pent-up demand to travel.

Released:

Apr 29, 2022

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 61: Worse, But Still Good: Rising labor costs at Delta dented its fourth quarter results significantly—but not enough to prevent the airline from posting a terrific profit for 2016. And the big story within the story is that revenues have stopped falling. All in all, Delta remains... by Airline Weekly Lounge
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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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 24: Rapidly Receding Revenues: Where Delta’s revenues were relatively resilient, United’s are rapidly receding, at least in the fourth quarter. In Episode 24—informally “part two” of U.S. earnings season—we discuss the sources of United’s revenue declines and the many moves the airlin... by Airline Weekly Lounge
31 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 44: Struggling SAS: Scandinavia’s SAS posted a pretty rough quarter despite huge tailwinds from its healthy home economy and cheap fuel. Fierce competition, labor concerns and operational problems all share the blame. Is SAS’s long-haul strategy the answer? Or will it take ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
38 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 28: The French Correction by Airline Weekly Lounge
29 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 22: Fast and Furious in India: Regardless of whether it’s up or down, India’s airline market tends to be one of thrills and spills. And right now, we’re seeing both—IndiGo is providing the thrills, Air India the spills. Meanwhile, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are holding their own. Believ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
27 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 43: United Tries to Put You to Sleep: United last week revealed its new premium experience named Polaris, which includes its business class cabin. Ironically, the big design features in the cabin are all about missing the experience, because United wants its passengers to sleep right through... by Airline Weekly Lounge
31 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 51: Air France Is Missing Out: The second quarter year-over-year profit margin improved at Air France/KLM, but only because of a huge windfall from fuel. In fact, the real story is that the airline group is largely missing out on profits that normally would come from such a lift from ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
22 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 34: Will Virgin and Alaska Be Happy Together?: Alaska Airlines clearly wants to be the dominant carrier on the West Coast, and if its purchase of Virgin America goes through, it will have four focus cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle—all clustered on the Pacific. Such a network m... by Airline Weekly Lounge
32 min listen
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 35: Chinese Airlines Show Stress: Is China’s slowing economy taking its toll on the country’s Big Three carriers? So far Air China, China Eastern and China Southern have held up well and posted a rather good 2015. But the fourth quarter of 2015 showed some signs of deterioration—even by ... by Airline Weekly Lounge
29 min listen

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The Thick of Airline Earnings

The Thick of Airline Earnings

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Titles in the series (100)

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