Hello everyone. Our final issue of PlaneBusiness Banter for the summer has now been posted. This week we take an in-depth look at 2Q14 earnings results from Hawaiian Airlines, Allegiant, and Spirit Airlines. We also give you a summary of the recent earnings released by Air Canada, Republic Holdings, and SkyWest. 

As we had reported earlier this month in PBB, Republic did confirm in its earnings call last week that Chicken Taco is about to bite the big chicken leg in the sky. Republic is consolidating from three operating certificates down to two — so the existing aircraft that are currently flown by Chautauqua are being moved to the Shuttle America operating certificate.

So…it won’t be too much longer before we won’t have Chicken Taco to kick around anymore.

Meanwhile, up in Canada, we have to agree with one analyst who wonders if Air Canada really knows what the heck it’s doing with its rouge product. We wondered before they rolled it out, we wondered after they rolled it out, and we wonder even more now.  If you are going to do an alternative “low-fare” airline, then you’d better damn well offer lower fares. Like 30% to 40% lower.

Meanwhile on the international front, Etihad finally brought out the checkbook and antied up a nice chunk of change for a 49% interest in Alitalia. James Hogan, CEO of Etihad says that Alitalia should be “the sexiest airline in Europe.” Yes, that is what he said.

This equity investment creates some strange bedfellows — as Alitalia is still a member of the SkyTeam alliance, and Air France still owns a small piece of the airline.

We wonder what Delta Air Lines thinks about all this…..yes wondering minds want to know.

It was a rather so-so week for airline stocks, although Copa took a beating. The airline posted better than expected numbers for 2Q14, but guidance was not the best.

The DOT issued its June Air Travel Consumer Report last week. The numbers continue to reinforce the problem associated with mergers — they wreak havoc on operational metrics.

And I’m talking about all three of them — not just United/Continental. Southwest/AirTran continues to struggle, and American continues to drag down results for US Airways. 

Finally, we would be less than honest if we did not say that it was a hard week at the Worldwide Headquarters this last week. We lost a very good friend, as did many who worked at America West, US Airways, and eventually, American Airlines. That man was Bill McGlashen.

They don’t make men like Bill too often. We’ll miss his goofy sense of humor, his intelligence, his friendship, and his smile. Bill was only 55 and in excellent health when he was hospitalized with pneumonia roughly two weeks ago. None of us who knew him still believe he’s gone.

So — out last issue for August is a mix of all kinds of things this week.

Have a great rest of the summer everyone. We’ll talk to you again after Labor Day.