Tag Archives: AMR: NYSE

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Good evening to all.

It’s a late night tonight here at the Worldwide Headquarters. Three guesses why. That’s what happens when a U.S. airline files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at 6 AM in the morning.

Not surprisingly, I spend a lot of time this week talking about AMR and American Airlines. The airline’s bankruptcy filing, why it finally pulled the trigger, why the move was inevitable years ago, why it was not a “moral failure,” and more.

And yes, don’t even start with the AMR merger rumors. Long way between here and there.

In addition, I also take a time this week to talk about the recent DOT slot auction for slots at both LGA and DCA. While the DOT won’t make the “formal” announcement concerning who won what until Thursday, the winners have either confessed or been outed by process of elimination. 😉

The results of the auction were somewhat intriguing — both because of what airlines were successful in nabbing slots and because of the one big airline that came away empty-handed.

Then there is the continuing mess that is the Indian aviation industry. We talked a great deal about this last week, but this week it’s back on the radar as both Jet Airways and Kingfisher continue to struggle. Jet announced a new lease-back plan that should generate at least $300 million for the airline in the coming months, but Kingfisher is still looking for an investor. Meanwhile, employees haven’t been paid in weeks, and the airline’s pilots are beginning to leave for better opportunities. Oh, and AerCap is taking two of its planes back.

The Air Transport Association is ready to roll out its new “branding” Wednesday. Not sure I like the new name, but I am a fan of the idea behind the extreme makeover. For too long the ATA has been a wet noodle in a sea of sharks — a totally ineffective trade organization.

So here’s to a new gorilla on the block.

Meanwhile, last week was a horrible week for airline stocks. We’ll go over the details of the carnage.

All that and more in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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The price of jet fuel continues to rise, airlines continue to announce capacity pullbacks, American announces a $1 billion debt deal, and Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards members still can’t figure out why their accounts show zero credits.

Just another lovely and enchanting week with the Things with Wings.

This week we’re talking about the IT misery at Southwest, as well as the airline’s strange silence concerning the issue when it hit last week. Why did the airline wait so long to publicly acknowledge the problems? And whose bright idea was it to zero out customer’s RR balances — until a customer uses their account?

It was not a pretty sight, and if the usual online travel haunts are to be believed, the angst has still not been squelched.

Then we had the big announcement from American Airlines this morning. The airline is going to the debt trough — to the tune of $1 billion. Hey, the airline has a slew of debt coming due this year — not to mention a lot of new shiny metal that has to be paid for. The airline had to do something. It certainly wasn’t going to generate it through earnings.

United Airlines became the latest airline to announce a pull back in capacity Monday, while then there is the goofy lawsuit that a group of former Northwest Airlines’ flight attendants filed against Delta Air Lines last week.

You know — if you are going to fight the airline on the union representational vote — thus holding up the results of the election — why then is the AFA supporting a suit alleging the airline has “withheld” benefits from the former Northwest FA’s? If AFA wants its former members to get the same salaries and benefits as their original Delta counterparts, drop the representational lawsuit.

Whew.

We also have an interview this week with Brett Snyder. Many of you know Brett, AKA Cranky Flier. Well, it seems that Brett recently traveled to Washington, where he participated in an American Bar Association panel discussion concerning passenger rights. Not surprisingly the three-hour tarmac rule was discussed heavily, as there was a representative of the DOT on the panel. Read our interview with Brett and see how it went when Brett and others on the panel challenged the DOT’s contention that the three-hour rule is, overall, a win-win.

Hint: It has something to do with increased numbers of flight cancellations. And the total number of inconvenienced passengers just one airline has experienced as a result of increased cancellations.

On the financial analysis side, we take a look at the new hot metric being thrown around the industry — ROIC. Which airlines outperformed their peers in 2010 and which ones lagged?

As usual, we have a whole lot more. So what are you waiting for? Subscribers can access this week’s issue here.