Tag Archives: United Airlines

Monday: PlaneBusiness Banter Returns!

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful summer, and a great Labor Day holiday.

After our usual three-week hiatus from publishing, PlaneBusiness Banter returns Monday morning. I have to say, there is certainly no shortage of material to work with — especially considering the events of the last week concerning United Airlines and the resignation of its Chairman, President, and CEO Jeff Smisek and two of his top executives.

We’ll dissect this turn of events and let you know our take and how we see this affecting the airline going forward. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not a bad thing for the airline. At all.

But we also have the continuing drama at Republic Holdings. Will they go into bankruptcy? Clearly now we see the “last best offer” from management was not the last best offer. So what credibility does that give management from a negotiating standpoint?

These are just two of the many stories we will be talking about in this week’s issue, along with the latest DOT operational performance statistics, stock performance, and more.

Just a reminder. If you are not a subscriber to PlaneBusiness Banter, you can drop a note to PBsubs@PlaneBusiness.com to find out how you become one.

In Remembrance: September 11, 2001

It is that day once again. Once again the Sun has come back to remind us, as she does every year. She has that way of gently reminding us of both the things we’d rather not remember, as well as the sweet things we choose and want to keep alive in our memories.

I’m not going to recount what my life was like that day. Or where I was. Or how it felt. As I have done every year since that awful day, I will simply ask that you pause for a moment to remember and honor those airline employees who got up that day, put on their uniform, and went to work. But never came home.

Yes, there were thousands of people who lost their lives that day. But for those of us who follow this industry, work in this industry, or simply continue to be fascinated by its endearing dysfunctionality, the loss of four airline crews that day hit us hard. And it still hurts.

This is our corner of the world. And as I see it, the courage and bravery of these crewmembers deserve our heartfelt acknowledgment. And remembrance.

American Airlines Flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

CREW: John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant.

United Airlines Flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

CREW: Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant.

American Airlines Flight 77, Washington to Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon.

CREW: Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant.

United Airlines Flight 93, Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

CREW: Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant.

May they all be at peace in a much better place

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

We’re baaack! No more vacation for us.

This week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted.

This week we talk about a lot of stuff — including the fact that 3Q13 earnings are right around the corner. We are hearing very bullish comments from both analysts and airline folks about what we should see when the numbers roll out next month. Delta, in particular, looks like it is going to announce very strong 3Q13 earnings.

However, it looks like once again, United Airlines is going to lag its peers in terms of earnings and margin performance. We’ll have to wait to see.

This week we talk about whether or not the fact that United Airlines has a lack of dominance at its hubs (compared to Delta Air Lines for instance) is negatively affecting both revenues and costs. Hunter Keay, analyst with Wolfe Research, talked about this last week in a research note. We think he’s onto something.

In other news, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved AMR’s plan of reorganization last week, but the approval is contingent on the DOJ signing off on the deal. Judge Lane also refused to allow American Airlines‘ Chairman and CEO Tom Horton’s $20 million severance to be part of the reorganization plan. This means someone else is going to have to okay the payment.

Meanwhile hundreds of employees of both American and US Airways were in Washington today to lobby members of Congress on why the merger should be allowed to take place.

On the aircraft front, this week was simply stellar for those of us who like to watch brand new shiny airplanes take flight. We saw the maiden flights of both the Boeing 787-900 and the Bombardier C-Series 100 this week. If the Bombardier can come anywhere close to its projected fuel savings and engine performance (and we should start to get some real answers in about 6 weeks or so as flight testing continues) I think the company has developed a very viable player in the smaller jet segment.

But you know how it goes. Airlines are always reluctant to jump to a new player — especially when it is not part of a larger family of aircraft.

While we were on vacation, I am happy to report that energy prices more or less remained stable. Meanwhile, last week was a great week for airline stocks, as the inclusion of Delta Air Lines in the S&P 500 lifted the entire sector. Delta becomes the second airline in the index. Southwest Airlines is the second.

All of this, and much, much more, including a surprise departure announcement from a major airline CEO — in this week’s PlaneBusiness Banter.

September 11, 2001

As I always do each year, both here, and in PlaneBusiness Banter, I prefer to particularly remember those airline employees who lost their lives that day.

This year, because we took our vacation a week later than normal here at the PBB Worldwide Headquarters, we are not talking about the events of that day in PlaneBusiness Banter this year. Next week we return to work.

This is our corner of the world. And as I see it, the courage and bravery of these crewmembers deserve our heartfelt acknowledgment. And remembrance.

American Airlines Flight 11, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

United Airlines Flight 175, Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center.

American Airlines Flight 77, Washington to Los Angeles, crashed into the Pentagon.

United Airlines Flight 93, Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

May they all be at peace in a much better place

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Hello everyone! This week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted!
This week we offer up a varied mix of things for you to chew on including in-depth 4Q earnings reports on SkyWest and Spirit Airlines.
Long and the short? Both airlines turned in good numbers for the fourth quarter, but guidance for both airlines going into 2013 looks even better. No surprise that shares of both airlines took the top spots last week for the sector.
On the airline distribution front, we talk this week about a new API that Farelogix just rolled out that we think is pretty cool. The product will allow airlines to more closely control the point of sale and merchandise its product more efficiently. In addition, the API works nicely with existing platforms and whatever GDS company an airline is currently using. None of this “either/or” stuff.
Could United Airlines be the first airline to implement it? We think so.
Trust me. We’re all for letting airlines do a better job marketing their product. Notice I didn’t say …”seat.” That’s because today, a seat on one airline can be much different than a seat on another airline. But the way those seats are sold and marketed hasn’t changed much since the dark ages.
We also update you on the latest AMR/US Airways transition news, and we talk about how this nasty and very stupid “sequestration” fight in Washington could negatively affect the airline industry — and its passengers.
Don’t get me started.
All this, along with much more, including and lots and lots of letters — in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Greetings earthlings!

This week’s mega-earnings issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted. This week we take an in-depth look at the recent earnings results from Hawaiian Holdings, Allegiant Travel Company, JetBlue, and Alaska Air Group.

We also take a look at the latest capacity analysis by analyst Dan McKenzie with Buckingham Research; we take a look at the latest news concerning Boeing’s little problem with the 787; we look at Imperial Capital analyst Bob McAdoo’s latest comments on United Airlines; we have a couple of reader letters we found interesting this week; and finally, yes, without further ado, we talk about the American/US Airways merger.

You’ve all read the headlines. You’ve all heard the escalating chatter this week. Yes, it does appear that we will hear the details of a proposed merger between US Airways and American Airlines next week. Tuesday or Wednesday to be exact.

It’s about to get really busy around here.

Subscribers can access this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter here.

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Hello everyone! It’s that time again. This week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted.

Fourth quarter and year-end earnings reports began to roll out this week, as Delta Air Lines reported on Tuesday and US Airways reported record breaking results on Wednesday.

The two airlines continue to lead the major U.S. airlines in any number of financial metrics. Looking forward, both airlines also gave analysts good guidance for 1Q13.

As we usually do, we will have full earnings call reviews of US Airways and Delta Air Lines in next week’s issue. We will also cover the results from Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — both of whom are on tap for tomorrow.

In other news, we update subscribers on the latest news concerning the battery problems with the Boeing 787 that have kept all of the aircraft grounded. The NTSB is scheduled to hold a press conference Thursday, but the latest news late Wednesday is that there was damage to all of the cells in the battery that caught fire on the JAL aircraft when it was parked in Boston.

Boeing’s not happy.

But neither are Boeing’s customers.

Meanwhile those planes aren’t going anywhere until the reason for the problems are found and the problems are solved.

American Airlines? Oh, yes. American decided to forge ahead and roll-out a new livery and branding effort last week. I talk a great deal this week both about what it says that management at the airline decided to do this — at this time. And how god awful the new design is. Or as the article in Vanity Fair titled its story on the new livery, “Something Lousy in the Air: Analyzing American Airlines‘ Disastrous Redesign.”

Needless to say, the airline failed on all fronts.

We also update you on our latest merger timetable — and I remind all of the stakeholders in this bankruptcy of what will happen if the current management team at the airline manages to kill a merger in some form or fashion. But I am not the only one sounding this warning. So did a Wall Street analyst last week.

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

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Good evening sports fans, airline fans, and Boeing 787 meltdown fans.

No, it has not been a good evening for the 787, as both Japan Air Lines and ANA have now grounded their 787 fleets after yet another “battery” incident that necessitated an emergency landing by an ANA aircraft earlier this evening in Japan.

Before this latest development, we had already devoted a fair amount of ink this week to the Boeing 787 problems — including the investigation into the systems and design of the aircraft, which was announced Friday by the FAA.

We also update readers on the NTSB investigation of the fire last week on the Japan Airlines 787 in Boston. And no, those pictures of the burned out Lithium battery are enough to scare the you-know-what out of you. Especially when you factor in the news that it apparently took 40 minutes for fire fighters to finally put out the fire.

Other than continued scary moments with the 787, we also talk a bit this week about the American/US Airways merger — which seems to be inching forward, although we hear the diehards at AMR refuse to give up on the misguided idea that a standalone deal would be preferable, so an announcement may not be as close as we had estimated.
Some people just refuse to accept the fact the world has changed.

Shame.

Meanwhile we all know how this works. Giving up valuable turf is never easy.
Just ask the guys at APA who are obsessed with what their seniority number is going to be. Nothing else matters.

On the international front, Alitalia needs money again, and Kingfisher continues to operate. Kind of.

Meanwhile, German authorities say that Ryanair has been cheating it out of lots of money, by under-reporting landing weights. This one should be interesting to see how it plays out.

We have the November DOT Air Travel Consumer Report this week, plus December traffic and RASM estimates (what the hell happened to Spirit in the fourth quarter, speaking of RASM) and we tell you why we think 2013 is going to be one heck of a good year for the industry.

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

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Good evening everyone!

The first issue of PlaneBusiness Banter for 2013 is now posted. And yours truly is sick as a dog. As a result, it’s going to be a short summary tonight.

I am desperately in need of more tea, more medicine, more chicken soup, and more sleep. Bleech.

However, before I crawl away and climb under the covers, here’s a peek at what we are talking about in this week’s issue.

Taking the top spot of course are the problems with the Boeing 787. The week began with a fire on a Japan Airlines 787 in Boston, and it’s pretty much continued to go downhill ever since. I think it would be safe to say it’s not been a good week for our friends at Boeing.

Since we did just end both a year and a quarter, we have all kinds of airline stock charts for you to peruse this week. Taking the top spot for performance in 2012 were shares of US Airways. The shares picked up a cool 166% for the year.

On the American/US Airways front, we expect we should hear something formal in terms of a merger agreement before the end of the month. My bet is the announcement is made before US Airways releases its earnings. Stay tuned.

This week we talk a lot about Southwest Airlines. Taking the cue from analyst Bob McAdoo from Imperial Capital, we revisit the information the airline released at its recent investor day in December — and we note the airline has already been forced to backpedal on some of its announced increases in fees it made that day.

Like I say, we talk a long time this week about the airline. And not a lot of it is overly enthusiastic.

We also bring you a super secret list of New Year’s resolutions. That’s right. We have the New Year’s resolutions from a number of airline CEOs — both current and past.
As for the AMR Bankruptcy Follies — this week we dissect the “Bob Crandall” video that had so many people talking while we were on Holiday Hiatus.

An American Airlines‘ exec leaves to become CEO of Virgin Atlantic, we give you a look at the messages several airline CEOs sent to their employees at the end of the year, and we even update you on Pinnacle, which, as everyone had assumed, is going to exit bankruptcy as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

All this and more (cough, cough) in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Good evening earthlings! It’s that time again.

This week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted!

It got a little busy earlier this evening after Reuters went public with the contents of a letter that one of the more well-known groups of AMR bondholders sent to the President of the Allied Pilots Association earlier this month.

As we talk about in this week’s issue, if this group wants the AMR board replaced and management gone, I don’t think Tom Horton and company have much of a leg to stand on.

Nothing surprising here.

I also assume that APA sent out the letter to its membership in an effort to persuade them that an “affirmative” vote is the way to go.

In other news, we talk at length this week about the BTN 2012 Airline Survey. Corporate travel managers and agencies participate in this survey, which measures an airline in ten different categories. Short and sweet? Delta Air Lines blew away the rest of the group.

PBB subscribers should not be surprised — given the feedback we’ve provided over the last several months from our various corporate travel group presentations.

We tell you how everyone else fared and why a US Airways/American merger should not scare the hell out of the corporate travel community in DFW — even though it does!

It was a fantastic week on Wall Street this week for the Things with Wings. Shares of Republic and US Airways led the group.

We also tell you what we’ve heard Delta Air Lines has told management at Pinnacle Airlines. Hint: It has to do with the Pinnacle pilot contract.

The AMR Bankruptcy Follies returns this week — we’re talking loose seats, the airline’s failed attempt to stop the passenger service union representational election, and we have Scene Five from a One Act Play.

All this and much, much, more in this week’s edition of PlaneBusiness Banter.