Feature Story

2020 Was a Record Year for 'All the Wrong Reasons'

2020 was a ghastly year for airlines. After racking up the tidy sum of $119 billion in pre-tax profits during the decade ending in 2019, the U.S. big six — Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest...

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Issue No. 801

A Record for 'All the Wrong Reasons'

So here we are, financial results from the six largest U.S. airlines in hand. Those airlines lost a total of $43.8 billion last year. Or, put another way, that's just a few billion less than the amount the industry lost,…

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Issue No. 897

Mideast Goes Low Cost

The earnings parade marches on. More airlines reported their calendar fourth results last week, including Japan’s two major airlines. In a break with pre-Covid norms, ANA is now outperforming its smaller and more internationally-focused rival JAL. In India, IndiGo continues...

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Issue No. 896

Wizz Air Stumbles

With earnings season in full swing, we now have a clear picture of airline trends in the U.S. The Big Three — American, Delta, and United — all performed admirably in the fourth quarter, boosted no doubt by exceptionally strong...

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Issue No. 895

United Confronts New Realities

Polite. Complimentary. Respectful. Nobody would use these adjectives to describe Scott Kirby’s attitude toward low-cost airlines. The United Airlines chief showed up for the company’s fourth quarter earnings call with a baseball bat, swinging at rivals for sins ranging from...

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