Around the World: March 30, 2020
| Airline Name | Change From Last Week | Change From Last Year | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| American | 35.3% | -54.6% | New seating policies allow for more social distancing aboard planes; blocking half of all middle seats |
| Delta | 38.4% | -41.3% | U.S. airlines calling their aid package "disaster relief," not a bailout |
| United | 34.0% | -58.2% | Altimeter Capital, a hedge fund, buys more United shares; now owns 5% of the company (Barron's) |
| Southwest | 13.9% | -27.9% | Will the U.S. order a complete shutdown of all flights to curb corona's spread? Airlines probably wouldn’t mind |
| Alaska | 26.8% | -45.9% | Announced more measures last week to cut costs, including executive pay cuts |
| JetBlue | 36.4% | -39.7% | One of the harsh realities of today's ravaged airline industry: traffic dropping much faster than airlines can cut capacity |
| Hawaiian | 28.0% | -57.7% | 14-day quarantine for all arrivals to Hawaii now in effect |
| Spirit | 70.2% | -71.4% | Uh oh. Management discloses problems it found with its accounting; "internal controls over financial reporting were not effective" |
| Frontier | (not publicly traded) | Spirit says April and May capacity will be down between 45% and 75%, subject to change amid fluid situation | |
| Allegiant | 32.1% | -28.3% | Currently has a higher S&P credit rating than American; agency had them at same level pre-crisis |
| SkyWest | 34.3% | -49.1% | On March 22, U.S. airlines filled just 25% of their seats; domestic load factor just 20%, int'l 41% (A4A) |
| Air Canada | 35.0% | -47.9% | Airlines around the world have raised more than $17b in bank loans during March, Bloomberg reports; U.S. carriers most active |
| WestJet | (not publicly traded) | Dismissed nearly 7,000 workers last week; about 90% of those came via voluntary means (i.e. early retirement) | |
| Aeromexico | -3.0% | -53.9% | For whatever it's worth, A4A notes U.S. traffic to Mexico, though down about 50% y/y, is falling less dramatically than domestic U.S. |
| Volaris | 0.4% | -48.5% | March and April capacity reduced by about half of what original schedule was |
| LATAM | 8.4% | -68.2% | History lesson from 1989: LAN Chile sold 51% of its shares to Scandinavia’s SAS that year; SAS sold out in 1994 |
| Gol | 72.9% | -50.8% | Stock had biggest jump of any airline in the world last week, probably reacting to last week's welcome rise in Brazilian currency |
| Azul | 41.3% | -47.7% | Said again that cargo, which is doing relatively well in the crisis, is typically a very profitable business |
| Copa | 42.7% | -43.8% | Panama has reported 14 deaths from Covid-19 as of Sunday; 786 reported cases |
| Avianca | 40.3% | -66.0% | Colombia, on Mar 25, closed its domestic airspace to all passenger travel |
| Emirates | (not publicly traded) | Passenger fleet grounded but B777 freighters still active, transporting medical supplies, food, etc. | |
| Qatar Airways | (not publicly traded) | Customers with elite status can now keep their status for another 12 months; previously was six months | |
| Etihad | (not publicly traded) | All transit itineraries via Abu Dhabi currently forbidden; applies to sixth-freedom travel, the backbone of Etihad's business | |
| Air Arabia | -3.5% | 3.7% | Lebanon's Air Liban (aka Middle East Airlines) tells Daily Star it's losing $1m a day |
| Turkish Airlines | 11.0% | -29.7% | Currently the only Turkish carrier authorized to operate domestic flights |
| Kenya Airways | -14.1% | -72.1% | Random note about Silicon Valley giant Google: Travel companies were some of its biggest ad spenders; not right now |
| South Africa Air. | (not publicly traded) | Bankruptcy restructuring deadline pushed pack until late May in light of virus crisis | |
| Ethiopian Airlines | (not publicly traded) | The Economist surveys future of Africa, including its expected demographic boom in coming decades | |
| IndiGo | 17.9% | -28.6% | Uplifting line it's using on social media" "The sky will be blue again, #See you soon" |
| Air India | (not publicly traded) | Skift online discussion about travel sector asks whether Expedia might be bought; Amazon a rumored buyer | |
| SpiceJet | 5.0% | -62.9% | India in 21-day citizen lockdown; borders closed between states |
| Lufthansa | 0.2% | -53.1% | European airlines upset about insufficient relaxation of EU261 pax rights; want to offer vouchers instead of full refunds |
| Air France/KLM | 6.8% | -51.3% | In first two weeks of March, Groupe ADP estimates 29% y/y traffic fall at its two major Paris airports |
| BA/Iberia (IAG) | -2.1% | -58.6% | For travelers with tickets booked thru May 31, Aer Lingus offering voucher for full value of ticket plus another 10% |
| SAS | -4.2% | -55.7% | Icelandair says 92% of its workers now on temporary part-time employment; 240 workers cut |
| Alitalia | (not publicly traded) | Alitalia aside, some Italian unions asking the government to relaunch (no kidding) Air Italy | |
| Finnair | -2.9% | -54.4% | Could be well-positioned for recovery if Asia emerges from crisis first; network highly dependent on Japan, Korea, greater China |
| Virgin Atlantic | (not publicly traded) | Virgin Group founder Richard Branson injecting $250m in cash but says gov't aid still needed | |
| easyJet | -0.9% | -46.8% | IATA sees U.K. losing 114m airline passengers this year; compared to what it would likely have seen; Spain 94m fewer |
| Ryanair | 4.9% | -21.6% | Was an active practitioner of dividends and stock buybacks; these are payouts only strong airlines can give |
| Norwegian | -10.6% | -79.6% | One silver lining of having so many industry planes grounded: emissions way down |
| Wizz Air | 0.2% | -25.4% | Like many airlines, it's warning customers that its call centers are overloaded; says be prepared for long wait times |
| Aegean | 8.8% | -47.0% | Traffic at Athens airport was still up 3% y/y in February; domestic down but international up |
| Aeroflot | 3.8% | -30.9% | Passenger volumes declined slightly y/y in February; ASK capacity rose 4% |
| S7 | (not publicly traded) | A rare airline announcing a new route last week: Moscow DME to Ulyanovsk with E170s ostensibly launching Apr. 17 | |
| Japan Airlines | 8.1% | -44.9% | Tokyo Olympics postponed after all; will try to reschedule next year |
| All Nippon | -0.4% | -25.3% | Will seek loans and ask unions to permit flight attendant furloughs, Reuters reports |
| Korean Air | 24.3% | -39.7% | Incumbent management team, aligned with Delta, defeats shareholder rebellion led by member of controlling family |
| Cathay Pacific | 0.6% | -40.7% | Hong Kong grants carriers full 5-month waiver on parking/airbridge fees for idle pax aircraft; 40% 4-month cut to landing charges |
| Air China | -4.3% | -42.4% | China closes borders to foreign citizens as it tries to stem rise in imported Covid-19 cases |
| China Eastern | 1.0% | -33.3% | Latest trade data show exports from Japan to China are down by roughly half y/y |
| China Southern | 0.4% | -34.4% | Travelsky, the state-owned monopoly GDS in China, cites risk that distribution market will open to foreign competitors |
| Singapore Airlines | 1.0% | -36.6% | AAPA says region's airlines saw a 44% y/y drop in international traffic during Feb.; seat capacity was down only 21% |
| Malaysia Airlines | (not publicly traded) | But AAPA also said Feb. cargo demand held up "remarkably well;" aided by pharmaceutical and food shipments | |
| AirAsia | 10.3% | -72.2% | Entire management team taking pay cuts of between 15% and 100% depending on level |
| Thai Airways | 3.9% | -74.2% | Still running most of its European flights for now but planning to stop them all on Wednesday (April 1) |
| VietJet | -5.9% | -17.3% | Vietnamese regulations require that all passengers wear medical face masks |
| Cebu Pacific | 8.9% | -47.0% | Offering travel credits to anyone booked between April 15 (when it hopes to restart flights) and June 30 |
| Qantas | 31.8% | -43.8% | Australia one of the only places in the world spared from ravages of the notorious 1918 flu pandemic |
| Virgin Australia | 30.9% | -61.1% | Angry about Qantas comments suggesting that Virgin is on verge of bankruptcy |
| Air New Zealand | -9.1% | -63.6% | Work on Auckland's second runway frozen amid Covid crisis; airport says it's committed to the project longterm |
| Brent Crude Oil | -3.6% | -58.3% | IATA's jet fuel monitor shows average jet fuel prices down 63% y/y; Prices in Asia down 58%; down 67% in North America |
Some stocks traded on multiple exchanges; not intended for trading purposes