Issue Summary

Aside from a few stragglers like Hainan Airlines, Philippine Airlines, and El Al, fourth-quarter earnings season is now finished. Those were simpler times, featuring familiar names near the top of industry profit rankings: Delta, IAG, Copa, etc. Brazilian airlines, interestingly, enjoyed extraordinarily strong fourth quarters, with Gol topping all airlines worldwide with a 26% Q4 operating margin. For all of 2019, Gol was the industry’s third most profitable airline, behind only Allegiant and Air Arabia.