Table of Contents

Issue No. 798

When a Codeshare Becomes a 'Pseudo-Merger'

The JetBlue-American Agreement Raises Eyebrows

Pushing Back: Inside This Issue

Fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings season kicked off last week with Delta's report. The Atlanta-based behemoth thinks business travel will start to recover by the end of this year. IATA and aviation analysts aren't as optimistic, but only time will tell.

Elsewhere in this issue, we look at the JetBlue-American agreement. Southwest and others have aired concerns. Is the deal, given the regulatory nod last week, a codeshare or a pseudo-merger?

Meanwhile, airlines are figuring out how to recall furloughed workers. Aeromexico is in more turmoil as it seeks to cancel its collective bargaining agreements. And all eyes are on the newly fortified Washington as one of the strangest presidential transitions in history occurs.

Coming up: United reports earnings this week.

Verbulence

"We do not expect customer demand in the long haul sector to recover in the near future, and our focus will be on developing our short haul network as we emerge from the reorganization process."

Norwegian CEO Jacob Schram

Weekly Skies

Delta Air Lines is mapping out a three-phase recovery plan for the return of corporate travelers, prompting executives to forecast the optimistic possibility of profits by summer.

Fleet

Airbus handed over 566 commercial aircraft in 2020 even as the coronavirus pandemic hit the airline industry hard and leaves the outlook uncertain for 2021.

Landing Strip

Travelers will have to wait a few more weeks for United Airlines' much-awaited return to New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

Routes and Networks

The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) is requiring airlines that take federal stimulus money to maintain service at all the airport they operated to before March 20, 2019. Congress authorized further financial support to airlines late last year, extending the CARES…

State of the Unions

U.S. airlines taking federal payroll support must recall furloughed employees or pay them with the new federal funds, but few airlines and their trade groups have been clear about what their plans are in recalling furloughed workers.

Feature Story

American Airlines and JetBlue Airways got some rare good news this month. Amid the fallout after the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol, the outgoing Trump administration signed off on the carriers’ proposed northeast alliance.