Air New Zealand CEO on the Kiwi Comeback

Greg Foran is Confident on the Return of Longhaul Travel

Pushing Back: Inside the Issue

Are airlines seeing any signs that extremely strong demand is weakening? It’s something everyone’s closely watching for as carriers begin reporting their fourth quarter results. Delta kicked things off on Friday and — rest assured — its demand outlook remains exceedingly bullish.

American, for its part, now expects much stronger fourth quarter profits than originally anticipated. Must be nice when one of your closest rivals experiences an $800 million dollar-plus meltdown. United will report this week.

Last week, U.S. airlines faced another operational headache, this time courtesy of the FAA and its Jurassic-era software. Also in the U.S., Spirit’s pilots ratified a new contract. Across the world in China, Boeing’s 737 Max is back in the air. Another new startup aims to launch in India. Australian startup Bonza receives its operating license. And in Spain, airports were back to near 2019 levels of traffic by late 2022.

It’s now early 2023, and fourth quarter earnings season is underway.

Airline Weekly Lounge Podcast

Welcome to fourth quarter airline earnings season. Oil prices have come down from the peak of the year but labor costs are climbing as the system of pulleys and levers that determine the industry's costs continue to fluctuate. Plus, the ongoing evolution in air service to small cities across the U.S. Listen to this week’s episode to find out. A full archive of the 'Lounge is here.