United and Delta Have Big Ambitions

Japan Airlines is enjoying a charmed life right now. How good is it? In 2016, JAL was the most profitable of the large global airlines outside the U.S. All Nippon Airlines is also doing pretty well. A...

7 Feb 201725min

While the revenue story has improved for U.S. carriers, the cost story has become a headwind. Still, as American Airlines demonstrated in its fourth quarter results, costs are a headwind that can be o...

31 Jan 201726min

By just a tenth of a percent, United’s fourth quarter operating profit margin bested that of Delta—and likely that of American, which reports later—making United, for the quarter, No.1 among the Big T...

24 Jan 201732min

Rising labor costs at Delta dented its fourth quarter results significantly—but not enough to prevent the airline from posting a terrific profit for 2016. And the big story within the story is that re...

17 Jan 201729min

SAS has tried and tried to turn itself around, but to no avail—at least judging by its recent earnings report. In fact, on profits alone, the airline’s third quarter was a step backward. What’s going ...

10 Jan 201734min

Call it our year-in-preview show. In this first episode of 2017, we look at some of the more interesting stories that are ushering in the airline industry’s new year. Of course, 2017 doesn’t promise a...

3 Jan 201743min

If anybody needed a reminder that the airline business is an interesting business, they got it last week as Air Berlin announced it will be handing over a big chunk of itself to arch competitor Luftha...

5 Okt 201635min

South African Airways finally published its fiscal year results for the 12 months ending March 2015. Yes, that’s 2015. And the result—a $442m net loss—wasn’t worth the wait. But with the Ebola scare a...

27 Sep 201631min