PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted
This week's mega-earnings issue edition of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted.
This week we take an in-depth look at the recent earnings results posted by WestJet, SkyWest and Republic Holdings.
We also have the PlaneBusiness Earnings Summaries posted for Pinnacle.
Some of the highlights from this batch of earnings calls?
I want to like what Republic Holdings is doing. I really do. But this quarter's earnings were an exercise in "transition." Nothing we can grab onto -- yet.
SkyWest? The airline pulled out the stops in the creativity department this quarter in an attempt to put airplanes back into service and increase revenue production. Meanwhile the airline still has that treasure trove of cash it is sitting on.
WestJet? The wunderkind north of the border turned in yet another best-of-industry margin performance this quarter, but unit revenues and yields were down.
Oh - and then there was the migration to the airline's new Sabre reservations system. That went smoothly. NOT.
The catfight between Delta and American over JAL heated up this last week. If American thought Virgin Atlantic was a nasty adversary in terms of the British Airways antitrust application, I think before this is over, Delta is going to make Virgin look like a pussycat.
Direct distribution. This week we talk about public comments made recently by an executive with American Airlines about how American plans to distribute product directly to corporate travel accounts. The 2011 GDS negotiations are just around the corner. Between now and then -- watch out.
We also have October traffic numbers this week. The lesson from this month's numbers? Capacity Religion pays off.
All of this and much, much, much more -- in this week's mega-issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.