Tag Archives: chaos

PlaneBusiness Banter Now Posted!

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Hello all. Is everyone ready for the Fourth of July Weekend? Not before you read this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter.

This week we are talking a lot about what happens when airlines have to deal with stories that go viral with a vengeance.

Last week three airlines had to face situations that forced them to call upon every piece of social media/internet knowledge and expertise they had. US Airways, Southwest, and Delta Air Lines all handled difficult situations differently. What did they do right, what could they have done better?

AMR, UAL, and Delta filed updated second quarter guidance with the SEC. Looks like Delta Air Lines will meet its 10% RASM goal for the quarter, but maintenance costs are running higher than anticipated. Both UAL and AMR said that RASM numbers will come in lower than expected. AMR looks like it will have another sub-peer quarter — or so says Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Glenn Engel.

The decision by the U.S. and key allies to release 60 million gallons of crude oil announced last week had a huge effect on oil prices and jet fuel last week. That news was responsible for a huge uptick in airline stocks on Thursday. But Friday the second quarter updated guidance sent stocks plummeting. Up down, up down.

It’s always something, isn’t it?

There was an Air Show last week. In Paris. We’ll take a look at the final tallies….but more importantly, has Boeing received the message yet? You know. The message that says, “Airlines want to fly aircraft that save them money.”

We talk about Air France/KLM flights that will fly using biofuel this fall, Sir Richard Branson’s personal letter to his pilots in which he essentially begs them not to strike, and we wonder whether all the flak concerning American Airlines’ new boarding policy is on target or not.

All this and more — in this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter. Subscribers can access this week’s issue here.