Posts related to ‘Airlines’

Boeing (BA) Dreamliner Still Broken Along With Firm’s Management

airplaneBoeing (NYSE:BA) said it had encountered another problem with the final assembly of its Dreamliner in a cryptic press release from the company. The issue was discovered in the area where the plane’s wing meets its body. The discovery may only push back the time table for flight testing of the 787 for a brief time, but it is still an example of the poor engineering oversight that Boeing has exercised in the design and manufacturing of the plane. Read More »

Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 4:51 am in Aerospace, Airlines,

British Air And Iberia: Airlines Return To The Center Of M&A Stage

airplaneThe rumor that US Air (NYSE:LCC) and American (NYSE:AMR) may merge is not so far-fetched today, or that Southwest (NYSE:LUV) might take over JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU).

British Air and Iberia, the flag carriers of the two nations whose fleets met at The Battle of Trafalgar, will merge, creating one of the world’s largest airlines. BA shareholders will control 55% of the new company which will have a market value of $7 billion and total sales of nearly $20 billion. It is noteworthy that just earlier this week, BA said it would fire  4,900 people because of a $485 million loss in the six months that ended on September 30. Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 5:58 pm in Airlines, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , , , ,

Private Equity Takes To The Sky

airplaneAmerican Airlines (NYSE:AMR) is competing with Delta (NYSE:DAL) to form a close partnership with financially troubled Japan Air. Both US carriers would like ready access to JAL’s tremendous network of flights around Asia, where air travel is expected to rise rapidly over the next few years.

American got some help in its quest to be JAL’s preferred partner. US private equity firm TPG may be ready to put up several hundred million dollars that could shore up JAL’s faltering financial state. Read More »

Posted on: November 11, 2009 – 6:08 am in Airlines, ,

Airline Industry Gets Ugly Again As BA Fires 3,000

airplaneBy Douglas A. McIntyre

British Airways lost $485 million for the six months that ended in September. The airline’s CEO Willie Walsh told the BBC that this has been the “most difficult year in the history of British Airways”. BA is planning to cut 3,000 more workers in an attempt to return to profitability, but the firm’s outlook for an improvement in passenger traffic is bleak.

The BA news should not be seen in isolation. After a brief period in which analysts and traders hoped for a full-scale turnaround in the global airlines industry, those sentiments have faded.

Read more…

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 6:20 am in Airlines,

American (AMR) And Delta (DAL) Back In The Game For JAL Alliance

airplaneSigns are pointing to another bailout of Japan Airlines by the Tokyo-based government. That means the carrier could survive without being broken into pieces.

JAL is still prized for its significant and presumably lucrative routes around Asia. That makes it attractive to US carriers who want a large piece of the business in the fastest growing region in the world.  Several American airlines have tried to create alliances with JAP only to be stymied by its financial troubles. Read More »

Posted on: October 19, 2009 – 5:31 am in Airlines, ,

Airlines Make Aggressive Move To Go Green

airplaneThe car industry is going green by rapidly developing hybrids and electric cars. Residential and commercial building are adding solar panels. The last place that most people would expect a systematic effort to improve carbon emissions and adopt carbon-neutral programs is the airline industry. The engines for most commercial aircraft are so large that re-engineering them for  improved carbon emissions would seem difficult. Read More »

Posted on: October 11, 2009 – 7:50 am in Airlines, Alternative Energy, Green Biz, ,

As Recovery Takes Root, Airlines Delays To Hit Record Levels

airplaneThe events of 9/11 and the recession have cut sharply in to airline travel. That has been demonstrated by carriers cutting routes and laying off employees. There were a few airline bankruptcies last year. Delta (NYSE:DAL) bought Northwest in a consolidation meant at least partly to cut costs.

One positive by-product of falling passenger activity was few flight delays. That trend is about to come to an abrupt end. Read More »

Posted on: October 8, 2009 – 5:49 am in Airlines,

AirTran Punished for Share Offering (AAI)

Money Stack ImageAirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI) is being punished after the close after it announced a securities sale.  The discount air carrier plans to sell $75,000,000 in convertible senior notes due in 2016 in an underwritten registered public offering.  Concurrently with the note offering, the company plans to sell 9,000,000 shares of its common stock as well.  The company does note that neither offer is contingent upon the other.
Read More »

Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 4:49 pm in Airlines, Secondary Offering,

Airline Delays: Southwest (LUV) Crushes Northwest

airplaneSouthwest Air (NYSE:LUV) once again proved why it is the most admired carrier in America. Over 83% of its flights arrived on time in August, the latest month measured by US Department of Transportation.

Northwest, probably still working through an integration with its new owner Delta (NYSE:DAL) posted the worst record for arrivals among big carriers with 74% of its flights getting where they were going. Delta did almost as poorly with a figure below 79%. Read More »

Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 3:16 pm in Airlines, , , , , , ,

The Sucker Rally In Airline Stocks (UAUA)(CAL)(AMR)(LCC)

airplaneTry to balance the conventional wisdom about airline stocks. Audit Integrity has AMR (AMR) and Continental (CAL) on its list of large American companies most likely to go bankrupt. UBS upgraded several carriers to “buy” from “neutral”, and that has shares in AMR, Continental, US Air (LCC), United (UAUA), and Alaska Air (ALK) trading up sharply. United is trading up almost 6% to $9.34.

The UBS issued the upgrades because the carriers have shown that they can raise capital and because ticket prices may have stopped falling. Some of the airlines carry so much debt that bringing in money may be critical to their survivals. Read More »

Posted on: September 25, 2009 – 10:53 am in Airlines, Analyst Calls, , , , ,

Why is American Airlines Rearranging the Deck Chairs?

airplaneBy Robert Herbst of AirlineFinancials.com

American Airlines (AMR) recent announcement made one thing very clear.
 
–Sorry St Louis, it’s nothing personal it’s just business!–
 
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude St Louis (STL) is the big loser in AMR’s
newest business strategy. Picking the winners will be more of a challenge.
 
Thursday, AMR disclosed the destinations served from St Louis will drop from 39 to
just 9 by next summer. As a side-note, back in 2000, the year prior to AMR’s
acquisition of TWA, there were well over 400 TWA departures to both US
and International destinations. Read More »

Posted on: September 18, 2009 – 4:46 am in Airlines, , , ,

World’s Airlines To Lose $11 Billion In 2009

airplaneThe global airline industry, still staggering from huge losses and bankruptcies late last year caused by oil prices that moved over $140 a barrel, is not doing much better in 2009. Low passenger traffic is the chief culprit, but crude at $70 after a sharp dip early in the year puts on significant addition pressure.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its new forecast for worldwide airline losses this year and it moved up $2 billion to $11 billion. “The bottom line of this crisis – with combined 2008-9 losses at US$27.8 billion – is larger than the impact of 9/11,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. Read More »

Posted on: September 16, 2009 – 5:01 am in Airlines, , ,

China Readies First Airliner

chinaIt can hardly be good news for embattled Boeing (BA) or Airbus. China has unveiled the first commercial airliner to be produced inside its borders. It is called the C919 and will be able to carry close to 200 passengers. The airplane is expected to fly in about five years.

China wants to control its own industrial fate and the future of technlogies which are critical to large global businesses. It may become the world’s third largest producer of aircraft which would give it tremendous advantages in supplying its own airlines with planes which are now designed and largely built aboard. Read More »

Posted on: September 8, 2009 – 6:13 am in Airlines,

24/7 Wall St. TV: Boeing CEO Finds A Scapegoat

24/7 WallSt TVThe launch of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has been delayed so often that it would be comical except that the aerospace firm’s shareholders and customers are not laughing. Boeing trades at $50, down from more than $100 less than two years ago. Management has been appropriately blamed for most of the tardiness which has been caused by labor unrest, supply chain problems, and design flaws. Each time the delivery date was pushed back again, investors wondered why management was getting a vote of confidence from the board.

The vote of confidence period came to a head as Boeing said that the chief of the firm’s commercial airline business would leave his job a week from now. That is sudden, much more sudden than would be expected for a man who has been with the company for four decades. Scott Carson will be replaced by the head of Boeing’s other large division—defense. The person who will keep his current job although he should not is the firm’s CEO Jim McNerney, who has managed to produce shameful results without hisboard doing anything about it—other than dictating Carson’s departure.

Read More »

Posted on: September 1, 2009 – 2:00 pm in Aerospace, Airlines,

Boeing’s (BA) CEO Finds A Scapegoat

BAThe launch of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has been delayed so often that it would be comical except that the aerospace firm’s shareholders and customers are not laughing. Boeing trades at $50, down from more than $100 less than two years ago. Management has been appropriately blamed for most of the tardiness which has been caused by labor unrest, supply chain problems, and design flaws. Each time the delivery date was pushed back again, investors wondered why management was getting a vote of confidence from the board. Read More »

Posted on: August 31, 2009 – 9:35 pm in Aerospace, Airlines, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Management Change, , ,

How the Legacy Airlines Lost So Much Altitude Since 9/11

By Robert Herbst

After losing over $5 billion last year, the airline industry is now on course to lose a similar amount for 2009. This projected loss comes after the airlines will spend over $13 billion less for fuel compared to 2008.

Losing money for the old legacy carriers is nothing new. But this year, even low cost Southwest (LUV), after 35 consecutive years of profits, is expected to lose money. Of significance for how serious the revenue problems are for the industry, Southwest’s load factor will be the highest in the airline’s history.

If you’ve taken a flight or read a newspaper lately, you’re probably aware the airline industry has serious problems from customer service to record financial losses. Read More »

Posted on: August 31, 2009 – 3:48 pm in Airlines, , , , ,

Air Traffic Shows Modest Improvement (AMR)(UAUA)(CAL)(DAL)

airplaneFaced with higher fuel prices and falling passenger traffic, the airline industry is ailing. There are concerns that some carriers will go bankrupt if the situation does not improve by the holiday season which usually is a heavy travel period.

The International Air Transport Association is seeing a tiny up-tick in travel trends. Read More »

Posted on: August 27, 2009 – 5:56 am in Airlines, Economy, , , ,

A Strange New World: A Bidding War For An Airline

airplaneAirline analysts are worried that some US carriers will have to make huge cost cuts or face Chapter 11 filings later this year. The rising cost of jet fuel and precipitous dive in passenger traffic are causing huge losses among most of the industry’s leaders.

This  makes the bidding war for Frontier Airways especially strange. Southwest (LUV) offered $170 million for Frontier Airlines, which is in bankruptcy. That proposed deal was topped by Republic, which made a more complex bid involving unsecured claims against Frontier. Read More »

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 6:15 am in Airlines, Mergers and Buy Outs,

Buffett Loses Top Gun at NetJets (BRK-A)

Buffett ImageIt is easy to forget about the NetJets Inc. company….  Partly because of the recession, and partly because even fractional ownership of private jets has been vilified by the attack on wealth today.  Yet this is a Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) portfolio company, and therefore is what we have called Warren Buffett’s private airline.  Today came the announcement that the NetJets chairman and CEO Richard T. Santulli has resigned from the company.
Read More »

Posted on: August 4, 2009 – 5:16 pm in Airlines, Buffett, Management Change,

Boeing (BA): Another Setbank In A Long Series

airplaneThe delays in the Boeing (BA) Dreamliner were bound to cause its customers to take actions against the airplane manufacturer and that has happened.

The Wall Street Journal reports that British Air is seeking to delay payments for the plane. It is a convenient time for the UK carrier to make the move. Its margins and cash position are bad. Read More »

Posted on: July 30, 2009 – 5:42 am in Aerospace, Airlines,