I wrote yesterday about how United had some real struggles filling seats in its Pacific network around the holiday season. But the only comprehensive data I have is load factor information combined with broad unit revenue trends by region as the airline reported in quarterly earnings. Load factor matters, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. I highlighted the Pacific yesterday because that’s where the numbers were worst. The airline had a big drop in unit revenue and low load factors. As I said then, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. United, like Delta, can afford to think strategically and invest ..read more

United made a huge push into the Pacific this winter, and the numbers are somewhat staggering. With so many seats flooding the market, it’s perhaps not surprising that United has struggled to fill them all. Early results may not look good, but this doesn’t mean it’s a complete failure. There will be some improvement as markets mature, but there’s also going to be some tweaking needed. In its Q1 results, United announced some pretty gruesome numbers. The average fare for the airline over the Pacific dropped by 2.8 percent year-over-year. Even with that decline in fare, its load factor plunged 7 ..read more

Some American Airlines Flyers Won’t Earn Miles for Flights Starting Next Month – Fodor’s The deadline is fast approaching for American to decide which travel agencies will be considered “preferred.” Those that aren’t will not be able to sell fares that earn miles at all. It’s been a frustrating process all around. Frontier Airlines cancels new Cleveland to Jamaica route — just one month after it started – Cleveland.com Frontier does not waste time deciding if a route will work or not. And this one apparently did not. In case you missed it, Brian and I delve into the financial results of the ..read more

United Looks Forward, Not Back in Earnings Report United posted a net loss of $124 million during Q1, but a positive outlook for Q2 buoyed its stock price and the spirits of its senior leadership. The carrier had a gross revenue figure of $12.5 billion for the quarter, a nearly 10% jump from last year on a 9% increase in capacity. The airline says if it weren’t for the $200 million it lost due to the MAX 9 shutdown in January it would have turned a small profit, which, sure, but it also would have turned a profit it made another $200 million selling leftover stroopwafels. UA is forecasting a s ..read more

Regular readers know that the currently-named Metropolitan Oakland International Airport is a sponsor of the Friday Cranky Weekly Review. It also was the presenting sponsor of this year’s Cranky Network Awards. So when I saw that the airport was proposing to change its name, I decided not to write about it… until San Francisco threatened to sue over the switch. Now I just can’t stay away. Someone pass the popcorn, please. Oakland’s idea was simple enough. It said last week that it wants to change its name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. This is a mouthful, and let’s be hone ..read more

American has decided to add a new dot to its route map. The winner is… Provo, Utah. This might sound like it’s coming from left field, but this is exactly the kind of market that American is trying to serve with its small-city strategy. And regardless of whether this is the right strategy to pursue or not, American is the right network airline to serve a market like this. Provo might seem like an odd decision. After all, the city lies less than an hour south of Salt Lake City’s airport where there is ample service. Further, Provo is a college town — hello, BYU — which means it’s not exactly kn ..read more

Last week on The Air Show podcast, Jon Ostrower, Brian Sumers, and I dove head first into the two northern corners of the Continental US, Boston and Seattle. Delta has officially designated each city as a hub in the last decade, but the competitive situation and outcome has been dramatically different. If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast, well, you’re missing out on our discussion. Here’s how you can do that: Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Listen on Pocket Casts But some of you who are already listening to the podcast were curious to see the numbers we t ..read more

Delta Ekes Out Q1 Profit As it usually is, Delta Air Lines was the first major U.S. carrier to release its earnings report, and the airline squeaked out a $37 million profit for the first three months of 2024, a far cry from last year’s lost of $363 million during the same time period. The profit came on nearly $12.6 billion of revenue, a 6% bump from last year despite being slightly below analyst projections. Delta expects its Q2 revenue to set a company record with as much as a 7% bump from last year forecasted. Delta says its corporate sales drove a lot of the demand in Q1, with a 14% YoY i ..read more

Cirium recently loaded the Department of Transportation’s DB1B data for Q4 2023, and I eagerly dove in to look for trends. What kept standing out everywhere I looked was American’s poor revenue performance in the quarter. My initial thought was that American’s efforts to abandon its sales efforts have left a mark, but the airline tells me otherwise, suggesting there hasn’t been a negative impact at all. I find that hard to believe, especially on a day when Delta announced corporate demand had come roaring back with a 14 percent increase in Q1, but I don’t doubt there are other factors involved ..read more

If you happen to be around the Fort Lauderdale airport and hear a grinding sound, don’t worry. It’s not an airplane’s mechanical problem. It’s just Spirit Airlines deciding to effectively grind its growth plans to a halt next year. This is understandable but concerning news for the airline. Spirit announced yesterday that it would defer all new airplanes scheduled to be delivered from second quarter 2025 all the way through the end of 2026 (except for two “direct lease” airplanes which will still come in) until the 2030-2031 timeframe. You can just assume this counts as “some random time in th ..read more