Think things are bad for airlines? It's about to get worse

[KY_EnviroGuy]

Source: AP News

The biggest and most profitable U.S. airline just posted its first quarterly loss in more than five years. Now things are going to get really bad.

Delta Air Lines Inc. reported Wednesday that it lost $534 million in the first three months of the year, when it suffered a glancing blow from the coronavirus pandemic during March.

The percentage of seats sold on U.S. airline flights dropped from 80.2% in January to 13.1% in the week of April 13-19, according to Airlines for America. That includes both domestic and international flights.

Demand for future air travel in the U.S. was down 98.4% in the second week of April compared with a year earlier, according to the industry trade group.

Read more: https://apnews.com/addf5ea5793c9ea24af60d3a2b5262fa

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The article goes on to describe reductions of flights, Federal aid to airlines and the many challenges of the future.


KY............

[safeinOhio]

1. Cry me a River.

Delta has spent a quarter Billion so far this year in stock buy backs. Not one dime until they sell every share they have bought back in the last 3 years.

[Bengus81]

17. Yep...still RIPPING people off because they want to carry luggage??

Fuck em.....

[RobinA]

26. Yeah, Really

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys. Luggage? Pay a fee. Luggage too big? Pay an additional fee. Got legs bigger than a 5 year old? Pay a fee. Did we make you miss your connection? Tough s---, find a hotel and we'll call you. For a fee. Maybe. If not, you're on your own. Want to make pretty sure you make your connection? Add three hours transit time to your trip. It snowed anywhere in the US? All schedules subject to change or cancellation. Don't want to lose money when we don't provide the service you paid us for? Assume the risk, buy insurance. Price of oil go up? Pay an fuel surcharge tax. On top of last year's fuel surcharge tax, on top of three years ago's fuel surcharge tax. Did we lose your luggage? It's Friday afternoon, call us on Monday. It's Aer Lingus' fault anyway, you landed in Dublin for two hours.

[paleotn]

2. Q2 earnings are going to be beyond brutal....

And not just for the airlines. I doubt Sears and Jaque Penney will be going concerns in 2021.

[jimfields33]

12. I hate JC Penny's getting closed down. The right wing will be joyous.

Makes me sick.

[msongs]

3. interest rates are low, borrow money against their assets like ordinary people do nt

[SheltieLover]

4. K&R

TY, KY.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Corporate travel is expensive and a lot of it unnecessary

Junkets, fancy hotels, palatial corporate headquarters. All those costs reflected in the prices consumers pay. That's where corporate cash flow comes from - the public. Corporations live in corporate parks, skyscrapers, to impress everyone.

[FakeNoose]

21. Most of those corporate meetings could have been Skyped or Zoomed

While face-to-face meetings are occasionally necessary, most of the corporate travel these days can and should be avoided. Holding meetings and conventions at Mar-a-Lago type resorts, that's a thing of the past.

People are finally waking up to this.

[Joinfortmill]

6. I'm for high speed trains myself. I hate flying.

The air is unhealthy, the service sucks, flight attendants are rude, and they beat your luggage to death.

[SoCalNative]

11. Unfortunately

there is no high speed train that will get me to the UK

[a la izquierda]

13. Exactly, or back to the US when I move there...nt

[Bengus81]

18. Or a tunnel to Hawaii.......

[Initech]

7. Jesus, this is going to be an economic blood bath.

Air travel will come back when life resumes, assuming we have life left to resume.

[sarcasmo]

15. Fear of the unknown, what will be left?

[Marrah_Goodman]

8. Things are rough on all the airlines right now

Delta has cut hours by 25% to try to avoid layoffs and have helped employees through the unemployment process so they can get the unemployment for those ten hours a week plus the extra 600. They have also offered voluntary furloughs for people who want it with all their benefits left intact. Since my bf is 65 and has medical issues he chose to take a 1 year furlough. The company has been pretty good about trying to find solutions and make things easier for the employees. My guy is hoping to be offered a nice early retirement package.

At his particular airport I think he said they do 148 or 158 flights a day or maybe that was on his shift and that is now reduced to ten mostly empty ones.

[Wellstone ruled]

14. Watch for Sky West Airlines

who runs Delta and United short routes to start screaming. Mike Lee and Willard Romney will make the noise.

[kairos12]

9. Federal bail out money will

probably be used in engineering a smaller economy seat.

[dalton99a]

19. And installing payment terminals on bathroom doors

[Shipwack]

10. Gosh... If only they had tangible assets...

... they could get a loan from a bank at near 0% interest to tide them over. What could they use as collateral, I wonder... hmmm

[Angleae]

16. If you think the planes can be used, think again. They're already mortgaged.

Except the really old planes that have been paid off over time (and aren't worth a whole lot).

[Mosby]

24. Most planes are leased.

The only thing carriers own is baggage handling equipment.

[Lefta Dissenter]

20. I'm breathing a sigh of relief

We were supposed to leave for Japan yesterday, to visit our only grandchild (and her parents). It’s taken me about three weeks of phone calls and monitoring, but I finally received my refund for those tickets. I didn’t want to accept a voucher for fear we wouldn’t be able to travel before the airline, or we, went belly-up.

I’m so disappointed we can’t go, and we have no clue when they’ll be able to visit home, but at least we didn’t lose our $$ in the meantime.

[Dial H For Hero]

25. I was going to go on a round the world trip in May. I've gotten my points back from ANA, but....

There was one segment for which i paid cash from Australia to New Zealand and back on Air New Zealand. They're offering me a voucher, but refusing to give me a refund.

[Lefta Dissenter]

27. At least for the US airlines,

they MUST give a refund if the flight schedule has been changed more than an hour or flight canceled. I have no idea what the policies are for other airlines. Schedule change was the basis for my request for refund rather than a voucher, and they immediately acknowledged that we qualified for that.

And I'm sorry that you're missing out on that wonderful trip.

[Hotler]

22. No bailout for the USPS but, we can bailout the pigs at the trough.

Make the airlines and other corporations apply for loans just like Steve Mnuchin told the post office to do.

[Mosby]

23. Great time to nationalize the large carriers.

Americans already subsidize virtually every aspect of air travel.