Airline Weekly Lounge Podcast

The editors of Airline Weekly discuss the most interesting developments within the commercial airline industry. In keeping with Airline Weekly’s style, conversation generally centers on one question: How do you make money in this industry? 

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276
Interview: Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram
Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram isn't too worried about increasing competition from U.S. and Japanese carriers on routes to Hawaii. During an an interview with Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan in Las Vegas on Aug. 26, Ingram said  Hawaii...
23 min
277
Interview: AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss
AirBaltic was an early adopter of the Airbus A220, back when it was the Bombardier CSeries. The aircraft is perfectly designed for the Baltic carrier's missions, and CEO Martin Gauss is enthusiastic about the model. He took a few minutes to talk to Skift...
15 min
278
Interview: Flybe CEO at IATA General Meeting
Just before stepping down as CEO of British regional carrier Flybe, Christine Ourmieres-Widener took a minute to talk to Skift Airline Weekly at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Seoul. Ourmieres-Widener’s two years at the helm of Flybe were tumultuous,...
12 min
279
Interview: Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said he envies American Airlines CEO Doug Parker for the scale and potential for profitability that U.S. carriers have from a large domestic market. Parker, the chief of the U.S.’s largest carrier, once famously sai...
24 min
280
Interview: United President Scott Kirby
  United Airlines President Scott Kirby issued a warning to potential new-entrant low-cost-carriers, including JetBlue founder David Neeleman’s Moxie: United will match your fares. Kirby, speaking on stage at Skift Forum Asia in Singapore in June...
25 min
281
Interview: Air Asia Deputy CEO
The latest edition of the Skift Airline Weekly Lounge contains an exclusive interview with Aireen Omar, AirAsia’s deputy CEO. There was no backtracking from AirAsia in its plan to branch out into selling other airlines on its platform, financial services...
24 min
282
Interview: British Airways CEO Alex Cruz
Skift Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 113
32 min
283
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 112: Prediction A...
With a new year underway, we’re thinking about what will happen in 2019—always a dicey proposition. In this episode, we consider the prospects of airlines around the world. Some, like Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines, are facing huge opportunities. Others, ...
38 min
284
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 111: Deal. No Dea...
After pummeling each other for years, Icelandair and Wow Air agreed to a truce in the form of a merger. But the merger fell through. Now Wow Air may be finding comfort with serial airline investor Indigo Partners. What will that mean for both airlines? A...
34 min
285
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 110: A Mess in Me...
More and more people are traveling by air in Mexico, but Mexico’s airlines continue to struggle. All four of its main carriers had a disappointing 3rd quarter, which is historically peak season. VivaAerobus at least made a little money. Aeroméxico and Vo...
44 min
286
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 109: Happy at Hea...
Of Europe’s “Big Three” airline groups, International Airlines Group (IAG) continues to significantly outperform the other two, namely Air France/KLM and Lufthansa Group. A big part of IAG’s success is simply British Airways’ coveted slot portfolio at He...
28 min
287
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 108: Is American ...
American Airlines truly set itself apart from its peers in the third quarter—and not in a good way. AA posted a dismal 7.5% operating profit margin, nearly half of Delta’s 13.9% margin. But, with good reason, management remains optimistic. United, on the...
32 min
288
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 107: Amazing Race
Delta is doing a remarkable job keeping pace with rapidly rising costs. Sure, the airline’s third-quarter fuel bill rose 35% year over year. But rising revenues offset enough of those costs that Delta’s operating profit margin fell only two points. Meanw...
22 min
289
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 106: Not So Sunny...
Sun Country is largely missing out on the golden age that U.S. carriers have been basking in since 2015. In the past 12 months (ending with the second quarter, the most recent to be reported) all the U.S. carriers posted operating profit margins ranging ...
44 min
290
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 105: Satisfaction...
Qantas continues to romp. In the first half of 2018, the flying kangaroo posted a 9% profit margin—one point better than in the same period last year. And with that, Qantas is working on its fourth consecutive calendar year with double-digit margins. Des...
35 min
291
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 104: Better, But ...
Revenues and margins improved for Cathay Pacific in the first half of 2018, and the second half is usually better for Cathay. Still, will it be enough to lift the Hong Kong carrier out of its malaise? Fuel costs dented Singapore Airlines’ Q2 results, whi...
33 min
292
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 103: Canadian Con...
Thanks to rising costs, it’s no surprise profits have declined at Air Canada and WestJet. But rising costs alone don’t explain how these Canadian carriers continue to consistently underperform their U.S. peers by a noticeable margin. Meanwhile in Europe,...
36 min
293
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 102: U.S. Airline...
So far all U.S. carriers have reported shrinking year-over-year profits in the second quarter. But nobody’s margin decline was worse than that of JetBlue, which posted a 9% operating margin, down from 19% the year before. Allegiant had the best margin of...
36 min
294
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 101: Delta Holds ...
Rising costs aren’t keeping Delta down. Delta overcame a 33% year-over-year increase in fuel costs to produce more than $1.2b in net profits (excluding special items) and a handsome 16% quarterly operating margin. In fact, despite the increased costs, De...
35 min
295
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 100: Frontier's W...
Frontier Airlines has had one of the most topsy-turvy histories of any airline, and its first-quarter earnings report was no exception. Sporting a wild animal on each tail, the airline has been soaring in recent years. In 2017, Frontier had the seventh b...
35 min
296
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 99: Say it Ain’t ...
Things haven’t gotten better in Mexico. Although Aeroméxico is at least coping better than its domestic competitors, all of which posted negative first-quarter margins in the double-digits. To make matters worse, construction of Mexico City’s much-needed...
28 min
297
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 98: Ryanair’s Res...
Despite a 29% year-over-year increase to its labor costs, Ryanair still posted a positive profit margin in the first quarter. Ryan’s eastern European counterpart, Wizz Air, meanwhile faced an even more daunting 43% rise in labor costs and handled it with...
39 min
298
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 97: Canadian Carr...
For the moment, WestJet is the more profitable carrier. But in recent years, Air Canada has closed the gap and, in the first quarter of 2018, we see signs that Air Canada—after years of giving chase—might overtake its long-dominant rival. Emirates appear...
29 min
299
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 96: Profit Preser...
Revenues for U.S. carriers remained terrifically healthy in the first quarter, and everybody made money. But rising labor and fuel costs generally shrunk year-over-year profit margins. United, which continues to trail Delta and American in profitability,...
39 min
300
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 95: Cost Creep at...
For a second straight year, Delta’s operating profit margin has fallen year-over-year in the first quarter. The reason for the decline, once again, is rising costs. The good news: Rising revenues—from nearly every corner of Delta’s network—propelled the ...
33 min