coronavirus

Tag Archives for coronavirus.

American Airlines President Robert Isom Says No Bailout Needed, Will Take The Money Anyway

by Gary Leff

Mar 19 2020

In London just in advance of travel restrictions going into effect, American Airlines President Robert Isom traveled across the Pond to speak to employees there. American employees nearly 1000 people in the U.K.

He spoke at the British Airways headquarters at Waterside, and said that while they aren’t going to spend “even a dollar” that they do not have to, they owe it to customers not to degrade the inflight experience and that the company is “prepared to weather any type of storms that come up and says there’s “enough cash on hand to weather downturns in the business.” And that was before they picked up another billion dollars just today. Still they want to ensure that if the government is handing out money, they’re well-positioned to get some.

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Hawaii Asks Americans Not To Visit From The Mainland

by Gary Leff

hawaii
Mar 18 2020

With 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus including the state’s first case of community spread, the Governor of Hawaii is asking Americans on the mainland not to visit for the next 30 days. Hawaii travel has been one of the few bright spots for airlines, and early on in this crisis Oahu was one of only two major hotel markets to be doing well.

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American Closing 11 Clubs, Restricting Service In Others

by Gary Leff

Mar 18 2020

Due to low passenger volumes and suspended flights, American is closing 11 lounges so far. I expect that number to grow.

There are various state laws that are affecting service in Admirals Clubs. Perhaps the most extreme place you can social distance inside of an airport is in American’s Flagship First Dining. But they’ve had to close it at New York JFK because ‘restaurants’ are required to be closed. Some won’t let you take food with you, others won’t let you eat the food they give you there. And in some places alcohol cannot be served.

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What Should Flight Attendants Be Doing To Stay Safe?

by Gary Leff

Mar 17 2020

Most coverage has been about passengers – being afraid to fly, not allowed to fly by their companies, being advised to avoid risk. The President of the United States is advising against discretionary travel that is still mostly permitted. Yet day in and day out airline crew continue to show up at airports, get on planes, and interact with passengers. They’ve continued to work flights to Europe and Asia that many passengers have been unwilling to take.

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Is Not Cutting Flights As Deeply As Competitors A Brilliant Strategy Right Now? [Speculative]

by Gary Leff

Mar 16 2020

The normal approach is to cut spending everywhere possible, from capital expenditures to labor. It’s harder to cut employee salaries but Delta is throttling down spend on contracting firms and consultants. It is parking up to 300 planes.

So far flight loads haven’t been as bad as you’d expect, overall think of planes as 60% full towards the end of last week. That’s probably higher than we’ll see going forward.

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United Airlines Tells Employees To Expect Job Cuts

by Gary Leff

united plane
Mar 15 2020

United Airlines sent out a press release this evening, a copy of a letter to employees under the signatures of outgoing CEO Oscar Munoz and soon-to-be CEO Scott Kirby in which they lay out how bad they expect the novel coronavirus to be for the business – and in the middle of the letter they reveal that it “no longer appears realistic” to “avoid [taking] steps that affect [employee] paycheck[s].”

The airline reports that this weekend they have been in discussion with its unions to reduce “payroll expense.”

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Insane: American Airlines Is Still Spending Money To Add Seats To Aircraft

by Gary Leff

Mar 15 2020

American Airlines has cut its international schedule by 75% and its domestic schedule by 30%. Load factors are dropping. People aren’t buying tickets. The one thing American Airlines has too much of is seating capacity. And the one thing American Airlines has too little of to make it through this crisis is money. That’s why they’re running to the government for assistance.

And yet they’re continuing their ‘Oasis retrofit’ program where they replace the interiors of domestic aircraft to add seats to planes, making them less comfortable for passengers.

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