Sky Talk

Back to the blog

I had a day off yesterday, but I'm back to Sky Talk today. Here are a few things I would have posted had I been around:

• American flight attendants plan to demonstrate at four airports, including D/FW, this Friday to protest the "growing challenges of air travel for passengers and the poor working condition for flight attendants." Attendants will pass out travel pillows to passengers with the address of their new Internet site, www.paxforpax.com.
• A new Travelocity poll suggests that the current economic concerns will have an impact on travel for the holidays. The firm said 66 percent of respondents reported that concerns about the economy will affect their holiday travel plans. Still, 78 percent plan to travel for at least one of the upcoming holidays.
• Falling oil prices could insulate airlines from a recession, according to some analysts. Jamie Baker of J.P. Morgan said airlines could make money next year even amid a steep recession if fuel prices remain lower than earlier peaks and airlines continue to keep a right rein on capacity.

- Trebor Banstetter

Airline stocks plunging

Shares of the major airlines are declining rapidly today along with the rest of the market, as worries about the economy raise fears of a broad drop in demand for travel. A dip in oil prices doesn't seem to be helping much, in fact, the decline in fuel prices is actually hurting Alaska Airlines thanks to its fuel hedges.

Here's where some of the big airlines stood in afternoon trading:

• AMR, down nearly 17 percent
• Continental, down nearly 19 percent
• Delta, down 17 percent
• JetBlue, down 9 percent
• US Airwayd, down 18 percent
• Southwest, down 3 percent
• Northwest, down 20 percent

- Trebor Banstetter

Airlines bracing for credit card squeeze

We've written in the Star-Telegram about American Airlines move to head off a jump in credit card reserves, the amount of money credit card companies temporarily hold back on transactions. Reuters has a story looking at the broad implications of credit card holdbacks on the industry, as well as some of the steps airlines are taking to prepare. The issue already helped push Frontier Airlines into bankruptcy earlier this year.

- Trebor Banstetter

Airline traffic continues to slow

The International Air Transport Association reports today that global airline traffic continued its slowdown in August. Traffic grew just 1.3 percent that month, down from 1.9 percent in July. Passenger loads slipped to 79 percent from 81 percent a year ago.

"The contrast between the first half of the year and the last two months is stark," said Giovanni Bisignani, the group's director general and CEO, in a news release. "The slowdown has been so sudden that airlines can’t adjust capacity quickly enough."

- Trebor Banstetter

Update on airline stocks

Well, airline stocks were pretty much hammered on the big jump in oil prices today. Here are some closing numbers:

• AMR: Down $1.73 to $11.21, a 13 percent drop
• Southwest: Down 92 cents to $14.76, about 6 percent
• Delta: Down 97 cents to $8.70, a 10 percent slip
• United: Down $1.44 cents to $11.80, about 11 percent
• Continental: Down $1.59 cents to $16.81, a 9 percent decline
• Northwest: Down $1.50 cents to $10.03, or about 13 percent

- Trebor Banstetter

Oil goes up, airline stocks go down

The endless seesaw continues this morning: Airline stocks are down on rising crude oil prices. Here's where some of the major carriers are trading:

• AMR: Down 94 cents to $12, a 7 percent drop
• Southwest: Down 48 cents to $15.20, about 3 percent
• Delta: Down 49 cents to $9.18, a 5 percent slip
• United: Down 84 cents to $12.40, about 6 percent
• Continental: Down 51 cents to $17.89, a 3 percent decline
• Northwest: Down 58 cents to $10.95, or about 5 percent

- Trebor Banstetter

Premium travel shrinking

Fewer passengers worldwide were flying in the front of the plane in June and July, according to a new report from the International Air Transport Association.

The group's monthly report on premium airline traffic (passengers flying in first and business class) shows that passengers flying on those pricey fares slipped about 0.4 percent in June, and 1 percent in July worldwide.

Those elite travelers are a key revenue source for the major carriers, so it's a worrisome trend for the industry.

- Trebor Banstetter

Airline employment down in July

The Department of Transportation reported this morning that passenger airline employment had dropped about 1 percent in July compared to July 2007. It's the first monthly decrease since January 2007.

The biggest drops were at United, Delta and Northwest. American actually increased its employment slightly for the month, and Continental and Alaska rose as well. The big decline was at regional airlines. As a group, they reported a drop in employees of nearly 17 percent.

Here's the breakdown of total number of employees among the largest carriers:

• American: 73,000
• United: 51,000
• Delta: 48,000
• Continental: 37,000
• Southwest: 34,000
• U.S. Airways: 33,000
• Northwest: 29,000
• JetBlue: 10,000
• Alaska: 10,000
• American Eagle: 10,000

All sorts of stats on airline employment are available here.

- Trebor Banstetter

Airline stock soaring

Crude oil prices are below $100 per barrel amid the turbulence in the financial markets and the fact that the refineries were spared from major damage in Hurricane Ike. That, in turn, has sparked a rally in airline stocks. Here's where some of them stand at mid-morning:

• AMR: Up 81 cents to $11.20 per share, nearly 8 percent.
• United: Up 92 cents at $12.28, about 8 percent.
• Delta: Up 22 cents to $8.35, or about 3 percent.
• Northwest: Up 22 cents to $10.07, about 2 percent.
• U.S. Airways: Up 51 cents to $8.39, more than 6 percent.
• Southwest: Up 3 cents to $16.22.
• Continental: Up $1.21 to $20.16, about 6 percent.

- Trebor Banstetter

Airline summer performance improves

The major airlines finished the summer with about 74 percent of flights operating on time, according to FlightStats.com. That's an improvement over last year, when about 70 percent of flights were on time.

Here's how the big domestic airlines performed in June, July and August:

• Frontier, 85 percent
• Southwest, 82 percent
• Alaska, 79 percent
• Northwest, 78 percent
• U.S. Airways, 78 percent
• Spirit, 77 percent
• Virgin America, 75 percent
• AirTran, 75 percent
• Continental, 71 percent
• Delta, 71 percent
• United, 67 percent
• JetBlue, 65 percent
• American, 65 percent

- Trebor Banstetter