Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 23: Relatively Resilient Revenues

Delta kicked off earnings season with—yawn—another record-breaking fourth quarter highlighted by a pre-tax profit that starts with a “b” (and ends with an “illion.”) The success is coming from a lot of baskets including cheap oil, operational performance and the fact that Delta’s revenues are holding up somewhat better than United’s and American’s, who report later. We try to break down Delta’s stellar quarter. Meanwhile, Air France/KLM, an airline group that weathered some tough headlines in 2015, appears to be feeling pretty good in 2016. In South America, LATAM, the most powerful airline in its region, tries to gain more power with two very large joint ventures. And should WestJet or Air Canada be worried about NewLeaf, the ultra-low-cost carrier that might actually fly this spring?