Analysis
In 2020, every major analyst predicted business travel would permanently contract. Airlines restructured toward leisure. Delta and United kept investing in premium cabins and corporate sales. Q1 2026 business revenue at United was up 14 per cent year-on-year. The forecasters were wrong.
News
American Airlines hit record $13.9bn revenue in Q1 and cut full-year EPS guidance by 84%. The commercial recovery is real. The fuel exposure makes it insufficient.
News
Southwest posted a $227 million profit in Q1 on record revenue of $7.25 billion — a $376 million swing from a year earlier. The transformation is working. Q2 fuel guidance came in at $4.10 per gallon and the EPS guide missed consensus.
Analysis
Boeing reported Q1 revenue of $22.2 billion, up 14%, with a GAAP loss of $0.11 per share — well ahead of the consensus loss estimate of $0.69. Cash fell $8.5 billion in the quarter as Boeing repaid nearly $7 billion in debt.
Analysis
Lufthansa is cancelling 20,000 flights through October, closing CityLine and retiring six long-haul aircraft.
Long Read
Singapore Airlines filled 93.5% of its European seats in March. Cathay Pacific carried 24% more passengers year-on-year. Korean Air posted a record quarter with European revenue up 18%.
Long Read
The Strait of Hormuz opened for twelve hours on Friday. By Saturday morning Iran had closed it again. For an unhedged carrier still in post-bankruptcy recovery, every additional week of this costs money it cannot spare.
Long Read
Jet fuel prices remain double their pre-war levels. IATA warns of European cancellations by end of May regardless. The carriers that survive the rest of 2026 intact are already visible — and so are the ones that may not.
Analysis
Norse Atlantic entered 2026 with its first credible profit forecast. Eleven weeks later, it was asking shareholders for $110 million. The fuel crisis has found its most exposed victim.
Analysis
FlyAtlantic has been planning to launch transatlantic flights from Belfast since 2022. The launch date has moved three times. The A321XLR changes the economics of the model in ways that previous attempts could not access. Whether the airline can actually get off the ground is a different question.
News
Scott Kirby pitched a United-American merger to Trump in February. A combined carrier would control 30% of US domestic traffic. The antitrust obstacles are substantial.
Analysis
British Airways holds 51% of all slots at Heathrow, inherited over fifty years and allocated free of charge by a government regulator. The standard airline valuation framework was not built for a company whose most valuable assets cannot be replicated at any price.