Analysis

News

Southwest swings to a $227 million profit as transformation delivers

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 beats on revenue and cuts its loss by a third

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 cancels 20,000 flights and retires aircraft as fuel costs force the group's hand

Lufthansa is cancelling 20,000 flights through October, closing CityLine and retiring six long-haul aircraft.

Long Read

Singapore, Cathay and Korean Air are filling the seats that Emirates and Qatar Airways cannot sell

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

Zero hedging, one pending acquisition, and the worst fuel crisis in fifty years

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.

Analysis

Airlines face a summer of elevated costs and unresolved supply risk

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 raises $110 million as the fuel crisis undoes months of progress

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

The Belfast airline that has been about to launch for years — and why the economics might work

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

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has pitched a merger with American Airlines to the Trump administration

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

Why a Heathrow slot tells you more about IAG than the share price

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.

Analysis

Europe's jet fuel crisis has exposed a monitoring gap that Brussels cannot close in weeks

ACI Europe has warned of systemic shortages within three weeks. The final Hormuz-sourced cargoes arrived at European ports around 10 April. What the crisis has exposed is not just a supply problem — it is a governance failure that nobody in Brussels saw coming because nobody was watching.

Analysis

The loyalty programmes now worth more than the airlines that created them

Delta's American Express partnership generates $8 billion annually. IAG Loyalty is valued at $10.3 billion — double what it was worth in 2020. A forensic look at how frequent flyer miles became the most valuable asset in commercial aviation, and why the market still hasn't priced it correctly.