American Airlines Group Inc

As many as 30,000 pilots will reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 years by 2026. If there aren’t sufficient new hires to replace them, airlines could face a pilot shortage.

Incoming American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has built a net worth of over $23.8 million during his career in the airline industry, according to Wallmine.com.

Robert Isom is American Airlines’ next CEO. He's scheduled to take the top spot in March 2022 when current CEO Doug Parker steps down from the post.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker has a reported net worth of $71.4 million. Parker will be stepping down as the CEO on March 31, 2022.

The U.S. has eased restrictions on international travel, meaning airline stocks could be in for a major liftoff.

Did JetBlue merge with American Airlines? Not quite. The two carriers have partnered for flights that they offer in the northeastern U.S.

The stocks of some specific companies that became victims in the 9/11 terrorist attacks were shorted on September 10, 2001. What the short sellers knew is baffling.

Staff shortages, maintenance issues, and weather delays are the reasons why American Airlines (AAL) is canceling hundreds of flights even as travel demand rebounds.

Fuel expense is Delta’s largest expense. It accounted for ~29% of the total operating expense in 3Q14. Fuel consumption per available seat mile decreased by 1.5% during the quarter.

The World Bank estimated Ebola’s impact by analyzing two scenarios—low Ebola and high Ebola. The scenarios are based on the probability of the disease spreading internationally.

Airline merger rumors are inevitable. Here's what the US Airways merger with American taught us. What are the merger rumors in 2021?

American Airlines stock soared when it reported its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 28. As a result, many investors wonder if they should buy American Airlines stock.

Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) total traffic fell due to a computer outage. For August 2016, Delta’s traffic fell by 2.8% as compared to the 0.5% capacity growth.

Growing capacity is necessary for revenue growth. However, capacity expansion that exceeds demand growth can lead to declining utilization.

Salary, wages, and benefits increased as a result of higher wage rates. Airlines have also had to increase headcount to adhere to the new Federal Aviation Administration (or FAA) regulations on flight, duty, and rest.

Alaska Air Group saw the highest surge in traffic demand and was the leader in capacity growth, with a 6.4% YoY increase in its capacity in July 2015.

Delta’s operating expenses increased by 16%, on 7% higher revenue, to $10,343 million. Higher costs had a negative impact on Delta’s operating profits.

Apart from improved operational efficiencies, American has outperformed its peers in pre-tax margin (excluding special items) improvement in the first half of 2014 to 8.7% from 4.1% in the previous year.

Paulson initiated a new position in CBS Corp. (CBS) last quarter. The position accounts for 1.35% of Paulson’s $20 billion 1Q 2014 portfolio.

Appaloosa Management enhanced its position in American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) last quarter that now accounts for 3.48% of Appaloosa’s total 1Q portfolio.

2016 has been the worst start for the S&P 500 in the past eight years. US airlines also saw a bad start. The Dow Jones U.S. Airline Index has fallen 4% YTD.

Chinese airlines have an advantage of having lower employee costs compared to their counterparts in the US. Operational efficiency of US airlines are comparatively higher.

Increases in share prices and dividends provide direct benefits to shareholders. The increases in share prices give better returns. Share repurchases and stock splits provide indirect benefits. Share repurchases lead to a reduction in outstanding shares. This results in increased EPS.

In mid-September 2016, the Hawaiian Airlines pilot union opened a strike operations center to operate in the event of a strike.

Brazil is the third largest domestic aviation market. With double-digit traffic growth, Brazil was one of the fastest-growing domestic markets in 2010 and 2011.

Capital expenditure is generally high in the airline industry. Delta manages to keep it low through its strategy of buying used aircraft.

Today, Delta is one of the largest airlines in U.S. providing transportation services for passengers and cargo—it serves almost 165 million customers each year to 225 domestic and 97 international destinations.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported its earnings on October 14, 2015. The earnings call caused greater movement in one of Delta’s key vendors—Boeing (BA).

Airline capacity utilization is measured using the passenger load factor, which is calculated by dividing traffic numbers by capacity numbers.

Since airlines across the industry have been forecast to beat record profits achieved in 2015, consumers have expected a further fall in airfares.

United achieved significant fuel cost savings during 3Q14 in the form of lower purchase costs and improved fuel efficiency.

According to the IATA, global air freight volume has increased by 4.5%. Capacity, measured by available freight ton kilometers (or AFTK), increased by 3.5% year-over-year in August 2014.

Appaloosa Management’s top new buy last quarter was American Airlines Group (AAL), with a 2.22% position in the hedge fund’s U.S. long portfolio.

As of December 2013, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) had cash and cash equivalents of $225 million. JetBlue’s cash position has improved by 24% from $182 million in 2012.

According to a study by Expedia, airfares fell by about 5% in 2015. Despite this decline, passenger complaints are on the rise. Many consumer leaders also lobbied for airfare reductions.

Alaska’s capital expenditure (or capex) mainly includes investment on aircraft. It increased since 2010. In 2013, ~80% of the total cash used for investing activities was on capital expenditure. The total capital expenditure was $566 million. $487 million was on aircraft and aircraft purchase deposits. $79 million was on flight equipment and other property and equipment.

On Monday, Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein lowered his target price on Boeing stock by $10 to $360. However, he maintained his “neutral” rating.

According to Bloomberg’s consensus, out of the 14 analysts tracking American Airlines (AAL), 71.4% have “buy” recommendations.

In the last week of June 2017, Qatar Airways’ CEO, Akbar Al Baker, disclosed the carrier’s interest in buying a 10% stake worth $808 million in American Airlines through the open market.

In 2015, most airline stocks have fallen, and the NYSE ARCA Airline Index (XAL), which is composed of the major US airline stocks, has also tumbled as much as 13.5% year-to-date.

Load factor measures capacity utilization. It indicates the percentage of total capacity that an airline utilizes. Airlines are capital intensive. They have high fixed costs.

In 2013, almost 57% of United’s (UAL) $37,030 million total operating costs comprised fuel costs (33%) and salaries (23%), compared to Delta’s 46%.

For 2Q16, analysts are estimating 4.2% revenue growth for Alaska Air Group (ALK), which is slower than the 6.2% growth in 1Q16.

Growing trade activity drove the recovery in cargo traffic in emerging markets in Asia, but it was slightly offset by the slowing European economy.

Appaloosa Management significantly lowered its position in American Airlines (AAL) in the third quarter that ended in September 2014. The position accounts for 3.81% of the fund’s total third-quarter portfolio.

Alaska Airlines (ALK) has the lowest yield of $0.148 among all its peers. Its peers include Delta (DAL) at $0.1689, United (UAL) at $0.1614, American (AAL) at $0.1622, and Southwest (LUV) at $0.1602. Revenue management is essential for the airline industry. The industry needs to maximize revenue by selling the most aircraft seats possible to customers at the best price.

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 removed all regulations governing the airline routes, airfares, entry, and exit of commercial airlines. Earlier, this was controlled by the Civil Aeronautics Board (or CAB). Airfares and all other factors would be determined by demand and supply market forces.

Southwest outperformed all its peers. Its share price increased 2.6% to $33.77 in September. That said, year-to-date results are positive overall.

DE Shaw increased its position in specialty retailer Sears Holdings (SHLD) from 0.01% to 0.07% in 4Q 2013.

Delta’s share price increased after the release of its 3Q14 earnings on October 16, 2014. On October 13, 2014, Delta’s share price reached $30.90—the lowest level since February 2014.

JetBlue’s operating revenue increased by 6% to $1,529 million in 3Q14. The company states that its on-time performance was impacted by congestion in the air space.

American Airlines (AAL) stock rose almost 0.94% on September 12, the day of its traffic release.

Global passenger traffic has increased by 5.8% year-over-year during the first eight months of 2014. Europe (29.7%), Asia-Pacifc (29.2%), and North America (25%) comprise ~85% of global market share by passenger traffic.

As of June 30, 11 fallen angel companies had issued tender offers YTD, boosting their bond prices by 5% on average.

Out of the 14 analysts tracking American Airlines (AAL), 50% have a “buy” recommendation on the stock as compared to the 71.4% that had a “buy” rating in 2Q16.

Modernization and development of airports Southwest is  involved in the management of various airport development initiatives. Few of them include Southwest entered into an agreement with Broward Country, Florida in 2013 to manage the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International airport’s Terminal 1 modernization project. Entered into an agreement with city of Houston to expand the Houston […]

In 2013, Alaska operated a fleet of 131 Boeing 737 jet aircraft. It had contracts with Horizon, Sky West Airlines, and Peninsula Airways for regional capacity. Horizon operated 51 Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft. It sells all of its capacity to Alaska according to its capacity purchase agreements.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported its 2Q16 results on July 14, 2016. The company’s revenue fell by 2.4% YoY (year-over-year) to $10.5 billion.

During fatal disease outbreaks, rules and restrictions are imposed—especially on air transportation. This includes canceling flights to the affected areas.

The Boeing Company updated its guidance for 2015. It expects revenues to end in the range of $95 billion–$97 billion by the end of 2015 compared to its previous outlook of $94.5 billion–$96.5 billion.

The demand for air travel experienced considerable growth in the month of August, driven by traditional vacation travel as well as lower fares of major air carriers.

For October, SAVE was ranked third on the metric according to the Department of Transportation. That’s a huge improvement since Spirit has historically been last.

JetBlue is in its growth phase and prefers to utilize its cash receipts to fund business growth and reduce debt levels. JetBlue currently pays no dividends.

Crude oil is trading below $50 per barrel, one of its lowest recent prices, and it is expected to take some time before it recovers, given the huge oversupply.

At present, 35.3% of the analysts tracking the Southwest Airlines (LUV) stock have “strong buy” ratings, another 35.3% have “buy” ratings, and 29.4% have “hold” ratings on the stock.

The share prices for major airline companies in the U.S. dropped substantially after the news of the first Ebola case in U.S. on September 30, 2014.

Except for one fund (MIGFX), no other actively managed fund that we have reviewed in this series has been able to outperform the passively managed SPY.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) has announced that it has added more shares of Delta Airlines (DAL) to its portfolio.

On multiple recent occasions, US President Donald Trump has said that the US economy is doing very well.

JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) is the only airline stock in the industry to have gained more than 50% in 2015.

With 16,000 unique city pairs, connectivity by air is estimated to have doubled in the past two decades. Moreover, although demand continues to rise, the price of travel has fallen.

American Airlines (AAL) is now the largest airline as measured by Available Seat Miles (or ASMs) with a 26% market share.

Southwest Airlines’s (LUV) current valuation is slightly lower than its average valuation of 4.8x since October 2008.

Alaska Air Group (ALK) currently has the highest forward EV-to-EBITDA multiple of 6.6x.

According to Reuters, of the 17 analysts tracking American Airlines (AAL), 23.5% (or four) have “strong buy” ratings on the stock.

For 1Q16, analysts estimate American Airlines’ revenues to decline by 4% to $9.4 billion and then to slow to 2% and 0.5% in 2Q16 and 3Q16, respectively.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported its fourth quarter 2016 results on January 12, 2016. The airline’s revenue fell.

On July 26, JetBlue reported a 2Q16 revenue increase of 1.9% YoY to ~$1.6 billion. Its EPS also jumped by a strong 20.5% YoY to $0.53 in 2Q16.

Analysts’ “hold” ratings on American Airlines stock have risen significantly. Nine analysts, a total of 56.3%, now have “hold” ratings on the stock.

With the repeal of the Wright Amendment on October 13, 2014, the company immediately launched nonstop flights to seven destinations. This was the largest single-day expansion in Southwest’s history.

Two of AirTran’s services to San Juan and Puerto Rico were already added to Southwest’s network in April, 2014.

The US airline stocks are in focus as crude oil prices soar after the US assassinated a top Iranian military commander last Thursday night.

Airline financials improved drastically in the past three years. Frontier Airlines’ IPO seems to be hitting the market at the right time for its investors.

Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK.B) November 2016 13F filing attracted considerable interest for airline investors. The 13F revealed Warren Buffett’s new investments in the airline sector—a sector he had written off during the past decade.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) derives 65.8% of its revenue from the passenger segment, 2.5% from the cargo segment, and 10.3% from other sources.

Alaska Air Group (ALK) has been trying to reduce its debt burden in order to strengthen its balance sheet in the long term.

American Airlines started paying dividends in mid-2014, joining the ranks of Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Air Group, the few dividend-paying airlines.

Currently, 13.3% (or two) of the analysts tracking JetBlue Airways (JBLU) stock have a “strong buy” rating. About 40.0% (or six) of them have a “buy” rating.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is expected to release its 2Q16 earnings on July 26. According to an analyst consensus, JBLU is expected to earn $0.49 in 2Q16, compared to earnings per share of $0.44 in 2Q15.

In this series, we’ll discuss why the ~25% share price decline since June was actually an opportunity for long-term investors to buy shares of American Airlines.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) stock fell 0.66% on June 7, 2017, the day it released its traffic report. Since then, the stock has continued its downtrend and has fallen 1.9%.

As of June 9, four of the analysts (25%) tracking United Continental (UAL) had a “strong buy” recommendation on the stock, while five (31.3%) had a “buy.”

Analysts are estimating an ~4.5% decline in Delta Air Lines’s (DAL) revenue to $10.6 billion for 3Q16.

Boeing (BA) has been feeling the heat after its 737 Max 8 aircraft crashed on March 10—the second crash in five months.

American Airlines stock was trading lower on Oct. 22 despite the company's Q3 earnings beat. Here are key takeaways from American Airlines’ earnings call.

American Airlines is set to report its third-quarter earnings soon. When are the earnings due and what are analysts' consensus expectations?

Concerns about Ebola increased in the U.S. after September 30, 2014. Thomas Eric Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S.

United, Delta, and American Airlines have removed change fees for domestic flights to win customers.

The airline industry contributes to U.S. economic growth. The industry drives $1.5 trillion in U.S. economic activity. It also generates more than 11 million jobs in the U.S.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings results on April 10.