| From: TimF | 2/5/2023 2:16:01 PM | | | | | | A near-collision between 2 planes in Austin prompts an FAA investigation
February 4, 2023
A FedEx cargo airplane was forced to change course during an attempted landing after a Southwest Airlines plane was cleared to depart from the same runway at an airport in Austin, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FedEx plane was cleared to land while several miles away from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturday morning, according to preliminary information, the FAA said. Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, an air traffic controller cleared the Southwest flight to depart.
"The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out," the FAA said in a statement. "The Southwest flight departed safely."
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are both investigating the near-collision.
A similar near-miss happened at John F. Kennedy International Airport last month when an American Airlines flight crossed the same runway from where a Delta Air Lines flight was taking off.
npr.org |
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| From: Sam | 3/1/2023 10:49:27 AM | | | | | | Delta pilots ratify new contract - union
REUTERS 10:47 AM ET 3/1/2023
Symbol Last Price Change | DAL | 38.345 | +0.005 (+0.013%) | | QUOTES AS OF 10:48:25 AM ET 03/01/2023 |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pilots at Delta Air Lines(DAL) have ratified a new contract that includes over $7 billion in cumulative increases in pay and benefits over four years, their union said on Wednesday.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) said that 78% of Delta pilots voted in favor of the contract.
The new contract provides a 34% cumulative pay increase as well as improvements to the quality of life, vacations and benefits for the Atlanta-based carrier's 15,000 pilots, ALPA said.
It will come into effect on March 2. |
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| To: Sam who wrote (1789) | 3/1/2023 11:44:49 AM | | From: Sam | | | | Delta's pilot agreement 'profoundly' changes economics for industry, says American Airlines
REUTERS 11:43 AM ET 3/1/2023
Symbol Last Price Change | AAL | 15.93 | -0.05 (-0.3129%) | | DAL | 38.4 | +0.06 (+0.1565%) | | QUOTES AS OF 11:44:07 AM ET 03/01/2023 |
CHICAGO, March 1 (Reuters) - American Airlines(AAL) on Wednesday said the deal rival Delta Air Lines(DAL) has struck with its pilots "profoundly" changes the economics for the entire airline industry.
Delta's new pilots contract is estimated to result in over $7 billion in cumulative increases in pay and benefits over four years for its 15,000 pilots. The new contract is widely expected to be a benchmark for contract negotiations at American Airlines(AAL) and United Airlines.
(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh, Editing by Franklin Paul) |
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| From: Sam | 3/1/2023 8:16:33 PM | | | | | | Delta pilots ratify new contract, raise 'the bar' for rival airlines
Reuters March 01, 2023 01:31:00 PM ET
CHICAGO, March 1 (Reuters) - Pilots at Delta Air Lines have ratified a new contract that includes over $7 billion in cumulative increases in pay and benefits over four years and is widely expected to be a benchmark for contract negotiations at rival carriers.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents Delta's pilots, said on Wednesday that 78% of the carrier's pilots voted in favor of the contract.
Both American Airlines and United Airlines have promised an "industry-leading" contract to their pilots. As a result, their pilots say that any proposal seen as inferior to Delta's will likely have no takers.
"Delta has raised the bar," said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for American's pilots union. "Repairing a pilot's work life balance and the scheduling practices under which they are flying are the core issues along with the compensation."
Delta's new contract provides a 34% cumulative pay increase, a lump-sum one-time payment, reduced health insurance premiums and improvements in holiday pay, vacation, company contributions to 401(k) and work rules.
It will cover 15,000 Delta pilots and come into effect on Thursday, ALPA said.
United's pilots have been conducting informational pickets to express frustration over delays in contract negotiations. American pilots, who received their last pay increase in 2019, have also been protesting for a new contract.
The ratification of Delta's deal is expected to put greater pressure on the two carriers to conclude their contract negotiations.
American called the deal a "great" news for its pilots, adding it looked forward to reaching an agreement on new contract "quickly." But it also said Delta's contract has "profoundly" changed the economics for the entire airline industry.
United declined to comment.
Some airline executives are concerned that hefty pay raises for pilots will inflate fixed costs and make it tougher to repair debt-laden balance sheets.
Delta has forecast a hit on its earnings in the first quarter as the pilot deal is estimated to drive up its operating costs.
'WAR FOR TALENT'
The new contract showcases the bargaining power pilots are enjoying as carriers rush to staff up to keep up with travel demand.
Delta, United, American and Southwest Airlines are estimated to hire about 8,000 pilots this year.
Analysts at Jefferies estimate the United States is short of 10,000 pilots. This supply-demand gap is projected to last until 2027.
Airlines are "in the war for talent," said Ben Friedrich, a professor at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. "It's hard for other airlines to retain their pilots unless they follow suit and raise pay to a similar extent."
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| From: OldAIMGuy | 3/8/2023 1:21:00 PM | | | | | | Both JETS and an airline stock, MESA, have been feeling better in 2023 so far. JETS has yet to rise enough for me to shed some inventory (target price to sell 10% of shares is $23.71) but MESA managed to trigger one sale so far. It's now hovering just below its target sell price for relieving me of 10% of my holding there. Here's how it looks. Note that January and February MESA offered healthier activity than most of the previous year.
Short selling seemed to end right around the end of 2022 and the stock shows far better accumulation since then. In the mean time they've managed to navigate some tricky turbulence with the contract changes with United and American. With air passenger travel miles on the rise and fuel prices stabilizing the last hurdle to be cleared was airline pilot costs. The recent successful negotiations of a major airline should help stabilize this expense, too.
Best wishes,
OAG |
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| From: Sam | 3/10/2023 9:26:38 AM | | | | | | United Upgraded on Spring Air Travel Demand. Why Southwest Is Downgraded. -- Barrons.com
Dow Jones Newswires March 10, 2023 07:14:00 AM ET
United Airlines and Alaska Air were both upgraded by Barclays Friday on strong spring air travel demand but the bullishness did not extend to Southwest Airlines, which picked up a downgrade.
U.S. airline stocks have enjoyed a strong rally to start 2023 -- the NYSE Arca Global Airline Index is up 17% since the start of the year. The rally paused briefly last month as investors awaited clues about how the key spring and summer months might shape up.
It's so far, so good -- demand looks to be staying strong and airfares remain elevated.
"Air travel demand remains robust heading into the peak spring-break period, likely supporting favorable guidance from most airline management teams," Barclays analysts, led by Brandon Oglenski said in a note Friday.
With that in mind they upgraded United (ticker: UAL) and Alaska (ALK) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
"We expect the continued recovery in long-haul international travel will drive outsized benefits for United in 2023," they said, also noting that international competition has reduced due to overseas airlines cutting back long-haul fleets. They raised their price target on the stock to $80, from $52, implying a 53% upside to Thursday's closing price.
While spring brings fresh optimism for the sector, even after its impressive start to the year, the same cannot be said for Southwest Airlines (LUV), at least according to Barclays.
The bank's analysts downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. The shares have fallen 1.8% so far this year, missing out on the industry's rally as the carrier's holiday travel disruption has weighed on the stock.
"We are concerned the company's IT infrastructure remains outdated compared with peers," Oglenski said, adding that "more aggressive capital investments may be required" to close the gap.
The airline said that after mitigation efforts it is now confident in its ability to respond to irregular operations, in written testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation last month.
It also emerged largely unscathed operationally from severe winter weather in February.
"Southwest completion factor has recovered this winter despite significant weather events, but we would rather move our less-levered "safe" airline Overweight recommendation to Alaska Airlines," Oglenski added.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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| From: Sam | 3/14/2023 7:19:23 AM | | | | | | United Airlines Stock Is Tumbling. Investors Are Missing the Good News. -- Barrons.com
Dow Jones Newswires March 14, 2023 05:55:00 AM ET
United Airlines stock was the S&P 500's sharpest decliner in premarket trading Tuesday, tumbling 6%, but investors may be overlooking some of the positives from the carrier's latest trading update.
United (ticker: UAL) cut its first-quarter guidance in a filing late Monday, saying it now sees a loss and citing higher jet fuel prices, capacity growth, and lower demand in January and February. But the reasons behind the loss point to a better-than-expected second quarter and leave the door open to full-year earnings estimate upgrades.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) and American Airlines (AAL) are expected to issue updates of their own later at the J.P.Morgan Industrials Conference, which could also have a bearing on how United's guidance is viewed.
United said it expects a loss of 60 cents to $1 a share in the current quarter. In January, United guided for a profit of 50 cents to $1 a share in the quarter. Total revenue per available seat mile will now increase 22% to 23% in the first quarter from 2019 levels, below United's previous guidance for a 25% jump.
But hidden away in the filing was an improvement to the carrier's second-quarter guidance, one that is perhaps being overlooked by the market. Lower demand months are growing less than higher demand months, United said.
That shift in seasonal demand patterns means that while January and February were weaker than expected the coming higher-demand months are set to be stronger.
As a result, United sees operating revenue climbing by a mid-teens percentage from the second quarter of 2022. The analysts' consensus is for a 13.5% rise. Another reason behind the first-quarter loss is United pulling forward costs from a potential pay deal with pilots from the second quarter to the first.
The company also guided for costs per available seat mile, excluding fuel, to be flat for 2023.
J.P.Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said he expects the market to "initially" focus on the first-quarter guidance cut but that other airline trading updates due Tuesday could change that.
"An optimistic embrace of United's disclosure could very well allow some full-year models to improve. But we doubt the market will take this view. More likely, in our opinion, is a disproportionate weighting to the outcome closest at hand; the diminished first quarter guide," Baker said. He has an Overweight rating on the stock with a price target of $ 81.
He added that the updated cost guidance plus improved second-quarter revenue "significantly offsets" the first- quarter disappointment.
The shares closed Monday with a gain of about 30% so far in 2023, outperforming legacy carrier peers American -- up 17% -- and Delta, which has climbed 8.5% since the beginning of the year.
But the stock's retreat in premarket trading is set to erode some of that outperformance, at least for now.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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| To: Sam who wrote (1796) | 3/14/2023 7:39:51 AM | | From: Sam | | | | Southwest Airlines Unveils 3-part Plan To Avoid Snags That Disrupted Operations During Winter Storm Eliot -- MarketWatch
Dow Jones Newswires March 14, 2023 06:59:00 AM ET
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) on Tuesday unveiled a three-part Tactical Action Plan that aims to booster operational resiliency across the company. The move comes after the regional airline was forced to cancel thousands of flights due to a severe winter storm that other airlines were able to manage. Cascading cancellations left it without staff to man planes, leading to more cancellations and eventually to a far wider-than-expected first-quarter loss. The carrier is now planning to accelerate operations investments of more than $1.3 billion to upgrade crew optimization software and crew scheduling systems; it will purchase additional de-icing trucks and upgrade winter equipment and preparedness; and it will take steps to align various network planning and network operations control teams under one senior leader for better execution of operational plans. The announcement came ahead of a presentation at a JPMorgan conference later Tuesday. The stock rose 1.6% premarket, but has fallen 23% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has fallen 7.6%.
-Ciara Linnane For more from MarketWatch: marketwatch.com
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