Air Belgium says it never recovered from lost business during the COVID pandemic, in contrast to most passenger carriers. It says it can’t make money selling tickets to consumers and will focus on doing business with other airlines.
Reaching COVID-19 pandemic high, employment remains 2.9% below pre-pandemic December 2019
Passenger airlines are limping back to health, but the air cargo sector is on fire.
If you fly on United Express or American Eagle, you may have actually been on a plane operated by Mesa Airlines. Now it has an all-cargo option too.
Air cargo is typically unaffordable for most shippers. With ocean rates off the charts, air doesn’t look so bad. If you can find a booking, why wouldn’t you fly?
It’s an upside-down world when an airline makes more money flying less cargo than it did two years ago.
In 2020, DOT received a total of 102,561 consumer complaints
Airlines scheduled & operated more flights in July 2021 than any month since the start of the pandemic in March 2020
Airlines put many aircraft into a deep sleep to ride out the pandemic slowdown in business, but storing and reactivating them involves a lot of resources.
Financial losses for the global airline industry were sequentially smaller in the second quarter
Willie Walsh is the blunt leader of the International Air Transport Association. He admits that airlines mistakenly treated cargo business as an afterthought.
Cargo is becoming a sexier line of business for passenger carriers.
Air cargo throughput is expected to continue its upward trend after a strong first-half showing, IATA said.
Cargo was the good news for Air Canada in the second quarter as the company still struggles out of a pandemic hole.
The FAA is giving airlines until the end of the year to run passenger freighters with cargo on seats and other parts of the cabin where people normally travel.
Cargo has been the airline industry’s all-star performer since the pandemic began. Profits are soaring, but it’s not enough to overcome huge losses from the travel side.
United performed worse in the first quarter than some analysts expected, but the consumer mood has shifted as the economy reopens and United says it can get to breakeven this year on a pretax basis.
One more quarter taking its pandemic lumps and then Delta says it will steer out of the COVID vortex and start making more money than it loses.
Gloom and doom could soon turn to sunny skies for U.S. airlines. It’s another story for international carriers, but everyone is managing heavy debt loads from COVID. Carriers will be more selective about what routes they fly in the future.
Ghost flights — passenger aircraft with no passengers, only cargo — were never a thing before the coronavirus pandemic. In the past year, airlines have operated thousands of passenger aircraft as mini-freighters. Who are the industry leaders?
Air cargo is a good news, bad news story this year. Shipment volumes are at pre-crisis levels. But cargo is joined at the hip with passenger airlines, which are cutting more flights and struggling to survive.
Uncertain vaccine rollouts and mutant COVID-19 strains are messing up airline industry hopes for a second-half recovery this year. At best, traffic will be half that of 2019. But, at least, airlines can count on cargo shipments.
Alaska Airlines’ parent company is one of the better managed airlines in the industry. Its financial results during a pandemic year show why.
Airlines are heavily in the red and a big shrink in passenger revenue last year is to blame. The International Civil Aviation Organization quantifies the results and gives its outlook for 2021.
The jump in passenger traffic for U.S. airlines during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays was a mirage, not a sustainable source of revenue for overcoming the coronavirus crisis. On Thursday, Alaska Airlines said passenger volume and revenue since October has retreated again and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) sounded less optimistic about the next few […]
Delta Air Lines is bringing in new blood and hiring from within as it works through the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Delta’s downsizing helped it contain costs during an extremely challenging pandemic year. On Thursday, it reported a fourth-quarter loss before taxes of $2.1 billion.
Airlines shed nearly 10% of their workforce in October.
New data shows cargo continued to rebound in October thanks to strong North American market and economic fundamentals. By next year, the air cargo market will be back to 2019 levels, while the passenger sector struggles to survive.
Safety requirements established for potential shipping hazards.
Preparing for the massive global distribution of COVID vaccines for airlines is the equivalent of the military massing for an invasion. Here’s how United, American and Delta airlines are getting ready.
Air Canada is showing itself to be one of the most innovative airlines around. It plans to start an all-cargo subsidiary on top of new initiatives in drone delivery and seatless aircraft that can carry cargo in the cabin.
There are too many airlines in Korea’s domestic market to survive, so the government engineered a merger between Korean Air and Asiana.
The A380 isn’t prized for its cargo capability, but when operated in “ghost” mode there’s a lot more room for stuff.
Delta took pains to remove seats from a large jet so it could carry more cargo — and eight weeks later permanently parked the airplane.
The airfreight market is gaining strength as trade and e-commerce grow, but the disappearance of most international air travel is hurting airlines. And the situation appears to be worsening with new waves of COVID in Europe and the U.S.
Airlines have cut costs to the bone to survive the COVID pandemic. Shrinking the bone — maintenance, airport fees, labor and aircraft rent — is more difficult.
Asiana and Azul are taking cargo seriously in an unprecedented year for aviation. To capture greater cargo revenue, Asiana has replaced passenger seats with a novel freight pallet system. Azul is turning regional jets into cargo planes.
American Airlines cargo and passenger flights will shift to a new mega-airport in Beijing in March. Passenger demand will dictate how long cargo-only flights continue.
Airlines are slowly adding flights, but don’t mistake that for market optimism. Bookings are trending down for the winter and airlines are bleeding billions in cash.
At airlines, cargo is typically the junior partner to passenger service. During COVID, the roles are reversed and United Airlines is using its cargo network to support more passenger service.
The air cargo industry is operating with an anchor tied around its waist: The absence of strong passenger service.
Cargo is no longer the stepchild at passenger airlines. Strong cargo sales have helped keep airlines afloat as revenues plunge during the coronavirus. Will we see airlines start to buy freighters to capitalize on cargo demand?
“Look, Mom, no seats!” That’s Korean Air saying it’s flying a passenger plane with the seats removed because it can make more money putting cargo on the floor.
Some people call it the Flying Forehead. The A380 is a double-deck plane that airlines quickly parked when the coronavirus destroyed travel demand. Now, Emirates is starting to fly a few of the mammoth planes.
No part of United Airlines was spared from job cuts announced Wednesday, but the cargo division’s roughly 50 job losses are far fewer than those in other parts of the company.
U.S. passenger travel seems capped at about 70% of last year’s level until there is a coronavirus vaccine. International travel is a dumpster fire — carriers heavily exposed to international markets will take longer to fix their balance sheets.
Price inflation has tapered off for many – not all – air cargo markets during the second half of August. Shippers shouldn’t get used to it.
If you’re an airline with the name Scoot, you’ve got to move fast. The Singapore carrier did that when it transitioned to cargo flights and removing passenger seats.
The CARES Act was a Band-Aid for the airline industry, holding tens of thousands of jobs in place for a brief period. Now the Band-Aid is coming off and without a fresh dressing, American Airlines and competitors are planning big layoffs.
Airfreight exports from China slowed a bit in mid-August, allowing shippers to take back a tiny bit of pricing before rates shoot up for the next few months in as retailers build inventory for the holidays.
United Airlines’ early commitment to quasi-freighter operations as the coronavirus crisis grew has paid off financially. The airline is ramping up cargo operations even further during the third quarter.
Tensions between the U.S. and China are high on a number of trade, diplomatic and security fronts but are easing when it comes to air travel. Both governments are now allowing more flights from each country.
Several passenger airlines have proven that cargo can be lucrative business during a pandemic with little travel. American Airlines quickly built a dedicated cargo operation but is now throwing more resources at the business as market conditions improve.
Delta Air Lines is stripping — seats that is. Removing seats from passenger aircraft adds capacity for lucrative cargo.
The International Air Transport Association is preparing to eliminate about 400 jobs as airlines pinch pennies because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There was a marked difference in how Canada and the U.S. reacted to the opportunity of transforming passenger aircraft into twin-deck freighters by removing the seats. One country moved very fast. The other was slow to the party.
Cathay Pacific has been flying passenger planes on cargo missions for months, but only in the last couple of weeks did it revert to pulling seats to create more cargo capacity. The new cargo capability comes with additional safety requirements and operational challenges.
Korean Air is a unicorn among passenger airlines. It made a profit in the second quarter, a remarkable feat given the depressed state of the airline industry.
The cargo divisions at Air Canada, IAG/British Airways and Air France-KLM played dominant roles for their respective airlines in the second quarter, creating cash flow. Typically, they barely register on the financial statement. What happened?
Shipping seafood, electronics or a spare part by air? It might get a window seat now on Swiss International Air Lines.
United Airlines is slowly ratcheting up its passenger schedule each month as travel increases, but it’s a tricky game to figure out how much supply to add in an uncertain world.
Airline industry officials are more pessimistic about a recovery after seeing a decline in consumer confidence and coronavirus surges in some countries. Cargo has more near-term upside, but June volumes were disappointing for carriers.
It’s not an accident that United Airlines’ cargo business in the second quarter dwarfed that of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
Southwest Airlines wrote its second-quarter results in red ink — $1.5 billion to be exact. It is not alone. All airlines are suffering financially from the coronavirus crisis.
United Airlines lost $1.6 billion in the second quarter. Given that a pandemic has hammered passenger travel, that’s relatively good. Company officials say maintaining capacity discipline for the foreseeable future is critical to get back to profitability.
American Airlines and JetBlue plan to enter a strategic partnership to drive more passengers to their respective networks as they struggle with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines are planning for mass layoffs unless workers take unpaid leave or separation packages as COVID continues to batter the industry.
The FAA’s ruling allowing airlines to jam more cargo in the cabin by removing passenger seats may be a pyrrhic victory. The incentive to do so may have passed.
The air cargo market is getting closer to equilibrium, but the coronavirus is a wild card that could disrupt economic activity and put a premium on air transport again.
Airlines are sweating the coronavirus pandemic despite the recent upturn in travel. El Al says it might fail and Aeromexico went the bankruptcy route.
Delta Air Lines was closed for most cargo business at Chicago O’Hare airport. Now it has a schedule for reopening.
Lufthansa is too big to fail in Germany. Now it has a bailout.
Big cargo planes are dumping cargo faster than O’Hare, LAX and other airports can process it. That could mean a longer wait for your new favorite gadget.
The U.S. Department of Transportation says it won’t entertain requests from Chinese airlines to operate more flights beyond the current cap.
The U.S. is loosening restrictions on flights by Chinese airlines after China partially reopened its aviation market to U.S. carriers.
Air cargo and cross-border trade could be unintended victims of the dispute between the U.S. and China over access by their respective passenger airlines.
Governments are taking equity stakes in airlines or putting conditions on them for aid. Cathay Pacific, a big passenger-cargo combination carrier, and Austrian Airlines are two of the latest to get a helping hand.
Airlines continue to send out SOS distress signals. The industry’s main trade association says profit margins will drop 20% this year, but the increased reliance on air cargo is helping companies stay alive and keep employees.
Passenger planes are flying empty. Are there ghosts? It sounds kind of creepy. No need to worry. Airlines are simply putting their assets to use with cargo as their primary customer.
Airlines are looking at a multiyear road to parity with 2019, but bookings have given them confidence to start opening up networks closed by the coronavirus.
June is supposed to be the heavy travel season, but instead of operating full planes, airlines are busy trying to save their financial lives.
The U.S. government’s emergency aid package was only a Band-Aid for protecting jobs. Airlines promised not to have involuntary layoffs for six months, but now American Airlines is paving the way for mass layoffs.
LATAM Airlines is looking for protection from creditors as it downsizes, something that all airlines are trying to figure out how to do in the face of a pandemic that has wiped out travel demand.
One of the big innovations for passenger airlines during the coronavirus era is using their planes as dedicated cargo haulers. Cargo 2.0 was putting boxes in storage bins and other seats. Cargo 3.0 is cargo on seats.
The word of the day: deep clean. Except for picking up trash, cleaning airplanes before the coronavirus happened mostly after a long day of flying. Now cleanliness is a top priority. Planes and terminals are being cleaned throughout the day, and much more thoroughly.
Airline watchers need to pump the brakes on optimism for an industry recovery just because some preliminary figures show an uptick in bookings and fewer cancellations, says Delta’s CFO.
Airlines know 2020 will be financially bleak but are seeing some green shoots of customer activity as encouraging.
Delta Air Lines is bidding adieu to the 777. The airline will be smaller for the next few years, so it doesn’t need its big 777 jets anymore. (Photo: Delta)
If you’re a forwarder and need more airlift to get goods around the world, you’re in luck. Airlines are listening and putting more assets to work.
Want to ride a “ghost flight” for fun? You can’t. They’re only open for freight and Delta Air Lines is flying lots of them from Asia to the U.S.
People go to the hospital to get better from coronavirus. Avianca is going to a different emergency room – bankruptcy court., so it can downsize in a safe way . It is a major Latin American carrier with a cargo division that operates its own fleet of freighters.
A perfect storm of events has created the mother-of-all cargo bottlenecks at Shanghai’s Pudong airport, where shipments sit at a standstill in crowded warehouses waiting for overwhelmed Chinese customs officers to inspect outbound PPE shipments.
United Airlines is steeling itself for a worst-case scenario that leisure and business travelers will not resume flying anytime soon, even with coronavirus restrictions lifted.
United Airlines isn’t sugar-coating the airline industry’s economic reality. United expects to survive the coronavirus crisis, but business will be slim for months to come.
The logistics sector specializes in figuring out creative solutions to transportation and trade impediments, and a pandemic is the ultimate test. Check out what DB Schenker and Airbus are doing to increase airfreight capacity.
Alaska Airlines may be late to the party when it comes to using passenger aircraft as freighters, but it wants to be an early adopter of using passenger seats for storage.
If it flies, it can be a cargo plane for coronavirus relief missions. Planes are being put to unconventional uses to support the coronavirus response, including cargo-only passenger aircraft with boxes in the seats or on the floor and heavylift cargo planes used by aircraft manufacturers to move wings and other aircraft sections.
Domestic airlines want to put cargo in passenger seats or stacked on the cabin floor, as some foreign counterparts are already doing. But they first need authorization from U.S. authorities.
