Jay Shabat

Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat crunch the big numbers to reveal which U.S. carriers are in expansion mode in the first quarter of 2025 and which operators are shrinking year-on-year.

The new year is here and airlines have much to be thankful for. The industry enjoyed robust profitability in 2024—by its own lowly standards anyway. Demand was strong. Supply was…

In this week’s episode, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat turn their attention to the year ahead. Going region-by-region, the pair share the emerging stories that are on their radar for 2025 and beyond.

In this week’s episode, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat are back for the second half of their 2024 trends countdown. Hot topics include the impact of a strong U.S. Dollar and chronic supply chain issues.

In this week’s episode, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat discuss the biggest trends to have shaped the airline sector in 2024. From continued consolidation to a horror show for U.S. LCCs, we reflect on a fascinating year for the industry.

Was 2024 a good year for the global airline industry? Yes. Demand was strong, supply was constrained, and fuel prices dropped as the year progressed. In this, our last issue of Airline Weekly before the new year, we look at the top trends and themes of the past year, one that many airlines will remember fondly.

In this week’s episode, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat are joined by Skift airlines reporter Meghna Maharishi to discuss why ancillary fees are coming under pressure from lawmakers in Washington.…

Ten years ago, Airline Weekly published a story about Taiwan’s booming airline traffic. East Asian economies were growing rapidly, low-cost carriers were expanding aggressively, and Emirates had just launched services linking Taipei with its Dubai mega-hub. Today, as 2024 nears its end, Taiwan’s airline market is again flourishing, however the dynamics are rather different. In this week's feature, we examine the key factors driving impressive margins and double-digit growth.

Talk about bad luck. Greg Foran’s first day as chief executive of Air New Zealand was February 3rd, 2020. Barely a month later, the Covid virus all but grounded the airline’s passenger business. The crisis would end. But Foran’s luck didn’t get much better. Today, about 16% of ANZ’s jet fleet is grounded due to engine issues, affecting both B787s and A320-family Neos. Despite the woes, Foran and his team are bullish about the carrier's prospects, as we discover in this week's feature story.

It’s the question everyone’s been asking for more than a year now: Will Spirit Airlines, a profit superstar before the pandemic, file for bankruptcy? Now we have the answer: Yes.