Issues

In the giant U.S. airline market, small planes play a big role. Just how big? Regional carriers—including those wholly owned by larger carriers— operate more than 40% of all U.S.…

Last year wasn’t pleasant for Gulf carriers. Nor was it a good year for Cathay Pacific. Lufthansa and Air France/KLM certainty had their share of headaches in Europe. Singapore Airlines…

In the summer of 2009, during the thick of America’s Great Recession, The Economist compared the divergent economic fortunes of the country’s two largest states: California was hurting, and Texas…

Not everything it touches turns to gold. Occasionally, Indigo Partners backs a wrong horse, like Mandala in Indonesia or Avianova in Russia. Volaris, however, is not one of those exceptions.

As recently as 2014, just two U.S. airlines—United and Virgin America, both then synonymous with despair—recorded lower operating margins than JetBlue. Even more uncomfortably, JetBlue’s margin was a massive 10…

In many ways, to the eyes of the world’s airlines, 2016 looked a lot like 2015, which was a radical break from pre-2014 conditions. Again this year, the industry operated…

Late one afternoon in late August, two press releases from two airlines announced— moments apart—that Scott Kirby was no longer president of American and had become president of United. The…

For airlines on death’s doorstep, there was always one hope. Always one last chance of a lifeline. Always one last chance that the phone would ring, and on the other…

At first glance, Europe’s airline industry might look every bit as healthy as its U.S. counterpart. After all, the collective operating margin of its 11 largest publicly-traded carriers was 17%…

For U.S. airlines, a new president means a new opportunity to advance their policy agenda. Immediately after Donald Trump’s victory, Airlines for America, or A4A, congratulated the president elect and…