Coronavirus and the Airlines - Why are they still flying?

[Bluegrasscard]

My cousin who flies for SW has been down long enough to grow a beard (not regulation) and is posting a lot of pictures from Taylorsville Lake from his boat.

 

So they have curtailed a lot of capacity for sure.

[theguru]

Tell your pilot friends to consider applying to Atlas Air. They are hiring like crazy right now and putting more planes in the sky than they previously had.

 

Why? They fly for Amazon and I believe some for DHL.

 

I appreciate it, my friend is in good shape right now but I can't say any further.

[Voice of Reason]

Delta and American open the market down 8%, let’s see how the day goes.

 

It looks like all airline stocks are down 7-8%. I don't know what stocks Buffett owned but I don't see any airlines being affected disproportionately because Buffett dumped his shares.

[John Anthony]

It looks like all airline stocks are down 7-8%. I don't know what stocks Buffett owned but I don't see any airlines being affected disproportionately because Buffett dumped his shares.

 

Delta, American, United, SW. They’ve definitely been effected by his sell off, many others follow his lead. As I put earlier GE is cutting 13,000 aviation jobs.

 

Delta is now down 9%, American 10%.

[John Anthony]

As much as I’d like to buy some I’m not going against Buffett. Rather focus on big tech.

[bugatti]

Do people have any flights scheduled? What is your comfort level if/when you will fly?

[rjs4470]

Do people have any flights scheduled? What is your comfort level if/when you will fly?

 

I flew the first week of March, right before everything went off the rails. I wasn't as concerned then as I should have been. I was planning a trip to Vegas in November. Holding off for now, but when things open up, I'll probably ease back into society slowly.

[Bluegrasscard]

I took quick look at Delta's cash flow statement from Q1.

 

It looks like they were doing just about everything to conserve cash and to accumulate it. It looked like they took large long term loans or secured access to long term debt since their on-hand cash or cash equivalents more than doubled from Q1 2019. They are clearly preparing for a stormy period of low cash flow and are working to just stay liquid.

[bugatti]

I flew the first week of March, right before everything went off the rails. I wasn't as concerned then as I should have been. I was planning a trip to Vegas in November. Holding off for now, but when things open up, I'll probably ease back into society slowly.

 

I flew back from Arizona on March 2nd. There were 100 cases at the time. Two days after I got back I had a "stomach flu" where I was out for the count for about 4-5 days. Another week to feel human again. Fever, chills, and going to the bathroom non-stop. Doesn't fully sound like the Rona, but I guess it was possible. My friend I was with came down sick along the same time frame as me.

 

I am (re)scheduled for the Kentucky Derby in September, but who knows if fans will be allowed.

[John Anthony]

Do people have any flights scheduled? What is your comfort level if/when you will fly?

 

Mine got cancelled. That’s the other problem, if planes are 60% full, you’re going to see lower prices to try to fill up those planes, which is less revenue across the board.

[John Anthony]

United Airlines Holdings Inc has told employees that it expects its management and administrative ranks to be around 30 percent smaller starting in October.

 

Sucks all around, nobody even did anything wrong.

[Voice of Reason]

Just checked some flights out of curiosity. Prices look to be 50-70% lower than pre-CV19.

[JDEaston]

I live directly under one of the landing paths for HTS in Huntington. Its not a busy airport at all so I typically know the times that a commercial jet will fly over. It has been much less frequent over the past month and the times are a bit sporadic. The only thing that has really remained the same as far as frequency and timing goes are the FedEx jets.

[theguru]

Do you have any doom and gloom numbers on the US carriers?

 

United Airlines Holdings Inc has told employees that it expects its management and administrative ranks to be around 30 percent smaller starting in October.

 

Sucks all around, nobody even did anything wrong.

 

I just skimmed an article that said United is making plans to cut over 4000 pilots by October 1st.

[MJAlltheWay24]

I just skimmed an article that said United is making plans to cut over 4000 pilots by October 1st.

 

October 1st is a big date for all major airlines, unfortunately.