Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 50: Have U.S. Airlines Peaked?

Earnings season is in full swing and really there’s too much to talk about within the average commute or treadmill run. So we’ll talk fast. And in this episode, our fast talk starts with American Airlines’ billion-dollar quarter and, naturally, how that compares to rivals Delta and United. Speaking of which, United posted a second-quarter operating margin that was competitive with Delta and AA (although it didn’t beat them.) Could United at last be truly closing in on its peers?

Meanwhile, Southwest and Alaska Airlines posted margins that made the legacy carriers look like a bunch of pikers and underscored that it’s been a golden age for U.S. airlines. Ah, but have the U.S. airlines peaked? And lastly, we revisit our recent conversation about Azul, as the airline reached out to us with some interesting and valuable info.