{"id":184667,"date":"2025-04-14T18:21:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/deltas-earnings-spirit-rules-by-committee-cranky-flier\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T18:21:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:21:23","slug":"deltas-earnings-spirit-rules-by-committee-cranky-flier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=184667","title":{"rendered":"Delta\u2019s Earnings, Spirit Rules by Committee \u2013 Cranky Flier"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Delta Q1 Earnings Show Profit and a Cautious Outlook<\/h3>\n

Delta was first up to release its Q1 earnings and the carrier posted a $569 million profit<\/a> on $14 billion in gross revenue. Its total revenue finished up 3.3% over last year, right in line with its revised guidance it released several weeks ago. That is not a high bar to meet.<\/p>\n

It expects Q2 to fall anywhere between down 2% and up 2% with international and premium flying staying strong, while domestic main cabin bookings slow \u2014 this is in line with much of the thinking in the industry and the economy in general \u2014 those not affected by the economic downturn will continue to flourish while the hoi polloi will experience belt tightening.<\/p>\n

Transpac flying was way up for Delta in Q1, with revenue up 16% YoY. Transatlantic and Latin America revenues were up 5%, with international flying propping its books up thanks to what Delta described as \u201ca reduction in corporate confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

DL finished the quarter wth $6.8 billion worth of liquidity including cash, cash equivalents, and a windfall in OneKeyCash now that it is placing an overnight experience inside its Biscoff tunnel in Atlanta on VRBO.<\/p>\n

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Spirit Shakes Things Up<\/h3>\n

Spirit CEO Ted Christie resigned his role<\/a> on Monday, definitely all by himself with no outside influence. The airline announced a triumvirate of Chief Financial Officer Fred Cromer, Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis, and General Counsel Thomas Canfield\u00a0will take over the airline in the interim. Christie had been CEO of Spirit since 2019 and worked at the carrier since 2012. As of press time he declined comment except to say that \u201cthey needed three people to replace me, so I must have been doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spirit emerged from Chapter 11 protection last month after it was the first large U.S. carrier to file for bankruptcy since 2011. The airline is in the process of reinventing itself on the fly, going from a fee-loving, no-frills, discount carrier to a fee-loving, no-frills, discount carrier that also lets you buy-up to feel like you\u2019re on a legacy carrier.<\/p>\n

In addition to Christie leaving, Chief Commercial Officer Matt Klein also resigned Monday and is being replaced by just one person \u2014 Rana Ghosh. Ghosh has been with Spirit since 2015, most recently serving as a Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer \u2014 what that is, no one really knows, but it\u2019s understood he had something to do with collecting fees. <\/p>\n

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Republic and Mesa Join Forces<\/h3>\n

Republic Airways and Mesa Air Group announced an intent to merge<\/a> in an all-stock transaction that will see Republic own as much as 94% of the new company \u2014 Mesa will get at least 6% with the possibility of doubling that stake to as high as 12% if CEO Jonathan Ornstein does a good job of shining Republic CEO Bryan Bedford\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n

Will the deal pass the DOJ\u2019s antitrust smell test? Probably yes. Assuming the deal is approved by the federal government, it will leave just two major independent U.S. regional carriers standing \u2014 the new Republic and SkyWest \u2014 though there are rumors that there are still some Jetstream 41s in Atlantic Coast colors just waiting to be put back into service.<\/p>\n

The graveyard of former regional carriers that either were bought, merged with, went out of business on their own, or just floating somewhere over a Midwest state like a lost float from the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a truly remarkable list and a trip down memory lane. For more on Republic\u2019s purchase of Mesa and an analysis of former regional carriers and what happened to their capacity, please visit Thursday\u2019s post on crankyflier.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Avelo Seeks a New Type of Passenger<\/h3>\n

Whether or not one agrees with the federal government\u2019s vigorous deportation policies, the fact remains if it\u2019s going to happen, someone has to do it, and potentially there is money to be made. Avelo has raised its hand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Avelo will be basing three B737s at Phoenix\/Mesa Airport (AZA) where it will begin flying deportation flights on behalf of the federal government beginning next month. Avelo\u2019s recent job posting seeks flight attendants who would be solely used to work these deportation flights, saying that having flown at least 10 years at American would be seen as a good sign that the applicant has the right temperament for this kind of work. The carrier describe it as an opportunity \u201cfor a charter program for the Department of Homeland Security. Flights will be both domestic and international trips to support DHS\u2019s deportation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avelo\u2019s done the impossible \u2014 the airline has found something worse and more unpleasant for FAs than working a regular Newark turn on United.<\/p>\n

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AirBaltic Needs a New CEO<\/h3>\n

Spirit isn\u2019t the only carrier that made a change at the top this week, with airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss being removed from his role<\/a> on Monday. Some questioned the dismissal of Gauss as his record at the airline is very good, if you\u2019re willing to set aside the fact the carrier went from an \u20ac8.3 million profit in 2023 to a \u20ac118.2 million loss last year.<\/p>\n

The Latvian government owns a majority stake in the carrier, and it is supposedly planning an IPO for its airline, so a loss of about $130 million probably wasn\u2019t looked up favorably. The Ministry of Transport expressed a vote of no confidence in Gauss, leading to the dismissal. Pauls C\u0101l\u012btis, the airline\u2019s current COO and a member of its board of directors will take over the CEO on an interim role.<\/p>\n

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