Delta Airlines chief executive said on Wednesday that new airspace limits should be given to Persian Gulf carries.
Richard Anderson said in an interview that the three biggest American airlines have asked President Barack Obama administration to ban Gulf carrier trips from outside its airspace.

United Continental, American Airlines and Delta have been lobbying the US as they believe the country has been supporting Gulf carriers.

The chief executive also accuses the airlines of receiving billions of dollars from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to subsidiary their cheap flights to the US.

<!––>

Delta Airlines chief executive said on Wednesday that new airspace limits should be given to Persian Gulf carries.
Richard Anderson said in an interview that the three biggest American airlines have asked President Barack Obama administration to ban Gulf carrier trips from outside its airspace.

United Continental, American Airlines and Delta have been lobbying the US as they believe the country has been supporting Gulf carriers.

The chief executive also accuses the airlines of receiving billions of dollars from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to subsidiary their cheap flights to the US.

<!––>

Delta Airlines chief executive said on Wednesday that new airspace limits should be given to Persian Gulf carries.
Richard Anderson said in an interview that the three biggest American airlines have asked President Barack Obama administration to ban Gulf carrier trips from outside its airspace.

United Continental, American Airlines and Delta have been lobbying the US as they believe the country has been supporting Gulf carriers.

The chief executive also accuses the airlines of receiving billions of dollars from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to subsidiary their cheap flights to the US.

<!––>

Delta Airlines chief executive said on Wednesday that new airspace limits should be given to Persian Gulf carries.
Richard Anderson said in an interview that the three biggest American airlines have asked President Barack Obama administration to ban Gulf carrier trips from outside its airspace.

United Continental, American Airlines and Delta have been lobbying the US as they believe the country has been supporting Gulf carriers.

The chief executive also accuses the airlines of receiving billions of dollars from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to subsidiary their cheap flights to the US.

<!––>

For Immediate Release

 

Chicago, IL – March 19, 2015 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL-Free Report), Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY-Free Report), JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU-Free Report), Delta Airlines (DAL-Free Report) and United Continental Holdings (UAL-Free Report).

                    

Today, Zacks is promoting its ”Buy” stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

                   

Airline Stock Roundup

 

It was a week which saw a new member from the airline space making its way into the coveted SP 500 index – American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL-Free Report). The carrier is set to join the much sought-after list from Mar 20 (after market close), replacing Allergan, which has been acquired by Actavis.

 

European low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY-Free Report) also grabbed headlines during the week with its board approving plans to connect destinations between the U.S. and Europe at amazingly low fares. However, the transatlantic service is unlikely to commence before another four/five years.

 

Low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU-Free Report) was also in the news for a bilateral codeshare agreement inked with privately held Silver Airways. JetBlue also announced healthy traffic data for the month of February. Important metrics such as revenue passenger miles (RPMs – a measure of air traffic), available seat miles (measure of capacity) and load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) grew on a year-over-year basis during the month.

 

On the price front, most airline stocks gained over the past 5 trading days, benefiting from plummeting oil prices. As a result, the NYSE ARCA Airline index climbed 5% over the said period.

 

(Read the last ‘Airline Stock Roundup’ here: Delta-Led Consortium Complains, Republic Airways Included in SP 600)

 

Recap of the Most Important Stories Over the Past Week

 

1. JetBlue Airways inked a codeshare agreement with Florida-based Silver Airways with the aim to improve customer convenience. The current deal extends the Dec 2013 ticketing partnership signed by the two companies (read more: JetBlue, Silver Airways Ink Codeshare Pact; Strengthen Ties).

 

Furthermore, JetBlue Airways’ Feb 2015 air traffic was up 10% year over year to 2.9 billion. Capacity improved 7.4% to 3.47 billion and load factor increased to 83.5% from 81.6% in Feb 2014 (read more: JetBlue’s February Traffic Rises on Favorable Factors).

 

2. American Airlines Group, formed following the Dec 2013 merger of AMR (American Airlines’ parent group) and US Airways, is set to join the SP 500 after market close on Mar 20. The carrier has been added to the SP 500 GICS “Industrials” sector or Airlines Sub-Industry index (read more: American Airlines Group to Enter Coveted SP 500).

 

3. According to media reports, the board of Ryanair has approved the carrier’s plans to connect destinations across the U.S. and Europe. Approval has been gained to operate to and from around 14 European cities and almost an equivalent number of American cities. Ticket prices have been kept unbelievably low with one-way tickets between US and Europe costing approximately $15 (promotional offer) according to a report at investors.com.

 

The services, however, are not commencing immediately. It will take another four to five years as Ryanair needs to bolster its fleet before entering the lucrative transatlantic market. In the event of Ryanair entering the U.S. market, competition would intensify for domestic carriers that already face the threat of market share reduction from Gulf carriers.

 

4. According to a report appearing in the Reuters, the dispute between US carriers and their Gulf counterparts took a fresh turn with the U.S. government asking Delta Airlines (DAL-Free Report), United Continental Holdings (UAL-Free Report) and American Airlines Group to furnish more information to support their claim of massive subsidies enjoyed by certain Gulf carriers.

 

The U.S. carriers, in a complaint to the Obama administration, had alleged that massive government subsidies have allowed Gulf carriers like Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates to expand their fleet and international operations substantially, in turn, eating into their market share. According to the report, the Obama administration has put forward approximately 20 questions to representatives of the U.S. carriers based on their allegations.

 

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The head of one of the world’s largest airlines says the sliding Australian dollar should lead to an influx of US tourists down under.

Delta Airlines president Edward Bastian said the company was heavily promoting Australia as a destination as a result of the fall in the currency.

“I think we will be bringing many many US tourists to Australia because of the fact that the US dollar is so strong,” he told a business lunch in Sydney.

“You are going to see a lot of US travellers coming to spend their currency.”

Mr Bastian said the fall of the Australian dollar, which has dropped from more than 90 US cents to 76 US cents in the past year, had reduced the value of bookings from Australia but that had been offset by increased passenger numbers from North America.

“It certainly has reduced the value of some of our Australian revenues but it’s also improved the popularity from a US travel base to come over, not just to Sydney but all throughout this big country.”

Delta flies between Sydney and Los Angeles as part of a partnership with Virgin Australia.

The partnership has been in place since 2011 and the airlines are currently lobbying the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to allow them to extend the arrangement for another 10 years.

Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said the two airlines had a market share between Australia and the US of 25 per cent, which is less than half that of Qantas.

He said they would struggle to compete on the route without the tie-up.

“Five years ago we were losing a lot of money on America and we were operating nowhere near as competitive schedule as we do today,” he said.

“The only thing that has allowed us to do that is this partnership.”

Politics

Mitt Romney To Square Off Against Evander Holyfield In Boxing Match

Mitt Romney, a presidential candidate in the 2012 race, will face off against boxing legend Evander Holyfield,…

March 8 (Reuters) – The Delta Airlines plane that skidded off a runway at New York LaGuardia airport last week may have had brake problems, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that cited two unnamed sources familiar with the federal probe.

Based on information from the “black box” and interviews with the pilots of Delta Flight 1086, federal investigators are focusing on the brake systems since other aspects of the touchdown were working as expected, the report said.

The investigation is also looking at the condition of the runway and the impact of snow and ice.

Air traffic safety experts cautioned the investigation is still in its early stages, according to the report.

The Boeing Co MD-88 aircraft was en route from Atlanta on Thursday and slid on the tarmac and crashed through a fence, barely stopping short of Flushing Bay.

Several of the 127 passengers and five crew members suffered minor injuries after the plane skidded off runway 13, it’s nose hanging out over the edge of the bay.

Representatives for Delta and the National Transportation Safety Board could not immediately be reached.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York)

• Transportation
• Delta Airlines
• Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK, March 5 (UPI) — A Delta Airlines MD-88, landing in a snowstorm at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, skidded on the runway and crashed into an embankment Thursday.

The flight, Delta Airlines 1086, left Atlanta Thursday morning. After landing in New York, it crashed through a fence before striking the embankment on the airport’s Runway 13.

Passengers climbed onto a broken wing to evacuate the plane, then were helped to the ground by rescue crews. There were no reports of injuries to any of the 125 passengers or five crew members, but reports of a fuel leak caused emergency vehicles to surround the plane.

The airport has remained closed since the incident.

Delta said, in a statement, all passengers left the plane safely and were transported to the LaGuardia terminal.

About three inches of snow had fallen in New York by 11:10 a.m., the time of the accident. About 15 minutes earlier, the National Weather Service reported the temperature at the airport was 26 degrees, with visibility of one-quarter mile. The wind, sleet and snow caused slippery paved surfaces.

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Delta Airlines alarmed owners of several show dogs on a flight leaving from JFK International Airport after the Westminster Dog Show in NYC. According to KOMO News, the dogs were never loaded onto the Boeing 737 heading non-stop to Seattle.

The animals’ owners on the plane noticed that their carriers were never loaded onto the cargo section of the aircraft. Greg Gorder was responsible for getting a standard Poodle named Paris back home, but the dog wasn’t even aboard the aircraft. Flight attendants reassured passengers on the Delta plane that the show dogs were on the plane.

One of the dog owners used a DeltaFly app to find out where the crates were. Luggage tags allow passengers to track movement of their luggage. The tracking in this instance revealed that some of the dogs weren’t loaded onto the plane. When it was discovered the show dogs weren’t on the plane, owners were given the choice to fly without them or take a later flight until Delta could find the dogs. All of the owners exited the plane.

It took airport personnel up to four hours looking for the dogs. One dog had flown out on another flight without her owner, Jennifer Dawson. She was furious with the airline for their error.

Delta Airlines spokesman, Mike Thomas, tells KOMO News that there was “limited space in the cargo compartment.” This allegedly prevented the dogs from traveling all on one flight.

Thomas continues that Delta looked after the show dogs because they “remained in Delta’s constant care while the airline worked to re-accommodate both the customers and their animals.”

Delta’s show dog mishap resulted in the airline apologizing to the dog owners and offered a free overnight stay at a hotel near JFK in addition to a $200 refund on dog fees, and VIP service at the airport. The dogs even got their own seats on the cabin flying back to Seattle. Paris was pictured sitting in her own airplane seat from JFK to Seattle.

According to Westminster Kennel Club spokesman, David Frier, this is a horrible thing for owners of prestigious dogs to go through. He tells New York Daily News that it may not seem like a big to some, but it’s catastrophic for dog owners.

“It’s not as tragic as it seems unless it’s your dog,” Frier says.

Delta’s handling of the show dogs didn’t go over well with the owners. Thankfully, the owners were reunited with their prize show dogs.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]