July 13, 2022

Stop Us if You’ve Heard This Before: Spirit Delays Vote

Spirit pushed its shareholder vote back two more weeks, this time to July 27, the fourth time the carrier has done so. This delay at least was two days prior to the vote and not in the hours before it was supposed to take place, so that’s a nice change of pace from the previous postponements, but it continues to draw this process out, a process that seemingly never wants to end.

This postponement came at the behest of Frontier CEO Barry Biffle who requested it in a letter to Spirit last weekend. Biffle recognized that his bid to merge with Spirit was still short the necessary votes amongst Spirit shareholders, and he requested more time to woo more votes. It is rumored that Biffle requested the time to finish gathering a dossier on all those he hopes to blackmail into voting for the deal. That remains the best option available since the offer is not going to be improved.

Spirit said it would continue discussions with both Frontier and JetBlue while Biffle asked Spirit’s board to reaffirm its commitment to Frontier’s offer. Frontier’s current stock and cash offer is at about $2.7 billion while JetBlue’s all-cash offer is much higher, priced at about $3.7 billion. Regardless of which airline ends up combining with Spirit, if it passes regulatory approval, the new, combined carrier would be the fifth largest in the country.

Delta Posts $1.5 Billion Q2 Profit

Delta Air Lines was the first airline to post its Q2 earnings report, and it showed a $1.5 billion dollar profit for the three months ending June 30 on $13.8 billion in revenue.

Looking forward, Delta expects its Q3 capacity to settle between 83 and 85% of 2019, with CEO Ed Bastian saying the carrier is not experiencing post-Labor Day leisure travel demand fall-off any more than usual. Expenses are going way up for the carrier as well – it expects its 3Q CASM to be about 22% higher on that 83-85% of capacity — with the CASM figure excluding fuel costs.

Delta pinky swore to increase reliability and stability in its operation after a rocky summer has led to an increase in delays and cancellations. Bastian conceded on CNBC’s Squawk Box today that the carrier “pushed too hard” in search of revenue, but that its July operation is running well after scaling back.

The airline ended the quarter with $13.6 billion in liquidity, a figure made up of cash and the cash value of the belongings of passengers who’s luggage the carrier took possession of and plans to sell after it was stranded in Amsterdam for more than seven days.

Qantas Ends Vaccine Mandate

Qantas will be ending its vaccine requirement for passengers effective this Tuesday, July 19, no longer requiring international passengers to have received the vaccine regardless of destination. The carrier will still enforce the regulations of the destinations it flies to but will no longer have its own policy.

The carrier was the first to introduce a vaccine mandate, doing so in December of 2020. It then launched a vaccine rewards program, offering free points or flight vouchers for Australian residents who had received both shots. This plan failed when Aussies realized Qantas was incapable actually running an operation and the vouchers would prove useless. Despite ending the policy for passengers, it will still require employees to be vaccinated, even with its ongoing staff shortages.

Masks will still be required on domestic flights within Australia, consistent with the Australian government’s regulations. The only exception will be when eating a Vegemite sandwich while in-flight… when double masks will be required for all other passengers.

  • Alaska‘s weather system vendor experienced an outage this morning. It forced airline staff to look out the window to determine the weather for a terrifying period of time.
  • American will begin complimentary elite companion upgrades tomorrow, July 14. On an unrelated note, it also had its request for reissued slots to operate to smaller Cuban cities approved by the DOT.
  • Fiji scored a $42 million cash injection from the Fiji National Provident Fund.
  • Ryanair reopened its Belfast base.
  • Spirit‘s in-flight WiFi is officially active on all of its A320/A321 aircraft, allowing passengers to read live updates about its next plan to delay its shareholder meeting while inflight. The carrier is also beginning service in San Antonio, starting with daily, nonstop service to both Las Vegas and Orlando.
  • Sun Country won the EAS contract to operate to Eau Claire, WI (EAU). The carrier will operate 2x weekly service to Minneapolis/St. Paul with seasonal 2x weekly flights to either Orlando, Las Vegas, or Fort Myers. A representative from all three airports will compete in a Hunger Games-type challenge in an Eau Claire office park with the winner earning the twice-weekly flights for the week.
  • Virgin Atlantic is beginning cargo service to Billund, Denmark.
  • Viva Aerobus completed a sale-and-leaseback on three A330-200neos.

Interviewer: Where do you see your career going in the next 3-5 years?

Me: I’d have to say my biggest weakness is listening.