Jay Shabat

As is customary, Delta was first out the gates in reporting its quarterly earnings. There were plenty of warnings, but executives also highlighted underlying strengths in the business.

The whole world was watching. On Wednesday, Delta became the first major U.S. travel company to report first quarter earnings. What would it say about the crisis in confidence unfolding throughout the U.S. economy? How much worse have things gotten in the past month, since Delta first warned about deteriorating demand trends?

This week we examine our turbulent economic skies, including the impact of tariffs and oil prices on airline operations and demand.

Alright, so here we go again. Something’s gone awry in the world, and airlines are among the first to feel it. Following last week’s U.S. plan to essentially dismantle the global trading system, uncertainty has reached a fever-pitch. In this week's feature story we deep-dive into one of the thorniest battles in this emerging economic conflict, and ask how (or perhaps, if) Canada's airlines can come out fighting.

Is there ever a good time to start a new airline? Certainly not during a pandemic. Recurrent airline founder David Neeleman launched Breeze Airways in May 2021, a month in which U.S. airports handled just 50 million passengers. Last May, for perspective, they handled 80 million. In this week's feature story we examine the opportunities and the stubborn challenges of this plucky outlier that doesn't mind flying against the wind.

Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat debrief on two big-name interviews from the Skift India Forum 2025. The pair digest key takeaways from Air India CEO, Campbell Wilson, and Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo.

What’s Turkey’s largest airline? Of course, it’s Turkish Airlines. But don’t overlook another Turkish carrier that’s growing and profiting at least as impressively...

In part one, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat examine the key players serving the Caribbean from the United States. In part two, we take a closer look at the latest financials from Lufthansa.

A longterm plan to rightsize the federal government and reindustrialize the U.S.? Or economic suicide? To large swathes of corporate America right now, it feels like the latter. Tariff uncertainty and mass layoffs are rattling consumer and business confidence while erasing trillions in value from stock markets. Are airlines affected? As America’s largest carriers made clear last week, the answer is an emphatic yes.  

With most of the key results in, we've a good idea of how the world's airlines performed in Q4 2024. Not everyone was a winner, but there was plenty to cheer about.