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Posted Mar 8, 2010
Posted Mar 8, 2010
Posted Dec 10, 2009
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas.
Or something like that.
Thanks to a wickedly strange website entitled Sketchy Santas for today's visual. If you have a warped sense of humor like I do, go on over and take a peek. I'll use a couple more of them here before we say goodbye to the Christmas season. I mean, after all, a little warped sense of humor is good for us all this time of year -- yes?
Posted Oct 15, 2009
This morning Southwest Airlines kicked off the third quarter earnings parade for the things with wings.
The bulk of the sector reports earnings next week.
Excluding items, the airline reported a profit of 3 cents a share. This was a bit better than the street consensus, which had forecast the airline would post a profit, excluding items of two cents.
Posted Feb 6, 2009
Posted Nov 3, 2008
American Express, BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel all have recently announced personnel cost-saving initiatives. Speaking last week with analysts during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call, Expedia executives said they haven't gone that far just yet. "The first area that we’re looking at and we think the biggest area of opportunity for us is in the non-people cost," said CEO and president Dara Khosrowshahi. "It’s in the variable costs, etc. I think it’s really important for a company like ours right now to focus on execution on a lot of the projects that we’ve been investing in--the technology projects, etc.--and bringing those through. I think we’re going to see where volumes come out. We are in an incredibly volatile time and based on where volumes and ’09 numbers are coming out, we’ll look at all costs including people costs, as well. But we’re just not there yet."
Meanwhile, Khosrowshahi noted that labor savings already are underway as the company reduces "cost per call" using "a new agent desktop that we’ve introduced that we’ve built over the past 18 months."
Posted Oct 22, 2008
A post today by "Professor Sabena" on the T2 Impact blog suggests U.S. airlines have failed in their strategy to raise fares by cutting capacity. "You would think that the significant cuts in capacity from Labour Day onwards would have given the airlines market pricing power and the ability to raise yields," the professor writes. "But even with the wonderful drop in fuel prices the airlines just cannot seem to win for trying." Not only is this assessment a tad premature, it's also inaccurate.
Posted Sept 17, 2008
You read that correctly. Despite weakening demand trends, Wall Street analysts are not discounting the possibility of not only U.S. airline industry profits in 2009, but perhaps record profits. Why? Fuel prices that have retreated dramatically from record highs, sizable capacity cuts, airfare hikes and the numerous other survival moves made by carriers this year.
Posted May 22, 2008
Forty percent of Marriott International's bookings are for transient business travelers, 40 percent related to group meetings and 20 percent for leisure travel, according to senior vice president of investor relations Laura Paugh. Speaking during a JMP Securities conference this week, Paugh said it's the 20 percent that is generating concerns.
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