Airlines on Wallstrip

Posted by Howard
on January 24th, 2007

We love to hate them. Bad service, delays, peanuts, mile high club (ya right), unions, corruption, no livestock (unless its Aeroflot), no internet, no email, no sushi, oil shocks, terrorism.

I just hate them and avoid the stocks. I write about them often. My hate has blinded me to some disgusting gains for legacy carriers the last few years.

I have been friends with Jon Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Airlines, for years here in Phoenix. He knows the airline business as well as anyone in the world. My partner in Biltmore Ventures Adam Bruss (Morris Callahan the other) is a pilot that I trust implicitly (though I got to stay on the ground for this episode :) ). Since Wallstrip was in Phoenix and so many legacy carriers have been acting like growth stocks, I felt that the airline industry was a topic worth discussing.

I love this show. I still hate airlines and their stocks (save Jon and Mesa). The legacy carriers will screw this up in the end.

Yes, jobs have been saved with the government bailouts and the recent reorgs. Also, Jon mentions (I am in disbelief) that the emergency loans have been paid back, but Southwest and the other hub carriers have been penalized for winning. They have to keep competing with companies that they beat.

Running an airline seems almost as crazy as running for President. Trading the stocks is not my cup of tea.

Disclosure – no positions

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