Will the airlines survive...

[Wagner]

with gas skyrocketing and consumer confidence null and void. I wonder how many airlines will go bye-bye. More importantly with the industry as a whole change? Will they focus more on business then general travel....hmm just a thought.

[Major04]

This is from the Dow Jones report yesterday:

Airline shares slumped as the investment rating on UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) shares was cut by Goldman Sachs and Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) reported it had more empty seats in June and will have second-quarter charges related to capacity cuts.

Continental shares recently traded down 7.9% at $9.17. UAL - owner of United Airlines - dropped 7.2%, while Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) declined 6.2%, AMR Corp. (AMR) - owner of American Airlines - fell 4.7% and Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) dropped 6%.

In a note about UAL, Goldman analysts expressed concerns that the airlines "will be unable to raise fares enough to offset the spike in jet fuel, especially given a lukewarm macroeconomic backdrop." Oil recently hovered around record highs, near $141 a barrel.

Goldman said it lowered its rating on UAL's shares to neutral from buy, based on concerns over high fuel prices and the fact that capacity cuts have not increased revenue per available seat-mile - a key airline measurement - "as we expected."

Meanwhile, Continental reported late Tuesday that the load factor, or percentage of seats filled, fell two percentage points on Continental flights to 84.1% with revenue per available seat-mile rising 3.5% to 4%.

When the company releases its second-quarter results on July 11, Continental expects to record charges from its planned capacity cuts later this year, as well as gains.
The company also plans to announce gains from investment and aircraft sales, the sale of aircraft and its investment in COPA and aircraft. Additional charges are expected in subsequent quarters

[soccerjunky]

If Israel and Iran go at it...then will the usa survive?

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by soccerjunky

If Israel and Iran go at it...then will the usa survive?

how would that effect the USA?

[soccerjunky]

Tehran would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway at the mouth of the Gulf separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula, accounts for about 40 percent of the world's traded oil supply including oil from Saudi Arabia i believe...oil would pass $200 in a heartbear

[Quicksilver]

Good question for the domestics. Seems as though some of the other airlines are offering splendid service across the board for their long haul flights.

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by soccerjunky

Tehran would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked

Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway at the mouth of the Gulf separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula, accounts for about 40 percent of the world's traded oil supply including oil from Saudi Arabia i believe...oil would pass $200 in a heartbear

Apparently you missed the US Navy's position on that. Iran wouldn't control crap.

[soccerjunky]

cool

[alpac]

I never understood why the USA never developed the fast train like Europe did in the last 30 years. I am not talking about for crossing East/West of course but rather for traveling North/South on each coast. If there was a fast train going from Miami to Boston in 7 hours, stopping just in big cities like Washington, Baltimore and New York (same on the west coast) a lot of people would take the train and that will drastically reduce the air lines congestion. In addition a train is not dependent on weather condition and cannot be rerouted to the World trade center. Also trains go from city center to city center.

[Wagner]

Well we do have some trains that do that going from MD-->NY-->Boston but nothing like Europe has, mainly I'd imagine because of distance. Would be nice though if you could take a train anywhere and not have to deal with airlines unless not in the continental