Independence Air and Continental: 2005 Will Suck
Mar 18th, 2005 | By Jared BlankPerhaps you thought the airline industry had hit rock bottom. Well, you’d be wrong about that. 2 airlines made SEC filings yesterday suggesting that it’s still getting worse.
Continental says that it will incur "significant" losses this year, and, unlike many other airlines, has no fuel hedges in places. And while load factors are up (ie, their planes are more full), their average fares are down 5-6%. Thanks, Delta!
Independence Air, which has not had a good day since launching, it seems, said that it may face a severe liquidity crunch if financial conditions don’t improve. Though the article says that the carrier faces revenue problems because of competition and high fuel prices, that doesn’t really make sense—the price of fuel wouldn’t affect revenues, would it? Regardless, they face a cash crisis this year. Better snag those $29 fares while you can.