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Southwest prepared for jet fuel at $3.30 a gallon by passing on cost increases to passengers. Now it is preparing for jet fuel at $3.50 a gallon, CEO Gary Kelly said in an interview. The acquisition of AirTran in 2011, increased the size of Southwest by 20%, and is expected to generate additional revenue synergies of $400 million to $500 million. It also gives Southwest access to Atlanta and increases the number of cities served from 72 to 94. Kelly sees additional opportunities for growth in the lower 48 U.S. states before looking at markets in overseas destinations close to the U.S. Southwest has an order of 100 bigger and more fuel efficient 737-800s from Boeing. Boeing's Max jets are expected to be delivered in 2017. Other opportunities for growth will be expansion from Dallas Love Field to more destinations beginning in 2014.

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A government backed fund will recoup its investment in JAL when it sells 175 million shares at a tentative price of 3,790 yen ($48.38) each. JAL's president Yoshiharu Ueki, is aware of the many challenges still facing the airline, because of the growth of competitors in the Asian market such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates Airlines with much larger fleets and larger planes. JAL now has mainly mid-size more fuel efficient planes. Ueki says the listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange merely puts JAL back on the starting line to a turnaround.

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The selection of Kazuo Inamori, who headed Kyocera and KDDI Corp, to lead the turnaround of Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL). Inamori is a supporter of the Democratic Party of Japan and advises the government of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama. Along with Soichiro Honda, Akio Morita, and Matsushita, Inamori is highly respected in Japan for his management and entrepreneurial skills

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Extraordinary returns of 8-15 times the original investment for investors in AMR (American Airlines) shares following the merger with U.S. Airways.

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Most American large companies support president Biden's decision to mandate vaccinations for all employers with more than 100 employees. Smaller business also supports the decision as it makes this decision for them. The US Business Roundtable of the largest US companies issued a statement saying it "welcomes the Biden Administration's continued vigilance in the fight against Covid." It went on to applaud the decision of some companies to implement a vaccine mandate before the president's decision. Companies would like to see a rapid ramp up in testing capacity as they see testing capacity levels not the vaccine mandate as the real problem today with the surge in Delta variant. These companies such as Target, Nike, and retailers see testing capacity as "stressed" and say "testing capacity must be scaled immensely to meet the new requirements." Labor unions clearly support president Biden's decision including teachers associations, and the AFL-CIO. Some companies including Delta Airlines are imposed health surcharges for unvaccinated employees, and United Airlines has brought in its own vaccine mandate. The president's vaccine mandate has broad and deep support of the American people and business, according to this WSJ report, with recognition of the huge risks posed by the transmission rates of the Delta variant in the surge of coronavirus in September 2021. However companies say the Biden Administration has to scale up testing capacity quickly to make it work. ...

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Pressure from rising commodities prices on corporate profit margins.

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United with subsidiaries United Airlines and Continental Airlines had $6.8 billion in liquidity as of June 30, 2014. American Airlines after the merger with US Airways has $9.4 billion unrestricted cash by July 2014. Mr. Parker, the CEO of American, plans to prepay $2.8 billion in debt and aircraft lease payments, place $600 million more than required into pension contributions, and start a dividend and share buyback. Airline consolidation into 4 major carriers, cutting unpofitable hubs and routes, filling planes to capacity, and charging for better seating, snacks and other amenities, are leading to record profits for the U.S. airline industry.

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The critical variable in knowing whether lockdowns of cities and countries are working is called the coronavirus RO, or reproduction ratio. This ratio measures the average number of people infected by a carrier A. It could be that he infects 1 person at work and transport call it B people , or in large gatherings call it C people he infects 2 persons, or in other surroundings such as restaurants he infects 1 person call it D people. The people A has infected B+C+D are the ones now not infected by A with the lockdowns such as in New York, Italy, Germany, UK and France. It is determined by global health experts that the number of B+C+D is about an average of 4 persons infected by 1 person A with coronavirus, though it may be much higher in practice in some areas. The natural rate of RO or reproduction ratio is considered by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to be 3.86 or about 4, if no lockdown or social distancing or other prevention is practiced. This in a situation where people behaved as before unaware that the virus was around them. Governments such as New York and France, UK, Germany are including this key variable in their determination of how long a lockdown lasts, and for determining if the reopening is not going the right way or failing. In such situations the lockdown would be reinstated, or if it is a phased reopening such as in the U.S. and other countries go back to the previous phase. In Italy and Germany the RO reproduction ratio for coronavirus is estimated by official experts at 0.8. Germany's RO estimated by the Robert Koch Institute and Italy's by Franco Locatelli, scientific advisor to the government. In New York the margin is thin- with RO of 0.9, estimate from the state's governor. In France which has one of the tightest lockdowns of all with a document required to go outside it is at 0.6, the figure coming from the prime minister Mr. Philippe. In the UK it is below 1.0 but no accurate figure is reported. As Dr. Birx- leading the coordinated response in the U.S. - emphasizes over and over again this is a very contagious virus, about which not much is known. Social distancing, wearing masks, basic prevention measures such as frequent handwashing, and not gathering in large numbers of people, is essential for defeating this virus. This has to be followed up with extensive testing and contact tracing to win this fight.   ...

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John Wojick of Boeing, John Leahy of Airbus, and the fierce competition for orders from customers at ANA, JAL, Lufthansa, American. JAL's decision to inclde Airbus in its orders with its order for 31 wide body A350's for $9.5 billion, was a disappointment for Wojick, who heads Boeing sales group. Wojick has focussed on protecting customer interests inside Boeing as the Dreamliner and other projects suffered manufacturing delays and safety issues. He has offered deeper discounts on planes and flexibility on delivery timing to defend Boeing's sales.