3 Links I Love: Norwegian’s Finances Look Bad, How Delta Sells Tickets, Yet Another 747 Article

747, Delta, Links I Love, Norwegian

This week’s featured link:
Norwegian’s creative accountingLeeham News and Comment
As a reader noted in a comment on my last post about Norwegian, the airline’s results in 2017 were actually much worse than they appeared. (And they looked pretty bad before.) There’s still furniture to burn, so it can keep going for some time, I’m imagine. But these numbers are very concerning.

Two for the road:
Q&A: How Delta is changing the way you shop for airline ticketsDelta News Hub
For those looking to understand how airlines want to sell tickets, Delta has an explainer for you. I actually missed this when it came out a month ago, but someone at Delta pointed me to it this week. I’m looking to have a chat with Delta on this in the near future.

Boeing out in style: a pilot’s final flight in a 747Financial Times
What’s that? You need another 747 article? Well, thanks to reader Ed, you get one. It’s a long one too.

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24 comments on “3 Links I Love: Norwegian’s Finances Look Bad, How Delta Sells Tickets, Yet Another 747 Article

    1. As with many paywalls, however, you can read the FT article by Googling most of the title and clicking the link from there.

  1. Once again the airlines (in this case Delta) makes the customer buying experience more complex (branded fare and a seat product). Who hires these marketing geniuses?

    1. What, your car in a color other than black?? Why would anyone ever want that?

      People want choices. Airlines want to give them to people, but they want to charge for the more expensive choices. Branded fare and Seat products are a way to do that without nickel and diming.

      (If you missed my bit in the beginning, you used to be able to get a Ford Model T in any color you wanted, as long as it was black.)

    2. I copied and pasted the article in Microsoft Word to get the word count — 2,011 words of corporate speak. Why can’t Delta take a simple cue from how the White Star Line broke down classes in the RMS Titanic to First Class, Second Class and Steerage. According to historians, each class had a high and low fare. Today’s cruise lines are doing the same with Suites, Balconies, Inner and Outer cabins. You see the photos, and check the prices (no icebergs, please). Delta could do the same by showing actual photos of the seats in each class, along with a corresponding list of things you get — or don’t get. Capisce?

      1. Delta does that now tho. Clicking on the class of service at the top of the search results provides a picture and description of amenities and restrictions on the ticket. It’s the OTAs and third party vendors that are not providing that sort of information.

  2. Dear Cranky, Re: the 747 article. Please don’t link an article to a publication that makes you subscribe to it prior to giving access to the linked article. Just a pet peeve of mine. Keep up the good work though.

    1. I was able to click through with no problem. Could be restricted to subscribers at first and then released later?

  3. Mark Vanhoenacker’s books, “Skyfaring” and “How to Land a Plane”, are must reads for every avgeek. He is very responsive to avgeek pics on Twitter as well. If you go to @markv747 on Twitter, you get a good link to the article.

  4. Delta would never state that they are studying a GDS fee, they might as well have said no comment or pass.

    As for branded rates is it more complex, yes. But they generate more revenue and the GDS need them to be relevant. THey are deathly afraid of not being able to display everything branded airline sites can show. If they don’t, their subscribers will go elsewhere or gasp, direct connect with the airline.

  5. … whatever about Norwegian’s dodgy accounts, what about Emirates’ ? ! … how we wonder are the vast state subsidies massaged there ? …

    1. Big difference between Norwegian and Emirates. Both are not money-making enterprises, but Emirates doesn’t have to be (it essentially has a blank check from the Kingdom). Sure, they may both engage in “non-traditional” accounting, but at the end of the day, Emirates can always secure more funding from its government. Norwegian, on the other hand, is a publicly-traded company. If it continues to operate at a loss, it will go broke unless it secures more funding (improbable, because while its investors may have been fools, they are learning organisms).

  6. Off-topic, but been talking a look at Airliners.net, and for whatever reason, the forum users there seem to be far more optimistic about Air Italy than you are. Thoughts?

    1. MK03 – I’m not sure what thoughts you’d like to hear on that. There is everything on Airliners.net from the wildest and stupidest of speculation to the more rational thoughts. What happens there won’t change my opinion on anything. They may be right, and I’m sure I’ll write something if the day ever comes where Air Italy becomes successful. But I still remain a huge skeptic.

  7. When you talk to Delta, could you ask them why there isn’t a non-stop from the SF Bay Area to Vegas? Drives me nuts that every flight from SFO to Vegas will route either through SLC, LAX, or both.

    1. Quartermouse – I can answer that one without talking to them. Delta does fly it. They have 3 day from San Jose to Vegas.

      Delta focuses its flying either at hubs or in markets where it sees a unique opportunity (like several Raleigh/Durham markets, St Louis, and yes, random Vegas markets like San Jose and Orange County). The Bay Area isn’t a hub, nor does it present a unique opportunity outside of San Jose. (Even that is questionable in my mind.) Specifically from SFO, you have a whole lot of United (10 day), Southwest, (6), and Alaska (5). That’s plenty of capacity.

  8. FYI if you Put something anti Norwegian like I did Brett will delete it. I’m not sure what his love for Norwegian is all about

    1. Christopher – This is one of the more ridiculous accusations I’ve seen considering I’ve seldom written anything positive about Norwegian myself.
      I show no comment from you in spam or anywhere else outside of this one. I never delete comments because I disagree with them. I delete comments only if they are spam.

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