It’s a time gone by and yet not so distant. In spring 2020, with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, American airlines, even more than their European rivals, suffered very heavy losses. At the time, American Airlines, the number one across the Atlantic, was losing more than 100 million dollars (94.5 million euros) every day.
To avoid bankruptcy, the group had been forced to hand over the money to the State, which had paid it 12 billion dollars from a generous aid plan of 50 billion intended to rescue the aeronautics sector. Delta Air Lines had also announced record losses: nearly $12.4 billion in 2020, after a profit of $6.2 billion a year earlier.
Boosted by public money, American scheduled airlines quickly returned to great form. In 2022, their financial results have sometimes even exceeded those of 2019, while their level of activity has flirted with that of pre-Covid. Unlike Europe, where it is the low-cost airlines that have recovered the fastest, driven by the reopening of short and medium-haul routes. Their preferred sector of activity.
“At the height of the crisis, airlines placed themselves under Chapter 11 protection, the American bankruptcy law which allows debts to be suspended and forces companies to restructureexplains Stéphane Albernhe, president of the consulting firm Archery Strategy Consulting. In exchange for freezing debts, companies have carried out profound restructuring of their fleets, their networks, their frequencies, their routes, their aircraft cabins and their workforce. »
Giant order
As a result, in 2023, the profits of large American companies are expected to double, to reach nearly $10 billion. In the second quarter, Delta Air Lines recorded its best performance in its history. As a sign of this renewed health, a few weeks apart, United Airlines, then Delta Air Lines, summoned the international press. The first in its stronghold of Chicago, at the end of October, the second in its hub of Atlanta, at the beginning of November. The objective is to highlight the modernization of their fleet, mainly with the renewal of aircraft cabins.
Further proof of their dynamism, United Airlines has, in 2021, started ordering new aircraft again. After purchasing 270 planes two years ago, and another 200 in 2022, the Chicago company announced, at the beginning of October, a new order for 110 planes, including 50 long-haul 787 Dreamliners and 60 medium-haul A321neo . Contracts estimated at more than 40 billion euros in total.
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