Brian Sumers

If you wanted to make money in travel media in the past decade, credit card referral revenue was the best bet. But now that stream has dried up. Will it return?

JetBlue is planning for this crisis to last awhile. Not surprisingly, it is focused on hoarding its cash so it can survive.

Consumers probably would love it if airlines sold more seats than they could reasonably fill because they would see bargain fares. But a race to the bottom could be disastrous for the industry. The situation is bad enough as it is. If airlines must compete by selling bargain fares, some carriers would be in peril.

When an airline makes billions of dollars in profits, it can afford to keep some unprofitable routes for strategic reasons. But not anymore.

United Airlines said it had the worst quarter in its history. But given the demand climate, the current third quarter might be just as bad. For recovery to happen, U.S. airlines need the U.S. government to figure out how to reduce Covid-19 outbreaks.

JetBlue wants to expand in a time of crisis. It should be a sound strategy. But there's a potential problem: All U.S. airlines are in considerable trouble, including JetBlue.

On most financials, Delta has been one of the two strongest U.S. airlines for some time. But it reported a massive second quarter loss. If it's this dire for Delta, how will the rest of the U.S. airlines fare? Here's a hint: Not well.

The messaging about the U.S. airline recovery includes some, shall we say, irrational exuberance. Sure, some people will always want or need to fly. But many more want to manage their risk, and that's hard to do when the United States can't control a raging pandemic.

Since March, United Airlines has been the first U.S. carrier to sound the alarm on almost every major issue facing the airline industry. That is also the case here. Look for other global network airlines to make similar announcements in the coming weeks.

Airlines have complete control over their frequent flyer programs. They can take your miles for nearly any reason. It is probably not a good idea to try to defraud them.