Largest 52-Week Losses

Single passenger flights: The daily woes of airlines, and the crew still working

Like when the gate agent announced a formal boarding process only to remember that Barria was the sole passenger who would board, or when the pilot approached his seat to personally explain a delay in take-off due to a mechanical issue, rather than speak over the PA system. The two flight attendants invited Barria to sit in a first-class seat and went through the safety demonstration for Barria alone. Nearly vacant flights have become the norm for U.S. airlines, despite a drastic reduction in the number of planes they put in the air each day as passenger traffic has diminished in the midst of the new coronavirus gripping countries across the globe.

United slashes New York-area flights due to coronavirus

United said starting Sunday it will go from 157 daily flights total at Newark and New York LaGuardia to just 17. Newark, the airline's hub in the New York area, will drop from 139 daily flights to 62 destinations to 15 flights a day to nine destinations, while LaGuardia will go from 18 to 2 flights a day.

Will This Be The Slowest Year Ever For Oil & Gas Mergers?

Last year’s oil and gas merger mania seems to have stopped in its tracks as crashing oil prices and the coronavirus crisis weighs on the industry

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) closed at $13, marking a +1.8% move from the previous day.

Occidental names new CFO in latest management change

Feds Come to Rescue of Flyers With Hardball Mandate to U.S. Airlines on Refunds

U.S. airlines must refund passengers when they cancel flights due to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government said Friday, a blow to at least two carriers that have been making it difficult for customers to recover their money. The pro-consumer move is consistent with the U.S. Department of Transportation's usual policy, though there was some […]

American Airlines applies for U.S. payroll assistance grants

American Airlines, the largest U.S. airline, confirmed Friday it has applied to the U.S. Treasury for a chunk of the $25 billion payroll assistance grants approved by Congress last week. The airline said earlier it expected to be eligible for $12 billion in loans and grants from the $50 billion that Congress has set aside for airline assistance. The U.S. Treasury asked airlines to apply for grants by 5 p.m. EDT Friday.

TechnipFMC (FTI) Slashes Capex to Weather Oil Price Drop

TechnipFMC (FTI) has a revolving credit facility worth $2.5 billion to strengthen its liquidity.

TOTAL (TOT) & Apache Discover More Oil in Offshore Suriname

TOTAL (TOT) and its joint venture partner Apache discover more oil in Block 58 offshore Suriname.

lululemon Extends Store Closure on Rising Coronavirus Impact

COVID-19 derails economic activities worldwide. lululemon (LULU) extends store closures in certain regions until further notice and creates a fund to help employees.

Cenovus Curbs Capex for 2nd Time, Defers Dividend, Up 23.6%

Cenovus Energy (CVE) expects to reduce its oil sands operations' sustaining costs to C$2.60 per barrel in 2020.

Stock Market News for Apr 3, 2020

Stocks closed higher on Thursday, largely driven by President Donald Trump's tweet about the possibility of a massive reduction in oil production ahead.

Airlines Laid Low By Coronavirus: When Will Growth Return?

Battered by coronavirus, airlines might not see a recovery in travel demand until at least 2022.

The Consensus EPS Estimates For Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSE:CVE) Just Fell Dramatically

The analysts covering Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSE:CVE) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a...

Retailers Wish You'd Be Back Shopping By Easter

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Donald Trump wasn’t alone in hoping everyone’s lives could get back to normal by Easter weekend.Retailers’ decisions to furlough hundreds of thousands of U.S. retail workers this week underscore that store closures are set to go on for much longer than initially anticipated. Closings in many major markets around the world will remain in place through next weekend and beyond, wreaking havoc with the prime spring shopping season.Hennes & Mauritz AB said on Friday that net sales fell by 46% in March from the year earlier. It expects a loss in its second quarter. The extended closures will now affect crucial pre-Easter shopping period, worth about $25 billion to U.S. retailers, according to GlobalData. While people may still indulge in filling their children’s baskets with chocolate eggs to create some holiday cheer in this difficult time, crackdowns on even the smallest of gatherings mean they won’t be planning big fancy meals, nor refreshing their bunny-and-chick-themed decorations.  What’s more, consumers can’t take advantage of the long holiday weekend in much of Europe to start shopping for the latest trends for summer. That’s a blow because it typically kicks off the period when consumers refresh their wardrobes, home decorations and gardens for the warmer months. If temperatures soar, that can normally set non-food retailers fair for the coming quarter.  From there, people’s diaries would typically be chock full with weddings, graduations and parties, plenty of reasons to update one’s wardrobe. But the novel coronavirus has radically changed all of that, eliminating pretty much any reason to dress for success. It’s estimated that half of couples planning weddings in the U.S. this year are looking to postpone them, according to data from the Wedding Report. The graduation season has been thrown into question. More than 80 U.S. colleges and universities have either canceled, postponed or been turned their 2020 commencement ceremonies into virtual gatherings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nordstrom (@nordstrom) on Apr 2, 2020 at 5:40pm PDTThat means everything from floral dresses to pastel hued shoes may have to be offloaded. Discounting to clear unwanted stock means the crisis is likely to last well into the second quarter, and possibly beyond.There’s another reason why the impact on may be bigger than initially feared: Some online demand has evaporated. Retailers have to ensure workers processing internet orders observe strict social distancing rules. So far British online fashion group Asos Plc, which generated 13% of its sales from the U.S., has kept its warehouses in Atlanta, Berlin and the U.K. open, albeit with longer delivery times. But rival fashion chain Next Plc has stopped taking online orders while it reconfigures its distribution centers. This would be in line with its worst case scenario of the business being closed for four weeks, cutting full-year sales by 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion).No wonder store chains have shifted to cash preservation mode. H&M said it was taking a number of initiatives, from cutting working hours to seeking rent reductions, to try to cope. In the U.S., hundreds of thousands of staff are being temporarily laid off, with chains such as Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penney Co., Kohl’s Corp. and Gap Inc. halting pay for much of their workforce while preserving some benefits. The longer the hiatus in consumer spending, the more likely that some retailers and restaurants just won’t open their doors again. Others may decide to radically cut down on their brick-and-mortar locations. U.S. department stores, already grappling with the shift to online and mostly lackluster product selections, look particularly challenged.But even companies that do emerge relatively unscathed could find recovery just as demanding. Consumers who have kept their jobs will likely be eager to splash out on holiday and work attire when they’re finally able to move about freely and go back to the office, purchases they can fund with money saved during lockdown on everything from gym memberships and dining out.The question is whether any pent up demand will be enough to alleviate lost sales from those who have been temporarily laid off, or worse, made redundant. Individuals in fear of losing their jobs, or being forced to take pay cuts, are likely to save more. So consumer-facing companies need to brace themselves for a long haul.  It’s going to be some time before stores reopen, and even longer before they get back to any semblance of normality.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

United Airlines President No Longer Counting on Quick ‘Snap Back’

United Airlines is losing more than $100 million in revenue per day and making plans to reduce payroll expenses and permanently retire some older mainline and 50-seat regional aircraft if air travel demand does not return later this year, President Scott Kirby told employees Thursday in a town hall meeting. "While we all think that […]

American Airlines slashes flights but has no plans to halt U.S. service

American Airlines Co said on Thursday it is cutting additional flights this summer as travel demand has drastically shrunk amid the coronavirus pandemic. Vasu Raja, American Airlines' senior vice president of Network Strategy, told Reuters that the airline is cutting between 70% and 75% of flights in April and about 80% of flights in May. For this month and May it is cutting nearly 90% of its international flights. Raja said domestic demand will remain weak into May, citing of the lack of bookings.

What This Decision by American Airlines Says About How Fast Demand Will Recover

In the past five years, U.S. airlines have boosted profits by adding extra summer flights to Europe, capitalizing on consumers' near insatiable desire to travel abroad in June, July, and August. But on Thursday American Airlines admitted the great summer European cash grab will not return in 2020. American announced a slew of global cuts […]

American Airlines Gives Up on Most Overseas Flying This Summer

(Bloomberg) -- American Airlines Group Inc. will slash international flying as far out as the end of August as the novel coronavirus batters travel demand through the normally busy summer season.Overseas flight capacity will be trimmed 60% from last summer’s level, paced by an 80% drop across the Pacific, the carrier said Thursday. At least 23 seasonal routes won’t operate at all, while several that were to start this year will be delayed until 2021. American, which has said domestic capacity will fall as much as 80% next month, is still working on its U.S. summer schedule.The extended reductions in flights abroad highlight the extent if the virus’s damage to airlines, which need tickets to be booked months in advance to set aircraft and crew schedules. American plans to apply for as much as $12 billion in U.S. government aid and has already grounded most of its wide-body aircraft normally used on flights abroad.“This is going to be a challenging situation for a long time to come,” Vasu Raja, American’s senior vice president for network development, said in an interview. “We’re not seeing any bookings come in. It’s not just in May or June that we’ll have an issue, but we’ve missed so many bookings in July and August that it makes more sense to reduce that capacity now and try to save on as many expenses as we can.”Cutting CostsThe Fort Worth, Texas-based airline is currently flying only three international routes because of decreased demand and travel restrictions imposed by various countries. American is reducing domestic capacity 60% this month.“Effectively, it’s a rebuilt airline,” Raja said. “We’re flying fewer connecting banks in most of our hubs and are shrinking on the East Coast and West Coast where demand is smallest because the disease is most rampant.”This summer, American will reduce capacity across the Atlantic by 65% and by 48% to Latin America, in addition to the deeper cuts in trans-Pacific flying.While seeking federal assistance, American has also secured several billions of dollars in private-sector loans. The company has also parked planes, frozen hiring, offered voluntary leave to workers and cut executive pay.The airline has moved up the retirement of some of its oldest planes, and will do the same with its smaller Embraer SA E190 aircraft and some 50-seat regional jets, Raja said. American has suspended flights on 24 Airbus SE A330 planes for the summer and is evaluating whether to retire its oldest Boeing Co. 737 jets.“It’s a very difficult time to forecast the future of the airline,” he said. “Everything is on the table.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.