00:00So we have a whole raft of executives presenting today here in DC. There's a big JP Morgan conference and
00:05Delta came out first out of the gate with a very upbeat outlook. And I'll be honest, I think a
00:10lot of people are coming into this day thinking there might be more measured comments. There might be more muted
00:16outlook. But in fact, everyone's pretty upbeat. You mentioned Delta, but then American Airlines also came out and said, we've
00:23seen some of the strongest bookings yet in our history, frankly, in March alone.
00:28So people are really rushing to lock in these prices. The question is, how sustainable is that? If the fuel
00:35price, the fuel price for kerosene remains high, what does that mean for longer term ticket prices? And that's maybe
00:43what you're seeing right now, that customers are rushing to buy the tickets, which is why you're seeing the strong
00:49demand. But as long as this conflict keeps going, that might become unsustainable.
00:54What tends to be the relationship between jet fuel prices, especially for the likes of Delta, Benny, which does have
01:01its own refinery? When can we expect higher ticket prices? And can we expect consumers to stomach that?
01:10We've already seen some airlines add so-called fuel surcharges. And that's really across the world. You go from New
01:17Zealand to India to Europe. So companies are already locking in higher prices. And that feeds right through to the
01:24ticket price.
01:25In the U.S., we've not seen it yet. And there is still a group of consumers, a rather large
01:32group, that are willing to spend. We heard from Ed Bastian, the Delta CEO, this morning saying,
01:37there is a sizable group of customers that still want to travel that have made this a priority for their
01:43spending habits. And there's really no let up here where it might start hurting is more on the sort of
01:48economy minded minded end of the spectrum.
01:51So people who who book cheap tickets, who are cost sensitive and the airlines that cater to these kinds of
01:58people. So the jet blues of this world, the spirits of this world, that's where you might see more of
02:04a fallout.
02:05So really, if you come into this crisis, and it is a crisis for the industry, the longer it keeps
02:09going, and you're coming into it strong with a strong balance sheet. And in the case of Delta, you have
02:14your own refinery.
02:15So you have something of a protection, then you're going to come out of this stronger. But for the others,
02:20it's we're looking at potentially tough months.
