Mobius Capital Partners founder Mark Mobius argues that this year it will produce ‘good earnings reports’ because the economic recovery ‘will be greater than people imagined’.
The demand for travel may be increasing for some destinations “inspired by the beach and nature”, even with airlines accumulating losses related to the coronavirus.
In a call to investors on Thursday, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said “Hawaii’s demand is really very strong”.
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| Ticker | Safety | Last | change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 43.95 | -0.71 | -1.59% |
The comments, however, were made on the same day that the major US carrier reported its first annual loss since 1972.
“It was a big problem and with non-GAAP losses reaching $ 3.5 billion,” said Kelly,
However, the chief executive said the airline remains “very well prepared” to weather this storm and was encouraged by the various executive orders put in place in the state of Aloha, as well as its pre-trip testing program. The program allows travelers to come to the islands without quarantine for two weeks, provided they produce a negative coronavirus test in advance.
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“The pre-released program that they have implemented now that several operators are taking advantage of, it really makes the experience quite simple,” said Kelly. “And the demand for Hawaii is really, really solid. So we think there are a lot of opportunities there.”
Kelly said the company is also seeing strength in Florida, as well as throughout Texas, Colorado and Arizona.
However, California and Hawaii, in particular, “started the fourth quarter with an encouraging momentum,” he said, although he still warned that “quarantine and home orders will reverse some of that.”
Overall, destinations inspired by the beach and nature continue to outperform, he said.
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By comparison, some of the airline’s largest markets in the Northeast and Midwest, such as New York and Chicago, “are underperforming.”
Southwest will focus on capacity, inventory, pricing, costs and operations management, said Kelly.
“The things we control, we will manage and control well,” he said.