This Week in Airlines
by Holly Hegeman (MF Wings)

Dallas, TX (April 20, 1997) -- So, Foolish readers, did I tell you the story about how I talked my way into the AMERICAN AIRLINES' <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AMR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AMR)") end if %> Admiral's Club at Dulles Airport last week in order to write my update? Seriously, my thanks to the folks who took pity on me and gave me the use of great desk space, coffee, and a much more pleasant environment than the nearest electrical plug in the gate area to dash off my weekly tome. And no, I am not a member! (I know--makes you figure Bob Crandall would just have a fit if he knew, huh?) Well, my thanks again to the friendly and accommodating folks there who extended aid to TMF Wings--just a lowly coach passenger and NOT an Admiral's Club member. So, anyone out there at Delta want to send me a free pass to a Crown Room of my choice??

Delta Livery---Certainly Got the Mail Bag Excited if not TMF Wings!

Speaking of DELTA <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: DAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: DAL)") end if %>, boy did I get the mail flowing this past week with the comments I made about the new Delta livery in the last update. Most of you who took the time to write pretty much agreed with me, and in fact my spies tell me the reception to the new livery has apparently been so negative that there are reports that Delta may just scrap it. The other interesting thing that happened is that all of a sudden there was a sharp rise in subscription requests from folks who work at Delta. Makes me think my updates were being forwarded to and fro over the Delta intranet lines at a furious pace. Well, welcome aboard!

So, enough of this socializing at the TMF Wings' Bar and Grill--what happened in the market this past week, and more importantly--am I STILL wearing that Ratty Old Bear Suit?

Wings' Market Watch

Well dear readers, as I tried to explain on Monday, the action in this sector is VERY dependent right now not so much on earnings but on external factors that are affecting the overall market. On Monday I wrote, for example, the yield on the 30-year Treasury Bond was pushing the 7.18 mark, and the sentiment on the Street was that the economic news that was to be released on Tuesday would point more strongly to a potential rise in inflation. Result? Interest rates would then be more likely to be raised.

Well, surprise, surprise! The economic news that was released on Tuesday was not what had been expected. The Consumer Price Index only posted a 0.1% gain in March.

Bottom line? The market then decided it was safe to go out and play again, and voila! Another round of the Interest Rate Tango had begun! In fact, the market gained 135.26 points on Tuesday. Mind you, on Monday, the market had been within a hair of a full 10% correction from its March 11th high.

But with bond yields falling from the 7.18% point to 7.05% at the close on Friday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 44.95 to close at 6703.55 on the week, the Motley Flyers had a fairly decent week as a result--albeit a volatile one as airline stocks were up and down most all week.

So, to answer the question--am I STILL wearing the TMF Wings' Ratty Old Bear Suit? Well, let's just say this. Again, it is not the sector that concerns me--it is the external factors that could affect institutional investing within the sector. So, yeah..the suit is sitting here next to me as I write this. Do I have it on...no. But it is within arm's length let us say. Why? Because just as much as the market LIKED the news it heard Tuesday, the market could NOT like some news it hears in the next week or so. This market seems to be at a point where it is betwixt and between--so every piece of economic news has a great deal of impact.

Stay tuned.

It's that Time of Year Again

No, it's not that time. Trust me. The Easter Bunny has already come and gone. No--it's Earnings time! And we had three carriers report this past week. So, let's take Foolish looks at the three that reported. But, before we do, here is a handy list of reporting dates and First Call Estimates for some of our Motley Flyers who will be reporting in the next few weeks. (Of course, yes how many of you think we will wait on TWA again?)

First Quarter Earnings Per Share Expectations

Company...Estimate...Year Ago...Expected Reporting Date  

ALASKA AIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ALK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ALK)") end if %> ..(0.36)..(0.52)..April 21     
AMERICA WEST <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AWA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AWA)") end if %>..0.29...0.27...April 22
ATLAS AIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ATLS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ATLS)") end if %> ...22...32...April 24
DELTA AIR LINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE:DAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE:DAL)") end if %> (Q3)..2.06...0.80....April 24     
NORTHWEST AIRLINES<% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NWAC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NWAC)") end if %>..0.49...1.01....April 22     
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LUV)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LUV)") end if %> ..0.23...0.22....April 24     
TRANS WORLD AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: TWA)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: TWA)") end if %>..(1.61)..(0.98)...May      
US AIRWAYS GROUP INC. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: U)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: U)") end if %>...0.69...(0.86)...April 23     
UAL CORP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UAL)") end if %>...1.40...0.77...April 22     
VALUJET INC. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VJET)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VJET)") end if %>...(0.29)....0.18....n/a
WESTERN PACIFIC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WPAC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WPAC)") end if %> (0.44).....(0.18)...Apr. 22

Now just a little handy rule of thumb indicator that you might want to notice here. If you are an avid stock watcher, what can you gather from the VERY minimal information you see above?

Well, let's take two examples. As we have discussed before, I often get asked..."Why doesn't Southwest's stock go higher?" or "Why is it that USAirways' stock is climbing when the company has such labor problems and cost issues?" Well, dear readers, if you look above, you will understand why. In the case of Southwest, what do we see? Earnings that are estimated to be relatively flat. In the case of USAirways, we see earnings that are estimated to skyrocket. One more instance--look at Delta.

See, sometimes we have to remember that portfolio managers and money managers buy on numbers. Sometimes we make it much more difficult than we need to. But then again, we ARE trying to know and understand the information that goes into getting those numbers to where they are, because, as we all know, by the time Wall Street knows it is too late to do as well as we could have had we done our own research.

American Leads the Pack with Better Than Expected Results

American surprised me, for one, when it announced better than expected earnings for the first quarter on Wednesday. AMR Corporation posted better-than-expected net income of $151 million, or $1.65 a share.

Analysts had expected AMR to earn $1.47 a share.

In the year-ago first quarter, AMR posted net income of $157 million, or $2.02 a share on revenue of $4.31 billion.

Revenue in the latest quarter rose 3% to $4.43 billion.

Net income reflects a pretax charge of $20 million, or $0.14 a share after taxes, on the 5.75 million stock options being offered to its pilots at $10 a share below market value under the tentative labor agreement that the pilots are voting on now.

Before items, the company earned $1.79 a share.

Meanwhile, the company said its airline group, which includes American Airlines and AMR Eagle, had operating income of $224 million, down 14.5% from $262 million a year ago. American Airlines had revenues of $3.39 billion, up 3.1% from $3.29 billion a year ago. AMR Eagle had revenues of $248 million. (Guess we can all figure out that means American Eagle had a hit in terms of revenues.)

AMR, the first of the major airlines to report earnings, also said Wednesday that it intends to repurchase up to 5.75 million common shares from time to time in the open market to offset possible dilution from stock options included in the tentative contract agreement with the pilots union. Company executives said the pilots' contract dispute had a negative impact of $70 million on net earnings in the quarter because passengers turned away from American in the weeks leading up to a brief February strike. However, it should also be noted that the company also had higher operating expenses compared with the year-ago quarter.

Ballots were mailed Wednesday to the airline's pilots so they can vote on a proposed settlement to the long-running dispute. The vote will be tallied May 5. As we have said, we anticipate the pilots will vote to accept the proposal.

American Upgraded

In one of the few upgrades announced this past week, Morgan Stanley & Co. analyst Kevin Murphy upgraded AMR Corp. to "strong buy" from "outperform" after the airline reported their better-than-expected first-quarter results on Wednesday.

Murphy increased his 1997 earnings estimate for AMR Corp. to $9.75 a share from $8.50 a share. Murphy said the better-than-expected revenue stream will continue through the summer.

American ended the week up a nice healthy 8%, closing at $88 1/2.

Continental's Net Profit Increases by 30%

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CAI/B)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CAI/B)") end if %> reported a drop in first-quarter earnings compared with year-ago figures, which were boosted by a one-time gain. But the results beat Wall Street's estimates, and included improvements in revenue, operating income and pretax income. [TMF Wings' note: The major reason for the drop in net income is the resumption of income tax payments by the carrier.]

The carrier posted net income of $74 million, or $0.95 a diluted share, in the latest quarter, topping by six cents the mean estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call.

In the year-ago quarter, Continental reported net income of $88 million, or $1.18 a diluted share. Excluding a gain of $13 million from the sale of America West stock, Continental's year-ago profit totaled $1.02 a diluted share.

All per-share figures are adjusted for a two-for-one stock split paid July 16, 1996.

Revenue in the latest first quarter improved 14% to $1.70 billion from $1.49 billion.

Pretax income jumped 51% to $124 million, compared with last year's $82 million, exclusive of the $13 million gain on the sale of America West stock.

Operating income, meanwhile, increased 22% in the quarter to $146 million.

Continental said its first-quarter load factor - or percentage of seats filled - was 68.8%, up from 67% a year earlier. The airline flew 10.89 billion revenue passenger miles in the 1997 first quarter, up 11.7% from 9.75 billion miles a year ago.

As we said, the thing to note here is of course the fact that Continental got hit with a payment to Uncle Sam this quarter. The carrier enjoyed the luxury of tax credits over the last few years--however it is one of those good news, bad news things. Good news? The company is making money! Bad news? This means it has to pay taxes again.

It is ALWAYS something.

Continental ended the week up 3% to close at $32.

Will Gordon Make it a Threesome?

Gordon Bethune, Continental Chairman and CEO ,confirmed this week that the company is holding talks with Boeing under which it could become the third U.S. carrier to buy planes exclusively from the Seattle aircraft maker.

Bethune said in an interview that he has asked Boeing officials to give him an aircraft-contract proposal that would be based on Continental's agreement to buy its planes only from Boeing in the decades ahead. Boeing has begun preliminary talks with Continental and Mr. Bethune said he expects they will lead to a formal offer from Boeing.

If the two companies can reach agreement on terms, Continental would become the third airline after Delta Air Lines and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines to reach similar "sole-supplier" pacts with Boeing in recent months.

This does not surprise us. Continental's 321 jet fleet is heavily dominated by Boeing aircraft, and Bethune worked at Boeing before joining Continental in 1994.

Continental wants to order 40 larger, wide-body planes to add capacity for international growth. The carrier is trying to expand its European service, push deeper into South America and enhance its highly profitable hub in Guam, which has extensive routes into Japan.

And yes, the officials of the European Union are not happy at ALL about all this--but that is for another discussion.

Atlantic Coast Beats Analysts Expectations

ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ACAI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ACAI)") end if %>, which operates as United Express in the Eastern United States, reported net income of $703,000, or $0.08 per fully diluted share in the first quarter, as compared to net income of $862,000, or $0.10 per fully diluted share for the first quarter of 1996. This carrier caught the sting of Uncle Sam's backhand as well, as ACA's higher tax rate for this period, compared to 1996, impacted net income per share by 3 cents.

First Call consensus analyst opinion had been for the airline to post a $0.07 cent per share figure.

Pretax income during first quarter 1997 increased 56% as compared to first quarter 1996, after elimination of the 1996 restructuring credit of $263,000. This is the company's eighth consecutive quarter of profitability.

ACA's net income for first quarter 1997 reflects a provision for income taxes based on a 29% effective tax rate, as compared to a 4% effective tax rate in first quarter 1996. The company believes that the estimated effective tax rate will approximate statutory rates beginning in the second quarter 1997.

As of Dec. 31, 1996, ACA utilized its remaining net operating losses for income tax purposes. During Q1 1997, ACA generated 186,893,000 available seat miles (ASM), an increase of 7.6% over the same period last year, while revenue passenger miles (RPM) increased 0.7% to 73,241,000.

The carrier's load factor during the first quarter was 39.2%, versus 41.9% in 1996. ACA carried 299,019 passengers, virtually unchanged from first quarter 1996. Yield improved year over year by 8.3% to 55.3 cents.

ACA's CFO, Paul Tate (formerly of Reno Air fame) pointed out that while load factor dropped 2.7 points, this was offset by a 2.7 point improvement in breakeven load factor.

As most of you remember, in January Atlantic Coast announced its decision to purchase 12 Canadair Regional Jet Series 200 ER aircraft with an option to purchase 36 more. Deliveries are scheduled to begin as early as July with revenue passenger service expected to begin in the Fall.

In addition, in February, the carrier entered into an agreement with Aero International (Regional) to acquire 12 new Jetstream 41 aircraft. Atlantic Coast took delivery of the first aircraft in March, and will receive four additional aircraft in 1997.

Atlantic Coast ended the week down 2% to close at $14 3/4. Methinks the analysts are looking at increases in capacity coming online and reduced revenue from the United feeder flights as a reason why this stock is somewhat stuck at the present time.

Possible FAA Ruling on Converted 727's Could Hurt Cargo Carriers

For those of you who are cargo and freight fans, you know that last December there was a lot of talk about how the FAA was going to require the owners of refurbished cargo 727's to do some heavy-duty upgrading of these aircraft. The effect on some of the cargo stocks was chilling. KITTY HAWK <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KTTY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: KTTY)") end if %>, for example, took a nose dive, from which it is just now recovering as a result. Well, guess what? It seems that the FAA is serious about this. It was reported this past week that the airworthiness directive from the FAA is going to come down and will likely affect 321 B-727s worldwide -- those aircraft converted from passenger aircraft by certain after-market refurbishers rather than Boeing.

The FAA is concerned that under certain adverse flying conditions, floors bearing the maximum allowable payload weight assigned each pallet position could buckle. The FAA wants floors, sidewalls and cargo doors reinforced.

The directive would apply to U.S. registered 727s, but authorities elsewhere likely would require the modifications as well.

Excluding revenue losses because of payload reductions, the cost of the modifications has been estimated by one contractor at $425,000 per aircraft, and $400,000 to $500,000 by another, the aviation journal Commercial Aviation Report has reported.

The largest operator of affected aircraft is FEDERAL EXPESS CORP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FDX)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FDX)") end if %>, with 122. In Europe, the largest operator is DHL Worldwide Express with 12. DHL also has 13 in its U.S. network.

Other major operators are Express One with 21 aircraft, EMERY WORLDWIDE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CNF)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CNF)") end if %> with 17, and American International Airways and Kitty Hawk Air Cargo with 15 each.

Industry sources now expect the FAA to issue the draft directive by the end of April or early May. Interested parties would have several weeks in which to comment before the order takes effect.

Until the upgrades are completed, the FAA has proposed curbs on maximum cargo allowances by up to 73% per pallet position.

This has brought a hail of objections from operators, who say that is too severe. The 727 is rated at a maximum 10,000 pounds per pallet position, but may be allowed to carry no more than 2,700-3,000 pending the upgrades, said industry sources.

For FedEx alone, Commercial Aviation Report reported that analysts' estimates of the revenue impact range up to $1 million a day at the outset of the retrofit program.

It is also noted that the FAA may look next at the adequacy of freight conversions for DC-8s and Boeing 737s.

Will Atlas Buy the Big One?

It is reported that Atlas Air is seriously looking at purchasing a 747-400. Needless to say--this is one major purchase--however there is also a shortage of good cargo-convertible aircraft out there, and Atlas seems to be looking strongly at a purchase of such an aircraft if their numbers tell them that long-term it can be cost-effective.

Atlas ended the week up 6% to close at $25 3/8.

Herb is Getting Serious about this Trans-Con Stuff

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LUV)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LUV)") end if %> has announced new nonstop service between Oakland and Kansas City, Mo., beginning June 11.

The flight actually continues to Baltimore/Washington, giving Oakland passengers one-stop, same plane service.

I think, and correct me if I am wrong, that this makes the first non-stop connecting flight utilizing Kansas City. Southwest already is using Nashville as its mid-America hub for their other one-stop trans-con flights.

Weekly Stock Activity

As I said earlier, most of the Motley Flyers had a good week--in fact only seven airlines had a down week, and those weren't even too bad, all things considered.

Posting the largest gain on the week was WESTERN PACIFIC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WPAC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WPAC)") end if %>, which showed a 17% gain--closing at$ 7. Don't get me started on this one. The company issued its 10-K this week, and among other juicy tidbits we found out that the airline paid out $3.4 million in 1996 to two companies headed by sons of former CEO Ed Beauvais. We knew this had been going on--or as Ed himself had said one time.."Well, they know the business--so what?" Yeah, right, Ed. The two companies were hired as consultants to WestPac before the airline began flight operations in April 1995. The contracts were ended last December, after Robert Peiser replaced Beauvais as CEO.

It also seems WPAC is asking for delays in paying for fuel, aircraft leases and major maintenance on its jets and admits that it could run out of funds later this year if it can't raise more money.

WestPac said in the 10-K report that it is "negotiating agreements" with some of its aircraft lessors to delay payments for April and May. WestPac pays an estimated $3 million each month to a handful of lessors for 14 Boeing 737-300s. The airline, which owns one jet, also delayed payments to other vendors from December to January.

Negotiations are also taking place with WestPac's major fuel supplier, and the airline has asked for an extension of payment terms from the company that does maintenance on its fleet. WestPac also warned in the filing that it might not be able to pay its bills later this year without additional financing.

WestPac is expected to drop about one-third of its 40 daily flights from the Springs and to offer 40 to 50 flights a day from DIA. A formal announcement is expected Wednesday.

WestPac lost more than $23 million last year, most of it in the fourth quarter in one-time restructuring charges. Load factors averaged 42% in January and February.

Mark Coleman, WestPac's vice president of marketing, told the Airport Advisory Commission in Colorado Springs on Wednesday that average fares have dropped recently, meaning each flight is filled with fewer passengers paying less money.

WestPac also announced in the report that our bud, Mr. Ed, who remains the airline's chairman, will earn $350,000 this year and benefits from a $3 million life insurance policy. Spare me any more details.

But now you explain this one to me. Alex. Brown & Sons analyst Will Wrightson upgraded both Western Pacific and RENO AIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RENO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RENO)") end if %> to strong buy from buy this past week. (Do you think that Peiser has the ear of Wall Street or what?)

Wrightson said weak first-quarter results are already factored into the stock prices. [Well, okay.]

In addition, fundamentals such as traffic and pricing are improving [MF Wings' note: says who?] and fuel costs are coming down, he said. Low-fare carriers such as Reno and Western Pacific have earnings that are very sensitive to even small changes to fundamentals. [Okay, Will, whatever you say.]

We still say...will DIA be a DOA for WPAC? Stay tuned.

Breathing down WPAC's tail this week was the Wolfman's airline which gained a nice 9% on the week, closing at $27 5/8. (Oh, yes, that is USAirways for the uninitiated.) Right behind the man with the red suspenders we have four carriers--three Mighty Titans and one Mighty Mite. American Airlines, as we said, cruised to a nice 8% gain on the week to close at $88 1/2, Delta, posted a great week--livery or no livery--as the carrier gained 8% to close at $94 1/8. Delta also announced across the board pay raises and other incentive additions for their non-union employees this past week. Wall Street in its usually short-sighted approach hit them on Thursday as a result, but the stock was back up to its old tricks of late on Friday.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NWAC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: NWAC)") end if %> also posted an 8% gain to close at $40 7/8. And MESA AIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MESA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MESA)") end if %>, which hopes to begin its new RJ service from the Ft. Worth Airport May 5, also posted an 8% gain on the week, closing at $6.

UNITED AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UAL)") end if %> ended the week up 7% to close at $74 1/8. The company's pilots approved the proposed agreement with the carrier the week before last, and all systems look good for this Mighty Titan financially.

Federal Express, before this latest report of the FAA getting serious about the 727 overhauls, posted a 7% gain to close at 53 3/4.

TWA, the folks who have warned us that first quarter results are going to be grim, continues to be an extremely heavily traded stock. The stock ended the week up 6% to close at $6 5/8.

Alaska Air posted a 6% gain to close at $24 7/8, Atlas Air, as we mentioned also posted a 6% gain to close at $25 3/8.

MESABA <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MAIR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MAIR)") end if %> and Reno both posted a 5% gain on the week. Mesaba closed at $12 3/4, Reno at $7 3/16.

WORLD AIRWAYS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WLDA)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WLDA)") end if %> posted a 4% gain to close at $7.

Continental Airlines and Atlantic Southeast posted 3% gains on the week.

America West Airlines posted a 2% gain to close at $15 3/4. For those of you who missed it, the Phoenix paper did a lengthy article on the carrier last week. Nothing new really--we all know that Bill Franke is such a warm and fuzzy guy.

COMAIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: COMR)") end if %> posted a 2% gain to close at $21 1/4, TOWER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TOWR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TOWR)") end if %> closed up 2% to close at $2 3/4, and SKYWEST <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SKYW)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SKYW)") end if %>closed up 2% to end the week at $12 5/8.

Southwest and ValuJet shared the 1% gained on the week honors. Southwest closed at $22 7/8, and ValuJet closed at $7 7/16.

Flat on the week? HAWAIIAN AIR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: HA)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: HA)") end if %>, JAPAN AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: JAPNY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: JAPNY)") end if %> and VANGUARD <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VNGD)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VNGD)") end if %>.

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CEA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CEA)") end if %> closed down 1% to end the week at $29 7/8, AMTRAN <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMTR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMTR)") end if %> was down 1% to close at $8 1/4, Atlantic Coast was down 2% to close at $14 3/4, FRONTIER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FRNT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FRNT)") end if %> was down 3% to close at $3 1/2, PAN AM <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: PAA)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: PAA)") end if %> was down 5% to close at $8 1/16, and AIRTRAN <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAIR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAIR)") end if %>, which has been the subject of all kind of rumors of late--is Delta really going to buy it? What is going on? --finally saw a respite in its climb of late--losing 6% to close at $5 3/4.

Traffic Reports

Unfortunately I did not remember that this week we would start earnings' reports when I promised to post all the traffic reports that were held over from the last week. Because of length limits, I am sorry to say that we cannot publish the remaining load information from the previous week.

Please Note the Change in My E-Mail Address

Some of you have already noticed--I am sure--the change in my e-mail address. It is no longer [email protected]. It is now [email protected]. The Motley Fool is making the transition from a volunteer staff to a paid one, and this is one of the changes we have had to make as a result. Please make note--although I will also check the old address on a daily basis for a long time to come--so no worry if you have a temporary relapse.

What! You DON"T Get the Weekly Update in your own e-mail box yet??

Well, get with it! Send me an e-mail, c/o [email protected], and tell me "Holly--I HAVE to have it", and we will be glad to make sure you get a copy every week--and usually before you can find us online! Can't beat that deal.

As always, have a good week everyone!

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