How airlines return to profitability
As airlines grapple with liquidity issues in the wake of COVID-19 with peak cash burn for US carriers of over $300M per day in early April, they’ve taken on nearly $40B in additional debt and provided the US Treasury with warrants for 1.7% of their equity. Airlines are currently focused on reducing cash burn by 50% by Q3, and investors will expect airlines to rebuild their balance sheets by paying off this 45% increase in debt as rapidly as possible.