This Heard in the Hangar is dedicated to Margaret W. Rossiter who died on August 3, 2025 at the age of 81.
Professor Rossiter was a historian whose work uncovered the hidden contributions of women in science and revealed the barriers that kept them invisible. Her landmark trilogy, Women Scientists in America, traced more than a century of women’s efforts to gain recognition in fields from astronomy and chemistry to geology and engineering. Through meticulous research, she showed how women who made discoveries or advanced knowledge were often denied credit, demoted, or written out of history. Her own career reflected the struggles she documented. After earning a Ph.D. from Yale in 1971, Rossiter spent nearly two decades in temporary posts and fellowships until 1989 when she was awarded a MacArthur “ genius” fellowship that led to a full-time position at Cornell University, where she taught until her retirement in 2017. May she rest in peace. Our favorite Space Race 3.0 ideas, in order, are: Planet Labs PBC Rocket Lab Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation L3Harris Technologies Planet Labs PBC(PL $6.53) plans to release fiscal second quarter 2026 results before the market open on Monday, September 8, 2025 (x-apple-data-detectors://3) and host a conference call live from the NYSE at 8:30am ET (x-apple-data-detectors://4). Planet Labs PBC is expected to detail the positive financial impact from several important contracts announced after the first quarter that is expected to boost its backlog of $527 million substantially. The main risks are execution and renewal of key contracts. Meanwhile, back on Earth…our favorite global airline ideas, in order, are: Southwest Airlines Delta Air Lines Alaska Air Group United Airlines Holdings Volaris Sun Country Airlines American Airlines Group Ryanair Holdings plc. JetBlue Airways Corporation FTAI Aviation is our favorite idea in Aviation Services. Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation are our favorite ideas in the eVTOL industry. JetBlue Airways Corporation ( JBLU $5.08 ) updated guidance for the third quarter 2025 estimating better-than-expected unit revenue, unit cost excluding fuel and fuel price per gallon. We increased our price target to $11 from $9 on improved near-term EPS and the potential positive financial impact from the second Spirit Airlines bankruptcy. There are ten reasons why we added JetBlue Airways to our global favorites list: The company is benefiting from the restructuring in the industry, including the recent second bankruptcy filing of Spirit Airlines. The company could be a takeover candidate due to its strong East Coast route network, slots and gates at New York’s JFK Airport and loyal frequent flier base. The company is working hard to improve its cost structure and balance sheet. The company has a strong corporate culture with excellent relations with its employees. The company has a fuel-efficient fleet of Airbus aircraft. The company’s loyalty program, TrueBlue, is a valuable asset. The company’s premium long-haul product, Mint, is one of the best in the industry. The company has a dominant position between the Northeast and Florida. The company has strong brand loyalty, particularly in the Northeast. Management is moving ahead with its transformation plan with a focus on improving reliability and operational performance. The main risks are execution and recession. With airport capacity as a significant variable in airline financial performance, we asked our friend Craig Jenks, founder of Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc., to do Global Airport Benchmarking #101 for our subscribers. The top 20 airports by passenger volume in 2024 are: Atlanta Dubai Dallas/FT. Worth Tokyo Haneda London Heathrow Denver Istanbul Chicago O’Hare New Delhi Shanghai Los Angeles Guangzhou Seoul Paris Singapore Beijing Amsterdam Madrid New York JFK Bangkok The most striking trend since 2003 has been the much higher growth rates of Asian airports, from two in 2003 to eight in 2024, and ten if Istanbul and Dubai are included because a high percentage of their traffic Asia-linked. The number of U.S. and European airports in the top 20 has significantly declined, although Atlanta has maintained its #1 ranking because of strong economic growth in the southeast and the primacy of Delta Air Lines as a global network carrier. The growth of Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Charlotte at #23 highlight the importance of at least three parallel runways. Multi-runway capacity – Atlanta has 5x runways, Dallas Fort Worth has 7x, Denver has 6x, and Charlotte 3x – is a feature of top airports. Some current 2-runway airports such as London Heathrow may find a way to that third runway, but those airports that can’t, will likely drop precipitously in rankings. Also in this issue of Heard in the Hangar are takeaways on RKLB, LUV, ALK, UAL, RYAAY, ULCC, FLYY, ALGT, and JOBY.
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