Why being grounded for months was the best pandemic outcome for this $ airline

For five months, Copa Airlines barely flew, operating a smattering of humanitarian and cargo flights. Panama’s national government demanded it, barring any airline from flying international flights. Copa, which has just one domestic route, is back in business, but only in a small way. Thanks to Panama Government Executive Decree No. 300, Copa is launching limited flights to New York, San Jose, Costa Rica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador. Assuming it goes OK, the government should allow more flights next month. Only Panamanian citizens will be able to get off in Panama City, but passengers can transfer at the airline’s hub at Tocumen International Airport to make connections between North and South America. (At least among the countries that are open; several South American countries have not opened their borders to all travelers.) If Copa has effectively not flown for five months, shouldn’t it be in dire financial straits? Not exactly. Despite flying only 86 cargo and humanitarian operations in the second quarter, Copa actually did all right, compared to other airlines. The company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, posted a net loss of $386m, or $114.6m excluding special items, such as costs from permanently grounding certain fleet types. “Though clearly a brutal quarter, Copa was one of the few airlines to exceed our expectations both mathematically and otherwise,” Hunter Keay, an analyst at Wolfe Research, wrote in a report. Story has more. <br/>