Aviation Weekly: Tactical insights & trading opportunities
Report by Asterisk Advisors
Reno Bianchi offers incisive commentary on key developments across the aviation sector. Highlights from his report this week include Delta’s strategic push towards AI-driven pricing, persistent capacity constraints from Pratt & Whitney engine issues and the latest fallout from the EU-US aerospace tariff standoff. In credit, short-dated EETCs like UAL B 4.6% due 2026 imply spreads near 1,000bps and offer compelling value if sourced at quoted levels. For AA tranches, Reno recommends 5yr paper with spreads ≥130bps; for A tranches, selected issues offering +200bps or more. He continues to favour Spirit’s 2015-1 B tranche. Term loans and senior secureds remain expensive, with Spirit and JetBlue as notable but risky exceptions. Domestic unsecureds are best avoided on tight spreads. LATAM remains his his preferred international credit, citing low leverage and relative upside.