Skift Take
The former congressman was also co-host of the Fox Business show âThe Bottom Line.â
President-elect Donald Trump nominated former congressman and Fox Business co-host Sean Duffy for Transportation Secretary.
âSean will use his experience and the relationships he has built over many years in Congress to maintain and rebuild our Nationâs Infrastructure, and fulfill our Mission of ushering the Golden Age of Travel, focusing on Safety, Efficiency, and Innovation,â Trump said in a statement posted on Truth Social.
Duffy served in the House of Representatives for Wisconsinâs 7th congressional district from 2011 to 2019 and was the co-host of the Fox Business show âThe Bottom Line.â
The incoming Transportation Secretary will oversee safety-related issues at Boeing, the ongoing air-traffic controller shortage, labor negotiations among pilots and flight attendants, and climate initiatives such as the development of sustainable aviation fuel. Itâs unclear if a second Trump administration will toss some of the tax credits outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act for developing SAFs.
Current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took the post in 2021 and has overseen multiple consumer rights initiatives such as the implementation of automatic refunds, no-fee family seating and the disclosure of junk fees, which was temporarily blocked by a federal court.
Like Buttigieg, Duffy also has no prior experience in the airline or transportation industries.
The department recently approved the Alaska-Hawaiian merger on the condition of certain consumer rights guarantees.
The Biden administration took a stricter stance on airline consolidation, blocking the JetBlue-Spirit merger and striking down the Northeast Alliance, which was approved during Trumpâs first term.
Wall Street analysts have said they believe a Trump administration could be more friendly to mergers in the airline industry. At the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and JetBlue president Marty St. George both expressed interest in reviving a partnership in the Northeast, which is something the DOT would need to approve.
âI do think it was pro-consumer for JetBlue and American to get together,â St. George said. âI certainly think there is a structure that could work going forward. We could work with other carriers too.â
Airlines Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date
What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies.
The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance.
Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
