“Airlines are a terrible business. They’re capital‑intensive, unionized, and heavily regulated… there’s very little moat.” So Warren Buffett once observed. But is that still true?
In this episode, we examine the thesis for investability and try to understand the direction and shape of flying.
Ed discusses the economics, competition, premiumisation, the case for “a moat” or structural advantage, and what customers want.
He also explains why the competitive landscape has changed, why new entrants will find it much harder, the opportunity with retail-in-flight, the extraordinary partnership with American Express via Sky Miles, and the reason why future returns might well be higher than those of the past.
The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by J.P. Morgan Asset Management*, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.
*During the episode we cite J.P. Morgan Asset Management as Europe’s leading active ETF provider by assets under management. This is sourced from J.P. Morgan Asset management and Bloomberg, data as of 30 March 2026.
