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The conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold all of its stakes in the four largest airlines in the United States, the president said Warren buffett on May 2, 2020 at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.
The group had significant positions in airlines, including an 11% stake in Delta Air Linesof 10% of American Airlines Co, about 10% of Southwest Airlines Co and 9% of United Airlines at the end of 2019, according to its annual report and company reports.
The conglomerate was one of the biggest investors on all four airlines.
The actions of the airlines have been hit hard by the almost collapse of demand for trips in the United States, in the middle of pandemic of the coronavirus.
US airlines are cutting hundreds of thousands of flights and they have thousands of planes on the ground, because the demand for travel in the United States has fallen 95% and there is no clear timetable for passengers to fly again as before the crisis.
Buffett said the outlook for the airline industry has changed dramatically in just a few months.
“We made that decision in terms of the airline business. We made money out of the business with basically a substantial loss,” Buffett said. “We will not finance a company that … we think will consume money in the future.”
Buffett said that Berkshire had invested around USD 7 billion to 8 billion accumulating holdings in all four airlines, including American Airlines Group Inc.
“We didn’t get anything like $ 7 billion to $ 8 billion and that was my mistake,” added Buffett at the company’s annual meeting, which was broadcast live on the internet. “I am the one who made the decision.”
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