Industry & Services >> Analyst Interviews >> November 23, 2009

A Balancing Act:low-cost & Network Carriers – Michael Derchin – Ftn Equity Capital Markets Corp.

Michael Derchin is an airline and aerospace Analyst with FTN Equity Capital Markets Corp. Prior to joining FTN Equity Capital Markets in Sept. 2006, from 2000 to 2005 he was Chief Investment Officer of Derchin Management, Inc., a long/short hedge fund focused on bottom-up fundamental research of consumer and industrial securities. From 1995 to 2000, he was Managing Director and Head of Tiger Management's transportation research team. Mr. Derchin began his Wall Street career at Oppenheimer and Co. in 1979 as an airline Analyst, followed by stints at The First Boston Corp (1982-1988) and Drexel Burnham Lambert (1988-1990). He was Director of Research at NatWest Securities, where he managed 90 investment professionals from 1990 to 1995 and headed its global transportation analytical research team. Mr. Derchin began his business career at American Airlines and worked at Pan American World Airways. As Director of Marketing Planning at American Airlines, he was heavily involved in many ground-breaking programs introduced during the early years of airline deregulation. Mr. Derchin has testified before the Senate Aviation Subcommittee, was a past member of the Aviation and Space Writers Association and is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in his field. He received a B.A. in economics from Brooklyn College, and an MBA in finance and investments from the City College of New York. Mr. Derchin has also conducted doctoral (ABD) work in business administration at Syracuse University. Profile
TWST: Let's start with a general outlook for the U.S. airline industry.

Mr. Derchin: Our outlook for 2010 is positive. We're coming off a very difficult two years, which included very volatile fuel