Former United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz on Delta earnings and Elon Musk’s spat with Ed Bastian

PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT WITHIN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY. >> WHAT A STORY, PHIL. >> AND WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED WITH EARNINGS OVERALL, ESPECIALLY WITH TRAVEL AND AIRLINES. THANK YOU. PHIL LEBEAU. SAFE TRAVELS HOME. LET'S CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION WITH FORMER UNITED AIRLINES CHAIRMAN AND CEO AND CURRENT CNBC CONTRIBUTOR OSCAR MUNOZ. OSCAR, WELCOME. GOOD TO SEE YOU. >> HEY, CARL. >> GOOD MORNING. >> I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK IF IF DELTA IS HAVING TO WORK AT COVERING THESE FUEL COSTS WITH THEIR PREMIUM POLE POSITION, WHAT ARE THE OTHER LEGACY IS GOING TO DO? >> WELL I THINK UNITED YOU'LL SEE A SIMILAR PICTURE WITH REGARDS TO THE REVENUE AND THE DEMAND. THE COST WILL BE HIT HARDER FOR EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THAT REFINERY OFFSET. IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE AND WATCH THE OTHER CARRIERS, BECAUSE I THINK RIGHT NOW CUSTOMERS ARE LIKING AND ENJOYING THAT HIGH VALUE, HIGH PREMIUM SERVICE THAT, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY DELTA AND UNITED BOTH ARE PROVIDING. THE OTHER ONES HAVE A LITTLE BIT LESSER DEMAND. SO YOU WILL SEE A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IMPACT ON THOSE AS YOU GO INTO THIS NEXT QUARTER. SO WE'LL BE WATCHING THAT CLOSELY, AND WE'LL BE WATCHING THE EARNINGS OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS TO SEE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THEIR THEIR OUTLOOK. >> AT THIS STAGE. ARE YOU I MEAN, HOW ARE WHAT KINDS OF EFFICIENCIES ARE THEY BUILDING IN THAT ARE AT WORK TO HELP COVER THE 60% INCREASE? >> LISTEN, AS YOU SAW IN THE NUMBERS, THEY'RE ASTRONOMICAL INCREASES IN A VERY SUDDEN RATE. THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO TECHNOLOGICALLY OR WITH ANY KIND OF, OF, OF PROCESS OR EFFICIENCY THAT CAN OFFSET THOSE SORTS OF COSTS. THESE ARE SIGNIFICANT. BUT OVER THE TIME, I MEAN, CERTAINLY AIRCRAFT HAS BECOME A LOT MORE FUEL EFFICIENT. THERE'S A LOT OF MOVE FOR SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL TO REPLACE THAT. BUT ALL OF THAT IS LONG TERM IN NATURE. AND THESE FUEL PRICES, AS YOU'VE SEEN OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, HAVE COME UP VERY QUICKLY. SO THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN. BUT THERE'S JUST NO WAY THE, THE, THE IMPACT OR THE, THE ACTION THEY TAKE, OF COURSE, AS ED SAID, IS TO THEY'RE FORCED TO RAISE PRICES TO JUST COVER THE BASIC ECONOMICS. >> YOU MENTIONED THE IMPORTANCE OF HIGH VALUE FLIERS, AND WE'VE SEEN THESE STATUS MATCHING WARS KIND OF GET BACK INTO THE HEADLINES IN IN RECENT WEEKS. HOW DOES THAT STRATEGICALLY FILTER INTO SOME OF THE TALKS OF TICKET PRICING AND DEMAND THAT WE'VE WE'VE SEEN? AND DO YOU THINK THAT UNITED'S DECISION TO DO THE STATUS MATCH IS KIND OF A REFLECTION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THOSE HIGH VALUE FLIERS, AMID ALL THE HEADWINDS RELATED TO FUEL COSTS? >> YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING'S RELATED. WHAT A GREAT INDUSTRY I'M FROM, RIGHT? THERE'S ALWAYS DRAMA, THERE'S ALWAYS EXCITEMENT. BUT, YOU KNOW, THE THE STATUS MATCHING IS A LONG STANDING PRACTICE. IT JUST SEEMS TO BE IN THE HEADLINES RIGHT NOW. AND CUSTOMERS HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CHOOSE. AND WHETHER IT'S WI-FI, WHICH WE JUST DISCUSSED, WHICH WAS DISCUSSED OR, OR ALL THESE OTHER MATTERS, I THINK PEOPLE WILL FLY, CONTINUE TO FLY THE WAY THEY HAVE AND THE STATUS MATCHES YET ANOTHER LONG LINE OF COMPETITIVE THRUST THAT THIS INDUSTRY TAKES AGAINST EACH OTHER. >> WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE IN TERMS OF OF CAPACITY MOVING FORWARD? ARE THERE CERTAIN GEOGRAPHIES THAT YOU EXPECT TO SEE MORE OR LESS CAPACITY IN LIGHT OF ALL THIS? >> YEAH. YOU KNOW, BACK TO THE OTHER QUESTION FROM CARL, THAT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THE AREAS THAT YOU'VE SEEN VERY PROMINENTLY. THE AIRLINES START CUTTING SERVICES TO AREAS WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMICS JUST DON'T WORK. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT FOR EVERY INDUSTRY, FOR FOR EVERY AIRLINE IS MONITORED AND WATCHED FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION OR LACK THEREOF. AND WHERE YOU HAVE LESSER PERFORMING ROUTES, WE TAKE THAT AIRCRAFT AND WORK IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. SO YOU'LL SEE IN CERTAIN AREAS, CERTAINLY THAT'S ONE OF THE ACTIONS THEY'LL TAKE IS CAPACITY, WHICH IMPACTS CUSTOMERS. AND IT'S USUALLY IN AREAS WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE'D RATHER NOT DO THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BIG CITIES. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S JUST UNFORTUNATELY SIMPLE ECONOMICS AT THIS POINT. >> YEAH, OSCAR, WE ALWAYS SAY, I MEAN, WHAT OTHER INDUSTRIES ARE CAPITAL INTENSIVE, CONSUMER FACING UNIONS, SAFETY REGS, TRADE. I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S IT'S JUST AN AMAZING BUSINESS. >> SOCIAL MEDIA HEAVY OPINION RELATED. I MEAN, EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION AND I'VE DONE A LOT, ALL THE AIRLINES RECENTLY. AND I'LL TELL YOU THE WI FI CONVERSATION IS A GOOD ONE. STARLINK IS IS A PREMIUM PRODUCT. I WAS WITH ANDY JASSY AND I KNOW A LOT ABOUT LEO. THAT'S GOING TO BE AN OUTSTANDING PRODUCT, I THINK. AND AND DELTA GETS IT. THEY'RE GOING TO PUT THE RIGHT THING IN. CUSTOMERS ARE VERY, VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR SITUATION. AND I KNOW I DEALT WITH THAT A LOT WHEN WE WERE DEVELOPING OURS. AND SO IT'S GREAT TO HAVE IT ON THERE. BUT THERE WILL BE A CONTINUOUS SORT OF WAGE WAR OF WORDS THAT HAPPENS, BUT IT'S JUST TURBULENT. IT'S JUST TURBULENT. IT'S NOT WHETHER CUSTOMERS DON'T CARE. THEY WANT ACCESS, THEY WANT PRICES, AND THEY WANT TO GE