Insider Transportation: United's not worried about cash burn, Uber's self-driving troubles, a breakdown of Tesla salaries, and more

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began its implacable spread across the United States this spring and decimated demand for air travel, the country's airlines have been racing to cut costs. With minimal revenue coming in, they made a bevy of moves to slow their rates of cash burn: delaying capital expenditures, deferring deliveries of new aircraft, retiring aging planes early, cutting routes, and more.

Delta, for one, was burning through $100 million a day in March, and was aiming to get that number to $0 by the end of the year. But when it and United reported their third-quarter earnings this week, both made clear they're months away from reaching that breakeven point.

United's leadership, however, came to their quarterly call with investors and media with a surprisingly zen attitude — at least when it comes to cash burn. And that's because, CEO Scott Kirby said, that number doesn't actually matter very much at all.

"Cash burn is a metric that we thought was the most important at the start of the pandemic," he said on the call. "At a lot of businesses where survival was at stake, it was the most important metric. But that's not at issue anymore. We have enough liquidity to get through the crisis."

Indeed, United is resuming some capital expenses — even investing in its fleet and operations — so that when demand does return, it'll be ready to capitalize.

"That shows up in cash burn," Kirby said. "But if you're just focused on minimizing today's cash burn, you end up with a myopic short-term focus."

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Tesla offers six-figure salaries amid a rising talent war

For most of its existence, Tesla had to do battle with the realities of the auto industry. Creating a new car company is a brutally tricky task — just ask Tucker, DeLorean, or Fisker. But now that Elon Musk's automaker has established itself, it may be the victim of its own success: Its popularity and incredible valuation have helped trigger a wave of electric-car startups hoping to be the next Tesla.

Part of the game plan for Tesla's challengers requires shelling out cash for the engineers, product managers, and others who'll make their cars go — Rivian, for one, pays many of its employees six-figure salaries. And that means Tesla has to do the same. We've got the figures on how much the automaker pays for various positions, from software engineers to product managers.

Investors are losing patience with Uber's self-driving program

Over its five-year existence, Uber ATG — the ride-hail giant's self-driving car research program — has suffered more than its share of black eyes. One of its cars killed a pedestrian in Arizona. Its former chief, Anthony Levandowski, is headed to prison for trade secret theft. An ATG manager reportedly told CEO Dara Khosrowshahi that "The car doesn't drive well." And as competitors like Waymo and Cruise move steadily ahead, investors and outside experts wonder whether it's time to drop the in-house R&D effort.

"I would not be surprised if Uber just pulls the plug on the whole program within the next 12 months," Guidehouse Insights research analyst Sam Abuelsamid told us.

Facing a potentially devastating winter, British Airways tries a CEO swap

For all the changes airlines have had to make in 2020 — new safety protocols, new schedules, new sources of revenue — most have maintained stability in their C-suites. Swapping out leadership always comes with difficulties, and amidst a global crisis, it can seem just a bit wild. But British Airways is giving it a shot, ousting CEO Alex Cruz and replacing him with Aer Lingus boss Sean Doyle. It's certainly a risk — but the move could also help the flag carrier weather a brutal winter travel season.

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