Six years ago, Warren Buffett walked away from the airline business. He dumped Berkshire's stakes in United, American, Southwest and Delta.
It was more than $4 billion in stock. He said the pandemic had changed travel demand for good.
Berkshire is back in. Under new CEO Greg Abel, the firm just disclosed a $2.6 billion bet on Delta, now its 14th largest holding.
Friday's filing is the first real look at Berkshire's stock book with Abel in the chair. Delta is the headline.
The firm bought 39.8 million shares of the airline in the first quarter. The stock rose more than 3% Monday on the news.
The other new name is Macy's, where Berkshire opened a small $55 million stake. That trade pushed Macy's shares up more than 2% on the day.
The size of the position points to lieutenant Ted Weschler, who runs about 6% of the stock book. Most read it as his trade, not Abel's.
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The bigger move in the filing is what got sold. Berkshire fully exited Amazon, dumped both Mastercard and Visa, and unloaded a list of names tied to Todd Combs.
Combs was the lieutenant Buffett personally hired to help run the stock book. He left at the end of 2025 to join JPMorgan.
Abel appears to be tidying up what he left behind. UnitedHealth Group, Aon, Pool Corporation, Domino's Pizza and Charter Communications also got the boot.
The Chevron stake was trimmed too. Berkshire kept adding to Alphabet, now the seventh-largest holding in the book.
Abel says he is still talking to the 95-year-old Buffett pretty much every day. Buffett still comes into the Omaha office.
The handoff so far looks more like a clean-up than a reset.
The airline call is the one to track. Buffett's 2020 exit became shorthand for "do not trust the cycle on airlines."
Abel's yes to Delta is a public bet that high-end travel demand is real and durable, even with oil near $110 a barrel. If Delta keeps working, expect more airline buys.
If it does not, this becomes the trade that gets quoted at every shareholder meeting for the next ten years.
The Macy's stake and the Alphabet add are worth watching too. They show how Abel and Weschler think about retail and big tech with Buffett still in the office, but no longer at the wheel.
If Delta turns into a five- or ten-year hold, the airline story may shape how Wall Street talks about Abel.
For now, the new chief looks happy to act while still leaning on his old boss down the hall.
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