Airline bookings improved again in the latest week as higher pricing continues to be a major factor in the industry.
Bank of America reported that system net sales were just 2.9% below the level of 2019 for the week ending September 18 vs. -6.0% for the prior week. Pricing was 5.2% higher for the week in comparison to 2019, while system volume decelerated to down -7.7% vs. 2019.
Corporate channel sales improved again for the week with better pricing more than offsetting a slight step back in volume.
In terms of website traffic, strength was noted for United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL), while Hawaiian Airlines (HA) and Alaska Airlines (ALK) have seemed to show some early indications that consumers may be pulling back on high-end vacation plans.
BofA analyst Andrew Didora said overall September airline bookings data has been choppy, but generally corporate is modestly improving this fall.
Delta Airlines (DAL), United Airlines (UAL), and American Airlines Group (AAL) were all down about 1% in premarket action on Monday. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines (LUV) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) were showing 0.30% drops.
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