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New reads on airline demand came in strong even as the return of corporate travel has offset some minor weakness with leisure travel.
System net sales were up 14.6% above the pre-pandemic 2019 level for the week ending January 8 to continue the recent positive trends seen throughout the holiday periods, noted Bank of America.
Transportation Security Administration trailing 7-day throughput data has also been above 2019 levels the past 10 days and is up 106% from the 2019 levels. In addition, U.S. airlines’ trailing 7-day website visits rose 21% year-over-year for the week ending January 10 to accelerate from +9% the prior week. Notably, all airlines saw website visitation improve on a year over year basis
The earnings season for the airline sector began with Delta Air Lines (DAL) issuing weaker-than-anticipated profit guidance due largely to maintenance and labor costs sitting at an elevated level. American Airlines (AAL) heads into the earnings confessional on January 18 with the read on costs also expected to be a major factor.
Airline stocks: American Airlines (AAL), Delta Airlines (DAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV), United Airlines (UAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Hawaiian Holdings (HA), Alaska Air Group (ALK), Allegiant Travel (ALGT), Spirit Airlines (SAVE), Mesa Airlines (MESA), SkyWest (SKYW), Sun Country Airlines (SNCY), Frontier Group ULCC.