Yahoo Finance Airline Stock Roundup: ALGT's Impressive July Traffic Report, DAL, SAVE in Focus
In the past week, Allegiant Travel Company’s ALGT management stated that in July 2022, the airline carried 10.9% more passengers than the three-year ago reading, reflecting the bullish scenario in the United States pertaining to air-travel demand. Delta Air Lines DAL was also in the news, courtesy of management’s announcement that it will operate additional flights to Las Vegas for CES 2023 (the most influential global tech event).
Spirit Airlines’ SAVE mechanics voted in favor of being represented by the labor union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA). An expansion-related update was available from Alaska Airlines, the wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group ALK, in the past week.
(Read the last Airline Roundup here)
Recap of the Latest Top Stories
1.Owing to buoyant air-travel demand, Allegiant carried 4.5% more passengers (systemwide) in July 2022 than the year-ago level. RPMs for scheduled flights increased 7.6% year over year in July. Scheduled service load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) increased 9.2 points to 90.5% in July.
With more and more people traveling again following the relaxation of COVID-related restrictions, Allegiant Travel, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), carried 10.9% more passengers in July 2022 than the July 2019 (pre-coronavirus era) level. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
2. Keeping an eye on CES 2023, Delta decided to boost its schedule. DAL’s management announced that it will operate additional flights to Las Vegas (which will host the event from Jan 5 to Jan 8) from 16 cities in the United States apart from three of its international hubs.
With the addition of nearly 320 inbound and outbound flights, Las Vegas’ regular January schedule will be boosted by approximately 50% (in terms of seats). It is anticipated that 23,000 seats will be added to/from Las Vegas in the Jan 3-4 and Jan 7-9 periods of which, roughly 5,800 seats will boost the seating capacity in Delta’s four premium cabins.
3. Spirit Airlines’ Aircraft Maintenance Technicians and Maintenance Controllers elected AMFA as their collective bargaining agent by voting overwhelmingly in favor of the arrangement. Before the current statement on unionization, SAVE’s technicians were never represented by a labor union since the airline was founded. However, most of SAVE’s workforce is currently union-represented.
With the mechanics also agreeing to be represented by a labor union, AMFA is expected to engage in talks with SAVE for higher pay, better working conditions and other related factors for the mechanics. This might elevate costs in turn. The prevalent situation may take an interesting turn as SAVE is likely to be acquired by JetBlue Airways JBLU.
4. Alaska Airlines announced the addition of a route to its existing operational services. The carrier plans to provide non-stop flights between Everett and Anchorage, starting Nov 30, 2022. With this, Anchorage becomes the farthest destination to be served by Alaska Air.
Performance
The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The table above shows that all airline stocks have traded in the red over the five trading days. The NYSE ARCA Airline Index has decreased 2.7% to $60,56. Over the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has plummeted 21.7%.
What's Next in the Airline Space?
Stay tuned for the usual updates on the space.
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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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