The US airline sector is rising on Monday after several companies showed signs of a recovery. Several stocks are now trading at pre-pandemic levels, writes Reuters.
On Monday, several American airlines made statements signaling that the recovery in the industry has begun to pick up pace after the pandemic.
Several airline executives have highlighted, among other things, that the successful American vaccine nation program, which has so far resulted in the country providing 100 million vaccine doses, is now starting to appear in booking statistics. It reports Reuters.
Among other things, United Airlines expects to deliver positive operating cash flow in March, which is earlier than expected. During the fourth quarter, the company burned an average of $19 million – equivalent to $162 million – each day. As recently as January, the company expected that pace to be about the same in the first quarter of 2021.
Following the announcement, United Airlines shares rose by nearly 8 percent at 7 p.m. on Monday. The stock is still down more than 30 percent since the beginning of 2020.
JetBlue Airways and American Airlines also made positive statements about the future on Monday. Both companies rose 5.9 and 7.7 percent respectively on Monday. JetBlue is now marginally higher than before the pandemic, while American has about 15 percent left.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says he is ”cautiously optimistic” that the company will return to positive cash flow in the spring. Delta’s stock has fared better than United’s and is down 13 percent since the beginning of 2020. On Monday evening, the stock is up 3.3 percent.
Southwest Airlines expects a smaller decline in operating income in the first quarter than previously forecast, but CEO Gary Kelly still warns that business travel in particular will continue to be low and may never return to the same levels as before the pandemic, according to Reuters. The stock rises 1.6 percent, which means it has risen 14 percent compared to the beginning of 2020.
Source: di.se
