Airlines stocks rose on Thursday after better-than-expected quarterly results and a green light from regulators to return 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to service once they pass safety inspections.
Shares of American Airlines (AAL) rose 8% after the airline reported better-than-expected 2024 guidance on the back of expanded domestic and international capacity.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) posted record revenue for 2023 and fourth-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations as short-lead bookings and business travel beat expectations in November and December As a result, prices rose temporarily on Thursday.
Alaska Airlines (ALK) announced its latest quarterly loss, warning that it would incur $150 million in costs due to the recent grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft following the mid-air door “plug” incident in early January. exceeded profit forecasts.
The stock also received a boost from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval on Wednesday of the inspection and maintenance processes that must be carried out for each of the grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
“Upon successful completion, the aircraft will be eligible to return to service,” the FAA statement said.
The only US airlines using these aircraft are United Airlines (UAL) and Alaska Airlines. Shares of both airlines rose more than 3% on Thursday.
Alaska's flight cancellations total between 110 and 150 flights per day.
United Airlines aims to return its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to service on Sunday.
During the company's earnings call this week, Chief Financial Officer Mike Leskinen said United plans to deliver a total of 107 aircraft in 2024, 31 of which will be Boeing Max 9s. Stated.
“At this point, it is unrealistic to believe that all these aircraft will be delivered as planned,” Leskinen said.
“We also expect orders and deliveries from Boeing to decline in 2025,” he added.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @ines_ferre.
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