American Airlines considers options for American Eagle; Hawaiian Airlines, AirTran decline
North and South American airline stocks slumped on Thursday (24-Jun-2010) for a fifth consecutive session, as the Dow (-1.4%) fell. The market was down after disappointing earnings results from large businesses and uncertainty over the financial-overhaul bill.
A prediction by Hudson Securities analyst, Dan McKenzie, that competition will result in at least one more bankruptcy in the next five years also pushed airline stocks lower.
US and Europe sign new open skies agreement
The US and Europe meanwhile signed a new open skies agreement, committing to removing remaining access barriers. Additional commercial rights will be exchanged subject to a number of legislative changes. See related report: EU-US sign second stage of open skies agreement
American Airlines consider private equity and leveraged buyout options for American Eagle
American Airlines' (-1.2%) decline was not quite as sharp as others for the day. American Eagle CEO, Dan Garton, stated during trading that AMR Corp will include private equity and a leveraged buyout among options for its regional airline subsidiary. Other options being evaluated include leaving the carrier as a wholly owned unit of AMR, the divestiture of the carrier and a separation of the two entities.
Elsewhere, Hawaiian Airlines (-4.5%) suffered the biggest decline of the day, followed by AirTran (-2.9%). Jazz Air Income Fund (+1.0%) and Air Canada (+0.6%) were the only carriers to rise, despite a 1.2% decline in Canada's TSX.
Virgin America reports record rise in revenue
Meanwhile, Virgin America reported a 46% rise in revenue for 1Q2010, while net losses were narrowed by 11.9% to USD35.5 million. See related report: Virgin America revenues up 46%, but posts operating and net losses for fiscal first quarter
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 24-Jun-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance