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United Airlines, US Airways, American Airlines lead the charge, following positive passenger traffic

Analysis

Wall Street rose again on Tuesday (04-Aug-09), following reports of increasing consumer spending, with the Dow (0.33%) up at the end of trading. As a result, the majority of North and South American airline shares improved, with the Bloomberg US Airline Index rising 3.9%, also reflecting improved Jul-2009 passenger traffic by some carriers. Oil prices (-0.2%) meanwhile fell to USD71.42 after a four-day 13% rally.

United Airlines soared 18.8%, following its announcement its load factor for Jul-2009 was up 2.7 ppts year-on-year, as traffic fell 4% on a 7% reduction in capacity. Alaska Airlines (+2.4%) and Republic Airways (+4.9%) also reported improvements in load factors, with Alaska Airlines seeing a 4.6 ppts rise year-on-year, while Republic reported a 3.0 ppts increase. AirTran (+1.6%) in comparison, reported a fall in traffic.

US Airways (+9.9%) rose strongly after announcing a new codeshare agreement with its Japanese Star Alliance counterpart, All Nippon Airways (ANA). The codeshare agreement is scheduled to commence on 16-Sep-09, subject to regulatory approvals.

Meanwhile, Air Canada-B (-1.1%) shares continued to fall, as investors worry about the carrier's future, despite recent funding agreements.

North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 04-Aug-09

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