US airline debt management Part 2: Southwest, JetBlue and Alaska enjoy favourable leverage

As the US Big 3 airlines trumpet their growing balance sheet strength, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue are also working to preserve their favourable balance sheet standings and either improve or enjoy positive leverage positions.

Southwest and Alaska have the distinction of holding investment grade status due in part to their debt management strategies. The youngest of the three airlines, JetBlue, has also taken steps to reduce its leverage during the last couple of years.

All three airlines are taking prudent steps to ensure that they have the proper balance sheet metrics to support planned growth and sustain positive leverage ratios. And similar to the three large network airlines, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue have slightly nuanced approaches to meeting those goals.