Large US airlines remain uncertain about a trans-Atlantic rebound in the near term

The trans-Atlantic has been a challenging market for large US network airlines during the past year for a variety of reasons - the UK Brexit vote, terrorist attacks, expansion by low cost airlines and currency fluctuations. As a result of those coalescing factors, unit revenues for American, Delta and United in their respective trans-Atlantic entities have been less than stellar.

Despite lingering challenges on the trans-Atlantic, those three airlines are presenting a somewhat positive outlook for the US summer season driven by strong US point of sale that is offsetting weakness in Europe, particularly in the UK as its currency remains weak against the USD.

None of the large three global US network airlines are declaring that conditions in the trans-Atlantic are on a definitive road to recovery. In fact, Delta has warned that it will take longer than expected to attain positive unit revenues on trans-Atlantic routes, while American and United appear to hold tempered expectations for the region beyond summer 2017.