07-Jun-2010 4:28 PM

Southwest Airlines reports 19-20% rise in RASM; Delta Air Lines load factor up 1.6 ppts

North and South American carriers’ stocks fell heavily on Friday (04-Jun-2010) after the US Labor Department reported disappointing jobs data, with hiring weaker for May-2010 compared to Apr-2010. The Dow (-3.2%) and the AMEX Airline Index (-4.5%) slumped as a result.

CRT Capital Group LCC analyst, Michael Derchin, told MarketWatch that airline stocks “tend to track the market on days like this, but employment numbers are very secondary to the positive demand, capacity, pricing and jet fuel trends we are seeing now”.

Southwest Airlines reports 19-20% rise in RASM

Southwest Airlines (-4.7%) reported a 2.6 ppt year-on-year rise in load factor for May-2010, to 77.2%. The improvement was the result of a 3.5% rise in traffic (RPMs) with no change in capacity (ASMs) for the month. Revenue passengers were also up, gaining 2.3%, to 7.6 million. Southwest also estimated passenger revenue per ASM (RASM) to have increased in the 19-20% range year-on-year.

See related CAPA Profiles:

Delta Air Lines load factor up 1.6 ppts

Delta Air Lines (-1.9%) also reported improved traffic results the day prior. The full service carrier reported a 1.6 ppt rise in load factor for May-2010, to 83.9%. The increase was led by a 10.7 ppt rise in Asia Pacific loads, to 84.8%. Traffic for the month gained 2.7%, again led by a 27.9% rise in Asia Pacific traffic. Capacity increased by 0.6%. Passenger numbers were up marginally, gaining 0.5%, to 13.8 million.

See related CAPA Profile: Traffic and Capacity

Elsewhere, Republic Airways (+0.5%) was the only carrier to gain for the day, while Allegiant (-7.6%) and US Airways (-6.7%) suffered the biggest declines.

North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 04-Jun-2010