22-Feb-2010 5:14 PM

United Airlines rebounds from recent slide; GOL, TAM, Republic Airways down

North and South American carriers’ stocks mostly made gains on Friday (19-Feb-2010). The Dow (+0.1%) was up as investors viewed the US Federal Reserve's discount rate increase as an indication banks no longer required assistance, and a recovery from the global financial downturn is strengthening.

However, another rise in oil prices (+0.5%), to USD80.24, prevented carriers from making any major gains during trading. The AMEX Airline Index (+0.9%) ended trading up.

Brazilian carriers slip on weak traffic results

GOL (-2.0%) and TAM (-2.0%) both fell after ANAC reported a 27.5% decline in the average air fare in 2009 during trading, down some 30% from their high in 2002. See related article: UBS prefers Ryanair to easyJet; 28% decline in Brazil domestic airfares in 2009

LAN (-0.9%) and Republic Airways (-3.4%) were also down at the end of trading. Republic Airways' CEO, Bryan Bedford, told The Denver Post in an interview that a branding decision on Republic, Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines will be made in Mar-2010, to reduce customer confusion between the three.

United Airlines rebounds from recent slide

United Airlines (+2.6%) rebounded from its recent slide. The carrier reportedly announced plans during trading to lay off 50 employees at its San Francisco International Airport maintenance base relating to plans to outsource its engineering work at the airport.

Also in today’s America Airline Daily:

American Airlines takes delivery of 112th B737 (NG) aircraft;
Southwest Airlines to rearrange the timing of 10% of its services;
AeroMexico to revise its international expansion plans for 2010;
Jamaican Government signs an agreement with Caribbean Airlines.

North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 19-Feb-2010