US airline debt and balance sheets Part 2: Alaska, jetBlue and Southwest favourably leveraged

US airlines Alaska Air Group, jetBlue and Southwest are at different phases of their respective balance sheet fortification and debt management. Alaska and Southwest approach managing their debt with an eye towards maintaining the investment grade status each airline enjoys; Southwest's status was further bolstered in 2015 with credit upgrades from both Fitch and Moody's.

Lower fuel prices are allowing most airlines to enjoy healthy levels of free cash flow, and most of those companies believe a portion of those flows should be allotted to paying down debt, and issuing shareholder returns. JetBlue is continuing a trend of enlarging its base of unencumbered assets, which is also a focus for Alaska Air Group. Alaska believes its low leverage levels create a buffer against its competitors that are more leveraged. JetBlue, meanwhile, continues to drive down its leverage ratios significantly.

All of the work to bolster their balance sheets and achieve favourable leverage ratios results in Alaska, Southwest and jetBlue positioning themselves to brace for any weakness created by a cloud of macroeconomic uncertainty underlying demand that, for now, generally remains solid.