Why Airline Stocks Are Down Today
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) now expects even fewer people to fly in 2020 than previous estimates, a stark reminder of how hard the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting aviation. Those numbers, coupled with continued uncertainty about whether U.S. lawmakers will come through with another round of stimulus and new negative headlines about the pandemic, has airline shares under pressure on Tuesday.
JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) is leading the downward push on the day, down as much as 5.6% midday, while shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) fell as much as 5.1% and shares of United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL) were down 4.7%.
The airline industry is in a state of crisis due to the pandemic, which has caused revenue to fall by as much as 80% year over year. Passenger volumes are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022 at the earliest, leaving airlines scrambling to cut costs to weather a prolonged downturn.
Source Fool.com
