3 Airline Stocks to Consider as We Head into the Busy Summer Travel Season

I want to begin by extending my sincerest prayers and condolences to the victims and their families of the unspeakable tragedy that took place on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas. The town is but an hour and a half’s drive from our office in San Antonio, and we have team members that have connections to the people who live there.

As investors, our greatest assets are our children and grandchildren. Ensuring their safety is of utmost importance. On behalf of everyone at U.S. Global Investors, I urge our elected leaders and public officials to not rest until a workable solution to school violence is reached.

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Summer is right around the corner, and traditionally that’s when families pack their bags and get away for a well-deserved vacation. Since this is the first summer travel season in three years that feels like the before times, airlines and airports are bracing for what is expected to be a particularly busy three months.

A couple of airlines, in fact, upgraded their second-quarter revenue projections this week, citing higher-than-expected demand. On Thursday, Southwest Airlines said it expected revenues from April to June to increase 12% to 15% from the same quarter in 2019, up from earlier projections of 8% to 12%. That comes despite higher fuel prices, which should be “more than offset” by increased revenues.

Based on current trends, Southwest “expects solid profits and operating margins” in the second quarter and for all of 2022, the Dallas-based carrier said in an investor update.

JetBlue Airways similarly announced on Thursday that bookings continue to “exceed expectations” and that it may be on track to collect record revenues this summer. The carrier expects “June revenue per available seat mile to be up more than 20%” compared to the same month in 2019.

As you may know, JetBlue is still trying to outbid Frontier Airlines in an effort to acquire rival low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, even though Spirit has already agreed to merge with Frontier. This should tell you that airlines are scrambling to gobble up as much market share as possible ahead of an anticipated leisure travel boom.

I’m very pleased with how well airline stocks have performed so far this year relative to the market. The Dow Jones U.S. Airlines Index was up more than 3% year-to-date through Friday. Although the STOXX Europe Total Market Airlines Index was down 8% over the same period, that was still ahead of the S&P 500, which has sold off largely on inflation concerns.

That said, below are three airline stocks I’m keeping my eye on as we head into the busy summer leisure travel season.