Alaska Air Sees Even Sunnier Skies Ahead
Rising air-travel demand has given U.S. airlines a big lift over the past few months. For some carriers, the outlook keeps improving. On Monday, Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK) raised its forecast for the second quarter, with better-than-expected cost trends complementing the benefit from improving demand.
In its investor update this week, Alaska Airlines said that its load factor -- the percentage of seats filled with paying passengers -- will likely end up between 74% and 76% this quarter, near the high end of its initial guidance range of 70% to 75%. That would still be well below the 86.2% load factor it recorded in the same period two years ago. Nevertheless, it's clear that business is quickly moving back toward normal. In the first quarter, Alaska logged a dreadful 51.9% load factor.
With traffic coming in ahead of expectations, Alaska Airlines expects its total revenue to decline 33% to 35%, compared to Q2 2019. Previously, it had projected a 32% to 37% revenue drop.
Source Fool.com
