Transportation

January Traffic Stalls at Two Airlines

Southwest_At_Burbank
Wikimedia Commons (Stuart Seeger)
Both Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) reported January traffic numbers Monday morning, and investors are less than enthusiastic.

Southwest’s revenue passenger miles rose 8.6% compared with January 2014 and available seat miles rose 10.2%. But to entice those passengers to take advantage of the additional capacity the passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) fell about 1%. Southwest reported PRASM in the fourth quarter of 2014 of $0.135 and costs per available seat mile of $0.127, so there is not a lot of headroom for higher costs or lower passenger revenue.

At American Airlines, total available seat miles fell 0.2% and revenue passenger miles fell by 2.8%. Based on one month of data and its own forecast for the remaining two months of the first quarter, American expects PRASM to fall by 2% to 4% in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2014, American’s PRASM was also $0.135, but its costs per available seat mile was $0.143. American’s total revenue per mile rose to $0.1562.

American is also forecasting fuel costs at $0.10 per gallon higher than previous guidance, up from a range of $1.71 to $1.76 to a new range of $1.81 to $1.86 per gallon. The company now expects adjusted pretax margin in the first quarter to decline from a prior estimated range of 13% to 15% to a new range of 12% to 14%.

It is no surprise that both airline stocks traded even lower than the major indexes Monday morning. Southwest traded down about 1.9%, at $43.30 in a 52-week range of $20.88 to $47.17.

American’s stock traded down about 3.5%, at $46.45 in a 52-week range of $28.10 to $56.20.

ALSO READ: Credit Suisse’s Top Picks for Huge Upside in 2015

Get Ready To Retire (Sponsored)

Start by taking a quick retirement quiz from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes, or less.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future

Get started right here.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.