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Business travel hasn’t bounced back yet. But it will and the recovery may be stronger than expected.
This isn’t a widely shared opinion at the moment. Corporate road warriors have largely stayed away from airports during the pandemic, even as cooped-up Americans have taken advantage of the vaccine rollout to plan getaways and visits with family. In a jam-packed week for airline earnings, American Airlines Group Inc. said daily net bookings had actually outpaced 2019 levels over the past week. But the bulk of that is from domestic leisure travelers; business and long-haul international demand is only 20% of what it was before the pandemic. Southwest Airlines Co. estimated business travel will still be down at least 50% at the end of this year compared with pre-Covid levels and Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said he wouldn’t be surprised if the market didn’t fully recover for another decade.
Major airlines this week reiterated confidence that the travel market, at least for leisure, is rebounding from the deep losses suffered during the coronavirus pandemic. Executives said they hope the trend will continue into the summer vacation season.
U.S. weekly jobless claims decline further Indexes down: Dow 0.94%, S&P 500 0.92%, Nasdaq 0.94% (Adds prices after 4 p.m. market close)
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dived on Thursday on reports President Joe Biden planned to almost double the capital gains tax, news analysts said provided an excuse to take profits in a directionless market ahead of big tech’s earnings next week.
The three main indexes on Wall Street also fell on reports that Biden planned to raise income taxes on the wealthy, a proposal some said would be hard to pass in Congress.
“If it had a chance of passing, we’d be down 2,000 points,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member at hedge fund Great Hill Capital LLC.
By Associated Press
With a strong push from taxpayers, Southwest Airlines is the first major U.S. airline to report a profit since the pandemic started, and airlines executives say that the industry is on course to recover from a financial crisis caused by the pandemic.
Southwest Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said Thursday that his airline has seen steady improvement in U.S. leisure-travel sales since mid-February. He credited rising vaccinations and falling new cases of COVID-19.
“We believe the worst is now finally behind us,” Kelly said.
Southwest reported net income of $116 million in the first quarter, although it would have lost $1 billion without federal aid to help cover labor costs.
American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) shares are trading higher by 1.5% Friday morning after Raymond James upgraded the stock from Underperform to Market Perform.
American Airlines is the world s largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger miles. After completing a major fleet renewal, the company has the youngest fleet of U.S. legacy carriers.
Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) shares are trading higher by 1.2% after Morgan Stanley maintains with an Underweight and raises the price target from $14 to $18.
Carnival is the largest global cruise company, set to deploy 88 ships on the seas once cruising fully resumes after the pandemic.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) shares are trading higher by 1.1% after Morgan Stanley maintains with an Underweight and raises the price target from $50 to $61.