Airline Stock Roundup: DAL's Improved Q3 Revenue View, ALGT in Focus

In the past week, Delta Air Lines DAL gave an improved projection for the third quarter of 2025, driven by the stabilization and improvement of air travel demand. Allegiant Travel Company ALGT was also in the news when it reported a double-digit increase in traffic for August. Latin American carrier Copa Holdings CPA also reported impressive traffic numbers for August, driven by strong passenger volumes.

Regional carrier, SkyWest SKYW, meanwhile, inked a strategic agreement as an equity investor in Maeve Aerospace. JetBlue Airways JBLU, in line with the efforts to enhance operational efficiency, announced the retirement of its Embraer E190 fleet. JetBlue was also in the news recently, driven by strong summer bookings, and it provided an improved outlook for third-quarter 2025 capacity and revenue per seat mile. The news was covered in detail in the previous week’s write-up.

Recap of the Most Recent Important Stories

1.  At Allegiant Travel, the August scheduled traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) rose 12.1% from the August 2024 levels. Capacity (measured in available seat miles) for scheduled service rose 14.6% year over year. Although traffic improved on a year-over-year basis, it failed to outpace capacity expansion. As a result, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) in August 2025 declined to 82.6% from 84.5% a year ago.

For the total system (including scheduled service and fixed fee contract), Allegiant carried 12.5% more passengers in August 2025 than the year-ago level. System-wide capacity improved 14.4% in August 2025 on a year-over-year basis.

2. Highlighting the improvement in air travel demand, Delta, while presenting at the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference, gave a better view of revenues for the third quarter of 2025. The airline now expects revenue growth in the 2-4% band in the September quarter from third-quarter 2024 actuals, which is in the upper half of the guidance range provided while releasing its second-quarter 2025 results. Adjusted revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) are expected in the $14.9-$15.2 billion range.

In July, DAL had projected third-quarter revenues on an adjusted basis to either remain flat or increase up to 4% from the third quarter of 2024 level. Factors like stronger-than-expected demand and capacity discipline across the U.S. airline industry are responsible for the improved September quarter outlook. DAL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

3 In August, Copa Holdings’ revenue passenger miles (RPM: a measure of air traffic) improved 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. To match the demands well, CPA is increasing its capacity. In August, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) increased 5.8% year over year. Since traffic outpaced capacity expansion, the load factor (the percentage of seats filled by passengers) rose to 88.3% from 85.1% in August 2024.

4. JetBlue has improved its cost efficiency by transitioning to an all-Airbus fleet anchored by the Airbus A220-300. The A220 delivers superior fuel efficiency and lower operating costs. A220 is equipped with modern amenities and technology, in turn boosting the travel experience of passengers. The A220’s extended range opens opportunities for new transcontinental and medium-haul markets.

5. Regional carrier, SkyWest, has entered into a strategic agreement as an equity investor in Maeve Aerospace. The move is in line with SKYW’s commitment to the advancement of modern, economic regional aviation solutions. The agreement provides SkyWest with exclusive Maeve launch customer rights. In the development phase, SkyWest will lend Maeve its extensive operations, performance, and design expertise. The association enhances SkyWest’s long-term strategy pertaining to fleet upgrade.

Airline Stocks Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.

What’s Next in the Airline Space?

With air travel demand improving, a revision of third-quarter revenue projections like DAL cannot be ruled out by other carriers in the coming days. Fleet modernization-related updates are also possible from carriers going forward.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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