Increase In Covid Cases Cause Airline Stocks To Plunge

The shares of some major airline companies in the United States are down at Monday’s pre-market trading session thanks to a surge in the number of Coronavirus cases in the country.

UAL, AAL And DAL All Trading In The Red

Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines and United Airlines are all in a bearish mode today thanks to the news of a surge in the number of Covid cases in the United States. At Monday’s pre-market trading session, the shares of United Airlines are down by 5%, with American Airlines also down by roughly 5% at the time of this report.

Delta Air Lines is also not left out, as the stock is down by 4.1% over the past few hours. The companies’ stocks were performing excellently in recent weeks, thanks to the rapid vaccination program put in place by the Biden administration. Travel demand has increased in recent months, with the Transportation Security Administration recording over 2 million passengers at US airports yesterday. This is the highest Covid level recorded since February 2020, weeks before the pandemic hit the United States.

Delta Variant Is Spreading

The concern amongst travelers is the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19. The Delta Covid variant has become the dominant strain in the United States, and this is affecting the broader stock market. However, travel and hospitality stocks are usually the most affected, with airlines and hotels suffering the most over the past few months.

Following the increase in the Delta variant, some regions in the United States are reinstating some of the earlier lifted restrictions. Los Angeles, for instance, has reinstated the indoor mask mandate while the Southern Nevada Health District is asking people to also wear masks indoors as the cases increase across the state.

Year-to-date, both American Airlines and United Airlines have performed excellently. AAL began the year trading at $15 per share, but it is now up by 20% and is currently trading above $18. UAL began the year trading at $41, but after a period of growth, it is now consolidating and trades just above the $43 mark.