Hawaiian Holdings Unit's April Traffic & Capacity Increase

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:HA) wholly owned subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, reported traffic figures for April. Traffic (measured in Revenue Passenger Miles or RPMs) increased 7.1% to around 1.39 billion in April.

Available Seat Miles (ASMs) also climbed 7.3% to 1.63 billion in the month. However, load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) declined 10 basis points (bps) to 85.2% as capacity expansion outweighed traffic growth.

In the first four months of 2018, the carrier registered a 6.4% rise in RPMs while ASMs rose 5.3%. As a result, load factor improved 90 bps. Additionally, passenger count increased 6.8% while the same rose 6.3% in April.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price | Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Quote

The company was also in news last week when its shares declined significantly following fears of competition intensifying in Hawaii as Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) announced a detailed plan to offer flights connecting Hawaii with California. As Hawaiian Holdings draws a bulk of its revenues from inter-island flights, it is only natural that the stock price of this Honolulu County, HI-based company was significantly hurt due to worries over a likely drop in the company’s market share.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Hawaiian Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Two better-ranked stocks in the airline space are SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (OTC:CPCAY) . While SkyWest sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Cathay Pacific Airways carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of SkyWest and Cathay Pacific Airways have rallied more than 54% and 13%, respectively, in a year.

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