JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) recently reported traffic figures for June. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), increased 4.7% year over year to 4.61 billion. Also, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) expanded 4.8% to 5.3 billion on a year-over-year basis.
However, load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers contracted 10 basis points (bps) to 86.9% in the month as capacity expansion exceeded traffic growth.
This Long Island City, NY-based low-cost carrier registered a completion factor (system wide) of 99.5% in the month with 70.1% flights on schedule.
In the first six months of 2019, the carrier posted 6.5% rise in RPMs while ASMs grew 7.9%, both on a year-over-year basis. As a result, load factor deteriorated 110 bps to 84.3%.
JetBlue now anticipates second-quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM) to increase approximately 3.1% year over year. Previously, the company estimated the metric to climb in the range of 2-4% year over year. Placement of Easter/Passover holiday in April is expected to positively impact the metric.
Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
JetBlue carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the same space are Air China Ltd. (OTC:AIRYY) , Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) , each flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Air China, Copa Holdings and United Airlines have rallied more than 18%, 27% and 8%, respectively, so far this year.
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Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA): Free Stock Analysis Report
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Air China Ltd. (AIRYY): Free Stock Analysis Report
JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU): Free Stock Analysis Report
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