Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has begun flight service at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in a bid to expand. Following this, the carrier offers a total of eight daily nonstop flights, five between CVG and Chicago Midway (MDW) and three between CVG and Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI).
The new flights’ customer-friendly policies are a welcome relief for travelers who have been paying high fares so far.
Southwest Airlines has also launched international flights on four routes from Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL) with Cayman Islands being the newest of all countries served so far. Flights connecting California to several other destinations in the United States have also begun.
The carrier has introduced new flights between San Francisco and Portland, San Jose and Reno, San Diego and Boise and San Diego and Salt Lake City. This November, it will also start service between FLL and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. This apart, the airline has started seasonal flights to New York (via Newark) from Oakland and San Diego, besides between San Diego, Spokane and Indianapolis.
Southwest Airlines was also in the news recently when it announced a 25% increase in dividend along with a new share repurchase program worth $2 billion. This new buyback scheme replaces a recently completed $2 billion repurchase plan. We note that another major airline operator – Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) too hiked its dividend payout recently.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Southwest Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the airline space are Air France-KLM SA (OTC:AFLYY) and Deutsche Lufthansa (DE:LHAG) AG (OTC:DLAKY) . Both flaunt a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa gained over 41% and 14% over last one month.
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Southwest Airlines Company (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLAKY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Air France-KLM SA (AFLYY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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