Airline Stocks Are Gouging Higher Thanks to Delta

How many airlinefags are out there, pleasantly banking coin today? At the old brokerage house, I used to know a guy who only bought airlines. He bought those fuckers right into the ground and was buried with them — forced to leave the business for being broke.

Today’s airlines are different. They’ve learned to collude with one another, avoid price wars, and gouge customers over every last cent. I hate the airlines and try to avoid them whenever possible. Year to date, LUV is the best performing American airline, up 17%. But today’s all about Delta, buoying higher after guiding up. The entire sector is lit — higher by 5%.

Delta shares were 6 percent higher in early afternoon trading, on track for their biggest one-day gain since January 2015.

The airline told investors earlier Tuesday that Hurricane Irma, which struck its Atlanta hub and important Florida airports, would cost it $120 million in the third quarter. The carrier canceled 2,200 flights in the southern U.S. and the Caribbean because of the storm.

Delta said including the impact from Hurricane Irma, its passenger unit revenue, which measures how much money the airline is making for each seat flown a mile, likely rose 2 percent in the three months ended in September.

Shares of other airlines also rose. United and American were each up close to 5 percent, and JetBlue traded more than 6 percent higher. Southwest added close to 3 percent.

Delta is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings in the middle of the month.