Airline stocks fall after Delta’s weaker-than-expected guidance

American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, +1.13% is down 2.9% before market open, while United Airlines Holding Inc. UAL, +0.68% is down 2.1%. Southwest Airlines Co.’s LUV, +0.05% stock is down 1.7%, JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU, +1.48% is down 2.3%, and Alaska Air Group Inc. ALK, +1.80% is down 1.3%. Spirit Airlines Inc.’s SAVE, +0.49% stock is down 0.8%. The U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS, +0.15% is down 1.9%.

The airline industry is attempting to recover from the impact of pandemic-era travel restrictions. In a statement released Friday, Delta said that consumer demand remains robust. Strong demand in the fourth quarter drove domestic total passenger revenue 7 percent higher compared with the same quarter in 2019, before the pandemic hit, the company said. International passenger revenue was up 5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.

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“Momentum continues in 2023 with strong demand trends, and we expect March quarter adjusted revenue to be 14 to 17 percent higher than 2019 on capacity that is 1 percent lower,” said Delta President Glen Hauenstein, in the statement.

Airline stocks fell earlier this week after a Federal Aviation Authority computer glitch grounded flights across the U.S. for the first time since 9/11, sparking thousands of flight delays.