Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK posted a significant rise in air traffic for the month of May, this year. Traffic – measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – came in at 2.79 billion, up 10.4% from 2.53 billion recorded in the comparable month a year ago.
On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) inched up 12% to 3.3 billion. Meanwhile, the load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers decreased to 84.5% from 85.7% in May 2014.
At the end of the first five months of 2015, Alaska Air Group generated RPMs of 13.25 billion (up 9.5% year over year) and ASMs of 15.83 billion (up 11.5% year over year). Load factor stood at 83.7% against 85.2% in May last year.
We believe that increased demand for air travel coupled with continuous expansion of routes and enhanced customer satisfaction have supported the impressive operating results.
Recently, Alaska Airlines, a division of Alaska Air Group, announced plans to introduce two new routes connecting the cities of Portland and Eugene with Austin, TX and San Jose, CA respectively. The service will start from Nov 5, 2015.
According to a projection made by Airlines for America (“A4A”) – the trade organization for leading U.S. airlines – it is going to be the busiest summer for U.S. carriers. According to the forecast, approximately 222 million passengers will avail services of U.S. airlines between Jun 1 and Aug 31.
At present, Alaska Air Group serves more than 100 cities in North America.
Stocks to Consider
Alaska Air Group currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks include Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft DLAKY, SkyWest Inc. SKYW and JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU. JetBlue carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while the other two companies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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