For anyone who tried to get over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house for Christmas, you know how rough it was. If you tried to fly there, you might still be stuck at an airport somewhere along the trip. As bad a time as those travelers had, though, the airlines had no picnic either. Several major airlines are reeling in Tuesday afternoon’s trading. This includes Delta (NYSE:DAL), United (NASDAQ:UAL), and the hardest hit of all, Southwest (NYSE:LUV).
Already-present stressors for airlines were bad enough. Supply chain problems, employee shortages, fuel shortages…these would be enough trouble for any airline. However, put them in the busiest travel season of the year, add a crippling blizzard, and the end result was a catastrophe. Some airlines fared better than others. By way of example, Delta’s operations were unusually strained, reports note.
But without a doubt, Southwest took the worst of it. Not only did Southwest lose an unusual amount of staff to plain old illness, but it also took such a hit to its performance that the government will be investigating. Reports note that the Department of Transportation plans an investigation into the massive number of flight cancellations at Southwest. Reports also noted that Southwest canceled 62% of its flights over the Christmas weekend, and more will likely follow.
Overall, Wall Street analysts have consensus price targets of $49.62, $57.11, $47.57 on DAL, UAL, and LUV stocks, respectively. This implies upside potential of over 51%, 49%, and 40%, as indicated by the graphic above.
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