Airlines Are Sticking to Their Blue-Skies Outlook
Executives remain downright giddy about the profits they can rake in from high-priced airfares despite market clouds.
A plunge in airline stocks stands in stark contrast to the industry's rosy narrative for expensive travel.
Photographer: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
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A combination of robust demand and a shortage of planes and pilots has made airline executives downright giddy about the profits they can rake in from high-priced airfares. So much so that nary a pessimistic word was uttered this week as management teams from the biggest US carriers presented at the JPMorgan Chase & Co. industrial conference — even as the broader market was growing increasingly concerned about a possible recession-causing credit crunch and as the airline sector headed for its worst weekly decline in more than a year.