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This should be a golden age for airlines like
United Airlines
and
American Airlines
.
Travel is surging and seats are hard to come by.
But airline stocks are painting a different picture, trading down with prices closer to their 52-week lows. United Airlines (ticker:
UAL
) was losing 9% on Thursday, while
Delta Air Lines
(
DAL
) dropped 3.4% and
American Airlines
(
AAL
) fell 7.7%. The
US Global Jets ETF
(JETS) was 3% lower on Thursday.
Demand wasn’t the problem in the second quarter. The summer opened a floodgate of pent-up demand for travel, with the Transportation Security Administration reporting passenger volumes similar to pre-pandemic levels. Over the July 4th weekend alone,