Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. – a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA Quick QuoteHA - Free Report) – posted a significant rise in air traffic in the month of August. Traffic – measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – came in at 1.43 billion, up 7.1% from 1.34 billion recorded a year ago.

On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) inched up 5.6% to 1.7 billion. Moreover, load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers increased to 84.4% from 83.2% in Aug 2015 as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion.

For the first eight months of 2016, Hawaiian Airlines witnessed 6.6% rise in RPMs to 10.3 billion and 3.4% growth in ASMs to 12.3 billion, both on a year-over-year basis. Load factor increased by 240 basis points year over year to 83.5%. Moreover, passenger count for Aug 2016 and the first eight months of 2016 was up 2% and 3.8%, respectively.

The company’s stock gained 2.58% on Sep 7, as investors were impressed with the results.

Most U.S. airline companies have registered growth in traffic for the month of August. The improvement in performance can be attributed to higher number of vacationers as the summer holiday season came to an end in August. Since airline stocks have been underperforming in the past few months, the traffic growth is expected to give stocks a much needed boost.

HAWAIIAN HLDGS Price

 

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Zacks Rank and Stock to Consider

Hawaiian Holdingscurrently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the airline sector can consider better-ranked stocks like Copa Holdings SA (CPA), SkyWest Inc. (SKYW) and ANA Holdings Inc. (ALNPY). All the stocks hold a Zacks Ranks #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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