Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes’ August traffic data fell from the figure registered in July. The downside was caused by the fact that the carrier was upgrading its passenger service system to Sabre technology (in order to expand competitive network). Due to this exercise, the carrier lowered its flight operations in the last 10 days of the reported month.

Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, dropped 19.1% month on month in August.  In the same time frame, capacity measured in available seat kilometers fell 14.6%. Since traffic plunge was more than capacity contraction, load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) declined 4.3 percentage points (p.p) from July levels to 80.2%.  

However, the situation was rosier on a year-over-year basis due to improvement in air-travel demand. Traffic surged 84.7% year over year in August. In the same time frame, capacity expanded 83%. As traffic surge outweighed capacity expansion, load factor increased 0.8 p.p to 80.2% from year-ago period’s levels. Gol Linhas’ total monthly departures skyrocketed 93.5% and seats surged 95.9% from year-ago figures.

Gol Linhas transported 1.5 million passengers in August (up 87% on a year-over-year basis). The Latin America-based airline did not operate international flights in the said month.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Gol Linhas currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Transportation sector are Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX Quick QuoteKNX - Free Report) , Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR Quick QuoteLSTR - Free Report) and Herc Holdings Inc. (HRI Quick QuoteHRI - Free Report) . Knight-Swift and Landstar carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Herc Holdings sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Knight-Swift, Landstar and Herc Holdings is pegged at 15%, 12% and 49.2%, respectively.