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Airline Stock Roundup: JBLU Ground Workers Look to Unionize, UAL, ALK in Focus

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In the past week, United Airlines’ (UAL - Free Report) cargo unit signed a global master lease agreement with Sonoco ThermoSafe pertaining to the latter’s new Pegasus ULD temperature-controlled bulk shipping container. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways’ (JBLU - Free Report) ground workers are willing to be represented by a union as they strive for a better pay and working conditions.

Alaska Airlines, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) , inked a provisional deal with its pilots’ union Air Line Pilots Association. Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) suspended its operations at airports like Key West, Fort Myers, Tampa, Sarasota and Orlando to avoid damages by Hurricane Ian.

Recap of the Latest Top Stories

1.JetBlue’s  ground workers are seeking to unionize. To this end, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) intends to file an application with the National Mediation Board (NMB) soon. NMB is the federal agency responsible for conducting elections pertaining to union representation of airlines and railroads.

Per Robert Martinez Jr, the international president of IAM, “I congratulate all JetBlue Ground Operations workers for uniting in solidarity and demanding that a union representation election be conducted. It’s been a long road for these brave workers to get to this point, and the IAM stands shoulder to shoulder with them. We will mobilize our union’s significant resources to ensure that these brave and resilient JetBlue workers have a fair and free election.” IAM represents around 3,000 ground workers at JBLU and believes that the ground-level staff is underpaid and therefore unionization is very important for this category of workforce. JBLU currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see  the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

JetBlue was also in the news when it provided an upbeat air-traffic forecast for the third quarter. The story was reported in detail in the previous week’s write-up.

2. Alaska Airlines’tentative deal with its pilots’ union includes substantial wage increases, flexibility of working hours and other related benefits. Per the new contract, Alaska captains are expected to enjoy pay raises ranging between 15% and 23%, based on their seniority. The first officer pay hike would be between 8% and 23%. The provisional deal is brought to the notice of the airline's 3,000 plus pilots for approval. If the deal gets sanctioned by Nov 1, 2022, the increments would be retroactive from Sep 1.

.3. Following the deal between Sonoco ThermoSafe and United Airlines’ cargo unit, healthcare companies across the globe can access the highly-efficient container, Pegasus ULD, more readily owing to United Cargo’s broad global network of temperature control logistics stations. UAL’s cargo unit has more than 90 stations in its TempControl global network. The concerned personnel is trained on pharmaceutical handling in accordance with IATA Temperature Control Regulations.

Per Manu Jacobs, managing director, United Cargo’s Specialty Products, “United Cargo is pleased to offer the Pegasus ULD to our customers and provide them with even more options to transport their temperature-controlled shipments all over the world. Our extensive cold chain shipping solutions, combined with the introduction of this sustainable and efficient container into our service offerings, demonstrate our mutual commitment to the safe and efficient transport of these critical shipments.”

4. Delta is offering a waiver for all the affected passengers as it suspended operations at the airports on Hurricane Ian’s path. DAL contributed $250,000 to the American Red Cross for relief efforts pertaining to the catastrophe. Not only DAL, many other U.S. airlines are also being forced to cancel multiple flights due to this natural disaster, which damaged many parts of Florida.

Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The table above shows that almost all airline stocks have traded in the red over the five trading days. The NYSE ARCA Airline Index has decreased 4.9% to $52.52. Over the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has plummeted 34.2%.

 

What's Next in the Airline Space?

Stay tuned for the usual news updates on this space.

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