Similar to other airlines, Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT Quick QuoteALGT - Free Report) is taking a significant hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s March traffic results bear testimony to this drab scenario.

Traffic for scheduled service, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), plunged 39.4% on a year-over-year basis to 839.77 million. Scheduled capacity, calculated in available seat miles (ASMs), also declined 12.2% to 1.41 billion in the month.

With traffic declining more than the contraction in capacity, load factor (or percentage of seats filled by passengers) deteriorated 2,670 basis points (bps) year over year to 59.4%.

The number of departures for scheduled service decreased 13.3%. The average stage length (average distance flown per aircraft departure) was flat at 914 miles in the same month. For the total system (including scheduled service and fixed fee contract), the number of departures declined 14% while the average stage length was unaltered.
 
In the first three months of 2020, the carrier generated RPMs (scheduled service) of 2.93 billion (down 8.3%) and ASMs of 3.96 billion (up 4.3%). With traffic declining and capacity increasing, load factor fell 1010 bps to 73.8%.

Shares of Allegiant have nosedived more than 41% since the beginning of March due to tumbling air-travel demand caused by coronavirus. The industry has plunged 40.5% in the period.

Price Performance Since March

Due to dwindling demand, the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company expects capacity for April and May to plummet in the 80-90% range year over year. Other carriers like United Airlines (UAL Quick QuoteUAL - Free Report) , Delta Air Lines (DAL Quick QuoteDAL - Free Report) and American Airlines (AAL Quick QuoteAAL - Free Report) also reduced capacity drastically to match the extreme-low demand scenario.

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

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