Airlines, Hertz Add $8.6 Billion in Value on Expanded Schedule

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. airlines and rental car stocks added $8.6 billion in market value Thursday after American Airlines Group Inc. said it plans to boost flights by 74% next month, suggesting that the worst of the pandemic-led travel standstill has passed.

American surged 41% -- adding $2.1 billion to its own market value -- after saying its July schedule would see about 4,000 flights on its busiest days, up from about 2,300 flights now. Rival airlines, as well as rental car operators Hertz Global and Avis Budget Group, also rose as the expanded schedule echoed indications from peers that passenger demand is returning after all but disappearing in April as the coronavirus spread.

The 9-member S&P Supercomposite Airline Index advanced 13% following the news Thursday. The gains boosted Delta Air Lines’s market cap by $2.5 billion, United’s by $1.6 billion and Southwest’s by $1.1 billion. The five remaining components grew by $1.2 billion among them.

Hertz, pushed last month to file for bankruptcy protection by the sudden disruption to its business, soared 84%, adding $97 million to its beaten down market value. Avis Budget’s value increased nearly as much, $90 million, although the stock popped higher by just 4.8%.

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