Southwest, American raise sales outlooks, shares jump

Southwest Airlines and American Airlines raised their fourth-quarter forecasts on Thursday, citing strong demand and higher fares, sending shares in the carriers higher.

Southwest said fourth-quarter unit revenue will likely rise between 5.5% and 7% from last year, up from a previous forecast of an increase of no more than 5.5%. The airline said its network changes aimed at culling unprofitable flights are paying off and that demand into next year appears solid.

"The Company is encouraged by recent revenue trends and forward bookings, including fourth quarter holiday travel, and currently expects strong revenue trends and tactical initiative performance to carry into 2025," it said in a securities filing.

Southwest also said it would also complete its first sale-leaseback of aircraft in the first quarter.

American Airlines said it expects unit revenue in the last three months of the year to be on par to up as much as 1% over the same period of 2023, compared with an earlier estimate for unit revenue to be down as much as 3% from last year. American also raised its adjusted earnings estimate to 55 cents to 75 cents, up from 25 cents to 50 cents a share.

American also said Thursday that it has picked Citi as its sole credit-card provider, dropping Barclays, in a long-awaited deal.

A day earlier, JetBlue Airways raised its revenue forecast for the quarter and told staff it would further cut unprofitable routes and make tweaks to its summer 2025 Europe schedule later this week.