Mesa Air Group, Inc. (fka MESAQ)

[buhg1b]

Airline stocks slide as crude oil rallies to record high
05.05.08, 1:03 PM ET

NEW YORK (Thomson Financial) - Shares of airline companies were broadly lower Monday, as a return in crude prices to record highs raised concerns over fuel costs.

The Amex Airline Index shed 3.1% to $23.53, and is now down 31% since the end of 2007.

June crude futures ran up $3.16 to $119.48 a barrel, and reached a record high for the contract of $120.21 a barrel in intraday trading, amid investor jitters over further violence in Nigeria and potential escalation in tensions between Iran and the West.

Within the airline sector, AMR Corp. (nyse: AMR - news - people ) slumped 3.4% to $9.06, Delta Air Lines (nyse: DAL - news - people ) shed 4.7% to $8.10, Continental Airlines (nyse: CAL - news - people ) slid 6% to $17.66, UAL Corp. (nasdaq: UAUA - news - people ) gave up 5.5% to $14.91, US Airways dropped 4% to $8.37 and Northwest Airlines (nyse: NWA - news - people ) declined 5.5% to $9.28.

Southwest Airlines (nyse: LUV - news - people ) lost 0.9% to $13.33, after the company said April load factor increased to 72.6% from 72.3% a year ago, amid a 5.7% rise in traffic and 5.3% growth in capacity.

Elsewhere, Expressjet Holdings traded 4.6% lower at $2.94. Soleil Securities Analyst James Higgins said he was 'substantially reducing' his 2008 estimates for the company, saying he sees a 'high probability of insolvency' by the end of next year if the company keeps its current business model. Higgins said, however, that he 'strongly suspect' that SkyWest (nasdaq: SKYW - news - people ) will succeed in its effort to buy Expressjet.

SkyWest shares slipped 1.4% to $19.22.

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/05/05/afx4969954.html