American Airlines Gets Tentative DOT Nod on Deal With Qantas
American Airlines Group Inc. AAL has received a tentative approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding its joint business with Qantas. This joint venture will strengthen the carrier’s 30-plus years of partnership with Qantas by fostering air travel between the United States and Australia as well as New Zealand.
The joint agreement will pave the way for adding routes connecting United States with Australia and New Zealand. American Airlines will also enjoy an expanded codeshare partnership with Qantas and optimized schedules on the trans-Pacific services while offering passengers with shorter trip time. Moreover, passengers will have the privilege of a wider access to Qantas’ seats, which in turn, should lower airfares.
Further, the joint deal will allow American Airlines to integrate its frequent flyer program with Qantas, enabling passengers to earn extra frequent flyer benefits. Additionally, the carrier will offer customers improved facilities at airports and lounges in collaboration with Qantas.
American Airlines Group Inc. Price
American Airlines Group Inc. price | American Airlines Group Inc. Quote
As part of this proposed joint business, American Airlines in cooperation with Qantas plans to launch several services into the first two years of the agreement. Two such routes are Brisbane–Chicago and Brisbane–San Francisco.
DOT’s final approval on the joint business is expected in the coming weeks.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
American Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are SkyWest, Inc. SKYW, GATX Corporation GATX and Fly Leasing Limited FLY. While Fly Leasing sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), SkyWest and GATX carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of SkyWest have surged more than 34% so far this year. Meanwhile, both GATX and Fly Leasing flaunt an encouraging earnings history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.
See their latest picks free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
GATX Corporation (GATX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Fly Leasing Limited (FLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
