Allegiant Travel Company ALGT recently reported disappointing traffic numbers for October 2024. 

Scheduled traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) fell 15.7% from the October 2023 levels. Capacity (measured in available seat miles) for scheduled service fell 10.2% year over year. As traffic decline was more than capacity, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) in October 2024 declined to 78.5% from 83.7% a year ago.

Total departures (scheduled services) fell 10.7% in October 2024 from a year ago. However, its average stage length (miles) grew 1.6% year over year.

For the total system (including scheduled service and fixed fee contract), Allegiant carried 17% less passengers in October 2024 from the year-ago period. System-wide capacity declined 9.2% in October 2024 on a year-over-year basis.

The fuel price per gallon in October 2024 is estimated to have been $2.52.

Drew Wells, chief commercial officer at Allegiant Travel Company, stated, "As observed below and consistent with commentary from our third quarter earnings call, hurricanes Helene and Milton had an outsized impact on our business. We canceled nearly 1,000 flights between late September and early January, with approximately two-thirds of those cancelations occurring during the month of October. We are encouraged by booking trends following the election, which suggest a faster-than-expected recovery for the impacted areas. We will continue monitoring these trends with the intent of updating guidance, as needed." 

Apart from ALGT, other airline companies who have reported traffic numbers for October 2024 are as follows.

Copa Holdings, S.A.CPA reported traffic numbers for October 2024 on the back of upbeat air-travel demand. Driven by high passenger volumes, revenue passenger miles (a measure of traffic) improved on a year-over-year basis in October.

To match the demand swell, CPA is increasing its capacity. In October, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) increased 6.6% year over year. Revenue passenger miles increased 6.5% year over year. Although traffic improved on a year-over-year basis, it failed to outpace capacity expansion. As a result, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) fell to 87.4% from 87.6% in October 2023.

Ryanair HoldingsRYAAY, a European carrier, has also reported impressive traffic numbers for October 2024.

The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 18.3 million in October 2024, reflecting a 7% year-over-year increase. The October load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) of 93% remained flat on a year-over-year basis, reflecting consistent passenger demand for the airline's services.  RYAAY operated more than 103,200 flights in October 2024.

To meet the upbeat demand, Ryanair expects its traffic view to grow 8% on a year-over-year basis for fiscal 2025, subject to no worsening of current Boeing delivery delays.

ALGT’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

ALGT currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of ALGT have gained 94.7% over the past three months compared with 15.8% growth of the Zacks Airline industry.

Three-Month Price Comparison

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

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

Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research