(Bloomberg) — U.S. travel stocks retreated in premarket trading on Monday, led by United Airlines Holdings Inc., after hundreds of flights were canceled over Christmas due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.
United sank 2.9% at 4:45 a.m. in New York, while Delta Air Lines Inc. lost 2% and American Airlines Group Inc. dropped 2.1%. Among cruise-ship operators, Carnival Corp. declined 2.3%, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. retreated 1.6% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. fell 1.9%.
U.S. flight cancellations exceeded 2,800 over the Christmas weekend, disrupting travel on one of the busiest periods of the year as the omicron-fueled Covid-19 wave triggered air-crew shortages. A winter storm in the northwest part of the country added to the difficulties on Sunday.
Delta and United pulled back on at least 12% of their schedule. The air travel disruption adds to the impact so far from the omicron variant, whose fast spread is causing havoc even though initial indications suggest it causes less-severe illness than other coronavirus strains.
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