Oil prices fell on Tuesday, but $80-$90 a barrel is considered the break-even level for most airlines. Today, oil is at $129.94 a barrel, says John Wilen for the Associated Press. If things continue as they have been, experts predict that the industry might consolidate and rethink every facet of its operations.
Some of the major airlines are components of IYT, including Southwest (LUV; 1.4%), JetBlue (JBLU; 0.5%), American Airlines parent AMR (AMR; 0.8%) and Continental Airlines (CAL; 1.7%).
For full disclosure, some of Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of IYT.