U.S. airlines pop on strong earnings

• U.S. airlines stocks are setting up for a strong day after a trio of earnings reports came in strong.
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch calls American Airlines' (NASDAQ:AAL) unit revenue forecast "better than we feared" and notes the significant upside for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from its RASM guide. "LUV’s 2018 RASM underperformance is reversing in 1H19 as the new reservation system benefits finally begin to flow through," notes the analyst team. While JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) came in largely in line with expectations, BAML notes the carrier's unit costs were better than anticpated.
• Premarket check: AAL +6.3%, LUV +5.5%, JBLU +2.1%, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) +2.4%, Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ:HA) +4.1%, Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) +3.4%, United Continental (NASDAQ:UAL) +2.0%.
• Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ:SAVE), Mesa Air (NASDAQ:MESA) and Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ:ALGT) could also see a bounce when they begin trading.
• Related ETF: JETS.