JetBlue sees summer air-travel demand stretching into fall. Here's how it impacts other airlines.

By Claudia Assis

JetBlue 'encouraged' that current trends may carry forward through the year

JetBlue planes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The airline said it remains hopeful that better summer trends will carry forward through the fall.

Jetblue Airways Corp. on Thursday sounded an optimistic note for U.S. airlines, tweaking its estimates for the current quarter and igniting hopes of continued air-travel demand through the second half of the year.

"Demand for air travel remained strong throughout the summer peak," JetBlue (JBLU) said. "Momentum from earlier in the summer carried forward into August and through the Labor Day holiday, both of which were marked by strength for bookings within 14 days of travel." The company said it remained "encouraged" that such trends would carry forward through the fall.

That bodes well for other U.S. airlines, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said in a note. Early-booking trends suggest continued strength through year-end, she added.

Related: Investing in the red-hot airline sector? You may want to avoid these stocks.

JetBlue updated its third-quarter guidance to tighten the range for revenue and nonfuel cost projections, and to improve its average fuel-price assumptions. The company lowered its capital-expenditure guidance for the quarter to about $325 million, from about $375 million previously.

JetBlue also announced Thursday that it has become the first airline to sign on with Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) Project Kuiper, the retail giant's internet-satellite business that competes with SpaceX.

Jets outfitted with Project Kuiper - an advanced, low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband network - will offer "faster and more reliable connectivity" to onboard wifi, the company said.

JetBlue launched its onboard wifi in 2013, making it the first and still only major U.S. airline to offer free, high-speed internet connectivity on board. The company said it will start introducing Project Kuiper's service on some of its jets within two years.

Shares of JetBlue have dropped about 33% this year, which contrasts with gains of about 4% for the U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS and about 10% for the S&P 500 index SPX.

See also: Spirit Airlines is going bankrupt. This rival is already reaping the benefits.

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-04-25 1246ET