Some airline opportunities despite downward trend

Quoted financial analysts, January 1, 2015 – April 19, 2016

New York, April 22, 2016. Quoted financial analysts are strongly focused on the future of the airline industry now that risk from catastrophic events in 2014 and 2015 have largely moved off the agenda, but sentiment is trending downward on concerns about capacity, competition, and demand, according to new research from Media Tenor International.

“Analyst tone on airlines is mixed, with few offering a balanced perspective,” says Racheline Maltese, a researcher at Media Tenor. “Without looking at overall media sentiment investors would be forced to choose between the bullish or bearish perspective, but the overall sentiment picture suggests caution as the industry struggles with costs, human resources concerns, and effective deployment of capacity.”

Risks for the sector varied by region, with analyst sentiment strongly positive regarding airline activities connected to Hong Kong and India. Analysts suggested that airlines with new non-stop routes to Asia were worth investor consideration. However, the slowing Asian economy may have an increasingly negative impact. Discount carriers like Southwest and Ryanair were framed as good potential investments, but traditional carriers like Lufthansa and Air Canada have benefitted from increased profits on lower fuel costs, helping them to compete more effectively with Middle Eastern carriers. Middle Eastern carriers faced risk from anti-Muslim sentiment as international cooperations and airport access were called into question.

This research examined all 72,901 analyst statements in eight opinion-leading business media January 1, 2015 – April 19, 2016 and 4,992 journalist reports on the airline industry in four opinion-leading international business media January 1, 2015 – April 19, 2016.

For over 20 years Media Tenor’s mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse and newsworthy media content by bringing together the diverse parties. Media Tenor’s global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences.

For more information, please contact Racheline Maltese at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or
+1 212-935-0210.