Sam Boughedda

Investing.com — U.S. airline stocks rose on the first trading day in 2019, despite disruptions caused by flight cancellations. 

FlightAware reports that there were more than 2,200 cancellations on flights in, out, and into the U.S. as of Monday. Meanwhile, delays have occurred on 2,340 flights from, within or outside the U.S.

This adds to thousands of cancelled flights over the weekend due to severe winter weather. A holiday period also saw more airline personnel test positive for Omicron, which caused an increase in crew members to be absent from work. This resulted in a staffing shortage that led airlines to have to change their flight schedules. Some airlines are offering higher salaries to crew members to maintain flight movement, according to reports. 

Airline stocks rose Monday despite the difficulties. American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:), Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:), United Airlines Holdings Inc. [NASDAQ:], Southwest Airlines Company. (NYSE:), JetBlue Airways Corp. Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE :), like other companies, has seen an increase in stock prices. Investors look beyond the present issues and expect that travel will keep increasing through 2022. 

Citi’s analysts informed investors today that Omicron poses a modest near-term threat. The variant can disrupt travel but it’s not 2020. Anti-viral and vaccination rates are reasons for which negative reaction to any future variants seem “increasingly unlikely.”