The hurricanes have claimed another victim.
JetBlue Airways
In August, JetBlue saw traffic rise a healthy 31%, clocking in 1.53 billion revenue passenger miles. However, a slightly faster capacity increase of 34.3% brought the load factor down slightly to 89.3%. Similar to what AirTran
September looks worse, as Hurricane Frances has caused JetBlue 262 additional cancelled flights, and the possibility of a third hurricane may slow down travel further.
But here's the thing: JetBlue has generally been a Fool favorite because it's one of the few airlines to consistently pump out profits alongside Southwest Airlines
Can things really get much worse?
This scenario isn't all that different from what I wrote regarding Ameristar Casinos
With JetBlue, the bad news is out, the stock is down, and we like the company. Add it all up, and you have a recipe for at least a consideration for a buy. And if you haven't yet, the best place to start is with the four-part series on JetBlue that Whitney Tilson wrote last summer:
- The Amazing JetBlue
- JetBlue's Beautiful Cost Structure
- JetBlue's Customer Experience
- JetBlue's Friendly Skies
Fool contributor Jeff Hwang owns shares of Ameristar Casinos.