Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker said that International travel has seen a reliable and durable surge, post slowdowns.
Going back to the 1970s, following almost every major economic downturn, U.S. passport issuance has roughly doubled in the 5 years since the end of the downturn and the number of passports issued today is 4x 25 years ago, noted the analyst.
The analyst observed that between 2016 and 2019 the average number of U.S. passports issued per year was over 20.4 million, and in 2022 that number nearly hit 22 million U.S. passports.
He said he would not be surprised if the 2023 issuance number is comfortably a new record, especially given the current International travel boom.
The analyst described the travel boom as a durable growth trend instead of a 'one-and-done' revenge travel spike.
Delta Air Lines Inc
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced that passenger flights between the U.S. and China will double in the coming months.
While the analyst is not surprised Delta and American followed United Airlines Holdings Inc's
Since October 2022, Southwest Airlines Company
The analyst will continue to monitor negotiations with the pilot union as we believe it could impact labor cost/wage inflection on LUV's CASMxF.
The analyst said that Frontier Group Holdings Inc
Price Action: DAL shares are trading lower by 0.23% at $42.12 on the last check Thursday.