Fears about Ebola deflated U.S. airline stocks on Wednesday, one day after public health officials confirmed that the nation’s first patient with the disease had flown from Liberia to Dallas two weeks ago.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines was the airline stock that fell the most, dropping 3.6 percent to close at $32.55 a share. Fort Worth-based American Airlines’ shares declined 3.1 percent to $34.39.
Seven U.S. airline stocks declined more than the Dow Jones stock index’s drop of 1.4 percent on Wednesday.
The U.S. Ebola case is “pressuring airline stocks,” said Stifel Financial Corp. analyst Joe Denardi. “The worse the news headlines get about this, the more risk there is to airlines.”
U.S. airlines operate only a handful of flights to Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is concentrated. The U.S. airline industry faces a potential financial threat only if travelers cut back on flying for fear of exposure to Ebola, similar to what happened with severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, Denardi said.
Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said there was “zero risk of transmission” of Ebola on the commercial airline flight that carried the Dallas patient. The person showed no symptoms before boarding the plane and was not contagious, he said.
The name of the airline and the route of travel have not been disclosed.
Shares of American and Southwest sank even though both airlines said they did not carry the patient.
No airlines serve Africa directly from Dallas airports, and no major U.S. carrier with overseas networks — American, United and Delta Air Lines — flies to Liberia. However, the patient could have arrived in Dallas from connecting flights in another country or U.S. city.
The patient arrived in the United States on Sept. 20 to visit family, developed symptoms on Sept. 24 and was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas on Sept. 28. The patient, who is said to be in serious but stable condition, is being kept in isolation at the hospital, according to the CDC.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
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