US airline shares hit turbulence on WTO ruling

Airline stocks had their wings clipped on Wednesday after the WTO Wednesday cleared the way for the US to impose tariffs on European goods as part in a long-running Airbus dispute. Delta fell nearly 5% to $54.33, while United fell 4.7% to $83.69. American Airlines tumbled 5.3% to $25.37 and Alaska Air fell 3.5% to $62.69. The broader NYSE Arca Airline index fell 2.4%. The WTO’s decision authorises almost $7.5b in annual punitive levies to repair damage done to Boeing by illegal EU aid to Airbus. But the ruling leaves US carriers vulnerable to tariff hikes as most major American carriers have orders placed with Airbus. Delta said that aircraft purchases require a long lead time for production and that “imposing tariffs on aircraft that US companies have already committed to will inflict serious harm on US airlines, the millions of Americans they employ and the travelling public.”<br/>