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U.S. airlines are robust sufficient financially to weather at least a short-term fall in demand because of to vacation limits resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, in accordance to Fitch Rankings.

The credit history ranking company mentioned in a report that “North American carriers ought to be in a much better situation than airlines in other locations to withstand implications from coronavirus,” noting that they “have gone through considerable consolidation, restructured through numerous bankruptcies and skilled a improve in operational emphasis towards profitability.”

Fitch warned that in the occasion of a sharp and sustained fall in demand, “Financial distress is very likely between more compact regional carriers or people by now below tension.”

But, it added, “widespread bankruptcies between rated carriers would not be expected.”

Amid the decline in demand and the U.S. government’s European vacation ban, big U.S. carriers have significantly decreased flight schedules in current times. Delta Air Traces announced on Friday it will ground 300 aircraft — about a single-third its fleet.

“All this is hitting terribly, but we have never ever experienced an airline industry that has been this financially sound,” Mike Boyd, president of aviation consultancy Boyd Team Intercontinental, told FlightGlobal. “Cash is readily available to every single airline. They can weather this.”

American Airways, Hawaiian Airways, and Spirit Airways are between the U.S. carriers struggling with the biggest chance from the virus chance, Fitch mentioned, citing Hawaiian’s constrained “geographic diversification” and American’s and Spirit’s fairly substantial credit card debt stages.

But Boyd thinks leisure vacation-concentrated carriers like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant Air could fare greater as getaway tourists hold traveling. “It could be the Allegiants and Frontiers are heading to get hit significantly less than other individuals,” he mentioned. “What we really do not know is what segments are getting hit the worse.”

Fitch also famous that a short-term fall in demand “will be partly offset by reduce fuel selling prices. Nevertheless, relief could be deferred to 2021 because of to substantial fuel hedging positions.”

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