If you’ve been following the mainstream financial media lately, you might think the airline industry is in crisis. From headlines about tariffs and labor costs to geopolitical tensions and delays at Newark Airport, it sounds like air travel should be tanking.
The data, however, tells a very different story.
Let’s start with travel numbers. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confirmed that six of the 10 busiest travel days in its entire 24-year history have happened this year. That’s not a typo. Six of the top 10 ever, in just the first half of this year.
Take Sunday, June 22. TSA screened 3.097 million passengers, blowing past all previous records. Chicago O’Hare, one of the world’s busiest airports, saw nearly 114,000 passengers, also a record.
Fourth of July, Expected to Break Even More Records
The travel industry fully expected the Fourth of July holiday weekend to be even more historic. AAA projected 72.2 million Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home the holiday period, with nearly 6 million taking to the skies—an unprecedented number.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that U.S. airlines are flying more planes than last year. Daily scheduled flights are up 4% from 2024, with July 3 expected to see over 51,000 flights. American Airlines alone planned to transport 7.6 million customers during the July Fourth holiday. United expected over 6 million.
Europe in Full Recovery Mode
Europe is telling a similar story. According to Eurocontrol, the continent’s daily flight activity in mid-June reached 99% of 2019 levels—just shy of full pre-pandemic recovery. Low-cost carriers like Ryanair, Wizz Air and Turkish Airlines are outperforming 2024 numbers and flying more routes than in 2019. Four of the top 10 European airline groups now exceed pre-COVID volume.
Global jet fuel demand has risen right alongside passenger traffic. Bloomberg reported that the world would consume over 7.3 million barrels per day of jet fuel during the July Fourth holiday week, up 3.1% from last year.
Record Investment
So why is Wall Street still cool on airline stocks? Some of it might be fear. Some investors might remember the shutdowns of 2020 and worry about recession risk and/or inflation.
In our view, those fears are backward-looking.
What we think the market is missing is that airlines have become leaner and more disciplined. They’ve improved cost structures, expanded profitable routes and leaned into loyalty programs and ancillary fees for services like extra legroom.
According to Airlines for America, U.S. carriers are investing a record amount right now in aircraft, ground equipment, technology and more. Reinvestment averaged an incredible $21 billion annually from 2022 to 2024. Common sense says they wouldn’t be spending this heavily if they were anticipating turbulence.
Why Consider JETS
For investors seeking exposure to the airline industry, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS) is one way to participate in global air travel’s continued recovery and long-term expansion. JETS focuses not just on passenger carriers but also aircraft manufacturers, airport operators and internet services related to travel.
What sets JETS apart is its Smart Beta 2.0 strategy—a dynamic blend of passive indexing and active insight. Instead of simply tracking market cap, the ETF screens global airline-related companies using fundamental factors like passenger load factor, cash flow return on invested capital, gross margin and sales yield. This “quantamental” approach helps identify what the fund sees as the most efficient carriers and service providers worldwide.
With over 70% of the ETF invested in U.S. airlines and exposure to international carriers from Canada to Turkey to China, JETS offers both industry focus and diversification. The ETF is rebalanced quarterly.
As the world’s demand for travel continues to grow—driven by surging leisure interest, cross-border business needs and a rising global middle class—JETS may offer an attractive way to capitalize on the momentum.
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Please carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a statutory and summary prospectus for JETS by clicking here. Read it carefully before investing.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the funds. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Because the funds concentrate their investments in specific industries, the funds may be subject to greater risks and fluctuations than a portfolio representing a broader range of industries. The funds are non-diversified, meaning they may concentrate more of their assets in a smaller number of issuers than diversified funds. The funds invest in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. These risks are greater for investments in emerging markets.
The funds may invest in the securities of smaller-capitalization companies, which may be more volatile than funds that invest in larger, more established companies. The performance of the funds may diverge from that of the index. Because the funds may employ a representative sampling strategy and may also invest in securities that are not included in the index, the funds may experience tracking error to a greater extent than funds that seek to replicate an index. The funds are not actively managed and may be affected by a general decline in market segments related to the index.
Airline Companies may be adversely affected by a downturn in economic conditions that can result in decreased demand for air travel and may also be significantly affected by changes in fuel prices, labor relations and insurance costs.
Fund holdings and allocations are subject to change at any time. Click to view fund holdings for JETS.
Smart Beta 2.0 refers to investment strategies that blend the benefits of passive indexing with elements of active management by using alternative weighting methods based on fundamental and quantitative factors.