--- title: Airline Stocks Are Sinking—and Ebola Is Only Partly to Blame description: 'Airline stocks got hammered this morning after the first official case of Ebola was confirmed in a Texas patient. But calm down: Investors have a long history of overreacting to deadly diseases.' authors: - name: Paul J. Lim url: https://money.com/author/paul-j-lim-3/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 104 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://x.com/pauljlim former_staff: true published: '2014-10-01T15:31:41.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T04:28:50.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Air travel - Airline Stocks - American Airlines - Delta - ebola - Southwest - stocks - united airlines word_count: 447 canonical: https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)](https://img.money.com/2014/10/140931_inv_airlinestocks.jpg) *Assurances about Ebola safety from CDC Director Tom Frieden apparently fell on deaf ears on Wall Street.* Shares of major U.S. airlines descended about 4% Wednesday morning, and investors are blaming Ebola. The CDC and Texas Health Department confirmed the first official [diagnosis of Ebola in the U.S.](https://time.com/3452341/dallas-ebola-texas-ground-zero/), in a man who had traveled to Dallas from Liberia. [CDC Director Tom Frieden](http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/s930-ebola-confirmed-case.html) was quick to point out that "there’s all the difference in the world between the U.S. and parts of Africa where Ebola is spreading. The United States has a strong health care system and public health professionals who will make sure this case does not threaten our communities.” Those assurances apparently fell on deaf ears on Wall Street, where investors pushed the stocks of major carriers such as United Airlines , American Airlines , and Delta lower in early morning trading. ![UAL Price Chart](http://media.ycharts.com/charts/a0cfcf9111e4311bf8189e1c0beebfd8.png) [UAL Price](http://ycharts.com/companies/UAL/intraday_price) data by [YCharts](http://ycharts.com) Anytime diseases arise that could [restrict air travel](http://news.yahoo.com/travel-restrictions-could-worsen-ebola-crisis-experts-190447097.html) — in this case, to and from various parts of West Africa — airline shares are among the first to see a reaction. Last year, for instance, global airline stocks took a tumble on worries of the [spread of bird flu](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323646604578403741431976994). Before that, in early 2009, the [outbreak of swine flu](http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB124082918450558901) pushed airline stocks to double-digit losses amid concern that the disease might curtail travel at a time when the economy was already faltering due to the global financial crisis. And before that, in 2003, the [first signs of SARS](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sector-closes-lower-after-sars-case-reported) drove airline stocks lower on fears that international travel — in particular to and from Asia — would be hurt. In this case, though, even airlines that do not travel in West Africa — for instance, Southwest Airlines — have been hit. ![LUV Price Chart](http://media.ycharts.com/charts/55a6c55ff4ff5e6ede1de3330adf160a.png) [LUV Price](http://ycharts.com/companies/LUV/intraday_price) data by [YCharts](http://ycharts.com) To be sure, Southwest is headquartered in Dallas, which is where the first U.S. Ebola case was reported. But the fact that an airline like Southwest is being affected makes Morningstar analyst Neal Dihora think that "this might be about something else." That something might have to do with oil prices. Oil prices have fallen recently to below $100 a barrel. This is generally good news for airline stocks, since that means a major input cost is headed lower, Dihora says. But there comes a time in every oil cycle, he points out, where investors wonder if oil prices are headed lower for a reason — as in, is this a sign of further troubles for the global economy? It's too soon to say if that's the case. Many observers are currently chalking up falling oil prices to the strengthening dollar. But for the moment, it seems that this worry about the global economy is what's really driving the sector — and the emotional reaction to Ebola only compounded the situation. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stocks", "item": "https://money.com/stocks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Airline Stocks Are Sinking—and Ebola Is Only Partly to Blame" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/", "name": "Airline Stocks Are Sinking—and Ebola Is Only Partly to Blame", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-10-01T15:31:41.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/airline-stocks-ebola/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T04:28:50.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Airline Stocks Are Sinking—and Ebola Is Only Partly to Blame", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/10/140931_inv_airlinestocks.jpg", "width": 3500, "height": 2387, "caption": "140931_INV_AirlineStocks" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://media.ycharts.com/charts/a0cfcf9111e4311bf8189e1c0beebfd8.png", "width": "", "height": "" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://media.ycharts.com/charts/55a6c55ff4ff5e6ede1de3330adf160a.png", "width": "", "height": "" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul J. 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