If investors were questioning whether airline stocks could keep rallying, Delta Air Lines has provided an emphatic answer. The carrier’s fourth-quarter earnings and positive outlook for 2025 gave the sector’s stocks permission to take off again early Friday.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) on Friday revealed a first-quarter outlook above analysts’ expectations as the carrier expects strong demand for travel to give it the best year in its history.

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL rose 9.00% to $66.95 Friday, on what proved to be an all-around rough trading session for the stock market, with the S&P 500 Index SPX falling 1.54% to 5,827.04 and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA falling 1.63% to 41,938.45.