The Traveller's Magazine
Stocks and shares for United Airlines, among others, began to fall shortly after US health officials reported that the nation’s first confirmed Ebola victim flew to Dallas from Liberia.
There are only a handful of American airlines that operate flights to and from Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is concentrated. The dip in stocks for United Airlines will only get worse if the headlines in the news get worse, according to an analyst at the Stifel Financial Corp.
So far the victim’s flight path to Dallas hasn’t been made public but there are no airlines that operate direct flights to Dallas from Africa. The only airlines with flight networks that reach Liberia are American Airlines, United and Delta Air Lines. Delta suspended operations in Monrovia last month, the country’s capital.
It is possible the traveller arrived to the US via a connection in Europe, or from somewhere else in Africa, coming into contact with possibly thousands of other travellers. The patient is currently in isolation and intensive care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and is critically ill.
Once the story broke in the mainstream media, stocks for American Airlines fell 4.3% to $33.94 while stocks for Delta dropped 4.1% to $34.65.
