Airline Winners and Losers: Delta Air Lines

ATLANTA -- Airline shares dropped Tuesday as the broader stock market declined sharply after a private research group said consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in June.

Benchmark crude for August delivery dipped $1.60 to settle at $69.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after swinging between $68.90 and $73.38 in early trading.

By afternoon on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrials lost about 100 points. The S&P 500 index fell to 917.38, while the Nasdaq composite index was around 1,835.20.

The AMEX Airline Index fell 3%, with all 13 component stocks lower.

American Airlines plans to sell $520.1 million in debt to acquire notes secured by 20 aircraft that it owns or plans to buy in the next year.

American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR (AMR Quote), disclosed the plans in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Airlines are raising cash to hedge against a downturn in travel demand. American expects its revenue per seat mile, a key financial measure in the airline industry, to fall about 17% for the April-to-June quarter compared with a year ago.

In afternoon trading, shares of Delta Air Lines (DAL Quote) fell 20 cents, or 3.5%, to $5.59, while AMR fell 25 cents, or 5.9%, to $4 and UAL (UAUA Quote), parent of United Airlines, lost 28 cents, or 8.1%, at $3.19. Continental Airlines (CAL Quote) fell 22 cents, or 2.5%, to $8.64, while shares of US Airways Group (LCC Quote) lost 2 cents to $2.24.

Southwest Airlines (LUV Quote) fell 1 cent to $6.66. Shares of JetBlue Airways (JBLU Quote) lost 14 cents, or 3.2%, to $4.18 and AirTran Holdings (AIA Quote), parent of AirTran Airways, declined 11 cents to $6.14.