Sector Snap: Airline Shares Fall

ATLANTA (AP) — Airline shares fell Thursday as oil prices ticked higher and the broader stock market was hammered.

In afternoon trading, the Dow fell 146.47 points to 9,565.81. The drop marked the biggest fall for the Dow since Sept. 1 as investors worried about the health of the economy drove the Dow down nearly 186 points.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 19.99 points — almost 2 percent — to 1,037.09, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 50.60, or 2.4 percent, to 2,071.82.

Benchmark crude for November delivery added 21 cents to settle at $70.82 on the Nymex. In London, Brent crude lost 12 cents to settle at $69.19 on the ICE Futures exchange. Fuel is one of the airlines' biggest expenses.

The AMEX Airline Index, meanwhile, fell 7.8 percent.

Frontier Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection on Thursday, under new ownership but still facing a tough competitive situation at its Denver base. Frontier is now a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which beat out a bid from Southwest Airlines Co.