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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/boeing-737-max-grounding-might-be-good-news-delta-stock-and-other-airlines-51562166005\nBoeing’s 737 MAX Problem Might Be Good News for Delta and Other Airlines. Here’s Why.\nAl Root\nPhotograph by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images\nThe grounding of Boeing ’s 737 MAX has generally been a headache for the airline industry, but some carriers, such as Delta Air Lines, are actually benefiting from it, some analysts say.\nTaking the MAX out of circulation has trimmed U.S. airline capacity, which led to higher airfares, according to some.\nStifel analyst Joseph DeNardi estimates that the 737 MAX shaved 2% of U.S. airline capacity in the second quarter. And lower capacity is, in part, responsible for Delta Air Lines’ better-than-expected revenue growth. Delta Air Lines (ticker: DAL) sales grew faster than 8% in the second quarter, better than the 7% growth guidance provided by management in April.\nRead more: Boeing Stock Has Much Bigger Things to Worry About Than the 737 MAX\n“Delta has a about 12.5 billion competitive [available seat miles] overlap with MAX routes,” which equates to about 30% of Delta’s domestic capacity, DeNardi explained in a Wednesday research report.\nAvailable seat miles, or ASMs, is an industry capacity measure calculated by multiplying the total number of seats by the total number of miles flown. With the Boeing (BA) 737 MAX unlikely to fly until the fourth quarter (at the earliest), DeNardi believes Delta’s pricing will remain strong.\nDeNardi rates Delta stock Buy with a $90 price target, about 52% higher than recent levels.\nThe impact of the MAX grounding extends beyond Delta. Southwest Airlines (LUV) flies an all-Boeing 737 fleet and has 34 MAX planes parked, leading to about 150 fewer flights a day. That is about 4% of Southwest’s peak capacity, according to calculations by Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard.\nSouthwest has removed the MAX from schedules through October 1, but CEO Gary Kelly thinks the timeline will slip further, according to Stallard. Southwest wasn’t immediately available for comment.\nBoth American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) have removed the MAX from schedules through September 3. Cowen analyst Helane Becker expects American will push the expected re-entry to service date further out when it releases a second-quarter capacity report in coming days.\nDeNardi appears correct in highlighting Delta as the main beneficiary of Boeing’s woes. Delta’s shares have returned almost 19% year to date, better than the 16.5% return of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Since the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, Delta shares are up 18%, compared with the 5.5% gain of the Dow over the same period. In fact, all large U.S. domestic airline share are up 9% since March 10. Investors should consider other airline stocks as they could close the gap with Delta.\nDespite those gains, airline stocks still trade for less than 10 times estimated 2020 earnings, a big discount to the market. That is because investors are worried about the impact a slowing economy will have on airline profitability—and that might be harder for Delta to avoid.\nWrite to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com\nThe grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX has generally been a headache for the airline industry, but some carriers, such as Delta Air Lines, are actually benefiting from it, some analysts say."