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Leading#8 of 115 by 1M spread

Airlines vs the S&P 500 (JETS): is it outperforming?

Over the past month, JETS has outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.5 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.

1M spread vs SPY
+4.5 pts
Quadrant
Leading
Momentum
Weakening
RS health
Broken
Holdings P/E
34.3×

Where JETS sits on the rotation map

Airlines highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.

JETS vs SPY: head-to-head returns

JETS (airlines) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means JETS won that window.

Window
JETS
SPY
Spread
1 week−6.3%−0.3%−6.0 pts
2 weeks−6.2%+2.8%−8.9 pts
1 month+5.8%+1.2%+4.5 pts
3 months+21.0%+9.5%+11.5 pts
6 months+8.6%+8.5%+0.0 pts
1 year+25.8%+21.4%+4.3 pts

Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure

The read

Airlines (JETS) sits in the leading quadrant of the rotation map: it has decisively beaten the S&P 500 by 4.5 points over the past month, on top of a 6.3-point advantage over the longer, time-shifted window. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #8 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks — inside the top tier of the market.

On the shorter tape, JETS's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. JETS's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.

The exposure comes via U.S. Global Jets ETF, whose 25 tracked holdings are led by AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC, UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC and SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 34.3× earnings and 0.9× sales. The thing to watch from here is durability: leaders that hold their one-month spread while the longer window keeps building tend to stay leaders; a fading spread is the early exit signal.

What's inside JETS

Top 5 of 25 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.

Holding
Weight
1M
AALAMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC
10.9%+8.9%
UALUNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC
10.8%+4.9%
LUVSOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
10.6%+5.4%
DALDELTA AIR LINES INC
10.3%+4.1%
ALGTALLEGIANT TRAVEL CO
4.1%+16.7%
20 more holdings — each measured against the sector, with momentum and relative strengthUnlock with Premium

Airlines vs the market — common questions

Is airlines outperforming the S&P 500?

Right now, yes: over the past month JETS has outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.5 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.

What is JETS?

JETS is U.S. Global Jets ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the airlines group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).

Which stocks are in JETS?

JETS's largest tracked positions are AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC, UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO, DELTA AIR LINES INC, ALLEGIANT TRAVEL CO — 25 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.

What quadrant is airlines in right now?

As of the latest daily data, airlines is in the leading quadrant — outperforming the S&P 500 on both the recent and the longer, time-shifted window. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.

Related sectors

Track airlines against the whole market

Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.