Airlines mostly stabilized this week after two straight scans of broad deterioration: RSI eased only modestly across five of six names, and none of the sector's short-term trend tags downgraded further. The one loud mover was Alaska Air ($ALK), up 4.75% over the past week — the sector's best 7-day print and its only positive one — but the long-horizon data says this is a bounce, not a turn: Alaska's alpha versus the market worsened to -52.89 from -48.24 two scans ago, still the sector's most broken name on every window. Southwest ($LUV) deepened its slide below its 200-day average, while Delta ($DAL), United ($UAL), and the sector ETF ($JETS) remain a deep pullback inside intact multi-year uptrends, still sitting above their 200-days with double-digit one-year gains.

Data as-of the 2026-08-28 close for all six tickers. All numbers from the pre-computed airlines summary. Comparison scan: the August 21, 2026 close — a normal one-week gap.

After two consecutive scans of broad deterioration, the airline cohort mostly held its ground this week. RSI eased only modestly for four names — Delta from 39.0 to 35.4, United from 37.8 to 37.0, JETS from 38.6 to 37.5, American roughly flat at 37.9 (was 38.0) — while Southwest eased slightly further to 30.4 from 31.5, still the sector's lowest reading. None of the six short-term trend classifications changed from last scan: Delta, United, and JETS remain weak-down; Southwest and American remain down. The exception is Alaska, whose RSI jumped from 32.5 to 40.9 on a 4.75% weekly gain — the only positive 7-day print in the sector and its best weekly move by a wide margin, though its trend tag is still classified down.

The one-year data draws largely the same line it did last scan, with one deepening. Delta sits 8.6% above its 200-day with a 29.21% one-year gain and positive alpha (+9.34) — still a deep pullback inside an intact uptrend. United (2.4% above its 200-day, +5.25% over the year) and JETS (3.2% above, +10.91% over the year) hold a similar read, though both carry negative alpha, meaning each is lagging the broader market even while its own trend stays technically intact. Southwest has deepened its break: it's now 7.6% below its 200-day, wider than the -5.4% to -7.6% range flagged as "genuinely under test" last scan, even though its one-year change is still positive (+20.19%). American sits 2% below its 200-day with a barely-positive year (+2.94%) and the sector's second-worst alpha (-16.93), the marginal name. Alaska's bounce doesn't change its underlying picture: down 33.02% over the past year, 7.8% below its 200-day, and the sector's worst alpha at -52.89 — worse than the -48.24 recorded two scans ago. A one-week bounce inside a trend still deteriorating on every longer window reads as a bounce, not a reversal; news pulled for Alaska is dated July 8-9, well before this move, and no stock-event entry falls in the August 21-28 window, so the driver behind the bounce is unconfirmed from this data.

This week's cross-sector picture is not a clean airlines-only story. Chemicals, which had looked decoupled from airlines' weakness two scans ago, saw its two cleanest short-term performers — Dow and LyondellBasell — cool off sharply this week, with Dow slipping below its 200-day for the first time in this scan series. Travel-leisure's cruise names got worse, not better: Royal Caribbean joined Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line as broken on every long-horizon measure this scan, completing a trifecta that was only two-thirds there before. Meanwhile travel-leisure's lodging and booking names (Marriott, Hilton, Airbnb, Expedia) kept basing or extending, unaffected. Cause unknown from this data — nothing in the tape distinguishes a transportation-and-industrial-specific move from a broader macro signal, since the booking/lodging side of the same discretionary-spend picture isn't confirming it.

• Delta: RSI 39.0→35.4 (eased further), trend weak-down unchanged, price $82.41→$80.07, 7D -7.76%→-2.86% (moderated), 30D -1.33%→-7.17% (worsened as last week's sharp drop rolled into the window), 52-week-high gap -13.87%→-16.31% (widened).
• United: RSI 37.8→37.0 (roughly flat), trend weak-down unchanged, price $113.17→$110.60, 7D -9.72%→-2.29% (moderated sharply), 30D -3.49%→-7.39% (worsened), 52-week-high gap -18.45%→-20.30% (widened).
• Southwest: RSI 31.5→30.4 (roughly flat, still the sector's lowest), trend down unchanged, price $40.38→$39.64, 7D -8.79%→-1.83% (moderated), 30D -15.27%→-10.68% (improved but still steep), 52-week-high gap -26.73%→-28.07% (widened slightly).
• JETS (ETF): RSI 38.6→37.5 (roughly flat), trend weak-down unchanged, price $29.57→$29.18, 7D -6.34%→-1.32% (moderated), 30D -1.76%→-5.78% (worsened), 52-week-high gap -13.18%→-14.33% (widened).
• American: RSI 38.0→37.9 (flat), trend down unchanged, price $13.82→$13.64, 7D -6.81%→-1.37% (moderated), 30D -6.56%→-8.09% (worsened), 52-week-high gap -26.45%→-27.41% (widened).
• Alaska: RSI 32.5→40.9 (recovered, the sector's biggest mover), trend down unchanged, price $40.41→$42.32, 7D -12.08%→+4.75% (reversed sharply positive, best 7D in the sector), 30D -8.90%→-7.68% (roughly flat), 52-week-high gap -38.66%→-35.76% (narrowed on the bounce, still the sector's widest).

RSI (Relative Strength Index) gauges how aggressively a stock has been bought or sold over roughly the past two weeks, on a 0-100 scale — under 30 signals an oversold, potentially undervalued stretch; over 70 signals overbought, extended risk; readings in between are neutral. Trend reflects a stock's structural direction based on its moving averages over the past several weeks — it is a short-window read, not a verdict on the multi-year story. vs SMA shows how far price sits above or below its 20-day average. The one-year change and the distance from the 200-day average are the longer-horizon check: a stock trading above its 200-day with a solidly positive one-year gain is in an intact multi-year uptrend even during an ugly week or a one-week bounce; a stock below its 200-day with a flat-to-negative one-year change and weak alpha is a trend genuinely being tested or already broken.

RSI < 25 (Oversold): None this scan.

RSI 25-40 (Approaching Oversold): Delta (35.4), United (37.0), Southwest (30.4), JETS (37.5), and American (37.9) sit here — largely unchanged from last scan's readings, which is itself the story: the sector stopped sliding deeper into this band. The long-horizon data still splits the group: Delta, United, and JETS are pulling back inside uptrends that remain above their 200-day averages (+8.6%, +2.4%, +3.2%) with positive one-year gains; American sits below its 200-day with a near-flat year and negative alpha, the marginal case; Southwest has broken further below its 200-day even with a still-positive one-year change.

RSI 40+ (Neutral-to-Strong): Alaska (40.9) is the only name here this scan, newly crossing up from the approaching-oversold band on its weekly bounce — but it remains the sector's one name broken on every long-horizon measure (down on the year, below its 200-day, worst alpha).

Does Alaska's bounce persist into an actual trend recovery, or fade back into the sector's worst long-horizon name once the week's move rolls off the tape? Does Southwest's widening gap below its 200-day stabilize, or keep compounding? And does the same-week strain showing up in chemicals' strongest names and travel-leisure's cruise lines confirm a broader transportation/discretionary-spend rollover, or stay isolated the way lodging and booking names suggest it might.

• Tape data (price/RSI/SMA/returns): pre-computed summaries as of the 2026-08-28 close — airlines.
• Comparison figures: 2026-08-22-airlines (2026-08-21 close).
• Cross-sector read: chemicals, travel-leisure (same 2026-08-28 close).
• News/event check on Alaska's weekly bounce: latest (fetched 2026-07-09, predates this move) and research/stock-events/ (no entry in the August 21-28, 2026 window) — driver unconfirmed from this data.