My guess would be the recent announcement of American to park some airplanes and cut back on its workforce. To an investor it makes the company appear to be proactive in streamlining its cost and plotting a chart towards profitability. Chances are good that others may follow suit, and with airline stocks fairly low over the past several weeks, many investors may want to purchase while stock prices are still cheap. In other words, there is a sale on airline stocks and investors are betting that many others will follow American's lead - and that will ultimately lead to increases in the price of stock. Buy low and sell high.