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United Airlines (UAL) to Offer Houston Customers COVID-19 Tests

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United Airlines Holdings (UAL - Free Report) plans to expand coronavirus testing option for customers by making it available for travel from Houston, TX to some of the destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Making pre-travel coronavirus testing options available to various locations that have quarantine requirements should help the carrier attract traffic amid the suppressed demand environment.

Starting Dec 7, 2020, customers can avail the testing options for flights departing from George Bush Intercontinental Airport to some Latin American and Caribbean destinations such as Aruba, Belize City; Belize, Guatemala City; Guatemala and Nassau; Bahamas. These pre-travel self-collected, mail-in tests will help customers bypass local quarantine rules upon arrival. The testing facility will be available to customers for a price of $119.

Customers are required to take the tests which will be administered by Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory, 72 hours before departure. Results will be available through an email within 24-48 hours.


On Oct 15, United Airlines launched coronavirus testing option for passengers traveling from San Francisco International Airport to Hawaii, allowing them to avoid Hawaii’s 14-day quarantine requirement in case they test negative. Following the launch of this testing option, the carrier “saw a nearly 95% increase in passengers compared to the prior two-week period”.

The airline has been ramping up testing efforts to ensure passenger safety and win back customers’ confidence in air travel. Last week, it introduced a free transatlantic COVID-19 testing pilot program between Newark Liberty International Airport and London Heathrow Airport. Through this pilot program, all crew members and customers above the age of two will be required to undergo a rapid COVID-19 test and produce a negative result in order to take a flight to select destinations.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

United Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD - Free Report) , Landstar System (LSTR - Free Report) and FedEx Corporation (FDX - Free Report) . While FedEx sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Expeditors and Landstar carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Expeditors, Landstar and FedEx have rallied more than 13%, 14% and 89% respectively so far this year.

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