That’s why airline stocks have plummeted on Wall Street

Shares of the country’s biggest airlines fell as much as 10% in Wall Street trading on Monday as soaring oil prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are delaying airlines’ recovery from the pandemic.

United Airlines lost more than 10% during Monday trading, while Delta lost about 8%.

American Airlines was down around 7% on Monday.

Earlier Monday, oil prices rose to their highest level in more than a decade as the Biden administration considered a possible ban on Russian imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine — a move that could further upend the global energy market.

Brent crude hit nearly $140 a barrel overnight as the market reacted to the possibility of a ban. That’s a sharp increase from prices that were still around $70 in August.

The escalating energy crisis is spooking Wall Street investors and running out of stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 680 points — or more than 2% — while the broad-based S&P 500 fell more than 2.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell about 3%.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is also causing price spikes for other commodities. Gold rose 1% on Monday to nearly $2,000 an ounce.

The rise in fuel costs is likely to force airlines to downgrade their first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates.

Major US domestic airlines are still trying to recover from losses caused by the proliferation of the Omicron variant.

American Airlines lost $931 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and had reported revenue of $9.43 billion — down from $11.3 billion in the same quarter of 2019.

United Airlines reported losses of $646 million in the fourth quarter, while domestic rival Delta reported a loss of $408 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Even before Ukraine invaded, airlines expected that the drop in Omicron cases, the lifting of pandemic restrictions and warmer weather would lead to renewed demand for air travel.

But higher fuel prices are likely to put those plans on hold.