: Airline stocks fell premarket after FAA says all U.S. flights grounded over computer outage

Airlines stocks fell across the board in premarket trade Wednesday, after the Federal Aviation Administration said a computer outage had led to all U.S. fights being grounded. The agency said on its website that its “Notice to Air Missions” system has been activated “to address the equipment outage issues for the U.S. NOTAM system.” A NOTAM is a notice for workers engaged in flight operations. There was no indication of when service might be restored. Southwest Airlines Co. LUV led the decliners, falling 2.5%. American Airlines Group Inc. AAL was down 1.6%, United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL was down 0.8%, JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU was down 0.7% and Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL was down 0.7%. The U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS was down 0.7% and has fallen 14% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has fallen 17%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.