Delta and United each printed two Dec 18 calls above 100,000 contracts on Thursday’s unusual-options tape, according to Yahoo Finance. Delta rolled an existing bull call spread higher; United opened a separate out-of-the-money bull call spread.
MoneyTurkey Options Desk | 6 November 2026
Key points
- Delta Dec 18 $95 and $105 calls traded 431,540 contracts, 70 percent of the day’s total volume and the second-highest daily volume in two years (Yahoo Finance; source printed “431.540”).
- United Dec 18 $125 and $140 calls traded 105,411 and 106,752 contracts — 212,163 combined — 51 percent of the day’s total, with the session 8.1 times the 30-day average of 50,909 (Yahoo Finance).
Unusual options activity in airline stocks, detailed by Yahoo Finance on 5 November, followed a session in which the Dow rose 3.03 percent and the S&P 500 rose 1.58 percent. Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines Holdings (UAL) each saw two Dec 18 calls trade more than 100,000 contracts. Yahoo Finance describes them as two separate bull call spreads, not one shared four-leg roll.
What happened
Delta’s 30-day average options volume is 74,564 contracts. The Dec 18 $95 call and Dec 18 $105 call together printed 431,540 contracts, equal to 70 percent of Delta’s total options volume for the day and the second-highest daily volume in the past two years, Yahoo Finance reported.
United’s 30-day average options volume is 50,909 contracts. Yahoo Finance identifies United’s two unusually active calls as the Dec 18 $125 (105,411) and Dec 18 $140 (106,752). Those prints sum to 212,163 contracts, equal to 51 percent of the day’s total, with the session 8.1 times the 30-day average.
Under what Yahoo Finance labels “The Delta Options Strategy,” an institution printed the large Delta trades at 15:13:53 ET as a roll of an existing bull call spread. It first sold 115,141 Dec 18 $87.50 calls at $5.60 and bought 115,141 Dec 18 $95 calls at $2.62, collecting a net credit of $2.98 per share or about $34.3 million. It then bought 157,536 Dec 18 $95 calls at $2.62 and sold 147,214 Dec 18 $105 calls at $0.76 plus 10,322 Dec 18 $105 calls at $0.75.
Separately, under “The United Options Strategy,” Yahoo Finance describes an out-of-the-money bull call spread: the institution bought 105,024 Dec 18 $125 calls at $4.45 and sold 105,024 Dec 18 $140 calls at $1.28, a net debit of $3.17 per share or about $33.3 million.
The put/call volume ratio for the four contracts was 0.02. Six of the ten largest U.S. airlines by market cap showed at least one call in the day’s unusual activity.
How traders are positioned
Yahoo Finance treats the Delta $87.50/$95/$105 sequence as one institution rolling up a bull call spread, and the United $125/$140 prints as a separate bull call spread.
The volume-to-open-interest ratios for Delta and United were 104.81 and 67.36, respectively, ranking them sixth and twelfth among all names with unusual activity. Twelve unusually active options across the top ten airline stocks were all calls.
Why it matters
Lower oil prices after the midterm election results lifted the broader market and reduced airline fuel costs, the Yahoo Finance report said. The options flow is consistent with traders keeping upside exposure in Delta and United into the December expiry.
The size of the prints relative to average daily volume points to institutional flow rather than typical retail size. The net credit on Delta’s roll reduces the cost basis of the new spread while maintaining upside exposure. United’s spread was opened for a net debit.
What to watch
- Delta and United options volume versus 30-day averages into 18 December expiry
- Oil price moves and any further airline options prints above 100,000 contracts
- Put/call ratios in airline names for signs of follow-through or profit-taking
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For information only. Not investment advice.
