Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK reported robust traffic results for June. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), increased 7.3% to 5.05 billion.On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) rose 6.1% to 5.72 billion. Also, load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers expanded 100 basis points (bps) to 88.3% as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion.In the first six months of 2018, the carrier generated RPMs of 26.89 billion (up 6.4% year over year) and ASMs of 32.31 billion (up 7.7% year over year). However, load factor declined 100 bps to 83.2%.Alaska Air Group, Inc. Price Alaska Air Group, Inc. Price | Alaska Air Group, Inc. QuoteQ2 OutlookFor the second quarter of 2018, the carrier expects capacity to increase approximately 8% while cost per ASM excluding fuel and special items is projected to rise around 3.5%. Meanwhile, fuel cost per gallon is anticipated to increase nearly 35% to $2.31. Additionally, revenue per ASM is estimated to decline in the 4-5% range.Detailed results will be available on Jul 26.Full-Year OutlookFor 2018, Alaska Air forecasts capacity to expand approximately 6.2-6.5% whereas unit costs, excluding fuel and special items, are projected to rise nearly 3.5%.Zacks Rank & Key PicksAlaska Air holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. EXPD, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings AAWW and Ryder System, Inc. R. While Atlas Air Worldwide sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Expeditors and Ryder carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Shares of Expeditors and Atlas Air Worldwide have rallied more than 22% and 16%, respectively, in a year. While Ryder boasts an impressive earnings history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 3.9%.Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest StrategiesIt's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.See Them Free>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report Ryder System, Inc. (R): Free Stock Analysis Report Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD): Free Stock Analysis Report Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research